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"It's already late," Elise murmured when she cast her glance around her. The night sky still had a tinge of orange and pink from the sunset.

Since it was summer, the sun went down really late. Elise thought that must be the reason why they didn't remember the time when they chatted after not seeing each other for months. The last time they were together was in winter where the day was short and night came early.

Loriel thought the same thing. It was late. Ahh... where did the time go?

The king rose from his seat and wiped his forehead. The king only realized that he was dirty after the long trip. He needed to take a bath and change his clothes.

However, there was unwillingness in his heart to part with Elise. They had just seen each other after a long time being separated.

The separation was not a bad thing for this part. In a way, it was something that they decided individually but with the tacit understanding that they needed the space and time to be alone. Loriel was grieving, and so was she.

Seeing him... pained her. So, Elise was relieved when Loriel left for the long expedition. That means she didn't have to force herself to see him and acted like everything was okay because... she was not okay.

At the same time, she also didn't want to show her vulnerable side to him.

He already worked hard to love her when she was beautiful, in good health, and looking amazing... how much harder it would be for him to take her if he witnessed her looking depressed, lifeless, and didn't take care of her appearance?

No... Elise would rather die than let her husband see her in that state.

In fact... if she could die with her baby, she would, rather than living in pain and sorrow, while being the worst version of herself.

But if she died too... Loriel would be left with no one. Her husband was an orphan who didn't even have friends, and his older sisters all hated him.

Elise knew Loriel was actually a good man and she loved him to bits. So, she couldn't bear to leave him alone.

Elise realized after a while that she just needed time to be herself again, so she could heal, and then maybe rebuild their life together. 

Fortunately, Loriel was thinking the same thing and he went away temporarily, finding something to do to distract his mind from the debilitating sadness. He needed time to be alone and gather his thoughts.

After five months, Loriel was finally ready to go home. He was prepared to meet a sad wife and, perhaps, his mental capacity was now enough to console her. He didn't expect to see Elise looking much better than before.

Instead of consoling his wife, secretly, Loriel felt that he was the one who felt consoled just by seeing her smile and listening to her melodious voice.

He felt all warm and fuzzy inside when he was sitting beside her and talking to her about his five-month expedition. He didn't remember the time passed by so quickly and now it's suddenly already 10 pm.

"Yeah... it's late," Loriel affirmed her words. 

Elise looked at him with her beautiful emerald eyes, curious to know why he looked so reluctant to leave the dining room.

"You must be tired," Elise said with her soft voice. "Do you want me to ask the servants to prepare your bathwater?"

Loriel nodded weakly. "Yeah. That will be great. Thank you."

Elise smiled. "I will talk to them."

She rose from her seat and walked out of the dining room. When she reached the door, she turned around to see him. "Good night, Loriel."

Loriel was suddenly moved from his reverie and he sauntered toward her. "What are you going to do? Are you tired too?"

Elise didn't understand why he asked her that question. It was late. So, of course, she would go to her chamber and get ready to rest.

She had trouble sleeping since the tragedy, but she could take a sleeping potion from Zaff and use her time to meditate while waiting for the drug to take effect and she fell asleep.

"I..." She looked doubtful with her answer. "I'm not tired, but..."

Why did her husband ask if she was tired? She wasn't tired because she didn't do any hard work.

Everyone in the palace was quick to beg her to rest and not do any physical work whenever they saw her trying to do something. They said the king would punish them if they let her do any work.

So... Elise wasn't tired. She wasn't sleepy either. But it's late and she didn't know what to do after the night set in and everyone around her went to sleep.

"But...?" Loriel walked closer and now their bodies almost touched. Elise batted her eyes in surprise. From this angle, her husband's face looked extremely handsome with the final rays of sunset illuminating from behind him. He looked so dreamy.

Elise felt her heart flutter. She bit her lip and looked at him with confusion. "But it's late... so, I... I have to go to my chamber, and..."

"And?"

Loriel still chased her for an answer.

"And... I will take my sleeping potion, it helps me to fall asleep, and then I will sleep," Elise finally explained. "

"Oh... you have insomnia?" Loriel furrowed his brows. "Since when?"

He immediately regretted his question after he uttered it. He should have guessed that his wife must have had sleeping problems after the miscarriage.

No... it was not really a miscarriage, because she gave birth to their daughter. It's just that the baby came out stillborn.

"I just can't sleep lately," Elise looked away. "It's fine. Zaff's potion helps a lot."

"You shouldn't take the same potion too many times because it will lose its potency," Loriel said. His heart ached when he heard Elise now had to rely on medicine just to sleep.

It was already five months and she still suffered so much.

"I... don't really have a choice," Elise admitted, still not looking in his direction.

She didn't want to cry before him just because she was suffering and couldn't sleep. Wasn't she already looking better today? They could talk and share their news without shedding any tears. She didn't want to crumble and become engulfed in sadness again.

She added, "I need the sleep."

Loriel touched her chin gently and tugged it to face him. His words were sincere when he spoke, "I am sorry to hear that. It must be so hard on you."

Elise batted her eyes so her tears wouldn't stream down her face. "Thank you."

Their eyes locked and even though Elise wanted to look away to hide her tears, Loriel's fingers still tugged her chin. So, she could only look at him. Loriel wanted to say something but there were no words came out of his lips.

Elise thought he must have something important to say, so she waited and looked at him deeply. What was it that he found so hard to utter?

There was only silence for a few moments. 

"Taking a hot bath helps with sleeping problems,"  Loriel suddenly said after he struggled to find the right words. "If you have insomnia, taking a hot bath to relax your body and mind will work wonders. Have you tried it?"

He added, "Use some special salt in the bathwater and aromatherapy scented candles to calm your mind and, perhaps... a cup of red wine." 

Elise closed her eyes and imagined taking a bath with hot water, relaxing salt, and aromatherapy candles. It did feel calming when she thought about it. 

"I tried the hot water and special salt, but never with the aromatherapy candles," she opened her eyes and said to Loriel. "That does sound wonderful."

"It will be better to add many flower petals. I think we can add some jacaranda flowers, roses, and many other flowers from the garden," Loriel suggested. "Flower bath. That's what they call it in Belem, this is the country where I tried it for the first time. It's very relaxing and beat any sleeping potion every time."

"Very well..." Elise smiled sweetly. "Thank you for the advice, Your Majesty. I will try it and let you know if that works."

"It will work, trust me," Loriel removed his fingers from her chin. This time he was the one who looked away. "It will work."

His mind suddenly imagined his wife taking a flower bath, her beautiful body naked under the hot water, with the only lighting provided by several aromatherapy scented candles.

Gosh.. he still remembered how sexy she looked, naked under him, panting for breath after making love for several rounds.

After every exhausting intercourse, usually, Elise would be tired and curled up in his embrace, and she would sleep like a baby until morning.

"Well... then, let me ask Alina to prepare bathwater for me," Elise bowed down her head a little and smiled. "And... Horatio will prepare for you too."

Loriel swallowed hard and turned to look at Elise again. He finally found the right words to say. "Don't you think it's a lot of hassle for our servants to prepare two bathwaters?"

Elise looked at Loriel with bulged eyes. She was not dumb and could understand what her husband was hinting at. Her heart pounded immediately. She nodded softly and replied, "Yeah... it's a hassle."

"Let's just ask them to prepare one bath. We can take a bath together," Loriel said firmly. "That way we can save water."

.

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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:

I am publishing the final chapters for "The Cursed King" for the next few days. The book will conclude by the end of this week or early next week. Therefore, I have changed the Privilege Tier for December to only:

Tier 1 with 1 coin for 2 advanced chapters and 

Tier 2 with 100 coins for 38 advanced chapters

I will not set the book to complete immediately because I want to publish some bonus chapters in the future (their life together, possible kids, etc). If I set it to complete after the story ends by end of this week, I cannot publish the side stories the way I want it.

So, please understand that in order for me to do it, I will have to leave the book open until I can write the bonus chapters (possibly on January '22).

That means, if you only read this book using fast passes, you will be able to get all the chapters in January because the privilege will be dispensed out.

In December, if you want to read immediately, you can just purchase the privilege on W e b n o v e l app.. I have lowered the price to be only 100 coins for 38 advanced chapters.