[Norma Lee, lying down, slowly opens her eyes and finds herself in a dark scenery filled with purple stars and mirrors. It’s as if she is surrounded by the aurora borealis, the lights and beautiful scenery consuming her thoughts.]

NORMA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Where…. Where am I?

[Norma slowly sits up, looking at her surroundings. Different hues and intensities of purple in the sky take over her eyes, but she is in the middle of a bunch of large, golden gilded mirrors that enclose her. She looks in the mirror, what’s reflected back at her is herself- not Caelia Ardent, but herself. Short brown hair, glasses, tired eyes- wearing plain business clothes, the exact clothes she wore when she died in her first life. Norma is in shock when she sees herself in the mirror.]

W-What!?!?! 

[She frantically looks at her hands, callouses were present, and her fingers not as slender as they have been for the past two months. She then looks in the mirror again, touching her face with her hands.]

I’m back in my body???

???:

“Have you been the one that’s been stealing my body?”

[Startled, Norma looks over and the original Caelia Ardent appears before her, wearing the same regal nightgown Norma wore on the first day she reincarnated as Caelia. Caelia’s wavy black hair cascades over her body and her piercing gray eyes look at her in calm anger. Norma nervously swallows.]

NORMA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

C-Caelia Ardent? The original one? Why am I in my original body and how is the original Caelia in front of me??

CAELIA (annoyed, ordering):

“Well, are you going to answer me? 

Are you?”

[Due to the shock of the situation, Norma couldn’t get herself to talk and bites her lip.]

CAELIA (arrogant):

“Oh! You should consider yourself lucky- not everyone can be stealing the body of an extremely smart, beautiful, benevolent woman.”

NORMA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

What a vain person… I’m not you… I never asked to be you…

[After a brief pause, Norma talks.]

NORMA:

“Do you know what is going on here? How can we see each other?”

CAELIA (surprised):

“Oh! So you do talk. It seems like we are in some sort of alternate medium where we can meet one another.”

NORMA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

What happened just before this?! Was this triggered by something?

[Norma then remembers the box of figs given by Annalise and all the memories that came out from her exposure to figs.]

Figs…? 

CAELIA (serious):

“So, since you’ve been stealing my body, care to explain what I’ve been doing recently?”

NORMA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

“What I’VE been doing recently”?

What does she mean by that?

[Norma starts to get flustered and nervous, trying to find an answer and looks off to the side to think. She doesn’t answer fast enough to which Caelia becomes impatient.]

CAELIA (angered):

“Do you have issues talking or something?! I’m asking you what you’ve been doing with MY body. That is an order.”

NORMA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Jeez… I don’t answer for five seconds and she’s already mad at me?

[Norma averts her gaze.]

NORMA (slowly):

“I’m not sure where to start…

I died in my fir-”

CAELIA (loudly interrupts):

“-I don’t care about you! Just tell me what I’ve been doing!”

NORMA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

So demanding… This feels like a yearly review at work…. 

NORMA (slowly):

“...I first helped out around the palace.”

CAELIA (approving):

“Okay, sounds normal. Am I still torturing Annalise?”

NORMA:

“N-No. I didn’t interact with her at the palace. Although… she did give me a gift box with a bunch of figs…”

[Caelia’s eyes widened slightly but then she went back to her normal expression. She smiles slightly.]

CAELIA (happy):

“Figs are my favorite! I absolutely love them. They’re actually very good for you. Annalise must’ve known… They're my favorite!”

[Looking up at Caelia, Norma gets taken back by her unnerving smile.]

NORMA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

So she is crazy about figs just like those random people in her memories???

CAELIA (continuing the interrogation):

“So besides the figs, I haven’t interacted with her at all?”

[Norma shakes her head, averting her gaze back to the ground.]

NORMA:

“N-No… I am not interested in those things…”

[Caelia glares at Norma.]

CAELIA (interrupts):

“-I DIDN'T ASK ABOUT YOU. 

[In reaction to the yelling, Norma looks up at Caelia who is looking down at her like she is some sort of prisoner.]

I chose not to involve myself with Annalise anymore because I am very kind and have mercy~!

Now, continue.”

[Norma starts to nervously sweat looking up to Caelia.]

NORMA (nervous):

“S-Sorry… I eventually ended up leaving the palace to a town call-”

[Caelia’s face immediately dropped. The calm but angered expression she gave to Norma made her terrified.]

CAELIA (interrupts):

“-What… WHAT DO YOU MEAN LEAVING…?”

[Norma panicked, but in the heat of the moment, she told the truth.]

NORMA (truthfully):

“I-I’ve started working in Kingsley as an engineer with the head engineer of the Everhart Palace.”

[Caelia was in disbelief. She stands there looking at Norma like she had committed a huge sin.]

CAELIA (outraged): 

“En-Engineer…? I left the palace to be an engineer…?”

[Noticing Caelia’s angered demeanor, Norma sits there in a panicked state.] 

NORMA (panic):

“C-Caelia wai-”

[Caelia immediately storms over to Norma, grabs Norma’s shirt by the collar and yanks it up towards her face. She looks at Norma with a raging gaze.]

CAELIA (yelling at Norma’s face):

“I LEFT THE PALACE TO BE AN ENGINEER?!?!?!! 

HOW WILL THEO LIKE ME NOW???!??! 

AND I GAVE UP BEING A PROSPECT?!?!? 

DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS??????”

[Struggling, Norma feels Caelia’s piercing gaze look right through her.]

NORMA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Can this girl just let me finish talking?!?!?! Also…. Can I really still call myself a prospect…?

I did leave the palace… Let me just appease her to calm her down.

[Norma struggles with the force Caelia’s grabbing her shirt by but manages to let out a few words.]

NORMA (struggling to talk):

“C-Caelia, I’m still a prospect. The King was all for it… in fact, he seemed happy.”

[Feeling a sense of relief, Caelia instantly lets go of Norma’s shirt, not caring about Norma’s condition. Norma falls straight down on her knees and adjusts her shirt. Her neck is red from her shirt digging into her skin.]

CAELIA (calm):

“Oh… I see. I’m still a prospect. Of course, of course!! Theo chose me as a prospect, after all. They can’t lose someone as great as me! King Oscar must have known that I was doing something good! And this is all to emphasize that I am the best fit to be Theo’s wife and the empress… This might be part of the prophecy that Theo and I are destined to be married as everyone says!!”

[Pacing back and forth, Caelia continues to mumble to herself, reassuring herself about how great she is. Realizing Caelia Ardent is indeed crazy, Norma looks at her while hurt.]

NORMA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

This girl is INSANE… What is she even mumbling about…? And I hate to break her bubble but Prince Theodoric chooses Annalise over her in the story and she dies in his hands….

[Caelia stops pacing and her back faces Norma.]

CAELIA (curious):

“But why engineering? Can’t that be seen as unladylike…?” 

[Turning around, she gives Norma a death glare, waiting for the correct answer. Norma looks down to the ground to avoid her piercing gaze.] 

NORMA:

“Because in my past lif-”

CAELIA (ordering):

“-DO I HAVE TO KEEP TELLING YOU? I DONT CARE ABOUT YOU. THAT INCLUDES HOW YOU FEEL AND YOUR PAST LIFE. 

[Fully turning around, she faces Norma and smiles.]

Just tell me why I chose engineering.”

[Flustered, Norma thinks to herself as she tries to say the right words.]

NORMA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

It started out as a whim to avoid the palace but she probably doesn’t want to hear that….

NORMA (explaining):

“I… I heard that Kingsley was having trouble with modernization, so I’ve been working with the head engineer at the Everhart Palace on some projects in Kingsley.” 

[Caelia walks up to Norma and starts slowly pacing around her, like a bird circling around its prey. Slowly, Caelia starts verbalizing her thoughts.]

CAELIA:

“I see… so I’ve turned over a new leaf and found a new interest in engineering… I heard that Kingsley was in need of help so I proposed to work in Kingsley to help them…. 

What have I done so far? Do people like me?”

[Visibly uncomfortable, Norma doesn’t have the choice but to answer.]

NORMA:

“Fixed some buildings, restored some stands… People were hesitant at first but they’re coming around to it…”

CAELIA:

“Wow….

[Caelia became astonished with herself.]

I am so great! A lot of people hated me and were scared of me for some reason but I truly have changed people’s opinions about me to be in my favor. I just showed who I truly am: a selfless person who helps the poor!”

NORMA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Why is she talking as if she’s doing any of this…?

I’m doing all of it… 

[Remembering her past life of people taking credit for her work, Norma’s hands start to shake and she balls her hands into fists out of frustration. Caelia still paces around her, continuing the review.]

CAELIA:

“My poor, delicate hands are probably getting dirty now because of whatever material I’ve been working with! 

People will be weirded out at first but that’s okay… They will realize that I am kind and smart. And I have a skill that differentiates myself from Annalise.

[Caelia claps her hands to celebrate herself.]

Oh, how wonderful! This might be a good thing that I’m doing all of this engineering!”

NORMA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Again… Why is she acting as if she’s doing any of this…? It’s like she’s actively using me…!

CAELIA (looks at her nails):

“It might be necessary for me to care about these poor and trivial lives in order for the King and Queen to recognize I am the correct choice to be Theo’s wife.”

[This strikes a nerve in Norma.]

NORMA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Poor and trivial? Everyone in Kingsley?

[Her first life had become different shades of gray even up until the end. She had always accepted that fact. She starts to think about the maids, Ms. Poppy, and Ulysses and how they were great people that gave her purpose. Hearing Caelia’s comment made Norma upset.]

They healed a part of me I didn’t know needed healing…

NORMA (talking back):

“You can’t say the people in Kingsley are trivial.” 

CAELIA (confused):

“What do you mean? They all live poorly and grossly. They’re not at my level at all.”

[Norma thinks of the maids who are working at the castle followed by Ms. Poppy’s lesson and lastly, Ulysses who was an orphan trying to survive.]

NORMA (talking back):

“No one can control where they are born. They all have their own livelihoods and are trying to survive just like we are!”

CAELIA (confused):

“We?”

NORMA (confused):

“What?”

CAELIA:

“I’ll have you know, it’s not we who are trying to survive. It’s just me. You stole my body.”

[Norma’s eyes widen.]

NORMA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Stole her body??? 

I don’t have any interest in marrying Theodoric or becoming empress. I want to keep building and help people. But do I even have the right to say that??

She’s right as Caelia’s body isn’t my body. I basically am stealing it. Is this really my life to live???

No… My life and experiences continue to move forward even if I am reincarnated as someone else.

I still get to have a say in how this life goes, right???

NORMA:

“I never asked to be reborn in your body! I have my own lif-”

CAELIA (interrupts):

“-Your life is insignificant. 

That’s probably why you got reborn into my body, so you find some sort of purpose with your life.

[Caelia starts laughing to herself. A dagger ripped through Norma’s heart after hearing that.]

Just by looking at you, I can tell you lived a meaningless life before getting reborn as someone as amazing as me. Your purpose was probably to make me look better. 

But it doesn’t matter. This life was never yours and never will be. At the end of the day, no one will remember your name, and only remember mine.” 

[Norma does not feel happy hearing those words but she finds no room to talk back because deep down, she convinced herself that Caelia was correct. Norma looks down at the ground and swallows.]

NORMA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

I did live an insignificant life as Norma but I was getting closer to finding my purpose while living inside Caelia’s body. 

I was just starting my life… But in a body that I am borrowing…

Let’s say I could hypothetically return Caelia's body back… What kind of significance would “Norma” have…?

[Norma makes a sad realization.]

Nothing.

[The dreamscape starts to crumble in on itself, leaving patches of black as the sky cracks. Both Caelia and Norma look up at their scenery breaking.] 

CAELIA:

“Ah, well. It seems like our time is up for now. See you, nameless girl.” 

NORMA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

She can’t go back into her body? 

CAELIA:

“Just a food for thought if you still think that you have some sort of significance here- you’re supposedly smart so think of this what you will: How come there are two souls attached to one body?”

[In shock, Norma calculates Caelia’s cryptic words in her head but suddenly, a bright white light consumes both of them.]

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

[End of Chapter 9 Part 1]