The Cursed King

The Time God was surprised that this beautiful woman even needed to think about this. Normally, other people would jump in joy when they heard of such an offer. Who didn\'t want to be beautiful and young forever?

He liked Elise so much.. perhaps he even harbored romantic feelings for her. Wouldn\'t it be nice if she was also an immortal like him? Courting her would be much easier and they would be in the same level.

He had seen love stories between gods and humans that didn\'t end well because the humans died early, leaving behind an empty void that ate up the partner for centuries.

Or, the gods were acting like jerks because they were higher beings who could do pretty much whatever they wanted.

Being equals was good for a relationship. As for Elise\'s husband, Dante couldn\'t care less about him. Loriel would only live for a few more decades. Dante could wait.

"Uhm… I need to go back soon. When do you want to have tea?" Elise moved Dante from his reverie.

Now that her mission was accomplished, she wanted to go home. Her husband might return from the frontline soon. She wanted to be there to welcome him. He must be tired by everything that was going on during the war.

"Well, I understand that you need to get going to reunite quickly with your husband," Dante said and fought back a grimace. "I think that coincides with the direction of my brother\'s home. We can have tea at his place instead of mine."

He suggested his brother\'s place because it gave him a chance to spend more time with Elise too.

"Oh.. you did tell me about your brother, but I didn\'t know where he lives. Where are we going?" Elise asked.

"Funny thing is, he lives in Castilse," Dante replied.

"Castilse?" Elise raised a brow.

"Yes, your husband is the current king of Summeria based on what I gathered from the past," Dante shrugged. "Luckily, my brother is quite a huge fan of the Archelaus Library there and enjoys masquerading as a human to visit."

"That\'s amazing," Elise smiled brightly. "He seems like quite a knowledgeable person like you are."

Dante blushed and coughed. "Well, he knows interesting information but sometimes, more often, is not all that useful. A god of books and trivial information is what might one call him."

"Would he actually mind if we drop by there to have tea?" Elise asked.

"Not at all, I think he\'s actually eager to meet you," Dante chuckled. "Myreen after all is quite a hidden nation that not many, even the gods, can find unless they\'re extremely powerful."

Elise blinked at his words. "Huh. Does that mean that you have mentioned me to your brother?"

Dante coughed. "Well, I have to explain to them how I managed to break free from my curse, haven\'t I? But ah, I think we should start traveling now, Elise. We can\'t waste any time."

***

Elise batted her eyes in surprise when she saw there were two Dantes now.

"Ah, you must be Elise Leoralei." Dante\'s brother eagerly reached out and grabbed ahold of Elise\'s hand.

The handsome man also had long black hair like Dante and a pair of golden irises, but his smile was warm and people could see he had a sunny personality, unlike his twin, the Time Master.

"You are…." Elise turned to look at Dante and his brother alternately. "twins?"

"Ahh… can you tell??" The man asked jokingly. He winked at Elise and introduced himself. "It is a pleasure to finally be acquainted with you, I am Dimitri and my brother has spoken so much about—"

"Dimitri, our guest can\'t stay for too long so how about you let her have a seat?" Dante cut off his brother\'s incessant chattering.

"My bad," Dimitri laughed and then looked at Elise\'s hand. "Oh, a wedding ring on the left hand and fourth finger? A well-chosen spot, it protects the Vena amoris, a vein that leads directly to your heart."

Elise couldn\'t help but smile. She realized what Dante meant earlier about his brother knew so many useless information. She didn\'t find it all that terrible and they were actually interesting as she settled down in one of the plush sofas in Dimitri\'s home.

The immortal lived at a place that was more welcoming and open to visitors. He wasn\'t a recluse like his brother. The man talked constantly and engaged with both Elise and Dante as if they were the best of friends.

"Oh, Elise, I can\'t help but notice that you\'re pouring a lot of milk into your tea," Dimitri pointed out. "Do you normally like milk or are you trying to ingest enough nutrients to make milk for a baby?"

Elise\'s eyes immediately widened as she placed down her teacup. "Huh?"

Dante also glared at his brother. "Could you stop with that?"

"It\'s one of the symptoms for pregnancy, well, a possible symptom. Have you been feeling a bit peckish for dirt or paper? I hope not because it indicates an underlying problem with your body."

"Um… no," Elise nervously said as she placed a hand unsurely on her belly. "But about that symptom of pregnancy?"

"Oh, it seems that you\'re being active in performing the duties of a wife," Dimitri chuckled and rubbed his chin. "Let\'s see, a prosperous empire has proposed its first known pregnancy test, their women urinated on barley or wheat seeds. Those quickly sprouting seeds indicated pregnancy."

"Uhm…. do I have to do that?" Elise suddenly asked. Her face instantly flushed red.

"Well, for gods and powerful beings with powers, it\'s easy enough to know," Dimitri smiled. "It\'s not in my expertise and neither do I think that you have dabbled into magic about fertility, so the best option is asking my dear brother over here."

"But he\'s all about time," Elise said. "So how can he tell?"

"My brother is much more powerful than me, I think he has more than enough magic to sense if there is another life currently within your womb," Dimitri explained. He turned to Dante and raised a brow. "You can tell if you try, can\'t you?"

Dante looked away. He could check if there was any life starting to grow in Elise\'s womb, even though it was very very very early, but he refused to do it. Even if Dimitri shouted it from the rooftop, he would just cover his ears. He really didn\'t want to know.

"I see…" Elise didn\'t dare to ask Dante to check her pregnancy. She didn\'t think they were THAT close. It was actually a bit embarrassing.

"All of us have an innate ability to distinguish between mortals and immortals, and that even applies to those who have yet to be born," Dimitri finished and then looked over towards Dante. "So what do you think, brother? Is Elise over here pregnant?"

Dante tried his best not to glare at his brother. Uff… he didn\'t want to check. Dammit!

But now that Dimitri casually asked him in front of Elise, Dante felt it was rude to just say no. Finally, he slowly looked in Elise\'s direction.  His lips pursed.

The Time Master glanced at her belly for one moment and then said the words with as little pain as possible.

"Yes."

.

.

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

From Missrealitybites:

I am having fun creating video reels and pictures for the visuals. If you want to see what Alexei, Dante and Dimitri look like, you can visit my Instagram account: @missrealitybites.

I can only share the very low resolution here.