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Elise surprised the people in the kitchen by asking about the ingredients and if she could borrow from the kitchen. The cooks and servants stared at her unsure, before agreeing to help the future queen cook a dish for a meal.

Until the people checked the list and realized something.

"Um, Your Highness… some of the ingredients listed down are not available right now," the cook said apologetically.

Elise batted her eyes. "How come? Do your garden and farms not grow these particular herbs and spices?" 

"We do, Your Highness," the cook assured her. "But it is currently not in season. It would take a couple of months before they are to bloom. I think we can still prepare this dish with some ingredients missing, Your Highness."

"Oh… but you have them in the royal garden right?" Elise was used to having every species of fruits, vegetables, and spices available in Myreen all year round.

"Yes, we do, Your Highness," a servant replied politely.

"Then please take care of the available ingredients for now, cook." Elise smiled gently at them. "I will return shortly."

Confused, the kitchen people watched the princess of Myreen leave the royal kitchen and head to the royal orchard of the castle.

There were several gardeners and tenders currently taking care of various fruit trees, vegetables, and other plants available to eat.

It was where Elise met and conversed with them before she was finally led to a particular patch in the castle\'s land. Once the gardener took her there and she asked to be alone for a little while, Elise knelt in front of the ground.

With one wave of Elise\'s hand, the seeds that were still hidden underneath the earth began to blossom and then finally take fruit.

***

When dinnertime finally came around, Loriel tiredly went to the royal dining hall to have his meal. Even though he did his best to avoid Elise and not see her, he couldn\'t be blatantly rude.

"Where is the princess?" Loriel craned his neck and looked for the princess\' presence.

Most of the time, no, it was always Elise who was first to the royal dining hall to see him and then try to talk with him. It was rare that Loriel was the first one to be here that Elise\'s absence was immediately felt.

"Ah, Her Highness seems to be currently doing something, Your Majesty," one of his servants replied. "I think she will be here soon."

"I see…" Loriel wondered if his coldness finally made Elise cry.

The thought of making the woman cry made Loriel feel a little bit guilty. He could already imagine that the lovesick woman was sobbing her heart out inside her chambers or maybe crying to his mother.

If that was actually happening right now, Loriel needed to rectify the situation.

The king of Summeria stood up and contemplated visiting the princess right now, but then wavered slightly back into his seat.

Loriel did not want to visit Elise and then give her false hope at all.

"Will she actually be going here?" Loriel impatiently asked. "I am already hungry and I do not want to wait for her any second longer. Why is the food not served yet?"

"The royal cook is currently preparing something special tonight, Your Majesty," the servant explained.

"Ugh. Fine, then let us wait for the princess and the food a little longer."

Loriel was aware that the kingdom of Myreen would not take it lightly if news about the princess\' mistreatment were to be heard. Instead, Loriel did the bare minimum of what was expected from him.

Loriel gave excuses, sometimes legitimate ones and others simply a way to avoid seeing Elise. When Elise and Loriel were together, he made it a point to remind himself of all the trouble that he went through to obtain what he wanted for his true love.

Loriel knew that he was being cold, but it was far better than actually raising Elise\'s hopes up. Many women misunderstood easily. If a man treated them well, they would assume the man was in love with them. Expectation was the roots of disappointment. It would be better if he didn\'t let Elise get false hope about him loving her. She would be deeply disappointed.

The doors to the dining hall finally opened while the fragrant aroma of something familiar wafted to Loriel\'s nose. The man blinked and thought that his mother shouldn\'t have gotten up to prepare the dish… but then it was not her.

Elise came in with the servants of the castle, they were all carrying the meals for dinner. Even though Elise was a princess and the servants insisted that she should not carry anything, she still did.

She took it as a chance to walk closer and approach Loriel as she carefully placed the hot and steaming dish on the table. 

Elise bowed her head a little. "Pardon my lateness, Loriel. I took some time cooking."

There was no immediate answer from Loriel.

When Elise lifted her head a little to meet Loriel\'s gaze, instead of there being a look of appreciation or content at seeing such a familiar dish being recreated again, the man only sighed.

"What did my mother tell you?" Loriel asked tiredly. A part of him actually wanted to eat right now, but he did not want to show that side to Elise. "Did she put you up to this?"

"No, Loriel… I wanted to do this for you." Elise started to explain. "I was the one who reached out to your mother and asked about your favorite food. I wanted to do something that you would like."

Loriel pinched the bridge of his nose. 

Elise went through all the efforts of doing this and Loriel wasn\'t even sure how she managed to make it. There were some ingredients that were not currently in season right now, so maybe Elise actually changed the recipe.

He didn\'t like the thought of that.

It was childish, but Loriel still clung to that mistake in order to have something to say. How difficult it was to find faults about this woman that Loriel needed to take even the slightest offense into something more bigger.

That was how Loriel wanted to push Elise away.

"I do not like this at all. My mother was wrong," Loriel said and eyed the appetizing stew with a hint of disgust. "I used to like this when I was a boy, but my tastes have changed. I now like to eat grilled rabbits that are caught in the wilderness."

"O-oh…" Elise blinked and felt her heart waver slightly. Even though her first cooking was wrong, Elise could easily amend this at another time. "Then perhaps I can go out—"

"Will you skin the rabbit with your own hands?" Loriel raised a brow. "Can you kill it with your own two hands?"

An uneasy look settled on Elise\'s face. "I can."

Loriel sincerely doubted that someone raised and sheltered like a princess would actually like the process of harming a rabbit in order to have something to eat. The thought of Elise doing that just to gain his favor was a lot more irritating.

Nothing Elise could do could change Loriel\'s heart.

"You do not have to go through the effort of doing this." Loriel stared at her and said it bluntly. "The two of us will be married regardless of what you can or cannot do for me. Please do not go through the effort. It is a waste of time."

Elise lowered her head. "I… do not think it is a waste of time. I only wanted to make something that would make you happy, and if that is a waste for you… I would like to think about it differently."

Loriel blinked at Elise\'s words.

It stunned him a little about the entire lengths and resolve that Elise wanted to go through for his sake. Loriel gritted his teeth at how foolish this girl was and yet at the same time, it reminded Loriel of himself.

Doing everything for someone you love.

Loriel sighed and looked at the despondent girl. "Take your seat now, so we can finally dine."

"But you don\'t like the food."

"I did not say that I would throw away the food that you went through the trouble of preparing.. I will still eat it," Loriel grunted.