The Cursed King

Elise quickly looked away.

"When should we go shopping for clothes?" Elise asked Loriel to distract her mind from his mesmerizing smile. 

"Ah, let\'s relax for an hour or two, then we can go at 10 am. Shops are usually open around that time," said Loriel.

"Ah, okay. Then, I will go to my room and get ready," said Elise awkwardly. She actually expected to clean up after breakfast, but apparently, there was nothing she could do here.

"You can also explore the house if you want," Loriel said. "I have a lounge, a huge library, and an entertainment center. You can watch a movie on the big screen, read books in the library, or do whatever you\'d like."

"Ah, this is not my place. I don\'t want to inv—"

"You are not invading my privacy," said Loriel with a smile. He could already guess what Elise was thinking about. "This place is open for you. Just don\'t sell my artwork collection… hahaha."

Elise laughed too. She felt more at ease now because Loriel was very relaxed about everything.

She couldn\'t believe her luck. This man was so kind to her and he seemed to understand all her worries and discomfort. He was also really handsome.

Elise could never have enough of staring at those light blue eyes of his. They sometimes could look like silver, depending on the light they reflected. So mesmerizing.

Was he not human? Maybe he was an angel who was protecting her?

Ahh.. Elise wanted to laugh at herself. There was no such thing as an angel, she told herself.

Well, he may not be an angel, but this man was still an enigma to her. She wondered who he was really and why he was so kind to her.

"Maybe I will check the library," she said. "Which way is it?"

Loriel pointed to the right. "It\'s over there, just go to the end of this hallway. It is a loft library with tens of thousands of books."

"Oh.. sounds amazing," said Elise.

"Yes, I have an extensive collection of books and artworks," said Loriel proudly. "Feel free to immerse yourself in them."

As he had been living for such a long time, he had met and got acquainted with many famous people in the past. He even bagged himself some never-before-seen Davinci\'s and Raphael\'s artworks.

If the public knew what he had in his storage or little \'museum\', he was sure they would go crazy.

Loriel also had some Greek statues which were still very well-reserved, unlike those they kept in Louvre where Venus already lost her arms, for example.

Loriel loved arts and he made an effort to maintain his collections in perfect condition. He couldn\'t wait to share all his wealth and collection with his wife. He was sure Elise would enjoy and appreciate them as much as he did.

"Oh, by the way, let me officially introduce you to Horatio." The man cleared his throat and soon they could hear Horatio\'s voice in the air.

"Yes, Master?"

Elise turned to Loriel and looked at him in awe. So, this man could call his \'AI butler\' just by clearing his throat? How neat!

"Horatio, please meet Elise. This lady will stay with us for the time being. I want you to get to know her and help her with everything she needs, so she could navigate her way around the house," said Loriel.

"Understood, Sir." Horatio then spoke to Elise. "Good day, Madame Elise. My name is Horatio. You can think of me as your digital butler in this house. I will be taking care of you during your stay in our humble abode. Please speak so I can record your voice for the voice recognition system."

Elise fluttered her lashes and her mouth agape. 

"He.. he just spoke to me…" she whispered to Loriel. "Did you hear that?"

"Yes, he just did," Loriel whispered back. "You can talk to him back and ask him to do things for you."

"I can?"

"Yes, you can," said Loriel with a chuckle.

Seeing Elise looking so impressed by his technology made Loriel feel good. He thought Elise was so adorable. He couldn\'t wait to show her more things they could do with the technology in this modern world.

"Uhm.. okay." Elise held her breath, then she breathed out. Her face looked excited as she spoke to Horatio. "Hello, Horatio. My name is Elise."

"Hello, Madame. It\'s an honor to finally meet you," said Horatio with an overly friendly voice. "I hope you are well."

"M-me? You have been waiting to finally meet me?" Elise thought she misheard the AI. She turned to Loriel. "Did he just say he has been waiting for me?"

Loriel coughed violently when he witnessed the exchange between Elise and Horatio. 

Shit! He forgot to tell Horatio not to disclose his relationship with Elise. Loriel had told everything about him to that digital butler and of course, now Horatio knew this woman was Loriel\'s wife.

Who else would Loriel be bringing to live with him in this penthouse if not his wife?

"Uhm… don\'t listen to him. Horatio is just playing with you," said Loriel who could lie so easily.

He quickly found an excuse to explain what Horatio just said. "I think he was just teasing me because I have never brought any woman to this place before. You are the first. That\'s why he said he has been looking forward to meeting you... a woman, in this house."

Elise looked at the man with rounded eyes. He said what?

This handsome man had never brought any woman home before? Was he telling the truth?

It\'s so hard to believe. This man was devilishly good-looking, charming, and pleasant. Surely, it was very easy for him to meet women and bring them home to have... a one-night stand, maybe.

So, he had never done that?

Elise looked at the man to assess whether he was telling the truth or if he was lying.

However, she didn\'t sense anything negative from Loriel. The man didn\'t seem like the liar type, who only said those words to charm a woman and pretended that they were never interested in other women before her, to make her feel special.

"Is that true, Horatio?" Elise was smart. She asked Horatio directly what he meant by his words.

The butler cleared his throat, in an act to imitate a human\'s reaction. He replied to Elise\'s question in a sincere tone.

"Yes, Madame. Master has never brought any woman to this place before. You are the first, and only, and I am excited to finally meet you."

Loriel secretly heaved a sigh of relief. Horatio gave a perfect answer to Elise\'s question. This would give Loriel an extra point in Elise\'s eyes.

She must appreciate the fact that Loriel was never involved with another woman before he met her.

Why would he? He was not interested in other women but her. And plus… Loriel was a loyal man. He took his marriage vow seriously.

In the past, even when he was still not in love with his wife, he never cheated on her with any woman.  So, of course, now that he loved her, he would be even more devoted to her.

The past fifteen centuries were no joke.