[Long after lunch and later that night, Annalise wears a dark cloak that covers her entire body and sneaks out of the castle. She goes to the creaky barn stable with a map and a gift box in hand and rides a horse, making her way towards Kingsley.]

ANNALISE - INNER MONOLOGUE:

I’ve got to see her for myself. Let me give this wonderful gift.

───── ⋆⋅⊹⋅⋆ ─────

[Once Annalise makes it to east Kingsley, it is still relatively lively with drunkards outside of pubs and the smell of alcohol wafting the streets. She stands out amongst everyone with her golden hair and suspicious attire- box in hand.]

ANNALISE - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Ugh! It smells like alcohol and body odor. Absolutely Horrendous. Everyone here is drunk. Hopefully someone would even remember if they saw Caelia or not.

[Annalise scans the area for a person to ask about Caelia’s whereabouts and finds one. A drunk man who sits with his arms sprawled out on the outdoor chair. She slowly and cautiously walks to him.]

ANNALISE (to drunk, cautiously):

“Hi… Excuse me?”

DRUNKARD (slowly):

“...Huh…? What do you want…?

ANNALISE (fake smile):

“I was wondering if you knew where Lady Caelia was. You know, the one who fixed the library and Central Kingsley Square?”

[The drunk doesn’t look at Annalise and continues to drink his handle.]

DRUNKARD (slowly):

“You mean… Kingsley Central Square?”

ANNALISE (sweetly):

“Yeah! That one!”

[The drunk then looks at Annalise’s face and is automatically swooned by her beauty and innocent look and he is caught in a trance. He immediately composes himself to talk to her like normal, and puts his handle down.]

DRUNKARD (smiles):

“Oh…Oh yeah… Lady Caelia… She fixed a lot of things… All the rumors aren’t true! She’s truly a kind person!”

[This strikes a nerve in Annalise. She puts her hand in a fist out of frustration.]

ANNALISE - INNER THOUGHTS:

What does he mean she’s a kind person…? Ever since I arrived at the castle, my life was a living hell because of her.

[Flashbacks play in her head of the past- like when Caelia tripped her in their first meeting and laughed in her face. Or when Caelia put bugs inside of Annalise’s tea during a dinner with the King and Queen.] 

But because of her torment…

[More flashbacks play in her head of Prince Theodoric and Queen Valeria always praising her. Or when her and Theodoric would sneak off into their favorite meeting spot in the gardens and he would go on and on about how strong Annalise is for dealing with Caelia’s petty antics.]

… Prince Theo would always be on my side. And I even got the Queen on my side as well. How come her “new interests” and fake philanthropy put the spotlight on her? This is all fabricated!!

ANNALISE (fake):

“Caelia sounds like a great noble. I actually was trying to see her and congratulate her! She is pretty famous.”

DRUNKARD:

“She might be around here having dinner… She’s always around here every night.

[The drunkard slowly points to a small joint around the corner.]

There’s a small chicken joint around the corner. You might see her there…”

[Annalise manically smiles after hearing this.]

ANNALISE - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Caelia Ardent…? Around these drunks?? How low did you stoop, Caelia? Are you now becoming a drunk yourself?

ANNALISE (smiles):

“Perfect! As a thank you, can I buy you a drink?”

DRUNKARD (glee): 

“Sure! I never say no to alcohol! BAHAHAHAHA” 

[Annalise buys a handle of hard liquor and pours one shot for the drunk.]

DRUNKARD:

“Ar ya not - hic - drinking?”

ANNALISE:

“I’m not much of a drinker!”

[The drunk holds up his shot glass to cheers.]

DRUNKARD:

“Alllrigght then. Cheers to Caelia Ardent!”

[Annalise holds her hand up like an imaginary shot glass to cheer back.]

ANNALISE:

“Cheers. To Caelia Ardent.”

───── ⋆⋅⊹⋅⋆ ─────

[Caelia is sitting alone at the chicken joint waiting for her order to be ready.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

This chicken is taking so long… Hopefully Cassian is still taking his nap.

[Caelia smiles to herself thinking about Cassian’s peaceful face while he was sleeping.]

This will be a nice treat for him when he wakes up.

[After a little bit, Caelia receives her order and leaves the joint. When she leaves the joint, she is greeted by a girl with golden hair wearing a cloak and gets startled, slightly jumping back.]

CAELIA (spooked):

“AH!

[Caelia then laughs at herself as the girl stands there motionless.]

Oh, I’m sorry, I got a bit startled there. Please, excuse me.”

ANNALISE:

“You don’t recognize me, Caelia?”

[Annalise takes off her hood, her golden hair and ocean blue eyes stand out. She smiles at Caelia sweetly, making Caelia stunned by her beauty.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Who is this…? She’s so pretty… Am I supposed to know who she is…? I don’t recognize her.

[Caelia then made an instant realization, her eyes scanning the girl’s face.]

Gold hair, blue eyes, beautiful. There’s no mistaking it… Is that Annalise? This is the first time I’ve encountered her so far, I’ve been doing well avoiding her. Why is she here?! I better not get involved, I really don’t want to hurt her. Just say hi and quickly walk away.

ANNALISE (brightly smiling):

“Lady Caelia! Long time no see! I’ve missed you at the palace!”

CAELIA (slightly scared):

“Oh… Hi, I’m sorry but I really have to go.”

[Immediately, Caelia starts walking away holding her bag of chicken. Annalise watches her walk away, baffled that this is even happening.]

ANNALISE - INNER MONOLOGUE:

What the hell? Is she ignoring me?! On a normal day, she would’ve yelled at me the moment she saw my face!

ANNALISE (yells):

“WAIT! I have a present for you!

[Annalise runs and grabs Caelia’s wrist, forcing her to stop walking away.]

It’s to congratulate you on your hard work and your achievements! I hear you’ve been doing good work in Kingsley. I didn’t know you had an interest in those kinds of things!”

[Caelia turns around and Annalise presents her with a box.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Annalise giving me a gift? No wonder everyone says she’s the nicest person in the kingdom… She’s even giving a gift to someone who has mentally tormented her…

CAELIA (nicely):

“Annalise, you’re very kind, but I don’t need a present. It’s okay, really.”

[Annalise starts to get ticked off and pushes the box towards Caelia, forcing her to take it.]

ANNALISE (adamant):

“Please, Caelia! I insist!! This is my way to show you that I support you!! I know you’ll love this gift!”

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

She must really want me to have this gift for some reason… It’ll probably be faster if I just accept it…

[In defeat, Caelia accepts the box.]

CAELIA:

“Thank you, Annalise. I appreciate it. Now, I’m sorry but I have to leave.”

[Caelia continues walking away from Annalise, much to Annalise’s hatred.]

ANNALISE (continues, with slight facade in her voice):

“You know, I think it’s completely okay for you to be interested in unconventional things! It’s okay to be different and I applaud you for that, Lady Caelia! While you’re doing great things out in the kingdom, I’ve just been at the palace, gardening and sewing like most women. You really are out here changing the genre! Good for you!”

[Caelia stops in place, still ignoring Annalise, noticing the hint fakeness of what Annalise is saying.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

For some reason… Even with her bright face and innocence, I can’t get myself to believe that she’s actually praising me… It almost feels like… she’s mocking me?! That can’t be! In the original story, Annalise was always known for being very kind and open. I’m sure she doesn’t mean any harm. But still, I can’t get myself involved.

[Caelia ignores and continues to walk, and Annalise gets visibly ticked off, her true demeanor showing.]

ANNALISE (continues, fake smile):

“I don’t think you caused the fire, it must’ve been an accident!”

[Caelia looks over at Annalise once again, who is displaying a bright smile as Caelia is walking toward the guest home.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

For some reason… I feel very uneasy.

I reincarnated into this world with my knowledge only being what was presented in that novel. But ever since being reincarnated, I’ve met so many people that were not part of the original story… And obviously, I am completely different from the original Caelia. That alone doesn’t limit that other characters in this novel are different as well. It just gives me more reason not to get involved.

[She continues to walk back to the guest home, excited to eat dinner with Cassian.]

───── ⋆⋅⊹⋅⋆ ─────

[Back at the guest home, Caelia returns with the chicken as well as the gift she received from Annalise. Cassian was near the door, about to put his shoes on, his expression worried.]

CASSIAN (worried):

“Caelia! Where were you??? I was gonna go look for you!”

[Caelia holds up the chicken bag in victory.]

CAELIA (happy):

“Sorry, Cass! I went to get chicken. You were taking a nap and I didn’t want to wake you up.”

CASSIAN (sigh):

“We talked about this, just wake me up! I will go get it for us! Also, that’s a terrible nickname for me.”

[She playfully sticks her tongue out at him.]

CAELIA (teasing):

“I think it’s a cute nickname! And I didn’t want to interrupt your beauty sleep!” 

[Caelia walks over to the dining room table and places the takeout chicken and the box on the table.]

CASSIAN (curious):

“What’s the box?”

CAELIA:

“A gift. Annalise from the palace actually hand delivered this to me.”

CASSIAN:

“Annalise…? Who’s that? Sounds familiar.”

CAELIA:

“You know, the other prospect who's really nice. The one that is more fit to be empress over me. That Annalise.”

CASSIAN:

“You’re also very nice too, Caelia.”

[Caelia’s heart warms up because it felt like he was saying that she- her true self, is nice.]

CAELIA (smiles):

“Thanks, but this girl is on another level of nice.” 

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

In the original story, she was named the kindest girl in the kingdom. She tolerated everything Caelia did to her and her kindness was what put her on top.

CAELIA (continues):

“I mean, she even gave me- the girl who was very mean to her- a gift. Talk about nice! She even said that it’s something I definitely like!”

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Or at least… What the original Caelia likes…

[Curious, Caelia starts to open the box, a sweet aroma starts to fill her nose.]

MMMM! That smells good! What is that?  

[The box fully opens, revealing that it was a box filled to the brim with figs.]

Figs…?

[Caelia’s nose fills up more with the sweet smell of figs and she starts to feel dizzy, her vision disorients her surroundings.]

Why… Why am I feeling dizzy?!

[She looks at the figs as if she was entranced by them and feels a looming feeling she’s never felt before. The figs almost seemed like they were staring into her soul, hypnotizing her. Out of her control, Caelia remains frozen, looking at the figs in horror.]

What the hell…?

What’s up with my body?

──────────﹒✶﹒﹒─

[Unknown flashbacks play in Caelia’s head. The scene was all black, with only a golden plate of figs presented in front of her.

“My Sweet Caelia, you love figs, don’t you?” an unknown male voice asked. 

“Yes! I love figs!!” a teenager’s voice responded.]

─﹒﹒✶﹒──────────

[Caelia’s head starts to spin.]

What the hell was that? Who was that??? 

I don’t recognize any of that!!

[Her body continues to reject the smell of the figs and starts to slightly sway back and forth, losing balance.]

CASSIAN (noticing):

“Caelia? Is there something wrong? What’s in the box?

[Cassian immediately walks over to Caelia and looks inside the box, seeing it was just filled to the brim with figs.]

Are you allergic to figs???”

[Caelia doesn’t answer and immediately drops to the ground on her knees. Her head starts to hurt, she holds her head with her hands, yelling in pain.] 

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

What is this…? My head feels like it’s splitting open!!!

[Terrified, Cassian immediately knelt down to her.]

CASSIAN (worried):

“CAELIA WHAT’S WRONG?”

[The pain coming in excruciating waves, Caelia sees more unfamiliar memories.] 

──────────﹒✶﹒﹒─

[More flashbacks play, all from different moments. Unknown people coming up to Caelia talking to her about figs. 

How Caelia loves figs,

How Caelia should eat her figs,

How figs taste good and have many health benefits.]

─﹒﹒✶﹒──────────

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Who are these fig people?? I don’t remember anything like this happening in my life?!

[With many unknown flashbacks flooding Caelia’s head, she then succumbs to them. Her eyes lose color and she faints. Her body leans against Cassian’s and he lightly shakes her.]

CASSIAN (worried):

“Caelia? CAELIA?”

[When Caelia is unresponsive, Cassian starts to panic.]

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

[End of Chapter 8 Part 2]