“Mmm, really delicious!” After buying some snacks, Arthur and Isla walked through the crowds toward the main gates of the Colosseum that led inside. “Do you want some?”
Isla, who was still keeping an eye on her surroundings, turned to look at him. The snacks Arthur bought looked quite appetizing. The food in the Divine Realm was considerably better than in real life due to the nature of the ingredients so even Isla hesitated for a second before she nodded her head and took some for herself.
“We should head to the gates now. The show is about to start.” Isla said.
Hearing the cheers inside the Colosseum louden, the two understood that the crowd was settling down.
Near the gate, Arthur and Isla found a long line of people going through the gates after showing their tickets to the guards.
‘And there are still people inside? This Colosseum is bigger than any stadium on earth.’ Arthur thought to himself with an impressed look. He could easily see that there were tens of thousands of people going through the gates at that moment and there were perhaps even more people inside already.
“This is going to take a while,” Isla muttered.
“Hopefully not long enough to miss the sh-”
“Excuse me.”
At that very moment, Arthur and Isla noticed two men approaching them from somewhere. The two men were clad in formal clothes like the guards at the gate and had serious looks on their faces. Immediately, the two straightened up as they realized that something was happening.
“Are you the Gifted His Highness invited to the show?” One of the men asked coldly.
“…” Isla and Arthur looked at each other for a moment before they nodded their heads. “Yes, we are.”
“Understood. Can I see the invitation please?” The man asked.
Although Arthur and Isla were still apprehensive, they handed him the invitations. They already figured out that they weren’t going to be waiting in that line for long.
After checking the invitations and reading the content, the man nodded before he looked up at the duo. “Can you please follow us? We will take you to your assigned seats in the VIP area.”
“VIP area?” Arthur raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, you are special guests for His Highness.” The man replied.
‘Interesting. I guess this is to be expected. He doesn’t want us to just sit wherever.’ Arthur mused. freewēbnoveℓ.com
“Are we going to meet His Highness now?” Isla asked calmly.
“No, His Highness has his own section for him to watch. He will talk to you after the show.”
“… Understood. Lead the way.”
‘He doesn’t want us to know where he is yet. Smart.’ Isla thought to herself as she stared walking after the two guards silently. She asked that question specifically to know how this man acts and he seemed to be the very cautious type as she expected. Read new adventures at empire
The group moved through the crowds of people around the Colosseum till they reached a rather secluded area where the crowds couldn’t access. There, they walked through a small gate inside the Colosseum.
‘A secret path for the VIP! So cool!’
They moved through the corridors and climbed several stairs till they stopped in front of a closed door somewhere inside the Colosseum. Opening the door, the man stepped aside. “This is your assigned section.”
“We have our own private room to watch the fights?” Arthur asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Yes. His Highness wanted to show respect to both of you. This is one of our best VIP rooms.”
“…”
‘What a generous man.’ Arthur almost rolled his eyes at the blatantly shameless tactic the man was using. The two had already expected to be treated like extremely important visitors to give them this illusion that His Highness simply wanted to treat them nicely.
That, however, doesn’t mean they weren’t going to accept this offer. They simply weren’t going to change their minds about the situation at all.
So, the duo walked inside and looked around. The room was quite big with a large glass wall on the other side that had a 180-degree view of the Colosseum outside. There were comfy chairs and even a small bar to the side where several drinks were already prepared for them.
‘Talk about an overkill.’
“If you need anything else, a guard will be standing outside. Have a nice evening.” The man said before he excused himself and left the room as quickly as he appeared.
“… This is insane. We are being treated like royalty haha.” Arthur laughed sarcastically as he took a seat on the comfy chair and looked outside.
The view from there was naturally mesmerizing as the giant arena and the stands filled his vision. Countless people were there, cheering and laughing as they waited for the start of the show.
Meanwhile, Isla kept looking around the place as if she was searching for something.
“There doesn’t seem to be any listening devices planted anywhere.” She said as she turned around and walked to Arthur and sat on the second chair. When put her hand on the chair’s arms, she tapped her finger once.
“Yeah, I doubt they will plant anything in here to listen to us. There is really no point in checking.” Arthur shrugged. However, his eyes had already noticed that small tap.
‘They are listening to us.’ He thought to himself with a calm look on his face. ‘That’s expected. He wants to know everything about us.’
Arthur and Isla had agreed on how they were going to communicate these small pieces of information to each other. From the moment they stepped out of the hotel, Arthur and Isla played two different characters.
Arthur is the nonchalant, reckless person who follows everything he finds interesting while Isla is the calm and collected one who is trying to keep Arthur in check. This general image was a part of their plan. They wanted their target to think only Isla was the only one to pose a threat.
‘Hopefully, this is what they’re thinking now. I want them to let their guards down as much as possible towards me.’ He mused. Arthur had never really done such a thing before so he wasn’t confident in his ability to do it. ‘Isla, on the other hand, is flawless. She is keeping it together perfectly.’
As he was thinking about all of that, Arthur suddenly noticed the entire crowd going quiet as the entire arena went dark. Then, small orbs of light started moving in the sky, swinging their rays of light across the entire place.
“And now! Ladies and gentlemen! For what you have been waiting for!” A booming voice spoke through a microphone. “The moment you have all been waiting for!”
The moment the man said those words, the crowds erupted with cheering, almost shaking the entire arena. Their excitement was over the roof. After all, they have been waiting for the gladiatorial season to start from last year. A moment like this was rare.
“It’s about to begin,” Isla said as she adjusted her sitting position, getting ready for what was about to happen. Arthur did the same and put his snacks down on the table.
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3