The Cursed King

Hilde did not want to earn Loriel's ire or hate… but simply giving away the address to other gods in New York? Knowing Loriel's personality and the edge in his voice right now, Hilde wouldn't be surprised if some kind of disaster would strike the city.

Loriel always knew how to be destructive when he wanted to.

This was ridiculous… Oh, wait, Hilde was at Alexei's penthouse right now!

"Hilde? Do you actually have any plans in paying back what you owe me or what?"

There was an impatience in Loriel's voice that made Hilde freeze up. 

"Uff… you are so petty. Any other men I know will gladly help a damsel in distress without expecting anything.."

"If you have something useful then spit it out. I don't have all day."

"Okay… let me try to remember." Finally, Hilde relented. She didn't have much choice but gave Loriel what he wanted. He asked for other gods' detail? Fine.

This was a good chance for Hilde to meet him too. She had been wanting to see him again after she found his track in Milan.

If Hilde gave this address to Loriel then the two of them would be able to meet. Hilde sincerely doubted that either Alexei or Baron would get caught up in Loriel's troubles.

So this was going to be a fruitless visit except for the fact that Loriel was going to meet Hilde.

"Oh wait a second, Loriel. I have some good news, I'm currently in contact with a young god in New York… Uhm, actually there are two. They might be able to help you," Hilde said, despite knowing that Alexei was gone to who knows where. "They're close enough to each other."

"Tell me where the address is."

"Of course, here it is." Hilde easily gave the address to Alexei's house and before she could even say anything else, Loriel hung up on her. "Loriel? You hung up? Really?"

Hilde tossed her phone to the wall in frustration. She wanted to get annoyed at the attitude and treatment of Loriel towards her, but the man was always like this. 

Uncaring and only concerned about whatever was important to him… 

Now, Hilde realized that Loriel coming here to Alexei's penthouse without the man would only infuriate him further.

Loriel would realize that Hilde tricked Loriel into coming here to see her.

"Hah… but isn't it funny?" Hilde whispered to herself. "The woman that you've tried so hard to find is once again missing? Shouldn't that be enough of a sign that the two of you are always destined to be apart?"

Compared to this Elise, Hilde was nothing but a supportive person to Loriel who challenged him in ways that was unlike anyone else before. Why couldn't Loriel see that?

***

After Loriel ended the call with Hilde, the former king quickly received a call from his nephew. When Marc Sanderman realized that Elise was missing, he immediately got Alex and him to work on the matter immediately.

It wasn't just the fact that his great-uncle demanded Marc to find Elise, it was also because Marc and Alex genuinely cared about Elise as well. When Marc asked Alex to start finding footage of Elise, Alex who was always dependable panicked for a good minute.

"Did you find anything?" Loriel demanded.

"Yes, uncle. I've sent the details to you."

"Will you just tell me where she is right now? I don't have time to read anything." Loriel was already on his feet and prepared to go out. 

"O-of course, uncle. Let me just gather it up."

Loriel's movements across his penthouse were rushed and yet in the stride of a man that was ready to go to war. Pott and Pebble were currently hiding underneath the sofa, watching Loriel run out of the penthouse to find his wife.

"Well, Marc?" Loriel clicked his tongue.

Marc honestly didn't know what to say at first.

It was thanks to the latest technology that took one photo of a person and matched it with the countless footage taken by the CCTV surveillance across New York that Marc Sanderman and Alex came across footage that made them stop in their tracks.

Just today, Elise was seen in downtown New York.

Elise met up with a handsome young man and then left with him after talking with the guy. Marc didn't want to assume the worst-case scenario that Elise was cheating on Loriel or anything, so instead, he sent the information to his grand uncle to avoid mentioning it.

But now Marc Sanderman was forced to report it.

"Based on where the footage ended, it seemed like the tracks ended in the more private district of NYC. They didn't want to freely give any surveillance there, and when we did get them, apparently, none of the cameras there were working. However, it helps narrow down the location where we can pinpoint Elise is."

Loriel crossed-checked the information with the address that Hilde gave him and found that they were in the very same location. Or at least the very same district.

If Loriel couldn't trust Hilde's words at first and thought it was just her trying to throw him off track, now he knew that there was some truth to it. But more than that, as he checked the footage that Marc sent him… Loriel made a conclusion.

The person that Elise met up with was the young god that Hilde was speaking of. How did the two of them meet each other? Loriel didn't have any clue but watching the video made his blood boil.

Was this all an attempt to lure Loriel out of hiding?

No. 

Loriel doubted the man knew about Loriel so what did they want with Elise? 

"Did they just think that they could kidnap my wife?" he muttered with clenched jaws.

Loriel was all-too-aware that some gods liked to have 'messengers' or 'men' to do their bidding and if Elise was in a state of not knowing who she was… it was far too easy to try and manipulate her.