Suddenly an Empress

Prologue

"Once the last one dies, a woman clad in pink is bound to arrive. It shall be then, she will be the cause of an era of love and age of harmony."

The wrinkled woman dressed in dirty rags spoke in a soft and weakened voice as she grabbed the robe of a man, completely taking his full attention. Her voice was easily drowned out by the sound of the busy marketplace but the person he was holding tightly on to was able to hear what she just said.

"Prince Lucius! Thank goodness we found you, your father is looking for you, the duel is about to start!" A group of three men approached the scene whilst on their horses and the one in the middle was the person who just spoke, he was extremely tanned and buff. When he noticed that the prince was being held by an old lady out of his will, he grumbled and said, "Damn fortune tellers, do not listen to them prince Lucius, they speak of nonsense."

Prince Lucius did not listen to what he just said about fortune tellers speaking of nonsense and instead, he took off his white robe and wrapped it gently around the old woman's shoulder to keep her warm later as soon as night rolls in.

"Prince, we must be of haste, the emperor would have my head if we arrive even a second late at the arena." The man eagerly said but still, prince Lucius pays him no attention and just talked to the old and ragged woman sitting on the sidewalk.

"If you are in need of money, you can sell this robe it is made out of the finest silk and would cost a fortune." He says softly before walking towards the group and mounting the white horse that they brought with them.

"Vatu, I do not appreciate you speaking ill of my people," Lucius says calmly, as they began riding through the sandy road at such speed.

"But, sire. Fortune tellers have been known for tricking a lot of people, we must not listen to them." Vatu says as he glances at the said prince.

Lucius did not say anything anymore and just focused on riding since he knows as well how terror his father is about tardy people.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

The massive, breath-taking colosseum was quickly filled with crowds of people who were excited to see another gladiatorial duel hosted by the crown prince. Tens of thousands of Romans were seated in sections according to their class - the low tiers were seated at the lowest part of the arena while the wealthy people were at the top to see more of the action - despite this unfair division, everyone was still thrilled to see the crown prince host this kind of event since he was known to keep to himself inside the palace walls. 

They cheered loudly, almost sounding like a roar as the fighters inside the arena began their battle against wild beasts. The gladiators were prisoners from war, slaves, or criminals, that is why the audience does not care a bit whether they die or lose an arm even if it is a woman since the more gruesome the death, the greater the entertainment. Amidst the booming crowd, the crown prince Lucius was seated at the highest part of the arena, and if looks could kill, everyone present in the colosseum would have died by how mad and bored he looked by watching the gladiators fight for their life. He was slouching on his vibrantly scarlet-colored throne while two servants were standing a meter away from him on each side, waving a giant feathery fan to keep him cool from the scorching sun. 

 "You look like you would rather be anywhere than here, prince Lucius." A tall and muscular man came out from the shadows and stood beside the sitting crown prince as he spoke in his deep voice. Arms crossed over his chest that further accentuate his buffed arms. 

"You know duels bore the life out of me, yet you went out of your way to capture more fighters just to fight in this nonsense game." Contrary to the loud crowd, the bored prince made it clear to the man he was speaking to that he was not at least entertained by the gruesome events unfolding in the arena. "And what are my subjects doing? Aren't they supposed to be working somewhere else rather than enjoying the sight of people dying?" He angrily stretched his arm and pointed at the enthusiastic audience with an open palm, only dropping it down after realizing that arguing with Gladius is considered a fruitless endeavor. 

Gladius stared down at the prince from the corner of his eyes before letting his gaze wander back at the center of the arena where there is currently a man equipped with a mismatched weapon such as a dagger, battling against a ferocious leopard who was obviously not fed for a week judging by how much it was salivating just by the sight of the man's flesh. 

"I thought I have already made it clear that hosting these brutal spectacles are staged to divert the menacing hordes' attention. Look at these people go, the fire in their eyes burns to see some bloodshed." He remarked with a proud grin, keeping his gaze locked on the battle unfolding before them. "And plus, we captured a peculiar woman yesterday at the borders of the kingdom and I believe it would make the crowds go wild just by seeing her." 

"A woman?!" Prince Lucius abruptly stood up after hearing Gladius' sentence, ultimately startling the two other servants who were just fanning him. "How could you put a woman inside this kind of c*****e? Quickly, withdraw her from this nonsense battle!" Prince Lucius demanded, but Gladius shook his head and pointed in front of them. 

"Too late for that," Lucius's eyesight followed the direction where Gladius was pointing and saw that the man who was battling against the leopard was now dead, meaning that the next player would be revealed by a platform underground that would slowly rise up to showcase the new fighter. The previous fighter's corpse was not even cleaned up since the leopard had already mangled and gnawed it out of hunger. The cheers from the crowd never faltered and were even demanding and shouting to put the next fighter in the arena at once while the leopard was busy eating the man. 

Their requests were heard as the platform slowly raised and revealed a woman, cloaked with unusual clothes that they have never seen anywhere before. Gradually, the booming cheers from the crowd died down and were replaced with shocked and confused murmurs as they set their eyes on the lone girl in the middle of the arena. 

"Stop this at once!" Prince Lucius angrily declared as soon as his eyes landed on the girl and everyone from the sidelines stopped from talking, enveloping the whole colosseum with an eerie silence not because the prince said so, but because the girl they are seeing has an unusual hair color that they have never witnessed before.

Pink.