The Cursed King

He watched her cook in glee. The man was so engrossed in watching her cooking that he forgot to sip his wine. Elise cut the chicken into small pieces and washed them.

Her movement was awkward at first, but then she became more confident.  Several times, Loriel winced his forehead, worried that she would hurt herself, but he managed to hold back from taking over the cooking.

He must let Elise do what she wanted to do. If he always did things for her, treated her like a helpless child, she would feel smothered and he didn\'t want that.

So, sometimes he held his breath, and sometimes he looked away when Elise almost cut her fingers. Luckily, it didn\'t happen.

"Pour some salt and spring onion slices," she muttered while reading the instruction on her phone screen. The soup was almost done and they could smell it in the air.

"What\'s for the starter?" Loriel asked when he saw Elise turned off the stove. He just realized that it looked like soup was the only thing they would eat for dinner.

Elise pressed her lips in surprise. "Oh, you are right! I haven\'t prepared any..."

She was too busy getting the soup ready that she didn\'t remember to make other dishes. Loriel just smiled when he saw her reaction. He went to the fridge and took out some big red tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, basil, and some dried oregano.

"I can make Caprese salad for us," he said reassuringly.

The man sliced the tomatoes and placed them nicely on a tray. Then he sliced mozzarella cheese and put it on top of the tomato slices, added basil leaves, sprinkled some dried oregano, a tiny bit of salt and pepper, and.. voila!

He gave one to Elise. "Try this."

Elise took the Caprese salad and ate it. Her face instantly lit up and she smiled happily.

"This is so delicious!" she gushed. "And you made them in less than five minutes! That\'s amazing!"

Loriel was elated by her compliment. "Italian food is the best. As long as we have fresh ingredients, we can make delicious dishes using very simple recipes. In my opinion, less is more."

Elise looked at Loriel in awe as the man explained about several simple dishes he liked. This man reminded her of her baking teacher, Chef Lucy, when he was passionately explaining stuff about pastries.

"You told me you will teach me how to cook," Elise said. "I am so excited to learn."

"We can do it this weekend if you want," said Loriel. "I can prepare the list of simple dishes you can make."

"I would love that!"

"All right. Now, let\'s have dinner." Loriel winked and brought the tray of Caprese salad to the dining table, together with the wine bottle. He returned to get plates, cutlery, and glasses for them.

Ten minutes later, they were already sitting at the dining table, facing their dinner. They had bread, Caprese Salad, sliced fruits that Loriel took from the fridge, and chicken soup.

"Bon appetit," Loriel said after he scooped the soup into two bowls and gave one to Elise.

"Thank you." Elise didn\'t dare to look at Loriel when she accepted her soup because the man already took off his apron but he still had not changed his boardshorts into shirts and pants like usual. 

She kept wondering why the man didn\'t feel cold, being shirtless at this hour. She didn\'t complain though, because his chiseled physique was a feast to her eyes, a bonus to this lovely dinner they were having.

After he had enough of the salad, Loriel tasted the soup in his bowl. He was curious to know how Elise fared in cooking.

The man winced. It looked like Elise sprinkled the salt a little bit too much. However, he kept his cool and kept eating.

"What do you think?" Elise asked Loriel\'s opinion on her cooking when she saw the man had started eating the soup. "Do you like it?"

The soup is horrible, Loriel said these words only in his mind. With his lips, he replied excitedly, "I love it!"

"Oh... that\'s a relief," Elise\'s eyes lit up in excitement and pride. She was happy she could contribute to their dinner from now on. She was determined to practice some more, so her cooking skills could be improved.

Loriel quickly finished his bowl of soup and added another big scoop to his empty bowl. Elise was so delighted to see the man enjoy her cooking voraciously.

She actually thought the taste was bad. It was a bit salty. However, seeing how much Loriel liked eating it, unconsciously her mind thought the soup must be good.

"Ahh... I am full," Loriel stretched his body and grinned. "Such a good dinner."

"If you like it so much, I can make it again tomorrow," said Elise sheepishly. 

"I\'d love that," Loriel responded. "However, let\'s try something new so we can expand our palates."

"Ah, okay."

"Let\'s talk about the menu tomorrow. I would love to share with you my favorite recipes."

"That will be wonderful, thank you!"

After dinner was over, they chilled out a little bit with wine in their hands. Elise shared how her day went, and Loriel lied about how he was hard at work, talking with his financial and asset manager on trying to recover his wealth.

"Basically, I will be rich again," he explained to Elise. 

"Oh.. that\'s wonderful," said Elise. "I am happy for you."

"Ahaha.. thank you."  Loriel was impressed by himself for being able to utter lies so easily. He finished his wine and got up. "I will shower and get changed. What about you?"

Elise also hadn\'t changed her work attire into a more comfortable outfit. She thought taking a bath after dinner sounded like a good idea. Well, dinner actually ended half an hour ago.

This was a perfect time to relax her muscle in a nice warm bath and then got ready to sleep.  She also got up.

"I will take a bath and sleep," Elise said. "Good night. Loriel."

Uff...

Loriel gulped when he heard her response. Why did she have to mention that she wanted to take a bath?

Now, all he could think about was her sexy naked body... sitting in the bathtub, immersed in the sweet-smelling foamy bathwater.

As Elise walked to her room, Loriel opened a new bottle of red wine and poured himself a big glass of wine. He downed it in frustration.