Elise's mind wandered to the past as she was riding the horse toward the mountain. Because she was wearing a cape that covered her head, nobody paid much attention to her. Elise could leave Castilse easily.

She made Alina keep her absence a secret by telling their butler that the queen was feeling homesick and decided to stay in her chamber for days to relieve her longing for Myreen.

Elise traveled north for several days and followed the stars to show her the way. With haste spells, she managed to reach her destination in only four days, where normal people usually would need two weeks.

She finally arrived at her friend's home.

"Dante!" Elise called out happily to the man situated in the cave. historical

The man was very unconventional in his choice of living quarters, almost like a hermit, but he also happened to be a very intelligent person who preferred to stay by himself to study.

Not only that though, but there was also more to his nature than what one normally could guess.

He smiled brightly as he welcomed her into his home. "Elise, since you've dropped by and visited.. does it mean that I take it that you will be using up your wish?"

Elise nodded. "Yes, I will be."

Dante smiled back. The brooding man was handsome with a personality as cold as ice who only warmed up to her after she saved his life from that stupid and filthy market.

Today, he was bored to death and wanted to go out when suddenly Elise came knocking on his door. Dante's mood was instantly elevated when he saw her beautiful face.

So, she finally came to redeem her wish. He was so curious to know what she would use it for.

Dante explained it to her over a year ago. He was cursed to become a bird as a punishment when he lost a bet with his fellow gods.

He later introduced himself to Elise as the Time Master and granted her the wish to go back in time once as his token of appreciation. The only condition was she was not allowed to change history.

Contrary to his expectation, the young woman said she would keep the wish and thought properly about what she wanted before she redeemed it. Dante asked her once what made her so undecided.

Many people would want to go to the future and see what their life would be like, or go to the past and see their dead loved ones. He found out Elise's mother passed away after giving birth to her. So, why not go back in time and see her?

Elise had never seen her mother alive. Only her paintings did not suffice.

So, why didn't she redeem her wish and go to the past to see her mother? Dante thought this girl was so unpredictable.

Elise only said that for a wish so important, she must not make mistakes and really thought about her options well.

Fine. Dante didn't press on the matter. He only gave her that one wish to show his gratitude and he was patiently waiting for the day she came to him and collect his debt.

The day finally came much later than he expected. It showed that Elise really took the time to think about it.

"So you've finally decided." Dante nodded. He brushed his long black hair with one hand, looking satisfied because he wouldn't be burdened by debt for much longer.

He continued his words, "This will only be done once, but I did not expect that you would take such a long time to assess your choices. Would you like to stay over for some tea? How is your father doing? Raphael helped you well, didn't he?"

"Yes, my father is in good health. I do not think I can stay for tea though, because I need to return to my kingdom fast." Elise smiled.

"Oh," Dante looked a bit disappointed.

"Um, maybe for an hour?" Elise said hurriedly when she saw his obvious disappointment. "As for Raphael, I couldn't really imagine that Raphael himself would help me. Plus he also helped me learn more by tapping into my own magic to heal others. Although I'm not as talented as him."

Loriel's migraine never fully disappeared so Elise assumed she never managed to remove the root of the disease.

"That's wonderful to hear," Dante said. "I think it's not so easy to actually match Raphael, Elise. He is the god of healing after all."

"Yes, I was a little presumptuous to think that I'd operate on the same level," Elise blushed. "But I was trying to treat my husband's migraine and it didn't work at all."

"Husband?" Dante's expression shifted. His golden eyes narrowed. He didn't like this new fact. She had a husband now??? Last year, she was not yet married when they met. Did everything change within just one year?

Elise nodded. "Yeah, my husband."

"You're married now.. Elise?" Dante asked the obvious, just to make sure he didn't mishear.

Elise blushed and realized she didn't tell him. "I wasn't able to invite you, but I do not think that you'd be interested in attending an event filled with a lot of individuals. You said that your brother is the more social one, right?"

"Elise, that was an important event for you," Dante feigned a smile. "I would have attended.. I would have arrived even before the wedding if you told me."

Elise didn't think that gods would take interest in attending to human affairs. While it was true that Loriel was a powerful king and she was a witch, the gods usually left them alone to their own time.

"I appreciate the thought, Dante." Elise smiled. "But if you don't mind, I'd like to redeem my wish now and have tea with you when I come back."

"Okay.. how far back into the past are we going?"

Elise checked her supplies and took out a ring. A ring that her father gifted to her when she reached eighteen helped her feel connected to the mother she never met.

It united her with Loriel.

"Twelve years ago," she replied with determination in her voice.

When Loriel was fourteen, he was kidnapped and almost died under his sister's scheme. That was twelve years ago.

Elise finally realized that the so-called fairy that her husband kept talking about when he was drunk was.. herself.

He had never met a woman as beautiful as her at that age and since they were in the forest, he must have assumed she was a fairy or something of that sort.

The ring and the fact that she had a wish to redeem from the Time Master all connected the dots for Elise. Now, she was happy she didn't immediately redeem it when Dante offered the gift to her.

It was meant for this moment.

Dante looked at Elise intently and tried to read her emotions. Twelve years ago, she was still a small child. So, she was not going to the past to see herself. Her mother also was already dead.

So.. what was so important that happened twelve years ago? He was wondering.

"Okay," Dante finally replied. "But we are not allowed to change the past."

Elise bobbed her head. "I promise we will not change the past."

"Are you sure?"

"I am very sure." Elise looked at Dante pleadingly. "Please trust me. I will share it with you so you will understand. But please.. bring me back to twelve years ago."

.

.

************

From Missrealitybites:

I love "The Cursed King" because this book is the culmination of my previous books and you have read all of them, you will notice many familiar elements.

It has immortals from "The Alchemists", gods and time travel from "Finding Stardust" and of course some familiar faces from "The Cursed Prince".

PS: If you are reading both TCK and TCP, I am publishing TCK first today because the chapter was ready and I just needed to edit. As for TCP, I am going back to it now and will publish the new chapters soon.

Now that the story is coming to an end, it's actually harder to write... ahaha. I have no idea why. I guess the feeling that I will have to say goodbye soon to the original characters is dreadful.

Yes, we'll have new characters soon with the sequel, but I can't brush off these feelings that I will miss them (the originals) very much.

PS: Thank you DespinaNY for gifting TWO DRAGONS to Elise and Loriel yesterday.. I am so grateful for your support. xx