The Cursed King

"No, not a maid!" Loriel quickly refuted her.

There was no way that he'd hire her to be a maid when by all means it was he who wanted to serve his wife by hand and foot. However, there was no other option for him to make her stay without making it strange and worrisome for her.

Elise glanced at the beautiful and luxurious penthouse.

The man's offer whether it was to be a maid or not was already quite a good one. If Elise could stay here for a while and simply clean things, then she didn't have to worry much about her accommodations.

"I just need you to tidy up things for me when I'm out of the house," Loriel said. He wanted to say that it was a bit similar to the old-fashioned ideal of when a man leaves to work and his wife stays home… but Elise didn't have to lift a finger at all.

He was no cluttered and messy person. Loriel loved clean and tidy and this penthouse had the most sophisticated home automation system.

Everything was cleaned and handled by an artificial intelligence household manager. In short, a computer.

The home automation system took care of everything for him from the moment he opened his eyes in the morning, until the moment he closed them to sleep at night.

This was such a fantastic technological advancement. When Loriel heard that this group called Rhionen Industries was developing the AI for household application, he asked Marc to buy some of their shares so he could support the initiatives.

This was a perfect technology for someone who disliked being surrounded by human workers. As soon as the prototype was available, Loriel was one of the first ones to use it.

It had been working well and he never needed to hire a housekeeper or cleaner ever again.

Even if Elise agreed to 'clean up' the penthouse, she wouldn't need to lift a finger.

She only needed to stay.

Elise currently looked lost in her thoughts. Loriel worried if he had come off too strong and it pushed the woman away from him… if it made her wary.

Loriel was suddenly worried that Elise would think he was being too pushy. She might suspect that he had a hidden agenda or a pervert who wanted to take advantage of a woman in distress.

And yet that wasn't exactly the case.

Instead, Elise was actually thinking about how much she liked the man. Loriel had been nothing but the most polite and gentlemanly person she had ever met.

She was not worried that this man would take advantage of her because even though she looked shy and meek… Elise could hold her own.

This man didn't know she was NOT a weak woman. Elise might need help to navigate the city, but if she was to encounter harassers… it was they who had to fear for their lives.

Being a capable woman made Elise feel more relaxed and could easily accept help from other people. She didn't suspect each and everyone who came to offer help. To her, they were all nice people until they weren't.

It was not good to be on her toes all the time and suspected everyone as bad people who tried to scam her. Some people might be sincere. She would miss out on meeting good people if she thought everyone was out to take advantage of her.

If they turned out to be evil and tried to hurt her, Elise would make sure they regret messing with her.

That's the good thing about being powerful. She could have more room for trusting people.

Elise imagined physically weaker women didn't have the luxury to think that everyone was innocent until proven guilty if they were stranded in a foreign place and many people offered them help. There were too many wolves in sheep's clothing in this world.

If women trusted the wrong people, they could end up harassed, abused, or even killed.

Now, so far, this man had been nothing but kind to her. He helped her reach Central Park. Thanks to him, she got the chance to see all the beautiful blossoming trees and flowers at that time.

Loriel actually spent the entire day with her and then he took her to the ramen shop. And when the hostel asked her to leave and she had no place to stay, the man brought her here.

Actually, even before that… the man offered to help her father. He mentioned that he knew top surgeons.

So, all this time Loriel had been showing kindness to her. She didn't see a reason to doubt his intention.

If this man needed some help in cleaning his penthouse, then she'd do it.

Fine. She could learn to do chores and help him clean this place.

Elise looked up to see the handsome man's face. She finally gave him a nod. "I accept your offer, Loriel."

The way she spoke his name tugged his heartstrings.

"Alright, Elise," Loriel said with a brief smile. "Thank you for accepting my offer. Your presence will be a great help to me."

He was sooooo relieved.

He couldn't wait to go to his bedroom so he could jump in joy. She would think he was crazy if he did it here.

Loriel couldn't help but relish the way his name came out of her lips. Even though he wasn't so sure of things right now, the mere fact that this woman spoke, acted, and looked like Elise made it that everything she did make his once numb heart beat again.

Waiting for fifteen centuries was nothing, he told himself.

But after doing so many things, watching how the times have changed and everyone else he knew and was familiar with was gone… it was actually a little hard to say that it did not change him.

He'd wait more centuries and even a thousand more for Elise, but he deeply hoped in his heart that the woman in front of him was the one he had been waiting for.