The Cursed King

They ate dinner merrily while talking about their day. 

"What did you buy from the shop today?" Loriel asked after the robots cleared their dining table and the two were left with their sweet wine to unwind.

"Oh… I bought a dress for the gala and some more office clothes," Elise said. She took her paper bag and put it on the table. "Do you want to see?"

"Yes, sure."

Loriel wanted to invite his designer to come sometimes and ask him to make some clothes for Elise too, but that had to wait. This was not yet the right time.

"Okay.. here they are," said Elise happily. She took out a simple silk dress in white. It had embroidery on the V-neckline. The length was probably slightly above the knee and looked very elegant.

Loriel could immediately imagine how it would look on Elise's body. She would look amazing in anything, but this particular dress took his breath away because… it was white.

It looked like a wedding gown if Loriel wanted to see it that way.

Ahh… how he wished he could make Elise his wife again in this world. He would love to see her walk down the aisle in white with the wedding march played in the background.

There would be only the two of them. Ah, well.. maybe Marc could be his witness. Or.. perhaps, Daniel York, her adoptive father could attend or give her away. She would like that.

By the way, speaking of Daniel York… Loriel wanted to smack himself in the face. He had been wanting to reunite Elise with the man she called as father after he found out who she was. However, since Loriel was a selfish person who couldn't care less about other people, he only focused on Elise and their time together.

He completely forgot about her 'family' in this modern world. Daniel had taken care of his Elise for five years. It was only fair if Loriel paid back his kindness in some sort.

And he believed Elise would love to meet her adoptive father again.

Yeah… Loriel would make it a surprise.

"You are smiling. What are you thinking about?" Suddenly Elise's voice moved Loriel from his reverie. The man turned to her and shook his head mysteriously.

"I am thinking of a surprise," he said. "For you.

"For me?" Elise tilted her head, looking very interested. "What kind of surprise?"

"Well.. If I told you, it will not be a surprise anymore."

"Ah… you are right," Elise chuckled. "Okay. I am excited. I will patiently wait for it."

"Good girl." Loriel was all smiles that night. He knew this would be a nice surprise for Elise.

She deserved if after what she went through.

"Do you want to see my other clothes?" Elise asked Loriel. 

"Yes, of course!"

Elise took out more outfits from her paper bag and showed them to the man. Loriel knew Elise had good taste. All the outfits she bought looked elegant and great for mix and match.

He thanked his luck that Elise didn't choose to go into modeling. She would definitely kill it and perhaps become so famous that it would be hard for him to keep her to himself.

"They are all nice," praised Loriel. "Next time when you go to Bloomingrose again, you should  buy more."

"Oh, I cannot buy more. I have exhausted all the points in my gift cards," said Elise. 

Loriel remembered Elise gave him a stack of money that she made out of selling the points.

Uff…

He should find a way to give her more gift cards. Maybe make her win them from the raffle?

Hmm.. that's a good idea.

***

Loriel quickly made preparation to surprise Elise. He wanted her to meet the man who took care of her in this world, Daniel York, the man she called father.

The situation surrounding Madeline York's disappearance was depressing and heartbreaking for the York family, but because of it, Elise was able to survive in this world. If the real Madeline was never missing, Elise would be alone and didn't have anyone to take her in.

Where did they find her? A village in the mountain in Germany, right? 

Loriel didn't dare to think about what would happen to his Elise if she was stuck there with the villagers who didn't know who she was and thought she was mentally ill because she didn't understand their language and how life worked in the modern world.

For that… he would be forever grateful to the York family. With all his heart, he wished they would find their real daughter and they could live happily ever after.

However, with Daniel York's current condition… it might never happen. Loriel learned from Marc that Daniel York's condition was terminal and they only needed to wait until the inevitable happened.

Truly a devastating situation.

When Loriel met Elise for the first time in New York and Elise said she wanted to go to Central Park together, the man had thought that Elise already married someone else and she was reminiscing about where she met her new husband.

He was so relieved to hear that it turned out to be the place where her adoptive parents met.

Loriel had no idea back then about the circumstances surrounding Elise's new life as Madeline York. But Loriel still remembered the sadness in Elise's face when she mentioned her father in Central Park.

Her sadness made Loriel's heart break a little. He was reminded of the old King Alexander Leoralei and queen dowager Myrcella Leoralei, Elise's father and grandmother.

They had passed away centuries ago, both were heartbroken by Elise's disappearance and they blamed Loriel for what happened. The former king carried the burden of guilt for such a long time.

Now that he had found his wife, he felt so sad because she didn't know that the father and grandmother that she deeply loved was no longer alive.

She would be truly devastated when her memory came back and she remembered them.

Oh well… Loriel decided to keep tomorrow's worry for tomorrow. He should not think about it today. Right now, he must reunite Elise with Daniel York, her adoptive father while the man was still alive.

Soon, it would be too late.

Finding out Danie's medical record was not as easy as finding out other information about the York family. The data was protected by the government. It took quite a bit of an effort by Marc to find out where Daniel was treated.

Madeline York's father was finally discovered in a private treatment facility, apparently not far from New York.

Loriel's anger grew knowing that both Tessa and Julian kept this information away from Elise. Their attempts to seize the wealth of the York family for themselves were despicable.

On the weekend, Loriel promised to take Elise out and meet her father as a surprise. 

After they had breakfast, Loriel cleared his throat and asked Elise. "Elise, would you care to accompany me somewhere?"

Elise looked up and nodded. "Of course, I'd be happy to go with you."

Loriel sighed in relief. "Thank you, I'll wait for you to get ready. Horatio please take a stock of the fruits we have in the fridge and prepare a fruit basket for me."

"All right, Master," replied the ever-efficient Horatio. "I also have prepared the flowers."

"Good."

"Where are we going, Loriel?" Elise asked. The idea that the two of them were to go somewhere that needed a fruit basket and flowers as necessary items made her think of it as a housewarming gift.

"You'll figure out when we get there," Loriel told her with a gentle smile.

"Alright, I trust you."

The two of them took a private cab and traveled towards the medical facility. Loriel already had Marc take care of it, so when the two of them stepped out, the nurses and doctors welcomed them.

"Are you Miss Madeline York?" One of the nurses asked.

Elise's expression changed from the moment they arrived here. She had her suspicion when she saw that the car stopped in front of a medical facility.

And when she saw the doctors calling her name, her eyes suddenly pricked with tears. After all this time, Elise was going to meet her father and it made her emotional.

"Loriel... did you really find my father?" Elise asked. She couldn't believe it.

Loriel grabbed her shoulders reassuringly and gave her a smile. He even brought a finger up to wipe her tears and answered her gently.

"Yes, I did. And I'm quite sure that Mr. York would love to see his daughter with eyes that aren't swollen. He might think that I made you cry, won't he?" Loriel chuckled.

"Okay," Elise sniffed.

A father's love was amazing.

If Elise reacted this much to a man who adopted her, then it meant that Daniel York was a great man and an outstanding father.

***

The private lodgings of Daniel York was a spacious room with white walls and with a large window that allowed sunlight to filter in.

Elise stepped inside the room and found her father currently reading a book. It seemed like he had two personal attendants that took care of his needs.

Loriel brought a basket of fruits and flowers for the patient. He cleared his throat and took the side of the room to allow the daughter and father to reunite.

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