[The next day in Caelia’s bedroom, the sunlight shines into the room. Caelia is still under the covers sleeping, her head buried in the pillows. Her bedroom doors slightly open and a maid is seen in a frantic yet confused state.] 

MAID (urgent):
“Lady Caelia, are you awake? I apologize for barging in but… you’re being summoned to the discussion room.”

[Caelia opens her eyes slightly from all the noise, feeling slightly disappointed that her reincarnation wasn’t all just one big dream. Unburying herself from her pillows, Caelia turns her head to the maid.]

CAELIA (groggy):
“The what now…?”

MAID (explaining):
“It’s where the king’s engineers, architects, and logistics teams work. They asked for you specifically...”

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

What…? There’s even a whole engineering team here??? What kind of universe is this?! 

Ugh.. I got a bad feeling about this…

───── ⋆⋅⊹⋅⋆ ─────

[In the discussion room, a circle table lies in the center where scrolls, quills, pencils, and rulers are scattered all over. Three older men are sitting, lining the table and are loudly debating. Cassian sits at the end of the table, directly facing the door.]

MAN 1 (grumbling):
“—If we move the granary west, we’d shave off transit time by—”

[The door creaks open and Caelia enters. Immediately, the room falls into a heavy silence. The older men are bamboozled and they all look at her as if she had 3 heads. Cassian looks at her normally, as if he expected her to come.]

[Caelia looks around the room at the men, finding it reminiscent of her past life where it was mostly men working as engineers with few women.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

So this is where the engineers work? As expected… Just men here.

[Directly in front of her, she sees the man she met at the library yesterday.]

Is that the man I met yesterday at the library? I thought he was a butler…

MAN 2 (whispers to himself):
“Duke Ardent’s daughter…?”

[The three older engineers stood up from their seats, bowed to her, and sat back down. Cassian, still seated, looks up and meets Caelia’s eyes. Feeling a sense of nervousness as if she was in trouble, Caelia’s heartbeat rises.]

CAELIA (cautious):
“Why was I called here...?”

[Cassian takes out a piece of paper from a folder and he slides it on the round table towards Caelia. Recognizing the handwriting and sketches on the paper, Caelia bites her tongue.]

CASSIAN (stern):
“This. Where did you learn to draw like this?”

[The older men lock their eyes on the piece of paper, flocking on it like birds to prey.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

UGH… I must’ve left that in the library yesterday… He’s probably confused that a woman, let alone a noble, is into engineering… Everyone in this room is male, after all.

[Caelia averts her gaze.]

CAELIA (steady but guarded):
“It’s… a new interest. A hobby, really.”

CASSIAN (archly):
“A hobby that includes accurate math and stress tolerances? …With a doodle of a happy sun in the corner?”

[Caelia slightly cringes hearing her embarrassing habit be exposed.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Fuck! I still have the habit of doodling while I’m deep in thought. That’s so embarrassing… 

CAELIA (deflecting while embarrassed):
“Oh? The math and stress tolerances?? I don’t know anything about that! I thought you were inquiring about the sun I drew in the corner! If I wasn’t supposed to do that, I apologize! But besides - why is a supposed butler so interested in engineering sketches?”

[An awkward silence filled the room and no one spoke. The three older engineers look blankly at Caelia while Cassian does not fall for her lie.]

MAN 3 (scoffing):
“Cassian, did you think that Lady Ardent drew this? Noblewomen are known for not going to school.”

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Did he really have to say it like that…? What’s wrong with a noblewoman drafting engineering drawings? No matter, I don’t want to be involved.

CAELIA (performative):

“H-He’s right! How could I have drawn that if I, a noblewoman, never went to school?! It makes no logical sense!

[With that sentiment, Caelia bows to them.]

With that, I will take my leave!”

MAN 2 (trying to joke):

“I would believe your only worry should be about becoming the empress and having kids! Not all of this hard engineering stuff, right, Lady Ardent?”

[Hearing that assumption, Caelia’s demeanor changed. She stands there motionless, quietly bothered.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Why is it always that a woman’s existence is only for the mere reason of getting married and having kids…? That might’ve been the case for the Original Caelia… But not me. 

[She starts thinking of her past life- how her dad kept pressuring her to quickly find a husband to eventually get married and have kids. After many surprise blind dates set up by him, she had to cut him out of her life- a decision that she had to make for herself but it made her life even more lonelier than it was.]

And yes, engineering is hard but I have also completed it…? Is childbirth not considered “hard” to them??? They will never have to experience that ever in their lives!! 

[A rising anger brews inside of her as she stands her ground in the discussion room, staying quiet, not leaving the room. Catching herself, she then calms down a little bit.]

I really don’t need this right now… 

CAELIA (fake smiles):

“That’s right! That is all I am focusing on right now!”

[Knowing that she’s lying, Cassian stares at her intently with a monotone expression. Man 1 points at the drawing and looks at Cassian.]

MAN 1 (confused):

“Cassian, how come you think she drew this? Now, we have wasted Lady Ardent’s time.”

CAELIA (fake):

“Please, don’t worry abo-”

MAN 1 (interrupts):

“Maybe one of the butlers or the King drew this… There’s no way a lady could’ve written all of this…”

[Caelia stands there, eyes widened, and her anger brews even stronger this time. Man 2 grabs the drawing with his two hands and intently studies it up close.]

MAN 2:

“There's so many numbers here, I can barely read it, and the handwriting is terrible. Don’t they teach women how to write in cursive? ”

MAN 3 (joking):

“If a lady made this sketch, it’ll probably fall apart if the load is 5 pounds!!”

[The men slightly chuckle amongst themselves, fully thinking this is a normal joke. Caelia’s gaze darkens and she clenches her fists.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:
There it is again. Just like before.
Every time I reached beyond what they allowed me, they told me I didn’t belong.

[She remembers her previous life. Boardrooms filled with men who overshone her, meetings where others took credit, cold stares given to her, no one listening to what she had to say, and her running into the bathroom to cry.]

I’m going to die in this life anyways… Might as well say what I’ve wanted to say my whole life.

[Caelia takes a deep breath, calming her nervous system.]

CAELIA (stern):
“With all due respect, sir… the buckets don’t care if a man or a woman lifts them. They’re just heavy. Why does it matter who came up with it, man or woman?”

[The room was stunned and in complete utter silence. The older engineers look at the lady for a second with confusion but then they start laughing manically.]

MAN 1 (baffled):

“Did you hear her????”

MAN 2 (mocking Caelia):

“”The buckets don’t care if a man or woman lifts them.” Well, I’ll tell ‘ya that people will care if a woman made them! HAHA!”

[The men laugh louder and louder. Caelia starts to feel isolated, letting their chatter seep under her skin.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

What the hell… It’s all the same…

[The same stares and judgement filled the discussion room as when she presented in nice conference rooms in her past. The men who didn’t care enough to listen, disinterested. Men giving her consistently hard questions but give others easier questions. She was experiencing the same thing again.]

I don’t like this feeling at all!!!!

[The more they laughed amongst themselves, she started to react in the only way she knew how.]

CAELIA: 

“Sor-“

CASSIAN (stern, interrupts):
“-She’s right.
And for the record, these sketches are more detailed than anything I’ve seen from my staff this month so I know no one on my team did this.”

[The laughs stop in the board room immediately and the engineers sneer at Cassian after that comment. Caelia stared at Cassian, momentarily at a loss for words. Cassian, still seated, looks up to Caelia with gentleness.]

CASSIAN (gentler):
“And by process of elimination and just seeing you next to these drawings, I can assume you were the one who drew these. Sorry I lied in the library. I didn’t want to intimidate you. I’m the new Head Engineer overseeing repairs and modernization of the palace for the next year.”

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Why would he lie about something like that…? 

[Looking at him in better lighting compared to last night, she notes that he looks young and probably around the same age as her. Looking around the room, the other three engineers are significantly older, in their 50s.]

He’s also young and is already running a team of engineers…?

CAELIA (dryly):
“So not a butler, then. But how would you intimidate a noble?”

CASSIAN (smiling slightly):
“Not exactly a butler. I also didn’t want to scare you. Your pulley system is smart. I’d like to possibly implement it for the maids. But since it’s your design, I would like you to take the lead.”

[The room filled with male engineers look completely taken aback after hearing their boss ask a noble lady to lead a project. Caelia’s eyes widened after hearing his surprising proposal.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

My lead…? I haven’t led anything at all, ever. No way, I can’t do that. Besides… What if they’re right and my design doesn’t work… Then… I probably won’t ever hear the end of it.

[Caelia shrugs and places her palm on her chest.]

CAELIA (lying):

“My lead? I must assure you, those drawings are just a fluke. I’m not interested in engineering whatsoever. I’m sorry but I am going to take my leave.”

CASSIAN (slyly):

“Ah, well this sketch lying around must mean that it’s my design to take?”

[Visibly bothered, Caelia feels a chill run down her spine.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOUGUE:

Goddamn it, he really is an engineer, he knows exactly where it stings. But what should I do? Do I really want to involve myself in engineering again…? It seems like these men don’t really want to be led by a female… 

I’m going to live the same life over again.

[The memory of the maid’s painful journey up the stairs with the heavy buckets of water plays in her head. Feeling bad for them, her decisions start to conflict with one another.]

But can my design really help them…?

[She looks at Cassian who is directly looking at her and smiling, waiting for her to answer. Deliberating constantly in her head, her mind leans towards, “no” but the more she let the thoughts of the maids linger, she makes an impulsive decision.]

Maybe… Maybe we can try it out to help the maids.

Just this once.

[Caelia puts her arms out and surrenders to Cassian in front of the older engineers.]

CAELIA (giving in): 

“Fine, you caught me, I am indeed the one who drew those. Let’s go try it out.”

[Cassian gets up off of his chair and walks over to Caelia. His height towering over her, he outstretched his hand to her for a handshake. The other engineers in the room look at him as if he lost his mind.]

CASSIAN (sly smile):

“Pleasure working with you, Lady Ardent. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.”

[Caelia looks at Cassian’s face and then at his outstretched, unclenched hand. She takes a moment to pause before returning the handshake.] 

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Hopefully this will give me some sense of joy before my eventual demise.

[She then looks directly into his eyes and returns the handshake.]

CAELIA (smiles):

“Same to you.”

───── ⋆⋅⊹⋅⋆ ─────

[Later that day at one of the palace stairwells, Cassian, his team, and Caelia gathered around to implement her pulley idea. Wood slabs were gathered, some rope, sandpaper, and saws of varying sizes. Every older male engineer reluctantly waits to follow Caelia’s lead, all of them with pieces of paper in their hands, and are scowling at her. She feels their negative energy poking at her.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

What is their issue…? It seems like they would rather die than be here right now. It’s okay, Norma. Just ignore it.

CAELIA (awkwardly smiles):

“O-Okay everyone… I think I gave everyone a copy of the plans… Please read it over and let me know if you have questions.”

[All the engineers do not look at the sketches at all and are all zoned out.]

MAN 1 - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Tch. Why do I have to listen to a woman, much less a noble, about this? Isn’t she also a wicked person? What is Cassian thinking letting her lead us?

[Man 1 crumples up the piece of paper into a ball and throws it behind him, initiating his protest. And then starts walking away from the stairwell, hands in his pockets.]

MAN 1:

“Cassian, I refuse to listen to her. I’m not working for her.”

[After Man 1’s exit, the other two older engineers eventually follow suit. Then Cassian and Caelia were the only ones left at the stairwell. They stand there in silence.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

I’m not surprised. Maybe we shouldn’t even do this at all…

[Sighing to herself, Caelia kneels down to the ground to pick up the scrap wood, completely giving up on the idea. Noticing this, Cassian kneels down on the ground next to her and stops her from gathering more wood.]

CASSIAN (adamant):

“Lady Ardent, I think we should still do this. We can do this together.”

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Why does he still want to work with me…? He was literally leading them and probably thinks just exactly like them at the end of the day…

[Turning her head, she looks directly into his eyes.]

CAELIA (bothered):

“But your team just left because I am a woman. I don’t want to work with someone who thinks like them.”

[He listens to her concerns and with unwavering eyes, he stares back into her eyes.]

CASSIAN (sure):

“I don’t. I believe in your design. I studied it and the math is completely correct. We can definitely implement this.”

[For the first time ever, Caelia felt a sense of validation, something that she doesn’t ever recall having in her first life.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

For some reason… I feel like I trust him.

₊ . ⊹  ݁ ₊‧ . ‿⊱༻✶༺⊰‿ . ‧₊ ݁ ⊹ . ₊ . ⊹  ݁ ₊‧ . ‿⊱༻✶༺⊰‿ . ‧₊ ݁ ⊹ . ₊

[End of Chapter 2 Part 1]