Hilde huffed and then stared down at Elise. "I did nothing wrong to apologize for."

"If you refuse to apologize then I suppose there's no more reason to stay here any longer," Loriel said as he stood up. "I should have left with Elise the moment when I first saw you."

"Wait, are you for real?" Hilde stared up at Loriel. "You can't just leave me like this."

"Elise, I'm sorry." Loriel apologized to Elise and hoped that this wasn't something that would make a rift in between their relationship.

"It's alright, Loriel. Let's just leave first." Elise grabbed Loriel's hand and left Hilde alone..

After everything tonight, this was the final blow that was unacceptable. Hilde mentioned something that really did ruin Elise and Loriel's life in the past.

Trust was a precious thing between a husband and his wife.

When Elise figured out that Loriel married Elise because of Emmelyn, she was devastated back then. Somehow, the way that Elise reacted made Loriel think as if there was still a lingering amount of hurt in her chest.

Even though Elise's mind did not remember, did her heart still remember it?

Loriel hoped that it was just his imagination.

"Are you okay, honey?" Loriel asked. The two of them returned to their hotel room and sat down on the couches to relax.

"I'm fine, Loriel," Elise reassured him with a smile. "Let's just have a moment to breathe, okay?"

"I'll get you something to drink. Maybe something hot?" Loriel offered. He couldn't sit still after everything that transpired back then.

A part of him knew that he needed to make it up to his wife and that a long conversation was overdue.

"...I guess that's fine too." Elise nodded.

The entire fashion show was a long night and both of them were deep in their thoughts. Both Loriel and Elise did not want to think that the end of their honeymoon would turn out into something terrible like this.

While Loriel prepared their drinks, choosing to make hot chocolate which now seemed like a comfort drink for the both of them. He returned to Elise's side with the determination to make things better.

In Loriel's perspective, it was all because of Hilde arriving, while in Elise's eyes, it was both Alexei's and Hilde's arrival that made Elise on edge about everything.

"Honey, I don't want you to look back on this trip and not have fond memories because of what happened back there," Loriel told his wife as he handed her the mug of hot chocolate.

Loriel wanted to be honest and transparent about his feelings now.

Elise tentatively smiled at Loriel and wished she could tell him that she was alright. That she wasn't bothered in the slightest by how Hilde reacted and treated her back then.

When they were with Hilde and out in the public, Elise did her best to bottle in her emotions… now she could finally speak up.

"Loriel, there are actually a lot of things on my mind right now and I don't know what to say to you," Elise said. She had a lot of questions about Hilde and Loriel's relationship, but she didn't know how to say it properly without sounding accusing.

"Please listen to what I have to say though, if possible? You don't have to say anything at all if I could just have your attention." Loriel asked. "Or would you like to be left alone first to gather your thoughts?"

"...I'll listen to what you have to say, Loriel."

"Thank you, honey."

This wasn't Loriel walking on eggshells, but he was immensely worried about how Elise would now take things.

"So let's hear it." Elise lifted the cup of hot chocolate up to her lips and took a long sip. "What do you have to say, Loriel?"

There was a touch of hurt in Elise's voice.

It was something that made Loriel's heart ache.

Elise no longer remembered the time when she spent the entirety of her younger years to be a devoted wife when Loriel was king, but Elise still loved him so Hilde's appearance was shocking at least.

Devastating at most.

Or maybe Elise was angry? Loriel had never seen Elise mad before, so it was difficult to gauge the expression on her face as he collected his thoughts and prepared himself to tell the truth.

"What Hilde said about the competition before was the truth. We did participate in it together, but we weren't as friendly as she tried to make it out to be," Loriel said. "She was trying to get under your skin because she used to like me."

"Used to like you?" Elise raised a brow at Loriel's word and tried not to scoff. Based on how Hilde acted, the woman was still infatuated with Loriel and the man simply acted as if nothing was happening. "And you still accepted her offer to teach you Italian food despite that?"

Loriel winced.

Elise placed her cup on the table as she glanced away from Loriel. "I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't be poking into the relationship as it was all in the past. All of this happened before you met me… so I shouldn't be questioning it, right?"

Loriel knew that was not the truth. The reason why Hilde even knew about Elise in the first place was when he tried to turn the woman down before… but Loriel couldn't say that.

"Elise, you have the right to learn about me. You're my wife, and I want to be completely transparent with you. I want our relationship to be built on trust and love, where the two of us have nothing to hide from each other."

It was now Elise who paused and froze slightly at Loriel's words.

A relationship where the two of them didn't have to hide anything from each other?

Elise wished that was possible and she knew that Loriel was trying his best to be truthful. Loriel had been nothing but good to her and was even initiating this conversation when all Elise wanted to do was go back to their bedroom and sleep it over.

Her husband shouldn't be with someone who kept secrets.