The Cursed King

"Huh? What's this?"

The soft mewl of Pot and Pebble wearing little Christmas hats appeared in her immediate sight.

She instantly pressed her lips in awe..

"Oh my gosh… You two look so cute, don't you?" Elise gushed and petted the two kitties before she looked around some more in the penthouse.

It wasn't only the two cats that looked filled with the festivities of Christmas.

Loriel didn't seem like the type of guy to decorate the penthouse, but now the entire penthouse looked like some winter wonderland. It looked so, so beautiful!

Elise held her breath in amazement. When did Loriel do this, she thought. She only left the man to take a shower and change, but during such a short amount of time, he could already turn their living room into such festive Christmas wonderland? 

This was just too amazing!

There were tasteful white garlands that resembled snow. Decorations hanging from the chandelier that looked like snowflakes and other crystalline designs.

There was a beautiful Christmas tree present in the living room with several presents at its feet. Where did he hide the Christmas tree? 

"This is really beautiful…" Elise turned around and found Loriel enter the living room in his best dress shirt. "When did you decorate this place?"

"I hope you like my surprise,"  Loriel smiled. He cast his glance around them and was happy with the result. He did hide the Christmas tree and gift boxes in the storage to make it a surprise.

When Elise went to her room, he immediately told Horatio to get everything to the living room. The AI butler also exerted the two robot servants to quickly add more decorations. In only half an hour, everything was ready.

"I don't like it," Elise shook her head. "I love it!"

Loriel chuckled. "I am glad to hear that." 

He came near her and stood in awe as he looked at her fresh and beautiful appearance. Elise looked more and more beautiful by the day. He felt so lucky.

But then Loriel noticed her attire, she was wearing an overcoat over her dress. It was not something someone would be wearing indoor, right? Did she plan to go somewhere?

So, he asked her. "Will you be going anywhere today, Elise?"

"I think I'll be going on a quick trip to the bakery and meet up with Chef Lucy," Elise said. "I may have forgotten something there."

"Perhaps I can ask the driver to get it?" Loriel offered. He could hire a driver from the freelancer app to drive his car to the bakery and get whatever it was that Elise forgot. 

Loriel felt uneasy when he heard Elise wanted to visit Lucius. Why was this Chef even open his bakery on Christmas day?

Ugh. Loriel really needed to scold Marc about this error and wished that it could have been fixed earlier.

"No worries, it's fine. It's really important that I should be the one who gets it myself," Elise said with a smile. "There's… something I actually have to do there."

"Alright, but I'll see you for dinner, okay?" Loriel asked.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Elise beamed.

Loriel believed that and smiled back. "How about I get you there?"

Although he needed to prepare for their Christmas dinner and the proper way of confessing to Elise, there was ample time for that.

Elise batted her eyes but soon nodded and smiled. "If you don't mind or have nothing to do."

Ahh.. even if Loriel had something to do, he would leave it at a drop of a hat if Elise asked. Loriel would always have time for her.

Elise didn't know it, but to Loriel she was his everything.

"I don't really have anything to do today,"  Loriel said. "Let me get my coat and we can go to the bakery."

"Thank you,"  said Elise.

Loriel went to his room and quickly got his coat. He took Elise's hand and left the penthouse in his private elevator. Once they arrived at the basement, he got his car ready. They went to the bakery together.

***

"We're here…" said Loriel as the car stopped in front of the bakery. He tilted his head to check the window display and realized that the bakery was actually closed. He had initially thought that Lucius would still open his shop.

"Chef Lucy went to see his parents and all his staff have a day off," Elise explained before Loriel asked. She could kind of guess what the man wanted to know. "This is Christmas, after all. He wants them to spend quality time with their family."

"Oh… so, there is nobody in the bakery?" Loriel furrowed his brows. "Do you want me to accompany you?"

Elise hurriedly waved her hands and rejected Loriel's kind offer. It would defeat the purpose of coming here to borrow Lucius' kitchen if Loriel stayed with her and found out she would be making a cake for him.

Elise could just make the cake at home. She wanted to make it a heartfelt surprise. So, of course, she had to tell Loriel that she didn't want him around.

"I have something to do… alone,"  said Elise. She looked at the man deeply and hoped he would understand that she needed alone time to do something. "I hope you don't mind." 

Loriel was a much more sensitive man now, compared to he was in the past. So, he could immediately guess that Elise wanted to do something for him. She seemed to plan a surprise.

So, of course, he wouldn't spoil it. Deep inside, Loriel felt all warm and fuzzy because Elise wanted to give him a surprise.

Ahh.. she was the sweetest! She was the best!

"Okay, I will leave you to it," said Loriel dotingly. He opened the car door for her and let Elise out. "Do you want me to pick you up later?"

The woman shook her head. "There is no need to do it. I will just get a taxi. I plan to do some other things and stop by in different places."