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Note:

This chapter is dedicated to Jen Taylor. Thank you so, so much for gifting a castle to Loriel and Elise today. xx

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Over the next couple of days, Loriel managed to have spare time away from the responsibilities of running Summeria. He recently finished dealing with one of his brothers-in-law wanting to rule, but another one tended to appear right after that.

All of his sisters did not work together.  Each one of them wanted the crown of Summeria for themselves.

Now that Loriel was actually free, he decided to visit the queen\'s residence. He thought about what happened now after he gave Elise that ugly kitten. His mind still lingered on getting Elise an appropriate gift.

Even though Elise was already happy and that gorgeous smile of hers tempted Loriel, he told himself that he was doing it for the sake of the kingdom. The court people would think it ridiculous to have a skinny cat as the queen\'s pet.

The Ashborn family should maintain their faces in front of its people.

Perhaps, Loriel should ask Renwyck to accompany him up the mountains in search of a Phoenix? At least that matched the elegance and magical nature of those in Myreen . 

When Loriel arrived in the queen\'s personal residence though, his thoughts were halted by the sight and sound of something beautiful. 

The late queen\'s garden was in full splendor and beauty in one\'s eyes. 

Each tree was a beautiful and healthy color, the flowers were all blossoming, and at the center of them all was Elise. His wife was currently watering a flower bed as a small black cat prowled and nuzzled her leg.

Right now, Loriel could even hear Elise softly singing and humming along as she tended to her plants. It was unbelievable because Loriel never saw Elise act this way before at all.

"You\'re taking care of the garden?" Loriel muttered in surprise once he drew closer.

Elise looked up and quickly rose to her feet to curtsey. "Your Majesty, I did not think that you would visit at this time. Pardon me for my disheveled appearance. I take care of the garden during my free time."

Brick hissed slightly at Loriel and hid behind Elise\'s feet.

"It\'s alright… I did not announce my arrival," Loriel said.

Loriel didn\'t want to say that seeing Elise have beads of sweat on her face was a feast for his eyes. Even during things like gardening, how could she make it look good? 

There wasn\'t even a single track of mud on her face so Loriel couldn\'t see why she was apologizing.

"May I ask for the reason that brought you here, Your Majesty?" Elise asked as she wiped her brow. "Do you need something from me? Is there an official gathering where the two of us must go together?"

Loriel didn\'t think that Elise would immediately think of that. He was still distracted by the fact that it was Elise who was taking care of this place.

"Do my royal gardeners not come here?" Loriel grunted.

"They do, Your Majesty." Elise smiled. "Although, I noticed some of them didn\'t know how to take care of a particular species of flowers so I did it myself. These flowers are only available in Myreen and are not native in Summeria."

Loriel wanted to keep the gardens in good condition since this was a place that his mother loved and adored. A replica of the gardens in Myreen, his mother loved the Jacaranda trees and every species held within the confines of this place.

There were royal gardeners who were supposed to tend to this job.

Loriel didn\'t want Elise\'s hands to get calluses or for her to overwork herself. 

"Hah, I didn\'t know that we had incompetent gardeners."

"Your Majesty, they are not incompetent," Elise frowned at him. "I hope that Your Majesty don\'t think of doing something like removing them from the castle. All people must learn over time, and it is not their fault that these plants are not native here."

Loriel stared at Elise and wondered if he was talking to someone else. A fiery answer to protect those who she thought did not do anything wrong… 

Apparently, when it came to others, Elise was capable of defending them.

"Your Majesty?" Elise prompted again.

Loriel wondered if he was bewitched as he rubbed his face. "I won\'t punish the royal gardeners or take away their jobs. You have my word, so please do not worry. The reason I visited was simple, I came here to see you."

The expression on Elise\'s face shifted at his words. "You did?"

"It was only to see how you were taking care of the cat," Loriel found himself saying. "It\'s not normally what one would get for his wife. Due to time constraints, I wasn\'t able to get you anything better."

"Your Majesty, I love Brick," Elise said. She picked up the kitten into her arms and petted its head. "She\'s perfect and wonderful, I do not wish for anything more."

The look of genuine joy on Elise\'s face... Loriel didn\'t think he\'d see it after he made her cry. It was true that Loriel said a lot of things about him not loving her and she was so close to tears back then.

Loriel nodded stiffly. "You forgot to call me by name."

"A-ah, sorry… I wanted to give my respects now that we\'re king and queen, Your Majesty," Elise said. 

"When we\'re in private, it is fine to call me as you used to." Loriel shrugged even though he didn\'t know why he was being this way. Maybe it was because Loriel himself didn\'t have anyone else except for Elise?

"Okay, Loriel." Elise smiled brightly at him.

"Good." 

"Huh?"

Loriel averted his gaze. "It\'s nothing, Elise."

"This is one of the few times you\'ve called me by name," Elise\'s eyes lit up. 

"What?"

Elise chuckled. "You always refer to me as princess, or princess from Myreen… and somewhat recently, queen? Her Majesty or Queen Elise Leoralei, but never just Elise."

"It\'s a small thing."

"Well, it\'s different for me," Elise grinned at him.

Loriel didn\'t realize how sunny she could be and how refreshing it was.. Perhaps it was not wrong for them to actually have an amicable relationship? It was good when a king and queen were friends.