Meanwhile, Loriel tried so hard to close his eyes. It was hard to sleep when the woman he loved, the one he had been waiting for his whole life, was only dozens of meters away from him.

He had never had another woman in his life after Elise left him. His heart was frozen and impossible to thaw.

Only her love, her melodious voice, and her sweet laughter could make his heart feel something again. That was what happened the moment he saw her under the cafe awning, reaching out her hand to touch the raindrops.

When she introduced herself as Elise, that was when all the walls in Loriel's heart crumbled. That was why he was so sure that this woman was Elise.

No one has this effect on him, but her.

Loriel only needed confirmation that it was her, which he would get tomorrow morning, as soon as Marc went to the hostel to get her identity.

The anticipation made Loriel giddy, he couldn't sleep even though he tried and took two sleeping pills - something he never did before.

The man kept tossing and turning in his bed, trying so hard to get rid of her image from his eyes so he could sleep.

Ah, he really missed hugging her in his arms. He missed kissing her luscious lips and making sweet, sweet love to her.

Loriel was fully aware that even though tomorrow he would know that Elise was truly his wife, she would still think of him as a stranger. A kind stranger, but still a stranger.

Their relationship might develop slowly into friendship, and after gods know how long, maybe she would finally trust him and opened her heart for him.

Loriel decided that he would immediately investigate her circumstance and found out how did Elise lose her memory and if her condition could be cured.

Since the stupid Time Master was dead, Loriel might have to chase other gods from Cretea and forced them to give him information.

He had not seen any gods for centuries. He didn't like them and they didn't like him, so it was best if they all kept their distance.

However, they might know what happened to Elise and how she could recover her memory. That way, Loriel could really have his Elise back, fully and completely. So, they could stop acting like they were strangers, as they were now.

This was what happened when they were strangers to each other. He didn't get to hold his wife and tell her how much he loved her. He had to hold back and kept things to himself.

Ahh... even though Elise was his wife, she would keep sleeping in the guestroom like tonight, instead of in his loving arms.

It felt so close, yet so far.

This reminded Loriel of their sleeping arrangement after they got married. He was the one who insisted that they should sleep separately because… they were only husband and wife in name.

Now, as he was lying down in his bed, Loriel was thinking, how did his wife feel back then?

She must be feeling the same thing he was feeling now. She had to hold back and kept things to herself.

He was such a jerk, he thought.

He KNEW she loved him. He was not dumb nor was he a naive youth who couldn't recognize love in a woman's eyes.

From the moment she saw him, Loriel could see that Elise was in love with him, which was quite strange because they just met. How could she fall in love with a man she barely knew?

That was one thing that became a turn-off for Loriel. He had no respect for a woman who didn't have a mind of her own. How could she obey her parents who wanted her to marry a stranger?

Didn't she have her own feelings? Didn't she have a life? An ambition? She was too mindless.

The only thing attractive about her was her physical beauty. Loriel had been living for over fifteen centuries and he still had not met anyone more beautiful than Elise.

Unfortunately, beauty alone was not enough to capture Loriel's heart. He was a well-traveled, well-educated man who had seen the world before he became king and he needed a partner who could be his equal.

He thought Elise couldn't match him in that regard. She spent her whole life in Myreen and that kingdom was hidden for over a century. She had no real-life experience outside of Myreen.

So, when she came to Summeria, she was like a country bumpkin, compared to other women in the capital.

Oh, how wrong he was. Loriel only found out after she left how amazing his wife actually was. She traveled on her own from Myreen to Summeria and saved two kingdoms from monsters with her own hands during her journey.

She was a powerful witch who didn't like to brag about her powers. She liked to stay humble and let other people take the credit for the amazing things that she did.

In fact… Loriel was embarrassed when he remembered how it took him seven years to reach the holy mountain Cretea to get the immortality potion, slaying monsters and gods here and there, while Elise entered it in less than two weeks.

If this woman who slept in the guestroom was truly his Elise, Loriel would tell her how much he admired her guts, her bravery, her kindness, and her powers.

And he would apologize, for the words he said to her, on that night. He didn't mean to hurt her feelings. He didn't know she was feeling broken inside when he told her the reason why he married her.

How could he know? He was not a sensitive man. And he had spent seven years and fifteen centuries regretting that one sentence.

If Elise truly forgot about him, he would work hard to make her remember him again. He would do whatever it takes to show her that he was a changed man.

He would prove himself to her and beg her to take him back.

Hopefully, he could make her remember him again and fall in love with him again. And then, they will live together as husband and wife, getting their happily ever after.

And when she was ready, Loriel would ask Elise to let him know what happened to their child.