CAELIA (waves):

“Hi Ulysses!” 

[Full of glee, Ulysses and the old man arrive at the soup stand.]

ULYSSES:

“Thanks for covering for me while I grab the old man! Engineers, this is Gerald. Gerald, these are the engineers.”

CAELIA:

“Nice to meet you, Gerald! I’m Caelia.”

CASSIAN:

“Nice to meet you. I’m Cassian.”

GERALD (teasing):

“Nice to meet you guys! Thanks for fixing my stand. Ulysses here really put it in a bad shape, didn’t he?”

ULYSSES (shy):

“Don’t embarrass me, old man!” 

GERALD (to Caelia and Cassian):

“Ulysses told me here that you two are the real deal! And I believe him! This place looks the most busy it has ever been in 15 years!”

[Seeing the royal knight and not recognizing him, Ulysses looks at him with a kind suspicion.]

ULYSSES (to the Royal Knight):

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around here before. What’s your name?”

[The royal knight internally panics for a bit, one bead of sweat trickles down his temple as he thinks of a name and story.]

ROYAL KNIGHT (monotone):

“Uh… My name is... Forrest. I’m not from here… Uh…

[There was a slight pause as he thought of a story.]

My friend’s neighbor’s uncle’s ex-wife’s son told me about this event.”

[Both Caelia and Cassian look at Forrest dumbfoundedly and suspiciously.]

CAELIA & CASSIAN - INNER MONOLOGUE:

That sounds like a lie!

ULYSSES (completely believing it):

“Oh wow, your interpersonal relationship ties run that deep, huh?”

CAELIA & CASSIAN - INNER MONOLOGUE:

I can’t believe he’s believing it!

ULYSSES (continues):

“Well, you guys should walk around the stands. The old man and I can run the cart for now. Forrest, you should stay around too! Enjoy your time here!”

CASSIAN:

“Are you sure? We can stay here if you’d like.”

ULYSSES:

“Yeah, yeah! Enjoy your time for a bit and then we can switch off! It seems like the people are crowding in.”

[The crowd of people arriving at Kingsley Center Square is starting to become larger compared to the morning, filling the area with more happiness and excitement. The royal knight takes a step back.]

ROYAL KNIGHT/FORREST (hesitant):

“Actually… I probably should go soon.”

CAELIA (adamant):

“Forrest, you should stay for a bit! You can walk around with us!”

[Hearing Caelia’s proposal, Forrest deliberates to himself in his head. Cassian looks at Caelia with slight disappointment as he wanted to spend time with Caelia alone.]

ROYAL KNIGHT/FORREST - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Queen Valeria won’t be happy about this… But maybe this will give me more chances to see Miss Ardent break out of her character… If there even was a facade to begin with…

───── ⋆⋅⊹⋅⋆ ─────

[For the next couple of hours, Caelia, Cassian, and Forrest walk around the stands. Some stands were serving food, some stands were selling lots of trinkets, and some even had games. One of which had a kiddie pool filled with water and toy fish that were all initially the same size but once it was picked up, it extended to a random length. The player who caught the largest fish, won a prize. Caelia forced Cassian and Forrest to play.]

[Forrest caught the longest fish.]

CAELIA (amazed):

“Forrest! You’re so lucky! That’s a long fish!”

[Forrest looked at the fish with pure confusion as to why he’s even doing this in the first place. Cassian looks at Caelia being amazed at Forrest’s fish and starts to get a bit jealous. He frantically tries to fish for the longest fish.]

[Cassian caught a small fish, looking at it with disappointment. Caelia points at it and laughs.]

CAELIA (laughing):

“That fish is SMALL!”

CASSIAN (embarrassed):

“This game is all just luck!!!”

[Arrogantly, Caelia rolls up her sleeves, preparing to fish.]

CAELIA (confident):

“No, no. Let me show you how a master does this. Clearly, you still need to learn, Young Grasshopper.” 

[Caelia caught a puny fish. Cassian starts laughing and mocking her.]

CASSIAN (laughs, teasing):

“Oh yeah? You said that you’re a master?”

CAELIA (exclaiming):

“I just got unlucky, okay!!!”

CASSIAN (laughs):

“I thought you said it wasn’t luck.”

CAELIA (bickering):

“This game is definitely rigged!”

[Forrest watches the two of them continue to bicker, feeling like a third wheel.]

[Since Forrest won, he was able to pick a prize. He picked a toy stuffed sword, a very fitting choice considering who he actually is. The three continued to walk around the stands, making sure to visit every one of them. Forrest observed Caelia intently as ordered and she stood out brightly and did not present herself as a wicked person.]

───── ⋆⋅⊹⋅⋆ ─────

[After a couple of hours, they returned to the stand to switch off with Ulysses and Gerald.]

CAELIA (announcing):

“Okay, we are back! We can take over the stand now until nighttime.” 

GERALD:

“Are you sure?”

CASSIAN:

“Yes, you two have a good time catching up with people. Thank you for letting us have a good time. We can take it from here.”

CAELIA (looking at Forrest):

“Forrest, thanks for spending the day with us! I hope you had a good time! Sorry we kept you for so long, you said you had to go right?”

[Forrest stood there, not sure what to respond with. He starts thinking of his childhood, where he was forced into knighthood from a very young age. Never really having the chance to explore his inner child, he grew up cold and emotionless. But today, he stands in front of the smiling Caelia Ardent and his heart feels warm, feeling like a child for the first time.]

ROYAL KNIGHT/FORREST (monotone):

“I had fun too. Thank you, Miss Ardent. I shall take my leave.” 

CAELIA:

“It was nice to meet you. I hope we meet again!”

[Forrest smiles to himself as he bows and leaves Kingsley Central Square to return to the Everhart palace.]

───── ⋆⋅⊹⋅⋆ ─────

[Caelia and Cassian ran the stand until nighttime. Throughout the afternoon, more and more customers came to the soup stand so it got a little bit busy. Ulysses and Gerald had a good time stopping by each vendor and talking to their old friends. And as the skies darkened to a deep blue with stars twinkling above, the amount of customers started to fade. Soon enough, Caelia and Cassian were finished with their shift at the soup stand.]

───── ⋆⋅⊹⋅⋆ ─────

[The event officially closed and the vendors were all cleaning up. Ulysses and Gerald were at a different stand, talking to a vendor. It seemed like they were old friends and they had a very long conversation. Caelia and Cassian cleaned up the best they could without tampering with anything important as they waited for Ulysses and Gerald.]

[Out of exhaustion, they both sit down in their chairs and sigh to themselves.]

CAELIA (exhausted):

“I’m surprised at how busy it got as the day went on! I’m so tired.”

CASSIAN (exhausted):

“Yeah, I’m ready to go to sleep once we get back.” 

CAELIA (relief):

“I feel a bit relieved, though. Everyone that came over to the stand today didn’t seem like they hated me.”

CASSIAN:

“The word around town spreads fast and the opinions of people change just as fast.”

CAELIA (sadly smiles):

“You’re right.”

[Caelia looks up to the dark blue sky, many stars twinkling above her. She admires the beauty.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Stars in this universe are so pretty. Like jewels in the sky. This is the first time I got to really focus on them. Back in my previous life, there was too much light pollution to see anything. The city never allowed for this. The sky is so dark and it’s such a pretty shade of blue… It kinda reminds me of…

[She pictures Cassian’s eyes. How they are a striking dark blue with a hint of light. Slightly smiling to herself, she blushes while looking up at the stars.]

CAELIA (softly, remembering her past life):

“The stars are so pretty. Where I am from, there’s too much light pollution so I could never see the stars.”

[Cassian looks up at the sky along with her.]

CASSIAN:

“Yeah, palaces are always lit up.”

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Oh yeah… Caelia is from a palace.

CASSIAN (continues):

“Back at Incara, we would see the most beautiful stars outside since we were out in the countryside.” 

[Caelia looks over at Cassian who was looking up at the sky. His side profile was so sharp that she felt it cut through her and his slight smile while reminiscing of his past made her heart quiver.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

I actually don’t know much about him considering we have been working together for a couple of weeks. I kinda want to know more about him because we are close coworkers, right?

CAELIA (curious):

“Where is Incara?”

[Cassian pauses before answering, his smile slightly loosening, and looks at Caelia.]

CASSIAN:

“...It’s not that far from here. Two towns over. I actually haven’t been back since starting college because I’ve been so busy…”

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

He hasn’t visited since college…? He’s 27 now so it must’ve been at least 9 years since he has visited home… He must’ve been so busy.

CAELIA:

“Oh wow, that’s a long time. Do you miss your family?”

[He pauses slightly before answering.]

CASSIAN (being avoidant):

“I miss my sister a lot, I send her letters pretty often. There’s an annual summer festival at Incara coming up. I’m thinking of visiting her then.” 

CAELIA:

“Oh! That’s nice! When you go, I can cover for you. I can do all the engineering happening around town while you’re gone.”

[Nervous, Cassian looks down at his hands and fidgets with his fingers.]

CASSIAN (nervous):

“I was actually wondering if you wanted to join. I mean only if you want to of course.”

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

What..? He wants me to go with him?

[Caelia looks at him, the moonlight slightly shines on his face as he is still fidgeting with his fingers. The moonlight makes his eyes shine brighter.]

CAELIA (blushing):

“Y-Yeah! That sounds awesome! I would love to go, thank you! It would be good to visit your family after a while!”

[He looks back up at Caelia and slightly smiles.]

CASSIAN:

“We can talk more about it when that time comes… Are you close with your family, Caelia?”

[She pictures her mom’s back leaving her when she was young and remembers the constant fights her and her father would have. She starts to feel melancholy.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

…That’s a hard question to answer. As both Caelia and Norma.

As for Caelia… From what I faintly remember, her family backstory wasn’t revealed but the story just made a point that her family wanted her to politically marry Prince Theodoric. I’m completely in the dark about that… I don’t know much about the Original Caelia personally…

As Norma, I had parents but I always find myself questioning if they really wanted to be parents. 

Or if they just wanted a kid to fill that “socially acceptable” stigma of having a kid after marriage.

They never really supported me or my endeavors and had a vision for how they wanted my life to go. My mom eventually left the home, leaving me alone with my dad who continued to try to fit me into a box that I didn’t want to go in. He and I would get into many arguments and eventually I had to cut him off. After our last conversation, he tried to get in contact with me for many weeks but I had always ignored the calls until they eventually stopped.

I guess, just like Cassian, I haven’t talked to either of my parents in a good while too. 

[She starts to feel a strange nostalgia in her chest thinking about her family life.]

I wonder if dad noticed I disappeared?

CAELIA (opening up):

“I’m not quite sure if I would say, “close.” I think a better word to describe our relationship is, “interesting.”

[Relating to Caelia, Cassian thinks about his own family and slightly sighs to himself.]

CASSIAN (relating):

“Yeah, I understand that. I would also call my parents interesting…”

CAELIA (sad):

“I’m not sure if my parents actually wanted me or if they wanted to fill some kind of void. For a lot of my life, they never really treated me like their daughter and had a particular path they wanted me to take. That’s why I found Ms. Poppy to be like a mother figure… She was like the mother I wanted to have…”

CASSIAN (honest):

“I’m sure if you told Ms. Poppy, she would feel very honored to have someone like you feel that way about her.”

[Looking over at Cassian longingly, she deciphers what he said in her head, her heart beating slowly.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

What… What does he mean by that?

[All of a sudden, Ulysses and Gerlad came over to the stand.]

ULYSSES:

“Engineers! It seems like today was a major success!! Thanks for taking over the stand and helping me organize everything!”

GERALD (thankful):

“We got to meet with people we haven’t seen in many years! Truly, thank you guys so much!”

ULYSSES:

“We’re thinking of running it again next weekend due to the success of today!”

CASSIAN (smiles):

“Caelia came up with the idea, it’s all hers to take. I just followed orders.” 

CAELIA (frazzled):

“N-No! Cassian also helped a lot too! It wasn’t just me!”

GERALD (bows):

“Miss Ardent, truly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.”

[Seeing Gerlad bow in front of her saying thank you healed another part of Norma, yet again- just like with Ms. Poppy and the palace maids.]

CAELIA (smiles):

“It’s no problem. It’s an honor, really.”

───── ⋆⋅⊹⋅⋆ ─────

[The royal knight arrived back at the palace, taking off his green wig as he entered the palace. He was met by Queen Valeria who was waiting for him at the entrance. Seeing her, the knight immediately kneeled down on one knee.]

QUEEN VALERIA (strict):

“You took longer than expected.”

ROYAL KNIGHT:

“I apologize, Your Majesty. I did follow around Miss Ardent as you ordered.”

QUEEN VALERIA (anticipating):

“Well? Did you see anything?!?”

[The knight averts his gaze.]

ROYAL KNIGHT:

“Miss Ardent did act strange...”

QUEEN VALERIA (almost interrupting):

“-I KNEW IT! She’s definitely plotting something!”

[The knight remembers observing Caelia throughout the week as the Queen ordered. He specifically remembers Caelia’s gentle smile as she was helping out. Looking directly at Queen Valeria, his tone becomes serious.]

ROYAL KNIGHT (disagrees):

“No. She was kind and tended to everyone, greeting them with a smile. Throughout the week, she built the stands with Sir Welsh, and then she eventually helped the other vendors set up and ran the stand as well. There was not an ounce of malice I saw in her.”

QUEEN VALERIA (baffled):

“Again…??? You’re telling me this again?!?! That’s just impossible!”

ROYAL KNIGHT:

“I’ve experienced it first hand, Your Majesty. Miss Ardent has become a very kind person.”

[Queen Valeria stands in front of the knight in complete disbelief and defeat.]

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

[End of Chapter 7 Part 2]