The Cursed King

When Alexei heard Elise admit the reasons why she wanted to know about her past, he felt a wave of sadness overcome him. Even though Alexei was not a parent, he knew what it was like to grow up without any parents at all.

"So you've forgotten about your children?" he asked with a sympathetic voice.

Elise smiled pitifully. "I don't know if they're even alive at all. I just want to know what happened… and if they're okay. Even if they hate me for forgetting about them, then it's okay. I deserve the hatred. What kind of mother am I?"

Alexei shook his head. "I don't think they'd hate you if they knew what happened. I think the most important question besides figuring out your memories is knowing who did this to you."

"Did this to me?" Elise looked up at Alexei's face.

Alexei nodded. "Yes, I doubt the reason why you forgot about your previous pregnancies is a simple matter. You forgot about your powers and even memories of the past, someone else must be at work for this."

Elise didn't think too much about it before, but Alexei was right.

If someone did this to Elise… it was an unforgivable thing for them to do. Elise suffered so much not knowing who she was, living under a new name and learning about what it was to become Madeline York when Elise was her own person.

Elise even forgot about her pregnancies, her name… it was impossible for Elise to even feel like herself anymore, knowing that there were too many things that were hidden from her.

"Are you okay, Elise?" Alexei asked but then winced. "Forget about it, it's a stupid question of mine. Of course, you're not okay."

Elise smiled a little and sighed deeply. "I'm far from okay, but this is like pulling out a bandaid from an already healed wound. It's a necessary process."

"About that, I'm actually curious… Now that you know about this, what about your husband?" Alexei asked. "I don't want to pry, but all of this changes and information is bound to make you second-guess yourself, right?"

"That's…" 

"I know it's quite mean to say this when you've already married the guy, but if you were pregnant twice before… then doesn't that also mean that you have had a husband or lover in the past?" Alexei asked. "I just want to say that it sounds complicated."

Elise raised a hand to her forehead and threw a look at Alexei. "You know, I wasn't even trying to think about that. But I like to think that even if the old me wouldn't have been with Loriel today, the fact that I love him right now is all that matters."

Alexei raised a brow and then whistled a little. "That's some kind of love."

Elise blushed a little before looking down hard at the table. 

"I know I said that, but I'm afraid of going back to Loriel and him finding out about all of this. I don't want him to think of me as some kind of freak."

"You're not a freak, Elise," Alexei said. "If you were one, then it meant that I'm one as well, and as far as I know, I'm actually a pretty cool god."

"God?" Elise furrowed her brows.

Alexei cleared his throat and then smiled smugly. "I told you, people in the past called us gods and goddesses. Many people actually worship me as the god of war for a long time… heheh.."

Realizing that his explanation only made Elise become more confused, Alexei waved his hand and pretended he didn't mention anything about him being worshipped in the past.

"You are not a freak," he said curtly. "I won't allow you to think about yourself that way."

Elise looked at Alexei deeply. She realized even though his words sounded like a scolding, he uttered them endearingly. Elise couldn't argue with him.

"You're really silly," Elise chuckled a little before shaking her head. "I guess all that's left is waiting for your friend, right? They must be really powerful to have the ability to restore memory."

Alexei nodded. "Actually I don't know if he could restore your memory, but even if he couldn't, I am sure he would know someone who could, or he would be able to tell us how."

"What is he to you?" Elise asked Alexei curiously. "Does he have powers like us?"

"Yes. He's one of the bests," Alexei replied. "He is like a father to me. He practically raised me."

"Raised you?" 

Alexei gave Elise a side-eye and chided, "What? Did you think I am made of a rock?"

"Ohh…" Elise suddenly facepalmed herself. 

She just realized she must have thought all these immortals didn't have parents. Gosh.. of course, they did. They were just like humans, but immortals. They must have parents and family too.

"I am sorry for being insensitive," Elise cleared her throat. "Where were your parents? Why didn't they raise you?"

"It's a long story and I don't want to bore you," Alexei chuckled. His carefree and nonchalant attitude was in contrast to Elise who was despondent. 

"I understand," Elise took a deep breath. She didn't want to probe further because Alexei didn't seem to want to share with her about his family life. Besides, she had her own problem to worry about.

Elise was wondering what Loriel was doing now. He must have read her letter. Would he understand that Elise needed to do this? Or would he immediately try to look for her?

Somehow, Elise had a feeling that her husband would exert all his power and connection to locate her. She was not sure of what Loriel was capable of, but he was close to Marc and Marc had the resources to do whatever.

She glanced at her phone in her bag and let out a sigh of relief. Elise intentionally turned it off because she didn't want Loriel to call her and locate her. She needed this time to be alone, and think,  before she could see him and tell him everything.

"I need some air," she said weakly. 

Alexei pointed at the sliding door behind him. "That's the balcony if you want to get air."

"Thank you," Elise muttered. She slid the door to the right and then walked out to the balcony. Actually, there was nothing fresh about the air in New York. It was just an excuse to get out and be alone with her thoughts.

The air quality outside was just bad. At least, inside the penthouse, they had an air purifier running.

When Elise turned to look at Alexei again, she saw Loriel in the air.