The Cursed Prince of Italy - Volume 1 - The Cursed

Chapter 25- The full moon

As they continued their kiss, Ronaldo conjured up an expansive bed in the middle of the rose garden. He placed her gently on the bed and continued to kiss her. His lips teased her as they moved towards her neck. Passionately he placed kisses on her neck, moving down to her exposed shoulders and chest. Romina responded to him, inviting him to go lower. Ronaldo wanted nothing more than to take her up on the invitation, but knew now was not the time.

'I should stop now ... We should go back... But I can't stop myself' Ronaldo said against her lips.

'Mmmm' Romina said in agreement, unwilling to stop. She sighed as she pulled away from him.

'But I am all yours now. We can do this later' Romina said, trying to reassure both herself and Ronaldo.

Ronaldo slowly prised himself away from her. He lay on his back on the bed and drew Romina to his chest. He ran his fingers through her hair. They watched the stars in the night sky.

They stayed like this in silence for a while, moving only when Romina lifted her head to place kisses on Ronaldo's glowing heart.

'What should we do next?' Romina whispered, not wanting to disturb the silence.

'We should make love at the next full moon. That's what the book says' Ronaldo said, kissing her temple.

'Do you think the curse will lift then?'

'It should happen like that mi amore. That is what the Book of the Cursed says and so far it hasn't been wrong.'

'Hmmm' Romina said, sadly.

'Why? Are you scared?' asked Ronaldo, looking at her.

'I am scared for your life Ronaldo.'

'Don't be mi amore. At least now we know we both truly love each other... and if things don't work out like we are expecting, you should know that I will always love you, even from hell.'

His words brought tears to her eyes. He kissed her tears away, with his heart filled with love for her.

'Can I ask you something?' Romina said.

'You can ask anything mi amore.'

'This is something that I have been very curious about. Your dad, did he die before the curse?' Romina inquired. Ronaldo had not talked much about his father despite telling her about other members of his family.

'Yes. He had been very frail for a while and he died. Two days after, the King also died. The King had ordered that once he died, I was to inherit the throne. The night before my coronation, Esther cursed me. I don't know what happened after that. When we eventually came out of the fire, centuries had passed. The world had changed and history had forgotten us.'

Ronaldo got up from the bed.

'Shall we head back mi amore? I'll introduce my family to you.' He laid out a hand to assist her off the bed. Romina readjusted her gown and ran her fingers through her hair. She looked up to see Ronaldo watching her intently. She smiled teasingly.

'You have to wait a few days more' she teased with a laugh. She moved closer to him and buttoned up his shirt.

'I cannot wait' he said, pressing his body into hers to show her what he meant. He took Romina's hands away from his chest so he could hold them. The remaining buttons of his shirt, did themselves up.

'Why did you do that?' she asked, slightly annoyed.

'What? What did I do?'

'You don't need to use your powers around me all the time.'

'Oh in that case...' he said with a laugh, undoing the buttons again so that she could redo them for him.

'So does this mean, I should let you take off my clothes too?' he asked enticingly. She blushed.

They walked back to the castle. Ronaldo introduced her to each of his male relatives and Gustav helped to introduce the female relatives as the females could not see the presence of Ronaldo. Romina spoke with each one.

'Mi amore, the next person I am going to introduce you to is pretty special. Her name is Maria Visconti. She is a nun. She used to be part of the church in Elba' Ronaldo said as he walked her across the room towards an older woman who was watching them with a smile.

'Why is she special?' Romina asked as they made their way across.

'I used to dismiss it in the past, but she can and does every once in a while make predictions about the future. If I am honest, she had even told me about the curse well before I met Esther. We lived in an age where people who believed or were suspected of witchcraft were killed. So I scared her away and didn't listen to what she said.'

'I saw her as a bit of a joke to be honest. It's one of the things I regret. She never came to visit me after that.'

'Oh you really are a stupid ghost aren't you?' she chided with a smile. He ignored her.

After meeting and chatting to Maria, the clock struck midnight. By then, Romina was very tired. Ronaldo whisked her back to her room without saying a word.

'Are you going to leave?' she asked Ronaldo, not wanting to let him leave. He kissed her tenderly.

'I would love to spend every second with you my love... but it's better if I keep myself away from you at night until the full moon. I don't have much faith in my resolve when I feel the way I do about you' he said, gently. Romina didn't say anything but smiled at him so he knew she understood. They kissed again before Ronaldo disappeared.

Despite her tiredness, Romina's thoughts kept her up. Everything had happened so fast - there was so much to process. Her future was left in the unknown now that she had declared her love for Ronaldo. She did not know how things would turn out and her mind pondered the different scenarios in her head. The only person who really truly knew what would happen was Esther.

'Esther, I can only imagine the heartbreak you must have gone through losing your love. I am truly sorry for what you went through. But if you can hear me, I ask you, please give my love another chance' Romina prayed as she closed her eyes and fell asleep.