[The engineers walk towards Ms. Poppy and Jack, Caelia’s heartbeat racing as they get closer. The moment Caelia laid eyes on Ms. Poppy’s kind purple eyes, the feelings of regret close in on her. Her faceless mom flashes into her memory again. Remembering this, she felt like she was 12 again and her eyes widen as she immediately drops to the ground on her knees in front of Ms. Poppy.]

CAELIA (pleading, crying):

“I AM SO SORRY!”

[The townspeople step back as Caelia is crying. Most of them were taken aback by this sudden action of the supposed cruel witch.]

MS. POPPY:

“C-Caelia! What are you apologizing for!?! Please get up!”

CAELIA (crying):

“I AM SORRY! I AM SORRY! I AM SORRY!”

[Devastated seeing Caelia like this, Cassian knelt down as well next to her.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

What is he doing?? Let me take all the blame!!

CASSIAN:

“Ms. Poppy, we are so sorry. Please forgive us!”

[Jack looks at the two engineers kneeling down, eyes widened.]

JACK - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Should I say something…? It’s not their fault…

[Jack looks at Caelia kneeling intently with a form of arrogance.]

Who am I kidding…? This is what she deserves! She never had to suffer at any point in her life!!

This is nothing! 

[He stays silent.]

MS. POPPY:

“Please, both of you, get up!

[Ms. Poppy then looks at the crowd, threateningly.] 

EVERYONE PLEASE LEAVE, THE LIBRARY IS CLOSED. IF ANYONE HURTS THEM, YOU’LL GET AN EARFUL FROM ME!”

[Some townspeople back off, scared at Ms. Poppy’s famous lecture, and Caelia and Cassian both slowly stand up.]

MS. POPPY (gentle to Caelia and Cassian):

“My dears… What happened here? I want to hear from you guys.”

CASSIAN:

“Ms. Poppy, we don’t know what happened but after we dropped you off home, a fire started. It seems a bookshelf fell down…”

CAELIA (depressed):

“Ms. Poppy, I’m sorry….”

[With tears running down Caelia’s face, Ms. Poppy looks at her and feels her heart rip.]

MS. POPPY: 

“It was an accident… Please, do not worry. It’s not your fault. On the bright side, only one of the walls of the place is burned.”

CASSIAN (adamant):

“We are going to rebuild the burnt area.”

[Jack’s eyes widened in surprise.]

MS. POPPY:

“No, please. The library was getting old anyways.”

CAELIA (hurt):

“No! We insist. Cassian and I will be here everyday until the library is fixed. So… So you can live your life again.” 

[Caelia continues to cry and hearing this, Jack is confused.]

JACK - INNER MONOLOGUE:

So Mom could live her life again…? What does she mean by that?

[Some townspeople already had mixed opinions on Caelia's determination, including Jack.]

“I mean if she’s going to rebuild it…”

“If Ms. Poppy says it’s okay then…”

“Maybe it was an accident??”

“She did just kneel down to Ms. Poppy and she’s a royal…”

MS. POPPY (heartfelt):

“Thank you, my dears.

Now, I must emphasize… If anyone hurts Caelia Ardent and/or Cassian Welsh,

YOU WILL NEVER HEAR THE END FROM ME. YOU HEAR THAT?”

[The townspeople are very scared of Ms. Poppy’s lectures. But there were still some people who still did not believe Caelia and felt animosity towards her.]

───── ⋆⋅⊹⋅⋆ ─────

[Later that day, Caelia and Cassian were surveying and sketching out the structural foundations of the burnt area of the home. Still with an audience of townspeople watching their every move.]

“Why is she back here???”

“Yeah, didn’t she start the other fire??”

“What is Ms. Poppy thinking?!”

“But it really seems like she’s trying!”

[Caelia and Cassian observe the missing wall, trying to ignore the audience they garnered. The rest of the building was still structurally sound.]

CASSIAN:

“Luckily, it only seems like this wall needs to be replaced. We can definitely make do and fix it pretty quick.

CAELIA (relief):

“Alright, I’m glad.”

[She smiles to mask the pain as she is sketching on her notebook and he notices her masking. He looks at her with tender eyes.]

CASSIAN:

“Caelia… you’re really strong.”

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

No… I’m not strong… I can’t talk for myself, I keep running away, I take blame for something I didn’t even do. 

I’m a coward. 

CAELIA (awkwardly laughs):

“… I’m really not that.”

CASSIAN (kind):

“I know you are also taking the blame so no one else gets hurt. But living like that makes it unfair for you.”

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

But life is unfair Cassian.. 

Life is unfair.

[The conversation she had with Ms. Poppy plays in her head. How the world is unfair but what matters is who you choose to be in an unfair world. After reminding herself this, Caelia felt a new sense of realization.]

I couldn’t control my environment in the past and yet I chose to live a meaningless life.

I can’t control being Caelia Ardent… I can’t control what people think of her…

[With a newfound determination to live life differently, Caelia softly smiles.] 

CAELIA (answers as Norma):

“I can’t control what people think about me- to be frank, I did live in a past I regret. I can only control what I do from here on out.”

[Hearing this, Cassian sadly smiles back at her and they continue to survey the area.]

CASSIAN:

“You’re right, Caelia.”

︶⊹︶︶✧︶︶⊹︶

[Jack is hiding behind a nearby building, overhearing their conversation. For a second, he felt some sort of empathy towards the villainess but then he left the area.]

︶⊹︶︶✧︶︶⊹︶

───── ⋆⋅⊹⋅⋆ ─────

[That day, the engineers surveyed the area and finalized sketches together, all with the public looking at them throughout the day and making snide comments at Caelia. With grace and a newfound resolve, Caelia would just ignore and keep on working.]

───── ⋆⋅⊹⋅⋆ ─────

[Later that night, Caelia was at the library alone while Cassian was gathering materials. He offered for them to go together but she was adamant on cleaning up the area in order to prepare for fixing tomorrow. She was cleaning up the rubble when all of a sudden, three townspeople holding buckets approached her.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Ugh… And I thought I was going to have a peaceful day. 

TOWNSPERSON 1 (mocking):

“Hey, Miss Engineer! Catch!”

[Townsperson 1 throws a tomato at her, aiming at her head but hitting her back. He starts laughing at her. Caelia takes the brunt of it and continues to clean. Townsperson 2 & 3 notice that she isn’t putting up a fight.] 

TOWNSPERSON 2 (hesitant):

“Hey… Do you really think this is okay?”

TOWNSPERSON 3 (agreeing):

“Yeah… I don’t really feel good about doing this…”

TOWNSPERSON 1:

“You guys should think of it as punishing your woman for not listening to you! It’s like if she were to run away from her motherly duties and go off and mine in the caves! Isn’t that terrible? That’s a job only for men. Besides, since when have you guys sided with anyone royal?”

[After that, Townsperson 2 and 3 reluctantly joined in on throwing tomatoes. The barrage of tomatoes covered her entire body, staining her clothes. She continued to clean and stayed quiet, tears welling up in her eyes. But somehow still maintaining a slight smile, much to the dismay of Townsperson 1.]

TOWNSPERSON 1 (hysteric to Caelia):

“You still have the audacity to smile in this situation???!”

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Just endure it Norma. You can’t control how they feel. Just endure it.

[She forcibly smiles even wider despite tears welling in her eyes.]

Yes… Because I am helping Ms. Poppy find her life again.

︶⊹︶︶✧︶︶⊹︶

[Jack is back at the library again, overhearing everything, and watches Caelia get berated by the townspeople.]

JACK - INNER MONOLOGUE:

That saying again… Has mom been hurting this whole time and I didn’t know…?

How come Caelia Ardent knows that and I didn't?

[Jack starts to mentally spiral wondering why his mother wouldn’t even tell her own son how she is feeling. But instead of lashing out at others, he looked inward.]

Come to think of it… When was the last time I properly even talked to mom? I can’t even be honest to my mom about this whole thing…

[He gulps, feeling guilty about everything.]

Why am I even back here? Is it to enjoy seeing Caelia get ridiculed…?

No… It was to find any proof of her actually being wicked so that I would feel better about my actions… But today…

[Jack remembers Caelia immediately falling down to her knees in front of his mother. How she tried to take the blame herself. The resolve she had to fix everything. And how despite the whole town treating her unfairly and unjustly, she still continues to work.]

She wasn’t wicked at all…

[He looks over at Caelia and notices her smiling slightly as the townspeople throw tomatoes at her.]

Is she crazy?! Why is she smiling?!?!

[He notices her flinching to the hurling tomatoes that hit her and Jack feels an immeasurable amount of guilt.]

Why isn’t she standing up for herself?!

Why surrender that easily?!?!

︶⊹︶︶✧︶︶⊹︶

[As Jack was about to jump into the situation himself, all of a sudden someone yelled in the distance.]

??? (yelling):

“WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING??”

[Ms. Poppy arrives at the library, broom in hand, and sees the townspeople mistreating Caelia. They all look over to her and become frightened.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Ms. Poppy?!?!

JACK - MONOLOGUE:

Mom?!?!

MS. POPPY (threaten):

“Warner… Want to explain what is going on here…?”

[Warner starts shaking and he immediately falls to his knees, dropping the tomato in his hand, begging to Ms. Poppy. The other two townspeople join in.]

WARNER (nervous):

“S-S-SORRY MS. POPPY! PLEASE DON’T LECTURE US!”

[Ms. Poppy lifts up her broom high over her head, preparing to strike.]

MS. POPPY (threatening):

“Leave now before that happens.”

[The three townspeople all get up and start sprinting away from the scene.]

MS. POPPY (yelling at the three men running away):

“WARNER, THIS IS WHY YOUR WIFE LEFT YOU. YOU ARE A COWARD!

PETER, YOUR KID HATES YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT A COOL DAD!

CARSON, YOU JUST SUCK!”

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Wow… Her actual lectures must be super scary then…

[Caelia watches Ms. Poppy as she yells at the three townspeople and starts laughing to herself, holding back her tears. Ms. Poppy looks at her with a heartwarming gaze.]

MS. POPPY (kind):

“My dear… Are you okay?”

CAELIA:

“What…?”

MS. POPPY (looking down):

“It’s okay to cry, my dear. I know you have been hurting a lot because of me.”

CAELIA (exclaim):

“N-No! It’s not because of you at all!! Please don’t blame yourself!!

[Caelia pauses, trying to stop herself from crying.]

I’m hurt because… 

[She thinks of her mom in her past life, a faceless figure as Norma had repressed that time of her life from her mind- to the point of even forgetting her face. Flashes of her life after her mom left played in her mind in a fraction of a second. Having no friends in high school, her dad not supporting her interests, not ever finding a true genuine connection in college, crying alone in the corporate office bathroom. And now even in a new life, she still gets unfairly treated. She feels the weight of her bottled up emotions.] 

The world is unfair. And I know I shouldn’t be saying that as I have lived a privileged life…

[Her voice cracks as tears fall down her face.]

I feel it too, Ms. Poppy. 

I feel it too.”

[Ms. Poppy goes over to hug Caelia.]

MS. POPPY:

“I know you’re trying your best, Caelia. No matter what everyone else says, I know you didn’t cause that fire.”

[Hearing this was all Caelia needed to hear. She starts wailing in Ms. Poppy’s arms, completely seeing Ms. Poppy as a motherly figure. Jack observes this tender moment from afar, feeling terrible about himself.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Why did I think of that…? I’ve kept it dormant for so long… 

[Eventually, Cassian arrives back from gathering materials and sees Caelia and Ms. Poppy embracing. Thinking something is wrong, Cassian rushes over to the duo.]

CASSIAN (worried):

“Caelia! Ms. Poppy! Is everything okay?”

[Approaching them, he sees Caelia crying in Ms. Poppy’s arms. Looking at Caelia more closely, he sees her tomato stained attire and instantly knows what had happened. Feeling anger and guilt, his hands ball into fists.]

CASSIAN (angry):

“Caelia… Ms. Poppy… What happened? Are you guys okay?”

[Finally noticing Cassian is back, Caelia breaks the hug with Ms. Poppy and tried to hide the tears streaming down her face.]

MS. POPPY:

“Mr. Welsh, there were townspeople who threw tomatoes at Caelia, but I’ve already driven them away.”

[Feeling an immense amount of guilt because he left her alone, he immediately tends to Caelia.]

CASSIAN:

“Caelia… I’m so sorry I left you alone…”

CAELIA (fake happy):

“I’m okay, Cassian! Don’t worry about me!”

[Looking down at her hand, she’s visibly shaking. On her sleeve, there is a prominent tomato stain. Staring at the stain, the guilt rose in Cassian’s body. He takes her hand and gently lifts her arm closer to him, staring at the stain.]

CAELIA (confused):

“W-What? Is there something wrong, Cassian?”

[In silence, he uses his other hand to try and wipe away the tomato stain on her sleeve. The stain spreads a bit further but feeling guilty, he did not know what to do. Someone was hurt because of his absence again. Seeing him try to clean her sleeve, Caelia’s heart rips because of the kindness.]

CAELIA:

“Cassian, please… I’m really…

[Her voice cracks.]

I’m really okay…”

[He continues to try and wipe away the tomato saint from her sleeve and seeing his care for her, Caelia does not know how to navigate it and cries even harder.]

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

[End of Chapter 5 Part 2]