Avoid The Lead!

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After Celia returned to her room the previous night, the servant Novia had planned with suddenly found himself immersed in thick ice, leaving only his mouth free.

"Miss Scarlett! Please pardon me!" He begged, as Celia strolled into the room. He was the same servant who had bowed to her when she first returned home, and she scoffed.

"Pardon you?" She calmly asked, as the ice thickened, nearly shattering his limbs. "Who gave you the audacity?"

"Please please!!" He wailed. "It was the elder Miss and her mother who instructed me to do this!" The servant begged for his life as he explained the whole plan, pointing out not just Novia, but Lady Garrett as well.

"Oh?" Celia had smiled down at the begging man. "Then I'll give you another chance to atone!"

And this led to both Novia and her mother being found in compromising positions!

The wingless rumours flew faster than winged birds, dousing the capital in the Scarlett family's scandal!

But before noon, before the Scarlett family's name was bathed in mud, a few letters from Celia's little tin box, had wound their way to interesting places.

Three landed in Lord Scarlett's study, proving that Novia wasn't a Scarlett at all, and how Lady Garrett had murdered an innocent innkeeper to bury the truth.

Two landed on King Vien's desk, one proving Lady Garrett's crimes, and the other from Novia's real father!

He had never wanted Novia, but Celia had written directly to his mother, who had always wanted a granddaughter. The elderly lady had bullied her son into accepting Novia, and he had sent in the letter, which was begging King Vien to let Novia return to her real family.

The Capital was efficiently turned on its ear, but Celia graciously breezed through it all, expressing pain and regret that she was losing a sister, and that the favourite Prince and her sister had done such a thing under the Scarlett roof.

Before nightfall, the dear citizens of Blixia were all consoling the Scarlett family instead of pointing fingers at them, and as the shadows of night fell, Celia sipped from a glass of fruit wine, a satisfied smiled on her face...

With these carefully planned scandals, Celia had taken care of Vitav's unwanted attention, and had eliminated Novia and her mother.

And none of it would tie back to the Scarlett family!

She sighed peacefully, but started when she felt Taze's aura.

She hurried to the window and let out a gleeful laugh when her eyes spotted a long line of Taze's burly clones, all performing a funny series of bows and salutes.

~"My Love! You've been busy!"~ His voice sailed to her, and she beamed at the clones, enjoying the show...

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By the next day...

Vitav's reputation had been ruined by Novia, and he had slapped her right in front of Lord Scarlett.

"You cruel woman! You poisoned me?!"

Novia had denied it, but who would listen at a time like that?

Almost everyone knew Prince Vitav visited the Scarlett Estate for Celia's hand, so why was Novia suddenly in his bed?!

Meanwhile, Lady Garrett was in a lot more trouble.

Apart from being found with a servant half her age, there was a living witness to the murder of the Innkeeper.

"It wasn't bad enough that you falsely accused me, and brought your child under my roof." Lord Scarlett began. "You went as far as killing someone to hide your misdeeds!

"Guards! Hand her over to the Capital Guards!"

All these, when added to the letters proving Novia wasn't a Scarlett, was enough to send Novia flying to Lord Scarlett's Study.

'I refuse to believe I can't win him over!'

"Father!" She cried, approaching the Study. "Father! Please don't send me away!"

"My Lady!" Two guards hurried forward to stop her. "You know you're not allowed near the Master's study! He's not here today!"

"Lies! Out of my way!" She struggled with them for a bit, but they persisted in blocking her path.

Frustrated, Novia sank to her knees.

"Father!"

"My Lady!" The guards tried to stop her, but she pushed them away.

"Father! Please don't send me away!" She begged. "I really didn't poison the Prince!"

But after a while of fruitless begging, there was still no response, and she scowled at the study doors.

A maid hurried over with a tray, and one of the guards stepped forward with a warm cup of tea. "Pardon us, My Lady... We tried to tell you... The Master really isn't here."

But Novia slapped the cup out of his hand. She rose to her feet and slapped the guard himself.

"If you had let me in, wouldn't I see that for myself?!"

"Sister!" Celia's voice rang out. "Please don't bully the guards. They are just doing their duty! The day I entered this study was the only day father ever punished me!"

She held out a tray of food to Novia. "Eat something. Don't die here like this."

But Novia glared at her.

"Stop being pretentious! I would like to ask how Vita-!" She caught herself. "How the Prince and I got poisoned!"

Celia didn't miss her little slip.

She had no idea who Novia had been in the Original life, but in the fake lives, Lady Flora and Lady Garrett met just after Vitav was born. At the time, Lady Flora went to bury her father, who had died shortly before she gave birth.

Lady Flora's father had been an official in the south, so she journeyed with her new born out of the Capital, and on her way back, she met Lady Garrett at the inn where Lady Garrett worked.

Lady Garrett also had a baby daughter, and the two had connected as women without the love of their children's fathers.

And as the years passed, Vitav and Novia had connected as children who only had the love of their mothers.

Promising to help Vitav's rise to power, Lady Garrett and Lady Flora had arranged the whole story of Novia being a Scarlett, on the sheer coincidence that Lord Scarlett had once visited that inn.

Lady Garrett had long set her sights on Lord Scarlett, but had failed to trap him in her pregnancy, so Lady Flora had fed the lie, since they needed someone powerful and close to King Vien.

And that was how Novia became a Scarlett!

Novia and Vitav had kept in touch after that, and Butler Gray had uncovered at least three past secret meetings between the two.

Vitav wanted Novia to wait till he was King before marrying her, but as he grew more and more popular, Novia became restless, uneasy, and paranoid.

Which led her to try poisoning Celia...

... and led her to fall into her own trap!

At present, Celia shook her head. "Sister, isn't this what you wanted? That night wasn't your first time with Prince Vitav, so which of us is pretending?"

Novia's violet eyes widened in shock, but Celia continued, crouching to her level.

"You've been meeting Prince Vitav all along, and one could even call you childhood sweethearts. I don't mind. I already love the Crown Prince." She stood up. "But then you tried to poison me.

"Perhaps you did it for my sake..." Celia said innocently. "Perhaps you didn't want me to marry a sickly prince, and were willing to let go of your own love and give Vitav to me. But I didn't want to take what was yours!

"So I helped you out. With this, you can be with Prince Vitav!" And with that, she turned and walked away, leaving Novia wondering what type of person Celia was!

Celia somehow knew she tried to set her up, but didn't seem to hate her, and had even set her up with a Prince like Vitav.

But before she could praise Celia for being generous, she remembered that her mother had been set up as well!

And was it also a coincidence that proof of her lineage and her mother's past crimes had resurfaced at the same time?

Was Celia behind everything?!

Had they underestimated Celia Scarlett that much?!!

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On Vitav's end, Novia's real father was demanding he take responsibility and wed Novia, as this would give him a link to the Royal Family!

Since the two clearly loved each other, it should have been easy...

But Vitav was nothing, if not smart.

Novia was not the kind of Queen that would move the people. She wasn't particularly bright, and even her background was messy.

As an illegitimate Prince, attaching himself to Novia would only make him more obscure than ever!

The Queen he needed was the kind of shining female that could inspire and move hearts beside him.

Princess Larya offered herself on a platter of gold, and he needed to string her along, so the Merpeople would stand behind him.

But the one to move the people couldn't be a foreigner...

Which left Celia Scarlett.

Everything from her looks, to her talent, to her family, made her the perfect Queen!

And so Vitav spent a good number of days begging his father to stop his wedding with Novia.

"Father!" Vitav implored, kneeling before Luxia's immaculate throne. "You know I already intended to wed Miss Celia Scarlett! If this isn't a trap, what else could it be?! I have long loved Celia, and I'll marry no one but her!"

"Enough!" Seated on the throne, King Vien scowled at his son. "Hmph. Apparently, the parent's sin can fall to the child...

"Do you even know what you're asking? Let me ask you this... It's well known your Mother trapped me, and I wasn't at fault. If I had refused responsibility back then, would you or your mother be living as royalty?"

The question floored Vitav, and he opened and closed his mouth, but no answer flew out.

King Vien sighed. "I know how you feel, so I will give you a small room to maneuver. Accept the young lady as your concubine! I won't hear anything more!"

That had been that.

Novia was hastily joined to Vitav in a small forgettable ceremony, and barely a day passed before Vitav sent her off to live in a distant palace.

So the people would quickly forget her existence...

~"Please understand!"~ He mentally implored, as Novia's carriage left. ~"I'm doing this for us! I'll welcome you back gloriously once I'm King!"~

~"I understand, My Love!"~ Novia replied, crying within the carriage.

It didn't feel real...

She was married to Vitav as she had wanted, but she was being sent far away!

Watching from a little distance, Celia smirked.

She knew Novia could be brought back at any time, but for now, she would stay put, out of love for Vitav.

And with Novia and Lady Garrett out of House Scarlett, Celia could take other steps...

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