[It is mid-afternoon at the Everhart Palace, Caelia and Cassian went around the east gate from the outside, taking note of all of the structurally unsound areas. The east gate is a large gate that allows carriages to drop off materials inside of the palace. As you exit the east gate from the palace, you are met with a lush rose garden as well as the stables where the horses live.]

[Around the entryway, there was a notable amount of damage such as cracks and fissures. One crack in particular, stretched out from the entryway towards the ceiling. Some of the wood started to rot as the cracks were exposed to the outside world and no one ever addressed the issue. Caelia and Cassian stand by the corridor, observing the large crack. He looks at the crack, feeling intimidated by how large it has gotten.]

CASSIAN (intimidated):

“I didn’t notice this for the two months I’ve been here...”

CAELIA (trying to make him feel better):

“The palace is quite large. You have a lot of other things to attend to.”

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Come to think of it… The palace is so large that I haven’t even seen the female lead, Annalise. In fact, I haven’t really seen anyone. That’s a good thing, though. I want to stop the tormenting and avoid her and the royal circle as much as possible. 

I don’t really want to get involved… 

[Cassian points his finger towards the large crack along the wall.]

CASSIAN:
“There. You see the tension lines around that beam? It’s starting to mold the wood.”

[Caelia looks up at the large crack that completely disrupts the beautiful, historic architecture.]

CAELIA (nodding):
“It looks like someone bumped into the door a bit too hard.”

[She pulls over a tall wooden ladder that is resting on the wall. Then she lays it against the wall, lining up with the large fissure.]

CASSIAN (offering):

“Do you want me to look at it?”

CAELIA (adamant):

“No, it’s okay! I can take a look!”

[She slowly climbs up the ladder, making sure she doesn’t look down as she climbs. Her heels actually make her ascend easier with the way they are shaped. Once she makes it to the top, she views the crack from up close. The base of the large crack starts at the entryway and as the fracture made its way upward, it became thinner, coming to a point. The wood was suffering from significant water damage and it was causing the wood to become weaker and weaker.]

CAELIA (thinking aloud, speaking louder so Cassian could hear from the bottom):
“It seems like we might have to either replace the wood altogether or we would have to come up with a way to reduce the damage temporarily!”

CASSIAN (responding loudly):
“Can we replace the wood completely?”

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

I’m not sure if that is possible. The palace is quite large with multiple floors and knocking out this door to replace this wood might be risky. But, if we leave this crack unattended, the water damage from the rain or snow might end up weakening the wood more and more. 

CAELIA (loud):
“No! I don’t think that’s possible! We should think of a temporary fix!”

[Caelia descends down the tall ladder but since she is wearing heels, she accidentally slips and loses her balance- her eyes slightly widened and she let out a short gasp as she lost her balance. The ladder immediately falls to the ground as she is falling backwards from a large height.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Fuck! I’m falling! My heel slipped!

Is this where my life ends?!?!

[As Caelia falls, her eyes soften as she comes to terms to accept.]

Ah… If this is how my life will play out, then so be it. I didn’t do anything in the past and I can’t do anything now.

[She closes her eyes to brace for impact but finds herself surprised when she lands on a warm surface.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

What…? That didn’t hurt as bad…

Wait.

[Instantly realizing, she turns her head and out of her peripheral vision, she sees Cassian under her- his eyes closed, body frozen.]

OH MY GOD, DID I KILL HIM?

DID MY FATE SOMEHOW TRANSFER TO HIM?

[Frazzled, she immediately turns her entire body around, now facing him but still lying on top of him. His eyebrows furrowed, Cassian groans and she feels a sense of relief hearing him breathe.]

CAELIA (concerned):

“HEY! ARE YOU OKAY?”

[He opens his eyes and is met by Caelia’s gray, worried eyes and her hair draping over his body. He is silent, staring at her directly on top of him.]

CAELIA (worried):
“DID I HURT YOU? ARE YOU OKAY?”

[He slightly averts his gaze from hers, feeling awkward.]

CASSIAN (groans):

“I-I’m okay, are you okay, Lady Ardent?”

[Feeling thankful, she smiles at Cassian.]

CAELIA (apologetic):

“I’m okay… Sorry for falling on top of you. You saved my life.”

[There was a slight pause between the two.] 

CASSIAN:

“Don’t be sorry, Lady Ardent. May I ask you to get off of me?”

[Caelia, now seeing the precarious situation she’s in, gets embarrassed, and immediately distances herself from him. She stands up abruptly.]

CAELIA (embarrassed):

“I’m sorry! Are you sure you’re okay?” 

[Cassian sits up, rubbing the back of his head with his hand.]

CASSIAN (calmly, with care):
“I’m fine, Lady Ardent. You don’t have to keep apologizing, it was an accident. As long as you are okay, that’s all that matters.” 

[After hearing those words, she feels a warmth spread through her chest. Even him asking if she was okay made her heart swell. As it was never a question that anyone had cared to ask her in her previous life, even when it was the question that she needed the most. To stop herself from spiraling further, she quickly regroups herself.]

[She grabs her notebook and sketches something while unconsciously smiling— a diagram of an internal frame system with diagonal braces that cover the wood crack.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Alright! This design is just an initial idea I had. Since we can only add and not subtract, we can add braces that help support the crack and prevent it from growing exponentially. 

I wonder if this is even a good idea or if it’s even possible…

[Cassian stands up and brushes off dirt from his pants. Looking over at Caelia sketching out her idea, he notices how happy she looks and smiles along with her. He walks over to her.]

CASSIAN (curious):

“What do you think about this problem?”

[Feeling a bit hesitant to show her work at first, she eventually caves in and shows her finished sketch to him.]

CAELIA (rambling):
“It’s a little bit weird… But what if we install these braces beneath the weak joint, embedded into the side walls like ribs? The force would disperse across a wider area. It would be a temporary fix to the bigger problem. We can also try to fill the crack with clay or something for the time being. Or… actually maybe not clay as it might not be good with direct contact with water. Maybe something else… Maybe cement?”

[He studies her drawing, intently looking at the brace.]

CASSIAN:
“…This might actually work. It is unconventional, but it could still work. I think we still have a lot of scrap wood that we can use as braces.” 

[Pleasantly surprised after hearing him validate her work, Caelia smiles brightly.]

CAELIA (ecstatic):

“Really??? You think this could work? I didn’t know if it was a weird approach or not!”

[Cassian looks at Caelia who is smiling at him, her eyes bright and full of energy. Feeling slightly embarrassed, he averts his gaze.]

CASSIAN (softly):
“Lady Ardent, it seems like you are very passionate about engineering.”

[Seeing him a bit uncomfortable, she catches herself getting a bit too excited and immediately calms down.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Oh… I got a bit too excited there. 

[She thinks about her lonely past life where she would ramble to anyone but they wouldn’t listen.]

Maybe I’m being a bit overbearing.

CAELIA (disappointed):

“Oh. Sorry.” 

CASSIAN (confused):

“What? No, don’t apologize. It’s just that you’ve been smiling the whole time we’ve been working on this. It seems different from what you said yesterday when I asked if you liked engineering.”

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

He’s noticed that I’ve been smiling this whole time…? I haven't even noticed it myself.

CAELIA (low):

“Ah… I guess so…”

CASSIAN:

“Why did you get into engineering?”

[There was a pause. Not particularly wanting to answer him, she glances over at him, and sees his face expresses a genuine curiosity, then she glances away.]

CAELIA (truthfully):
“When I was younger, I was bored one day and I just wanted something—anything—to read and I picked up a book on arithmetic. It made sense to me. Numbers are stable and predictable. I liked how the answers were clear cut and not ambiguous. Then I stumbled across a book on using math to build bridges and I was hooked. After that, I started practicing to further my knowledge.”

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

That was all when I was younger and in school. Once adult life happened, it all just stopped.

[There’s a faint admiration in Cassian’s eyes as he listens to her intently. Deep in her emotions, she continues to talk about her experience.]

CAELIA (continues, lowering her voice):
“I wanted to prove to myself and to others that this was something I can actually do.”

[Norma’s past flickers in her head. When she was young, she picked up a book on bridges at the school library. Opening it, she was amazed at all the numbers and patterns. When coming home to tell her family about it, her dad dismissed her.]

──────────﹒✶﹒﹒─

[FLASHBACK: Norma came home from school with the book in her hands. Her dad is sitting on the couch, watching TV. 

NORMA (passionate):

“Dad! I found a new book today! It’s about building bridges with math, it’s so cool!”

[Watching the TV intently, her dad waves his daughter away with a drink in hand.]

NORMA’S DAD (discerning):

“That’s great dear… Now go to your room and let dad watch his show.”

[Saddened, Norma went to her room. From that point on, she embarked on her journey of being an engineer because she loved it so much. Even with her family’s disapproval, she continued to try and prove to them that she could do it. 

And when she succeeded, she quickly found out that the world of engineering can be draining in many ways.]

─﹒﹒✶﹒──────────

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

I can’t believe I told Cassian the complete truth. I’m not even sure why I felt the need to even open up to someone I just met two days ago.

CAELIA (awkwardly laughs):

“Sorry, I really didn’t mean to get too person-“

CASSIAN (cuts off): 

“I’m surprised.”

[Abruptly interrupted, Caelia looks over at Cassian in confusion.]

CAELIA:

“Huh?”

CASSIAN (straightforward):

“Aren’t you notorious for not really caring what people think?”

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

I mean… That’s true for the original Caelia Ardent but I am not her… I will never be her…

I get that he doesn’t know that but he didn’t have to be rude about it…

CAELIA (peeved):

“Just because that is the case, doesn’t mean that I don’t have my own expectations or worries.“

[Cassian looks at the peeved Caelia and gently smiles at her.]

CASSIAN:
“Your designs and ideas are far better than what my engineering team had been coming up with. You should be very proud. Also, I can’t believe I’m saying this to supposedly the most self-centered person in the kingdom, but you should be more confident in yourself.”

[Her eyes opened up slightly, maybe because it felt like he was actually talking to her. The real her. The atmosphere lingers for a moment, tender and quiet.]

CAELIA (softly):
“Just call me Caelia. No need for the formalities…”

[Looking at her grey eyes and fancy attire, he couldn’t help but to realize the difference in social class between them. He is a commoner who just so happened to work at the Everhart Palace and she is the Princess from the North.] 

CASSIAN:

“…I can’t do that, Lady Ardent.”

CAELIA (kind):

“But Cassian, I’m a person just like you. Just call me Caelia.”

[Due to her kindness, his eyes soften as he looks at her and his composure loosens.]

CASSIAN:

“Caelia.”

CAELIA (happy):

“See! That wasn’t hard, was it? Now let me ask you the same thing- how did you get into engineering, Cassian?” 

[His eyes start to lose color after she asks the question.]

CASSIAN (gloom):

“The money, really...”

[Surprised at his unexpected answer, she is taken aback.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Honestly, I get it but I didn’t expect that from him… It seems like he has a natural talent for engineering.

CASSIAN (continues):

“Growing up, my family was poor and as a kid, I loved math just like you. My dream was to become a professional mathematician but life happened… So I ended up as an engineer to make some money.”

[He lowered his gaze. Even after hearing his answer, Caelia looks at him in admiration.]

CAELIA (admiring):

“It’s amazing that you adapted and made it work for yourself even though it wasn’t what you wanted in life. And now look at you! You’re the head engineer of the palace!” 

[His heart skips a beat hearing her positivity, giving him a different perspective about his life.]

CAELIA (peppy):

“Engineering is basically all math anyway! All those years devoted to calculus and differential equations makes engineers kind of like mathematicians, don't you think?”

[Hearing this, he looks over at her and gives her his full attention.]

CASSIAN - INNER MONOLOGUE:

I guess she has a point. 

CASSIAN:

“Maybe in an applied way, sure, but I was more interested in proofs and theoretical math.”

[Hearing math talk, Caelia’s face lights up looking at him.]

CAELIA (curious):

“Oh? Kind of like algebra?”

[Slightly surprised, he nods his head.]

CAELIA (passionate):

“You know, they say that you fall into one of two bins of math: either you like calculus or you like algebra- I definitely prefer calculus over algebra! It seems like you are on algebra’s side!”

CASSIAN - INNER MONOLOGUE:

I’ve never heard of that before… But the distinction makes sense…

CASSIAN (curious):

“What about algebra don’t you like?”

CAELIA (explaining):

“It’s too abstract! Matrices and eigenvalues never made sense to me…”

CASSIAN:

“But isn’t a lot of calculus abstract? 90% of differential equations are unsolvable.”

CAELIA (passionate):

“Yeah!! I only like the ones where there are specific boundary conditions and constraints! At least those are able to have concrete answers! Have you ever thought of how amazing it must feel to solve a differential equation that no one solved before? Or find a new set of boundary conditions where it is solvable???”

[He looks at her smiling face and feels her bright and passionate aura.]

CASSIAN - INNER MONOLOGUE:

She knows quite a bit… But aren’t noblewomen known for not going to school?

CASSIAN (questioning):

“How much time did you invest everyday to be able to know this much?”

CAELIA - INNER THOUGHTS:

Oh no… Was I rambling again…? For a moment there, I completely forgot that I am not Caelia Ardent and was talking to him completely as myself…

But… talking with him was nice… It was like meeting a new friend in college…

[End of Chapter 3 Part 1]