Seth was so confused. The night before he and Roman shared a kiss, but the peasant had not said anything. Besides, it was strange that he couldn't feel his heart.

Roman stroked the prince's back as he held him in a tight embrace. And Seth noticed that this seemed to calm the agitated emotions of the peasant.

But no matter how agitated they were, he couldn't feel his heart. But despite that, Seth could feel Roman's emotions.

As if they were connected.

Seth dismissed that thought, he could have some kind of connection with the honest peasant who saved his life 8 years ago. But with this ambitious man who was going to marry his mother, that was impossible.

"Why are you kissing me like this if you're going to marry her?" Seth couldn't hide the bitterness he felt.

Roman closed his eyes in the most agonizing gesture the prince had ever seen and as always kept the deepest silence.

Seth's emotions since Roman had arrived at the castle were stormy. Seth pushed Roman violently ending the hug. Their encounters always ended like this, with him feeling confused, used and disappointed.

Roman closed his eyes, unable to see the effect this had on the prince. Seth huffed and decided not to say anything else. How important would it be? Roman would just remain silent.

The light of the moon wasn't seen anymore. Many clouds covered it. Seth ran to his room, the young man knew that the weather was only reflecting his emotions, but he himself didn't know how that was possible.

"Roman, my love, today you look even more beautiful than yesterday." His mother's voice brought him back to reality.

A reality where she was all over Roman, kissing him and touching him while they had breakfast. A reality where Roman seemed more a prisoner than a boyfriend. A reality where a father let his future wife marginalize his own son, Dean wasn't at the table with them.

A reality where Roman had not tasted a bite of food and where Stephanie didn't seem to notice that her future husband was not happy.

What kind of relationship did they have?

But as long as Roman refused to talk, he could never know. Breakfast ended in the same apathetic way every day. Stephanie as always left without noticing the lack of appetite of her future husband and his face of deep sadness. Roman didn't eat anything, he just apologized and left the dining room and again Seth noticed that he had not eaten either.

...

Roman, Dean and the mouse were lying on the ground and they were having breakfast together in a corner of the garden, kinda distant from the castle and hidden behind some bushes.

"Mustafa says that Stephanie has a secret room in her bedroom, but it only opens with the power of her scepter." Dean put a piece of bread in his mouth.

"She never leaves that scepter." Roman said thoughtfully, while chewing an apple. "Besides, we don't know if my heart is there."

The mouse squeaked, both front legs holding a cherry that he was devouring.

"Mustafa says your heart is there and I think he's right." Dean was optimistic.

"I wonder if there will be another way to go there that not imply invading her bedroom, because getting the scepter is going to be impossible." Roman closed his eyes in resignation.

"You can't give up now, we can't stay here any longer, it's horrible." Dean complained.

"Even if we get it back, we can't get out of here, we're surrounded by an abyss, how can we cross?" Roman sounded desperate.

"Stephanie is never going to fix the bridge, I didn't think about that." Dean said disappointed. "If I had obeyed you that day we would all be fine, Mustafa would still be a human, we would be on the farm and you would be complete."

Roman put his arm around the boy's shoulder. "Don't blame yourself, Dean, maybe all this happened for a reason, although we can't understand it. Now, we have to concentrate on escaping."

Dean hugged him, Roman smiled to see that without realizing the child was becoming more affectionate.

Seth was walking through the garden when he saw the scene, so this was where they were hiding for breakfast. It was endearing, Roman held Dean with love.

Dean doesn't know how lucky he is. It must be beautiful to have a father, much more one who loves you and cares about you.

And this was another one of the things that Seth found fascinating. Roman, the supposed gold digger peasant was a loving man, his presence exuded kindness, but even with all that, he was going to marry a woman he evidently didn't love while passionately kissing her son.

It's not like I make an effort to stop him.

Seth sighed, as he was going to stop him if since they kissed, there was no other thought in his mind than to meet with Roman again and find any excuse, whatever it was to let the other man wrap him in his arms and kiss his lips . He wanted so much to have him close by, so he decided to end his agony, or maybe just extend it even further and he approached Roman. After all, they had to continue with the classes.

"Here you are." Seth pretended not to notice Dean's expression of contempt. "Roman, now I have time available to continue the classes."

Dean stood up and picked up the items. Apparently they had finished their breakfast. Seth noticed that even the mouse seemed to look at him with rancor, which was absurd since that was only a mouse. Seth returned his attention to Roman, who was looking at him with such intensity that he seemed to burn him, the peasant had that effect on the prince.

"Ro... dad." Dean almost messed up. "I will leave everything in its place, you go with the prince."

Seth and Roman were so self-absorbed seeing each other that they didn't notice the child's slip. Dean wasn't stupid and began to notice the strangeness of the situation. Mustafa squeaked a couple of times on the boy's shoulder and Dean looked at it and pursed his lips. They both left Roman and Seth alone.

...

Seth and Roman were in the living room near a big piano. It was the perfect place to teach Roman how to behave at a party.

"Parties have a similar routine, the way of dancing is the same in all of them, so you just have to learn the basics." Seth avoided looking at Roman.

"It must be very boring." Roman sighed.

"It's part of your obligations if you want to be a good husband." Seth said this with bitterness.

Like the puppet that is moved by its puppeter...

"Put your hand on my waist an." Seth indicated.

Roman smiled, maybe it wouldn't be so boring now that he thought about it.

The peasant put his hand on Seth's waist and they were facing each other. Seth gulped, this was a bad idea... but it felt like a very good one. Roman looked at him that way, that way that made the prince feel weak.

"Follow me and try not to step on me."

Seth moved with grace, he was after all the prince of the most powerful kingdom, these things were good for him. So good that Roman was hypnotized watching the movement of Seth's lithe body.

Roman tried to follow him, he did it in a somewhat clumsy way, his body moved rigidly.

"It's like trying to make a tree dance." Roman admitted. "I will never do it with the grace and beauty with which you do all this."

Seth felt his legs lose strength. Roman was a simple peasant, but sometimes his words were as beautiful as poetry... or maybe Seth was biased.

"No, it's not that difficult. Maybe you can't because we don't have music." Seth blinked a couple of times and released Roman. "I think I can solve that."

The prince looked at the piano and clapped a couple of times. "Dance can be an art, let us do it with the music of my heart."

Roman watched in amazement as the piano played a beautiful and soft melody. Roman noted that although Seth was as powerful as his mother, his magic was different. He could create something beautiful like music and Roman had never seen him use his magic to commit atrocities.

Roman put his hand back on Seth's waist and they both moved gently to the beat of the beautiful melody.

"In your spell you asked to listen to the music of your heart," Roman whispered. "It's a beautiful melody, but it has great sadness in it."

Seth was wide eyed, Roman was right. But he was supposed to be an insensitive asshole, how could he notice these things?

"You're improving, it seems that music helps you move better." Seth decided to ignore the question Roman had asked him.

"But I still don't have the grace that you have to do this, I always thought that dancing was boring but seeing you, I feel hypnotized, what you said in your spell is true, dancing is an art, or maybe it's beautiful because is you the one doing it." Roman couldn't stop the words. When he was close to Seth his whole world felt upside down.

"Why do you always do this? You confuse me, it's so unfair. You tell me those things that nobody has ever told me and I... I don't know what to think." Seth was honest in his statement.

"I'd like to have an answer to your question. I only know that when I'm with you, I feel things I've never felt before and the words just come out of my mouth, it's like a spell." Roman was as honest as Seth was.

And without realizing it, a soft mist enveloped them. The melody became more melancholy but just as beautiful. Both looked into each other's eyes with such intensity that they seemed to read the other's soul.

And wrapped in the magic of Seth that now surrounded them, their bodies came so close that there was no space between them. Roman squeezed Seth against his body and Seth clung to him tightly. And it was the prince who couldn't take it anymore and drew Roman's face against his. Moments later both kissed with passion.

The music took on a more passionate, vibrant tone and they no longer danced, but all the objects around them floated and moved to the rhythm of the music.

And it was a kiss as beautiful as the previous ones. Roman enjoyed the taste and the softness of the other man's lips so much. It was like having discovered the most exquisite delicacy and being unable to not taste a bit. Because now he needed this to live.

Seth felt that his body shuddered and not because of the music, it was something different, it burned, it hurt and it was beautiful at the same time. His heart was beating fast. Roman's tongue rubbed against his, eliciting all sorts of sensations in his body. He wanted more, he needed a lot more.

Roman caressed the prince's hips, his hands burning with the desire to touch, to feel. He wasn't thinking when he led his hands to the younger man's butt and gently squeezed the firm skin. A delicious moan escaped the young man's lips that Roman still devoured.

The room felt warm. Roman lifted Seth up and he wrapped his legs around the other man's waist. Both continued the kiss, while their hips followed the rhythm of the music. Everything burned, the sensations, his crotches rubbing, Roman's hands molding Seth's butt. The swollen lips of passionate kisses.

They just stopped kissing because they needed to breathe. Both remained clinging to each other, while breathing with difficulty. They looked with such desire that they could have made spontaneous combustion.

It was then that they noticed that all the things in the room were dancing around them.

Seth separated from Roman in a violent way. He realized what he had done and at that moment all the objects around them fell to the floor. The piano stopped. Roman sighed with resignation, a new fight was coming. But this time it was Seth who started everything.

"You're going to marry my mother and you're here touching me like this." Seth was breathing hard. "Nobody has touched me like that, you... you want to seduce me! You want to take advantage of me!"

Roman understood Seth's confusion, but the young man implied that Roman was the only one to blame.

"You kissed me with passion, you were you clung to me when I put my hands on your hips, you enjoy everything we do and when you realize all the wrong about our actions, you always blame me." Roman defended himself.

Seth was red as a tomato. He didn't want to admit that Roman was right, he wasn't going to admit it.

"You're a bastard, a scoundrel, you're worse than I thought, I'm not like that! I've never behaved like that! What have you done to me?" Seth accused Roman.

"Are you crazy!" Roman was as angry as Seth. "Here the powerful sorcerer is you and you have the nerve to accuse me of doing something to you. It's me who can accuse you of casted a spell on me to make me feel all these things! I would never have set my eyes on a spoiled child like you on my own! Surely, you're the one who did something to me, and now you want to pretend innocence, you and your mother are the same!"

The slap that came next was very painful. Seth smashed his hand against Roman's face, the peasant clutched his face, it would surely leave his cheek swollen. Roman was livid, this young one had slapped him hard for an action he had started.

"You're an asshole, an ambitious man who sold himself to my mother! Of course the only thing you know how to do is seduce others. It's the only thing you can do well, but you're never going to learn to be a gentleman, you can't be one because you're not more than garbage." Seth had never been so angry in his life. "Your father taught you to read but he didn't teach you manners, he didn't teach you values, he's probably ashamed of you, or maybe he was as bad a father as you are, that for money you let my mother treat your son as if he were a servant!"

Roman's emotions were as unstable as Seth's when they were close to each other. The peasant violently grabbed Seth's arm and dragged him to the bench next to the piano. He was tired of Seth's insolences and his bratty and offensive behavior. Roman sat on the bench and pulled Seth against his lap. The young man was on his stomach against Roman's thighs.

Seth wore the tightest pants Roman had ever seen but usually the peasant tried not to notice that. However now with the boy's butt in full display, he could distinguish the roundness and firmness. Roman thought he forgot how to breathe. That was when the peasant gave him a loud spanking.

Seth widened his eyes, totally surprised by the action. Roman was punishing him as if he were a small child. The peasant was angry but he would lie if he didn't admit that having Seth like this made him feel all kinds of things that he should not be feeling.

"You're nothing but a spoiled brat that nobody educated." Roman gave Seth a second spank.

Seth was petrified, his face burned as if it was on fire and despite the embarrassment of the situation, he didn't move from Roman's lap. Seth had a mixture of pleasure and shame and was intoxicating. Feeling those huge hands manhandling him was something that gave him pleasure. When he felt the second spanking his whole body shook, it hurt but at the same time it was... addictive, a moan escaped his lips.

Roman gave the third spank when he heard the younger man moaning. The peasant felt his body shudder, his mind was cloudy. Whatever was happening between them had all kinds of connotations. Sometimes it was romantic, sometimes passionate and now it was...

Another moan in the fourth spank. Roman left his hand there, on the boy's firm butt. Seth looked at him with his face so flushed, but for Roman it was something hypnotizing. They both looked at each other for a long time, Roman's hands caressing the prince's butt very slowly, Seth bit his lower lip and started rock his hips against the peasant's thighs and Roman felt that all his blood was going straight to the south. The peasant felt he would lose control.

For a moment they remained like this, and it was Seth who straightened slowly, they never stopped looking at each other. Seth was doe-eyed and Roman was breathing hard. The prince sat in Roman's lap and brought his hand to the peasant's face. Roman brought his lips to Seth's, it was impossible to resist, he couldn't, he didn't want, he-

SLAP!

Again Seth slapped Roman, this time on the other cheek. The young man got out of Roman's lap immediately, while Roman touched his aching face.

"You're a bastard, a..." Seth looked at Roman's pants in horror, there was a bulge there, very very visible. "You are a pervert! You were enjoying this!"

Seth's face flushed even more than Roman's beaten cheeks.

"Well, if that makes me a pervert, you should look at your pants." Roman pointed to the obvious boner in the prince's tight pants.

Seth watched in horror as Roman was right. Then he saw the peasant smirking. He had no way of denying Roman's words.

Seth couldn't stand it anymore. "All I can feel for you is hate, go away crawling like a snake!"

Seth clapped and Roman began to shine, a green glow surrounded him and nothing happened. Roman didn't understand why nothing had happened to him, but what he was sure of was that Seth had tried to turn him into a snake.

"My mother put a protective spell on you!" Seth said frustrated. "It seems I will not be able to get rid of you!"

Roman grunted, angry at the fact that Seth tried to hex him. "Of course you're going to get rid of me! I'd rather have Stephanie turn me into a worm than having to approach you again... I'd rather Stephanie destroys my heart than stay close to you!"

Roman pushed Seth back and ran to the door in a hurry. Seth was in awe, what the hell was Roman talking about? Surely pure idiocies. Seth growled in rage as he watched Roman flee from the room. The prince didn't care about anything anymore.

"Mom will sooner or later fix the bridge and I'll get out of here, meanwhile I'll be locked in my room, anything is better than falling into the nets of that perverted and ignorant gold digger."

...

At nightfall they were having dinner. Roman as always didn't eat anything, but now instead of his usual face of impassivity, he was angry. Seth had finished with all his patience, but if Roman was honest with himself, he was also frustrated. Seth was driving him crazy and it was not just rage, there were a lot of new emotions and feelings, all because of this young man and Roman was afraid to understand them.

Seth instead was as if nothing or so it seemed, although in reality he was as frustrated and confused as Roman.

"How were the lessons today?" Stephanie asked.

"Disastrous." Seth answered quickly. "It would be easier to educate a donkey."

Roman squeezed the glass in his hand. It seems that the spanking he gave the insolent young man was useless.

"With a mediocre teacher like you, even a donkey would suffer." Usually Roman was silent, but Seth had made him lose control completely.

"Okay, I understand you hate each other." Actually Stephanie was happy to see them antagonize. "But I remind you, Seth, that if you want that bridge to be repaired, you should collaborate. If not I will look for ways to make the guests to my wedding come to the castle with my magic and you will remain trapped here."

Seth gulped. Of course Stephanie could do that. She was powerful. Seth was horrified.

"As for you Roman, let's make a deal. I'll let Dean go back to the table and after the wedding I'll look for a tutor for him, so he will learn to be a member of this family." Stephanie proposed.

Roman huffed, actually Stephanie didn't have to offer any deal, Roman had to obey her no matter what. But the proposal to have Dean nearby, instead of hiding in the garden, was attractive.

In addition, despite Seth's tantrums and Roman's pride, both knew well that they wanted to stay close.

"Mother, why do you force me to be near a person I despise?!" Seth said on the verge of tears.

Because I need your frustration to bring out all the power within you, to steal it and be the most powerful.

"Because I want to!" The queen said angrily. "All our meals are always ruined by your tantrums, Seth. I'm not even hungry anymore."

Stephanie left the table not without first kissing Roman. The peasant never opposed her kisses, never said anything. Seth felt so angry. When the queen was away from the dining room, Seth couldn't contain himself.

"In the morning you kissed me passionately and you touched me in ways that I still can't forget and now you do the same with her." Seth stood up. "I don't care if I have to lock myself in my room forever, I don't want to be near you anymore. I hate you so much!"

And Roman would have complained but this time Seth's eyes didn't reflect anger, it was pure pain and sadness and this disarmed Roman. Seth left the dining room leaving Roman sad and ashamed.

"Roman, you're so sad." Dean looked at Roman with concern. "Your life here is horrible, I feel so useless."

Roman was in his room with Dean. The mouse was in the window and began to squeak. Dean leaned out and a huge black cloud covered the moon leaving everything in darkness. Then a torrential rain bathed the vicinity of the castle.

Roman knew well, the weather reflected Seth's feelings.

Dean hugged Roman. Roman hugged the kid back. The mouse climbed on his shoulder.

At least I have Dean. Seth must be very alone in his room. Why does everything have to go so wrong?


Thanks for your support. Poor Roman and Seth, both are confused, angry and cornered. The next episode will be decisive for both of them, so stay tuned. As always, if you want another chapter, leave me a review.

"The hardest part of letting Go", will be updated on Friday and things will get very complicated... very much. See ya.

Remember that I love you guys.