Chapter Text
Voices were loud in the busy street despite the sun shining too bright and nearly burning the ground. Walking in fast steps, you let your ears capture what the people were talking passionately about: something about the emperor and his soldiers being victorious in the battle they engaged in one month ago. From the rest of what you could hear, it seems that he and his troops will be back in Rome soon, and a party will be thrown this evening to celebrate.
How pretentious, you thought, but the emperor's words were absolute, and this one seemed to be liked by the citizens in contrast to the previous one, whose life did not end peacefully.
Carefully avoiding the potholes, you rush to your house, not wanting to be much later than you already are. You had a good time at the public baths, away from the family who complain about everything and anything, just to talk about lighthearted things with random people.
Why are you not married already? Why can’t you bring us a wealthy man? The same questions every day, and the worst is that you couldn’t even remember when it started. Why should you be the one having to sell yourself to save them? Shouldn’t the parents be responsible for their kids' well-being? Well, those questions didn’t really matter; you shouldn’t speak out if you didn’t want to be thrown out in the streets.
Instead, the only solution you found to avoid all those questions and negativity was to spend all your free time outside, away from the family bakery. Tough today was different. Your father had requested your presence at home earlier, but you didn’t bother to listen for whatever reason.
A woman’s scream breaks your train of thought, and you notice a man running toward you, with a bunch of vigiles after him, shouting at him. The running man appears to be rather strong, possessing an athletic build, and trying to stop him with bare hands would be a disastrous idea.
Without thinking too much, you grab the fruit display from a random store and bring it down, the furniture falling on the robber, stopping his pursuit. Whispers began to multiply around you as the vigiles captured the man, one of them picking up a big satchel and giving it to a woman with a worried look on her pale face.
The old seller from the store comes out, probably bothered by all the noise, and you took the chance to apologize for literally destroying his wooden display. However, he didn’t take it as nicely as you thought, and began to shout at you, to your very great despair.
The heated conversation must have piqued the woman's interest, prompting her to understand what had happened and why her bag could be in her possession again. She stepped towards the two of you and handed the seller a small satchel, which, as the sounds contained, a bunch of coins. She then turns to you, a big smile on her face. Now she was closer, and you could notice how beautiful she was, the type of beauty you only see in those elite families. Dark brown hair tied up elegantly, fair skin that could be compared to marble, and big brown eyes that seem to capture every ray of the sun.
“If the words I’ve heard are true, I would like to thank you for your bravery. If there’s anything you need, please let me know so I can repay you for your courage.”
Even her voice is as soft as her look, you thought to yourself, how lucky can one be?
“Do not worry, it was a totally normal thing to do”, you respond, trying not to sound bothered by the fact that time was passing and you were getting even more later, and you will probably be getting to hear many more complaints from your parents.
But that wealthy lady did apparently not want to stop the conversation, asking for much more information about you. Your name, your age, where you live, what you’re doing as an occupation, and if you are married. At one point, you wondered if you were the one who robbed her, and she was the guard. But her voice was so warm and her words devoid of any malicious intent that it was easy to forgive her ignorance about the common citizens when she asked you if you were going to the emperor’s party this evening.
“My husband is a good acquaintance of the emperor, she said with a bright smile, please come tonight and state your name at the entry; we will let the guards know who you are.”
She must have felt that you were about to tell her no because she grabbed your hands between hers - the softness of them was incredible - and gave you one last smile, before leaving you all alone with the old seller, who had finally calmed down after counting the coins inside the pouch.
⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻
Watching your feet as you walked toward the palace with reluctance, you recalled the earlier events. From saving the new wardrobe of a rich woman to explaining to your family what happened to calm their nerves - having to tell them you were invited to the royal party was such a pain, they made it sound like you were getting married and they were finally getting out of poverty - to now, arriving in front of the palace. It was already crowded with the elites, dressed in silk and gold jewelry, while you wore the linen dress you would bring out of your closet for big occasions. Well, it was a big occasion for you, so that will do, and you didn’t want to spend too much time here.
The palace is grandiose; your head had to tilt backward to appreciate all the details in the stone. You wondered if the emperor possessed good taste in art in addition to his many talents, such as combat, or if someone was requested to decorate the palace just because it’s the norm for an emperor.
A guard has approached you and asked for your name, not without eyeing you up and down. The way your clothing looks nothing like the people present here is probably why others start to gather around the two of you, probably waiting to see a poor, hysterical woman being refused entry to the palace. Sadly for these noisy groups, the guard let you walk in before taking back his usual posture, watching every move carefully. Your irritability seemed to have ceased for an instant, replaced by awe, watching for the first time such a display of art and luxury. The marble floor gleamed under the flames of the torches, the warm colors of the paintings on the walls radiant to your eyes. The roof is so high that you begin to wonder how many people would be needed to reach it.
Wandering around the hall, your eyes began to search in the crowd for the lady from the street, the reason why you were able to roam freely around all that luxury. You wanted to thank her properly, maybe discuss a little - ask for her name would be a good idea -, and leave this place. Not being raised in a rich household was probably the reason why you didn’t like being here at the moment. How nice it would be if you could talk about poetry, talk about your beliefs with so much confidence and perfect diction. You found a quiet place near the wall and decided to stay here, away from people, eyes scanning every person who enters the hall. It took a little while before the object of your thoughts appeared, followed by a man who seemed to be her husband, the two of them dressed in such fine silk. The man next to her looked a bit older, his stature similar to the guards; tall and proud.
Beginning to walk in her direction, you stopped immediately when all the talk around you stopped out of the sudden. A man dressed in a red silk toga - adorned with beautiful gold embroideries - and a crown of gold laurel leaves on fixed on his brown hair, advanced to the throne, glancing at everyone in the room in one glare before sitting down. “So that’s the emperor, the little voice in your head concluded, I never saw him before, but he’s rather impressive.” In contrast to his predecessor, he was a handsome man; the last one was more of the geriatric type, though. But it was the first time you saw a man like him. You stopped your observations when a loud voice resonated in the hall.
“All of you know why we all gathered here this evening, he spoke, the battle was successful, and what we conquered will help the empire flourish even more.”
Your mind was telling you to be repulsed, but something else inside of you, something you never felt before, was drawing you towards the emperor. A certain aura was emanating from him, one you never felt from the other men you meet in your life. All of them were cowards, talking nonsense with such depravity. And your father was no better.
And before that disgusting feeling would consume your entire brain, you decided to take your leave, abandoning the idea of thanking the lady who kindly let you experience an event like that in your life. The emperor’s speech over, you took one last look at the painted walls before directing yourself to the exit, still trying to control all those new thoughts. And so lost in your own confusion, you didn’t notice multiple eyes watching you leave the palace, the three of them whispering to each other, watching you waddle away into the night.