[SCENE: Cassian and Caelia arrive at the village in the royal carriage. The people of Kingsley are still protesting against Caelia. They make their way amongst the village, going towards the ruins of Mrs. Poppy’s home.]

CASSIAN (looking out the window):

“Caelia, it looks like there’s a lot of people surrounding us. I can go outside, you can stay in here.”

CAELIA:

“Cassian, I would like to go out too to help you.”

CASSIAN:

“They might throw tomatoes at you again.”

[Caelia pauses for a moment to think.]

CAELIA (stern):

“So be it. It tells more of their character than mine. 

I want to see the site for myself so I can prove to myself that the fire isn’t my fault.”

[Cassian admires Caelia’s conviction.]

 CASSIAN:

“Caelia, you always doubt yourself but it’s at moments like this where you are the strongest person in the room.”

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Me…? Strong?

He must be lying to himself.

(bump)

[The carriage stops right in front of Mrs. Poppy’s home. As predicted, some townsfolk are loading up tomatoes in preparation to throw at Caelia.]

[Cassian gets out of the carriage first. The townsfolk do not throw tomatoes at him. Once he is out, he gestures to help Caelia get down from the carriage.]

CASSIAN (hand out, waiting for her to exit the carriage):

“Are you sure about this, Caelia?”

[Caelia doesn’t answer and exits the carriage, bracing for impact. A tomato is immediately thrown at Caelia.]

[Unflinching, Caelia holds Cassian’s hand as he helps her out of the carriage. Tomatoes flying at Caelia, Cassian untouched. Townsfolk who aren’t throwing tomatoes glare at Caelia.]

CAELIA (smiles, mocking): 

“Don’t worry about me, tomatoes can easily be washed off.”

CASSIAN (smiles, laughs):

“Ha! That is correct.”

[Making their way towards the ruins, Cassian covers Caelia as much as he can from the tomatoes.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Going from being a nobody in my previous life to now all eyes on me is feeling very much a culture shock. 

How did the original Caelia Ardent handle this? It’s commendable. 

[Off to the side, Aline and her parents are seen arriving at the scene. Her dad is one of the people who are throwing tomatoes at Caelia.]

[Aline sees Cassian and Caelia walking towards the ruins.]

ALINE - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Miss Caelia and Mr. Cassian! 

They haven’t been back at the school for a couple days…

ALINE (happy):
“MISS CAELI-”

ALINE’S DAD (yelling):

“YOU WITCH!”

[Aline’s dad throws a tomato towards Cassian and Caelia.]

ALINE (grabs her dad):

“Dad! Why are you throwing tomatoes at her?” 

[Aline’s dad pushes Aline off and Aline falls to the ground.]

ALINE’S MOM:

“ALINE!

Hun… We shouldn’t have brought Aline here.”

ALINE’S DAD (prepping another tomato): 

“Shut up. Aline needs to know that Caelia Ardent is a witch.

ALINE (to her mom):

“Mom! Caelia isn’t a mean person! She is helping our school build a playground!”

ALINE’S MOM (to Aline):

“Aline… She is not a good person. She burned down a house.”

ALINE - INNER MONOLOGUE: 

Miss Caelia… isn’t a good person?

[Flashback: Aline remembers Caelia helped her at school. Caelia made Aline feel understood and heard with a radiant smile on her face.

“I’m here if you need someone to talk to,” Caelia said gently as Aline was crying.

“Everyone, Aline had been working very hard on her drawing of the playground and it is absolutely beautiful,” Caelia announced to the class. 

Aline at that time, looked at Caelia with admiration as that was the first time someone had ever supported her.

“And one day, if you feel brave enough, you can tell them off,” Caelia said kindly.]

There’s no way Miss Caelia isn’t a good person.

[Realizing this, Aline felt some sort of fire inside her.]

[Without notice, Aline gets up and runs towards Caelia.] 

ALINE’S MOM:
“ALINE! GET BACK HERE!” 

[Caelia, through the gap in between Cassian’s arm and body, sees little Aline running towards them.] 

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Aline..? WHAT IS ALINE DOING HERE! SHE’LL GET HURT

CAELIA: 

“ALINE, STOP YOU’LL GET HURT!”

[Cassian turns around, looking at Aline. Aline doesn’t listen and stands in front of Cassian. Arms stretched out as if she alone could protect all the projecting tomatoes hurling towards them. Surprisingly, the tomatoes stopped.]

CAELIA:
“ALINE, PLEASE GO BACK TO YOUR PAREN-”

ALINE (interrupts):

“MISS CAELIA IS A GOOD PERSON!”

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

“Aline…”

ALINE (crying):

“MISS CAELIA WOULD NEVER BURN A HOUSE DOWN!

SHE HELPED ME SO MUCH AT SCHOOL, SHE IS NOT A BAD PERSON!”

[Touched that Aline came out to defend her, tears well in Caelia’s eyes.]

ALINE:

“I-IF YOU’RE GONNA THROW TOMATOES AT HER, YOU HAVE TO GET THROUGH ME FIRST!”

CASSIAN (to townsfolk):

“Aline is right. Caelia Ardent is a good person. 

If any of you throw more tomatoes at her, you’ll be doing yourselves a disservice against a royal.”

[Some townsfolk are already lowering their arms and talking amongst themselves.]

VILLAGER (to Cassian):

“Weren’t you two working together?! How can we know it wasn’t an inside job?!”

CAELIA (yelling):

“I DID NOT BURN THE HOUSE!

WHY WOULD I BURN SOMETHING I BUILT!

I DON’T EVEN CARE ABOUT BEING THE EMPRESS. 

I just… wanted to help out Mrs. Poppy live her life again.”

[Some townsfolk are swaying their opinions, feeling bad for Caelia. Some townsfolk still have the same opinion.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

I know I cannot change the opinion of everyone here… But please, I’m trying to see what actually happened! Even poor Aline has come to try and save me!

CASSIAN (to townsfolk):

“Everyone, please, we are here to investigate the matter.

We want to know what happened too! 

But one thing is for certain, our work was checked constantly and we can assure you that everything was in order. 

Caelia isn’t the type of person to let the tiniest of details be unchecked!

With your mindset, all the people who worked on the house are at fault as well!”

[Some townsfolk are taken aback. Slowly inching away from the scene.]

[Aline’s mom rushes over to get Aline.]

ALINE’S MOM: 

“Aline, I am gonna have a word with you after this is over. Your father isn’t happy.”

ALINE (fighting as she is being taken away by her mom):
“I DON’T CARE! MISS CAELIA ISN’T A BAD PERSON!”

[Caelia’s heart hips as she hears Aline being taken away, still screaming in defense for her. Aline screaming sways the mind of some people. Some are talking amongst themselves, questioning each other.]

VILLAGER A:

“Maybe.. We need more investigation before we put blame on someone…”

VILLAGER B:

“Yeah.. Let’s let the investigation play out.”

[The townsfolk completely stay clear of the area.]

CASSIAN (whispers to Caelia):

“Caelia, it might be better if you stay in the carriage while I look around. The carriage driver can help you if anything happens.”

[Caelia shakes her head.]

CAELIA: 

“Cassian, I already told you that I want to see the proof for myself, for my own peace of mind.”

CASSIAN: 

“I know, but there might still be people who are out against you.”

CAELIA (stern):

“I’m not changing my mind about this.”

[Caelia and Cassian slowly walk towards the ruin. Black soot still covers the surrounding area. The townsfolk's eyes are locked onto the duo.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

There used to be the house I built here. I can’t believe this is all that's left. 

[Surveying the area, Caelia sees a piece of wood off to the side, away from the rest of the scene. It looks untouched from fire.]

[Caelia walks towards it to pick it up, but then a Villager tries to pull a fast one and throws a tomato at Caelia’s head. Cassian immediately extends his arm and catches the tomato like it’s a baseball.]

CASSIAN (glaring at the direction of the source):

“Do that again and see what happens.”

CAELIA (surprised):

“T-Thanks Cassian.”

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Damn! He caught that with such precision!

[Cassian then throws the tomato like a fastball into the great distance where no one is standing. It flies so fast that Caelia could swear she felt the speed of the tomato.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Does baseball exist in this universe? He could really have a good shot at the big leagues!!!

[Caelia then goes back to picking up the piece of wood that looks like it had been soaked. Caelia brings it up closer to her face to examine. The smell of pungent alcohol goes wafts in her nose.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Alcohol…? 

Why was this piece of wood soaked in alcohol?? 

[Caelia then looks around for anything else that could piece together this mystery but to no avail.]

CASSIAN: 

“What’s wrong with that piece of wood?”

CAELIA (bringing the piece of wood closer to Cassian’s face): 

“It smells like alcohol, look.”

CASSIAN (sarcastically):

“You can’t smell with your eyes, silly.” 

CAELIA (annoyed):

“Seriously? Now is the time not to be making jokes! Just smell it!”

[Cassian smells the piece of wood.]

CASSIAN (surprised):

“You’re right, it reeks of alcohol. Why would a piece of wood smell this much like alcohol?”

[Cassian and Caelia look at each other like a lightbulb has lit up in both of their heads. They immediately look around beyond the area.]

[Caelia then stumbles across an empty handle of alcohol nearby the house and picks it up.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

No way… Cassian was right!

CAELIA (holding the handle of liquor): 

“Cassian! Look at this!”

CASSIAN (looking at the handle):

“Oh my…Someone was actually plotting against this house!”

[The townsfolk are all in shock as the alcohol handle was found.]