"This is amazing," Elise muttered over and over again. She turned around with both her palms were open to receive the jacaranda flower petals. "So beautiful..!"

Loriel smiled at his handiwork. For him, controlling the weather or the plants were piece of cake.

Anything for Elise.

He would do anything to make her smile.

Oh, she was so beautiful and adorable, that Loriel couldn't hold himself and with a wave of his hand, he created more breeze to blew those flower petals into the air.

More and more people were taking pictures and videos of the amazing nature phenomenon.

It was like a rain of flowers. Now, not only the Jacaranda flowers but also some roses, lilies, and even tulips. It was truly magical.

"Did you see that? So beautiful...." Elise gushed to Loriel

The man nodded with a smile. His eyes never left her. "Yes, so beautiful..."

And he would kiss her and make love to her. Gosh, he missed her body so much.

He still remembered their first night together. She was shy like a kitten. They only had sex after they were already married for six months.

Before that day, he didn't touch her. One of his excuses was he was too busy with his work as the king since they were facing a rebellion from one of his brothers-in-law who wanted to usurp power.

Loriel was the only son of the previous king. He had five older sisters who all married important noblemen or princes from lesser kingdoms who became their colonies.

They all were eyeing for the throne and one was bold enough to rebel when Loriel became the king.

Even though by birth Loriel was the only rightful heir to the throne, initially he was not interested in power. He was more into adventures and wanted to live in freedom.

If he took the throne, that meant he would be responsible for the lives of millions of people. That's why he decided to run away from home and lived outside the palace wall.

He enjoyed the freedom and lived life to the fullest. On the road, he met his kindred spirit. She was a princess from across the ocean who left her kingdom in search of adventures too. They immediately clicked.

Oh, all the shenanigans they did together were so much fun! Right then, Loriel knew, he had found the one.

She was the girl he could love and someday wish to marry.

The best thing about her? She didn't even know who he was.

Loriel kept his identity a secret because he didn't want the girl to treat him differently just because he was the crown prince of Summeria, the biggest empire in the Atlantean continent.

He gave her his childhood name, the one his mother often called him with. That was the name that he considered sacred that he didn't want Elise to know and say. It was only for that woman that Loriel loved with all his heart.

Gosh.. that reminded him, how cold he was treating Elise in the first month of their marriage. Back then he was still fixated on that woman.

Loriel couldn't accept the fact that he was betrothed to Elise since before they were born. He thought she was the wall that hindered him from getting his happiness.

Loriel only married her out of duty because his mother made him promise to accept Elise and protect her after her parents passed away.

"You are only my wife by name," he remembered vividly the words he said that he would always regret until the day he died. "I don't love you. I only promise to care for you and to protect you for as long as we live. And I will keep my promise because I am a man of my word."

He said those words on the day of their wedding as he poured the wine into their cups and asked Elise to drink to finalize the wedding rituals.

Elise forced a smile as she tried hard to hold back her tears from falling down to her cheeks. "I understand."

"Good..." said Loriel as he handed one cup to Elise and took the other. "Let's drink and finish the wedding."

Elise took the cup from him and sipped the wine. She lowered her face so Loriel wouldn't see drops of tears fell from her eyes.

Finally, they were husband and wife.

"You can sleep here," Loriel said as he rose from his seat. "I will sleep in the other tower."

He intentionally chose a separate bedroom that was quite far from hers. He thought it would be good to avoid her as much as possible because... he was a normal man and she was freaking beautiful and alluring.

He was worried that he would be tempted to sleep with her if he saw her too often. This woman had a ridiculous womanly charm that was enough to make him aroused just by talking.

He didn't want to have sex with her because she would think she would get his heart. No, it was not right. He didn't love her, but he didn't want to hurt her feelings by giving her false hope.

He could sleep with her without love, but she would think he fell for her if they had sex.

It was not fair for Elise if he did it. She was not a comfort woman who was only there to satisfy his sexual needs.

If Loriel wanted to sleep with a woman, he would do it out of love.

He was not in love with Elise, that's why he had to hold back and avoid her and her ridiculous charm.

.

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>>>>>

From the author:

I am having so much fun writing this story because this is quite unique. This time, we will have a romance story but with a male main character. It's also not a typical story where the cold aloof man treated the woman badly, and then realized that he has fallen in love with her after she is gone.

Loriel is a good man. He tried so hard to treat Elise properly, even though back then he didn't love her.

Now, he is head over heels for her and is trying to woo her back, doing everything just for her, and to make her fall in love with him again, so they could be together.

The story will explore their relationship in the modern world and have many flashbacks to the past, to show how their love evolves and their characters grow.

If you have come to this story from "The Cursed Prince", I am sure you can recognize some elements. We will have so much fun exploring both stories at the same time.

If you haven't read "The Cursed Prince", I'd suggest you go there and read it because the book is FUNNY and filled with so much FLUFF.

It's not mandatory, of course, because this story is a standalone book. You don't need to read other books to understand this one. But, if you do read "The Cursed Prince", I think you will love it!

PS: What do you think about this story so far? I'd love to hear your thoughts. You can write it in the comments or write a review! xx

PPS: We'll probably have a snusnu (sex scene) in the next chapter.. hehehe. Would you like that? Let me know!