Chapter 17

My body woke up in heat, covered in sweat. I was quick to throw the heavy covers off of me, releasing me from the material's Intense warmth. My breath was heavy, and my fingers trembled along with the rest of my body. I slowly put together that It was only a dream and that he couldn't hurt me, at least for now. My head hung low as I sat on the edge of the mattress, collecting myself from the horrible nightmare that felt a little too real.

I got off of the bed, wanting to give myself some time to cool down, but my skin continued to sizzle. Without a second thought, I carried myself over to the bathroom and started a cold shower. As I peeled off my clothes, I noticed the damp marks I had left, motivating me to get in the shower even faster.

The cool water ran down my skin, bathing me in relief. A heavy breath left my mouth as I allowed myself to enjoy the small pleasure of the heat being taken away. However, the emotions that ran through me seemed to still overpower my physical sensations.

The feeling my skin left me when I had woken up easily resembled the way I felt when I was deep in the burning castle before Roman and his men saved me, and the dream nearly felt like a memory from something he has already done. He honestly couldn't leave me alone, no matter if I was thousands of miles away from him or not. I could still hear him, feel him on my skin, and almost smell his particular cologne though he wasn't here with me.

I shook my head and stepped out of the shower. I managed to drown out my thoughts as I got ready for the day. I wanted to enjoy every second of the freedom that I had before it was too late for my time here away from Aiden. After I threw on a casual outfit that was laid out for me, I left the room to hopefully find something to do, although it was still early in the morning.

Unlike Aiden's castle, this castle buzzed with voices and activity. Although Roman was the only person I really knew, I didn't feel so alone here. I smiled at the ones who showed their respects as they noticed me climb down the stairs. I shyly waved at them all as they carried on with their activities. I looked around, hoping to find Roman somewhere in the room, but he was nowhere in sight.

My eyes scanned the castle's admirable interior, which held a theme of history and Italian renaissance art. It was indeed a sight to see. Each piece of artwork blended beautifully together and resembled important history, which must be the reason why this castle is known for its beauty. The paintings were breathtaking and had wonderful stories, people, and history behind them, making it all the more beautiful to see. I suddenly felt a presence behind me as I admired the paintings. I turned around to find Roman admiring the artwork along with me.

"The Kiss of Judas..." he spoke.

"Excuse me?" I quirked my brow in confusion as he took a step closer to my side.

"This painting right here," Roman pointed out, "Is called 'The Kiss of Judas.'" I turned my eyes back to the painting, which we now stood in front of. " It resembles the man who betrayed Jesus Christ...did you know?" I meekly shook my head.

"I was never allowed to read the Bible," I said, looking at the piece and trying to make sense of it.

"Why not?"

"Maroon told me that religion keeps people from following their leaders. He thought that if I were to ever read it and become curious, I would not take my role or the royal system as seriously because I would be 'following a God' rather than him." Roman placed his hands in his pockets and looked to the floor in thought.

"Ah, yes, I remember when the Emperor tried to seize all religious books from the kingdoms. I believe that he was mostly successful, but he still cannot take away people's spiritualities and beliefs."

"Are you religious?" I asked, peering up at him.

"No...but I think there is someone, something else out there, possibly." I nodded my head in respect of his belief. "I take that clearly, you are not religious, but what do you believe?" He questioned. My thoughts scrambled in my head, looking for an answer to a question that I had never thought of before.

"I...don't know. I have never really considered that question before." I answered, honestly.

"I see.. well, now you're considering it, so what do you think?" He asked with a smirk, genuinely interested in what I had to say. I pressed my lips into a fine line as I pondered.

"I have no knowledge about any Gods that people believe in, but I guess.." I trailed, thinking more in-depth into it. "I guess that there is a possibility that there is more to life than just this. I feel like there should be more of a purpose of why we are here, so maybe...another level to this could be possible"

"You, Princess, are absolutely right," Roman confirmed.

"But that is not something you can necessarily confirm, Roman. We don't know information like that." I laughed at the fact of how confident he was about this.

"That may be true, but you are still correct." I rolled my eyes jokingly at him. "How did you sleep?"

"I slept fine." I fibbed, but he saw right through me.

"Taisa...don't lie to me now." He said, egging me on. "How did you sleep?" I gave him a short, communicative stare and sighed.

"I just had a nightmare, is all," I said as if it didn't bother me.

"Care to tell me what it was about?" Just by the expression I made towards him, he knew that I was trying to avoid talking about it. "Hmm... I'm guessing that it wasn't just another nightmare." I just shook my head in response. Roman held out his arm for me. "We don't have to talk about it if you are not comfortable, but maybe it would help you feel better. You seem like a private person, but maybe you were raised to be that way with your position." I widened my eyes at the fact that this man was reading me like a book. With my impressed expression, I took ahold of his arm and allowed him to guide me along. It was silent for a few moments before I finally built up the courage to speak up.

"It almost felt like a flashback of a memory I had," I said. "I thought it was real, even for a few seconds after I had woken up."

"What happened?"

"King Heart was after me, chasing me until he caught up..." Roman looked over to me, most likely noticing the discomfort in my voice.

"Did he hurt you in this dream?" He questioned. I shook my head as I kept my eyes on the tiled floors.

"No...all he did was run after me, but it just scared me so much," I explained. Roman let out a small sigh and bit at his lip, unsure of how to respond.

"Has this man ever harmed you?" My jaw slightly quivered at the questioned as my thoughts revered back to the times where Aiden laid his on me. "...Taisa?"

"Yes." I peeped shyly, ashamed to admit it. I looked his way to see that his eyes stayed low, and his jaw was clenched. I breathed nervously as I watched his reaction. Roman slowly stopped in his tracks, causing me to stop at his side as well.

"May I ask how?" He questioned softly, not wanting to push me to answer anything that I wasn't comfortable with. I bit the inside of my cheek and let out a small sigh through my nose.

"I'm not sure if it is still there, but..." I said as I turned the side of my neck over to him. I tossed my hair over my shoulder so that he could get a better look. A small gasp left his mouth, followed by his fingers softly grazing over the sensitive skin.

"Why did he do this to you? What could possibly encourage him to such a thing?" He said, still looking over the faint bruises.

"I failed to follow a simple order that he had given me, and it made him angry," I explained. "How bad does it look?"

"Not as bad as it might have looked before." Roman took my hair and placed it back over my shoulder. "Was that the first time?" I answered him by staring blankly at the floor. "...Taisa, oh my god.."

"Please, you don't have to worry-"

"Princess, I must worry. A duty was given to me as a royal man, and it was to protect the princess at all costs if a time came around where she was in any sort of danger. This...this is you being in danger." He pointed to my neck. "There must be a way to get you out of this marriage."

"Roman, not even my own father could get me out of this situation..." I said sadly. "Look what happened when he tried to help me and go against Maroon's wishes. The same thing could happen to you, possibly worse, if you tried to do the same thing." Roman tugged at the roots of his hair in frustration at my words. "I can handle this, alright?" I moved to the front of Roman to get him to look at me. "It will only do more harm than good if I bring anyone else into this mess." He looked straight into my eyes, and they told me that I wasn't convincing enough.

"Princess.." He took my hand and quickly brought me aside so that we were no longer in the middle of the busy floor. Roman guided me towards a balcony to reveal another view above the city. The door was closed, removing the continuous chatter that went on inside the castle. I waited for him to continue as he gazed over the kingdom. "I made myself responsible for you the moment I recused you from your kingdom. Your safety is my full responsibility now, Taisa, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to make sure that I do a good job." I subtly smiled at him when he looked back at me.

"You are already doing a great job." I said, trying to comfort him, but he shook his head.

"This is only the start, cara mia." Roman muttered. "We don't know what is headed our way." I stepped up closer to his side and looked over the beautiful kingdom with him.

"We will figure it out together."