After that day, he decided to let her call him Loriel, since it was better than 'Whatever'. Besides, his other name was too precious for her to say.
Loriel would prefer to only hear it from the woman he loved, which obviously wasn't her.
Gosh... when he thought about how badly he treated her in the early years of their relationship, Loriel felt so guilty. He wished he could go back to the past and fix it.
She deserved so, so much more.
He was cold to her and made known that her presence was unwanted. However, she persevered. After a long while, Loriel finally realized she was not really a weak damsel in distress. No, in fact, she was stronger than that.
It took a lot of courage and strength to stay in a one-sided relationship and still gave her all. She was loyal to him and loved him unconditionally.
Every time, she made known that she loved him no matter what.
That foolish woman.
Gosh, he missed her so terribly.
Loriel turned his gaze outside the window to see the force of nature that would always remind him of her. She loved rain so much and could sit on that sofa by their window for hours, watching the rain and daydreaming.
She was a very simple woman and was happy with simple things in life. Loriel initially despised her lack of ambitions. It took him a while to appreciate her principle.
She was very easily pleased. She took joy in all the littlest things. And whatever he gave her, no matter how small, she would receive them with a smile on her face. She was so pleasant and always grateful.
In fact, Loriel couldn't think of a day that didn't become better because of her.
Fifty-five more years...
He wished he could just sleep for the duration and wake up when it was time to meet her again. However, who knew what would happen if he did that? These foolish humans were so unpredictable.
The last time he decided to sleep for the whole century, he woke up under the rubble as Germany waged war in Europe, not just once but twice! And the second one destroyed the city he was in.
After that, he vowed: never again!
'See, honey? Things I'd do for you?' he thought to himself. 'I exposed myself to the unthinkable so I can be with you.'
His mind wandered to the time when he could see her again.
When that moment came, he would tell her he had been good all this time. He would tell her that he missed her... so badly. That he did all he could, to see her again.
He even took the curse of immortality.. just so he could be here when she was back.
And remember when he said he had enough chasing away dragons and monsters because he wanted to live a peaceful life?
He did exactly the opposite. It took him seven years of going into battles, fighting those creatures so he could reach the holy mountain of Cretea to get that potion of immortality. He had lost counts of how many dragons, minotaurs, and other monsters had died under his sword.
He had no choice. The gate to the mountain of Cretea was protected fiercely. Those so-called gods didn't want regular humans to flock to their holy place to take their immortality potion.
Loriel was probably the only human who did it. He took that potion. Now, he became one of those awful gods who could live as immortals and treated humans as their playthings.
Those 'gods' didn't like Loriel, because he was not really one of them, but they didn't bother him. In fact, they kind of respected him since he could achieve immortality with his own efforts.
They also knew that to him, immortality was not really a blessing, but more like a curse. A curse that he took willingly.
'I hope you know that I love you so much, honey,' he said inwardly. 'I love you more than I love myself.'
'Next time, I will make sure you hear it from me.'
'I will tell you every day, how much I love you.'
Aksara