The Cursed King

"You don't have to copy simply because it's my hobby and I know you love cooking, but reading is infinitely interesting. There's a plethora of information and knowledge available within your fingertips." Loriel agreed with Elise in the end.

"I do love baking and cooking, but sitting down with a good book is great too," Elise said. "I tend to read articles online when work isn't too much at the company during my breaks."

"Well, if you want a book, one can actually even buy the digital copies here."

"But a real book is still better than an online version," Elise told Loriel with a small smile. "I love holding a hard copy of a book in my hands... plus the book smell, too. That's irreplaceable.."

"Now that you mentioned that, do you prefer the smell of new books or old ones?"

"Both, actually," Elise said. Her time as Madeline York mostly allowed her to enjoy the books she had in her old home. "Although, there's something unique with old book smells."

"That's actually because of the compounds that are released once they break down," Loriel explained. "Lignin, which is present in all wood-based paper, is closely related to vanillin. As it breaks down, the lignin grants old books a very faint vanilla scent."

"Oh, so that was what it was?"

"Yes."

"That's quite interesting." Elise smiled and looked around the library with a smile. "I wonder if it'd be weird to get caught sniffing books."

"Knowing how bibliophiles and bookworms are... I don't think it's that strange." Loriel chuckled. "But if you do want to smell something aromatic then there's also another place here in the library besides the bookstore."

"You mean the cafe?"

"That's right. We can borrow some books and find ourselves a nook to stay in if you'd like." Loriel told her. "We can have a slow day if you'd like Elise. We will visit Lisbon after this, so we can also go to Mosteiro dos Jerónimos to see the architecture there or Oceanário de Lisboa."

Elise thought about it and then smiled. "Maybe we can stay here for a bit and then visit those places? The monastery also seems peaceful while I heard that the aquarium here is one of the largest in Europe."

"It's indeed quite large. When I checked out their website earlier, the place features and recreates the ecosystems of the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and Antarctic oceans."

"Yeah, I think I'd love to go there after this. But first the cafe?"

"Let's go then."

The cafe was really cozy and Elise felt happy to be able to relax there once they finished exploring. Loriel went over to one of the huge bookshelves containing the books that the café owner had.

He found some books that he thought that Elise might want to read and then came back to sit with her.

Loriel offered her the book to which she gladly accepted. "Here you go. If there's anything that caught your interest. I'll buy them. Actually, I should just do that now."

"Thank you, Loriel. I love this one."

The newlyweds enjoyed a really slow day with books and each other. Elise leaned on Loriel's broad shoulder and sat leisurely while reading her book. It felt like home.

As promised, after they were satisfied with Mount Pico, Loriel took Elise to Lisbon. This capital city of Portugal was the home to many old historical properties. Magellan, the first man to travel around the world to prove the claim that the earth was round was from Portugal.

Even though he died in the Philippines and his team was led to finish the journey by his second in command, Sebastian Del Cano, Magellan's contribution was what eventually brought Portugal so much glory.

After the expedition, Portugal sent more ships to Asia and Latin America and got themselves many new colonies that gave them so much gold, spices, and whatnot.

For a period of time, the world was actually divided into two by the Pope. The first half belonged to Portugal and another half belonged to Spain.

Loriel witnessed the course of history happened as he lived his life as an immortal. Seeing the remnants of the past in the historical parts of Lisbon, he felt like reliving those moments.

"I did read a little bit about it," Elise nodded when she heard Loriel's story on what happened in Portugal hundreds of years ago. "You know so much! Wow.... how many books have you read in your life, hubby?"

When Loriel explained everything to Elise, the woman was very impressed. She thought he knew so much because he was an avid reader. Loriel only smiled when he heard her.

He didn't remember how many books. Must be... millions? 

However, everything that he shared with her didn't come from books. Loriel knew those facts personally or he heard it from a second or third-hand party.

Books were not even accurate because history was written by the winner. They could depict a situation differently for their own gain, or smear someone's reputation from the past if the ruler didn't like the person.

Just see how the amazing Catherine the Great of Russia was always portrayed as a sex fiend who died while she was having sex with her gigolo because the next ruler hated her gut.

Loriel only shrugged. "Too many books, I don't remember anymore, but I always remember good stories."

"Well... you do have good stories to tell." Elise agreed. "I love listening to them."

Loriel's eyes lit up. "You do? You don't find me boring and showing off and talk too much?"

He was a cool and aloof man, but when he was with Elise, he just wanted to talk and shared with her everything he knew about the world and the places they were visiting. He was glad Elise enjoyed it too.

"No... I like it," Elise smiled sheepishly. "You are so smart."

Loriel grinned and continued to recount the history of Lisbon as they walked hand in hand around the city center. They had a great time in Lisbon and made a day trip to Sintra. And finally, it was time to leave

***

Their next honeymoon destination was Italy. 

Loriel and Elise went to Venice for their famous gondola rides. Loriel actually disliked seeing those couple riding gondolas whenever he was in this city. He always complained that the city was too touristy and the couples looking all lovey-dovey was an eyesore.

BUT… now that he had his wife with him, Loriel had turned into exactly the type of people he hated seeing. He had this silly grin on his face as he wrapped his arm around Elise's waist and walked with her all around the city of water.

Ahh... it felt good to have the woman you loved by your side to enjoy all these romantic scenes Venice had to offer.

Loriel even halted his steps when they reached the canal and closed his eyes to inhale the air. The air quality in this modern times was so bad for his standard, especially in touristy places, but today, it didn't matter to him.

The sky was blue, the city was beautiful, the air was tolerable. As long as he had Elise with him… life was good.

The two of them strolled through the city and finally reached the port. Not needing any tour guides at all, Loriel already proved to be a competent person, rich in knowledge about the sights and history of the country.

Elise, on the other hand, was the one who helped them navigate using the map on her phone. It was a team effort in this trip. Even though Loriel knew the city like the back of his hand, he didn't show off as much as he would have wanted it. 

He knew if he took over everything, Elise would feel like she was a passive participant in their adventure. So, he pretended to be bad at direction in Italy because he rarely came to this part of the world. Elise gladly used her phone to guide them to find the must-see places in Venice.

"If I remember correctly, it was estimated that there were eight to ten thousand gondolas during the 17th and 18th century," Loriel explained. "Now it's much fewer than before."

"The fact that some still survive today is amazing though," Elise said and squeezed his hand. "Thank you so much for taking me here and see Venice. I can't help but imagine how hard it is to procure one nowadays."

"I've managed to get in touch with an old friend that keeps a few private gondolas to himself. He was more than happy to let us use it for our honeymoon."

"What? How amazing!" Elise was very impressed. "Do you think we can meet him and thank him for this?"

"Oh, he's currently out of the country. Don't worry about him." Loriel silently thanked himself for being the owner of those gondolas since he bought a few back in the day. He smiled and continued, "We can ride a gondola tomorrow if you want. Would you like that?"

  "Yes, yes... I would love that!"

"Okay. Then, I will give you the best gondola experience," said Loriel. "You can rely on me."

Elise was so excited. She tip-toed and kissed Loriel on the lips. "I love you."

"I love you more," said Loriel. He wrapped both arms around her waist and hugged her tightly. "If you want, I can buy the whole Venice for you."

Elise laughed at that and asked him. "What are we going to do with a city?"

Loriel shrugged. "I don't know. You can rule it and be the queen."

Elise thought he was joking and laughed. Loriel was not joking, of course, but he didn't continue the matter.

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From the author:

Thank you so much for supporting this book and purchasing the privilege. We have crossed 10k unlocks in August '21 and you will get 12% rebate from your coins spent on this book. I hope you will keep supporting Loriel and Elise in September.

Much love!

- MRB