7. Novia Scarlett

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At that same moment, a dark-haired woman stumbled towards the grand Scarlett Mansion gates.

Her hair was disheveled and her eyes blazed with determination, as she clutched the hand of a young girl with equally dark locks and haunting violet eyes.

"Tell Lord Scarlett!" The woman declared, her voice echoing through the snowy gates. "If he continues to refuse us, we'll perish right here on his doorstep!"

The guard was taken aback by her audacity. "Heh! Even a noble can't just drop in to see Lord Scarlett! Who do you think you are?! Go away!"

But the woman defiantly drew closer. "Who am I?" She paused dramatically. "I am the mother of Lord Scarlett's firstborn child!"

Just a few feet away, a delicate ice lotus on the outer fence stirred, its petals unfolding like tiny wings. It turned its face towards the woman and child, as its crystalline petals glinted in the weak sunshine...

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Celia's intense stare could have frozen water, as she mentally watched the scene through the Ice flower. 'Novia has arrived!'

She and Novia's ill-fate had begun again.

Back in the classroom, Celia's gaze dropped to Taze's hand, still clutching the Crystal Lily, but her voice was tart as she said, "I was never the owner of that stolen flower, so I don't need a replacement!"

With that, she spun on her heel and stormed away, leaving a puzzled Taze behind.

"Ei? Who else could own it? I gave it to you, though I had to take it back for a reason..." He muttered to himself, his eyes fixed on the new lily in his hand.

A soft sigh escaped his lips. "I hope you'll accept this one someday..."

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Meanwhile, Celia wandered aimlessly through the school corridors.

'Twenty five deaths...'

And in those deaths, Novia had personally killed her sixteen times, and arranged for her death the remaining times!

Except twice.

Once when Celia gave in to temptation and killed Novia, which led Novia's mother to kill her, and once when Celia killed Novia and her mother, only for a random enemy to avenge them by killing her!

In Celia's first life, she had been ignorant... Naive to the point of stupidity.

As the incredibly beautiful and talented legal child, she was always the center of attention, blinded by the flare of her own brilliance.

Back then, she only glanced in Novia's direction every so often, and though she was polite and kind each time, she could see how that might have hurt Novia, especially since Lord Scarlett himself never believed Novia was his child.

Lord Scarlett did nothing to improve or encourage Novia in any way, and by the time Novia was an adult, all she had was the Scarlett name and her dark beautiful looks.

At first, Celia swallowed and digested Novia's bullshit about being the sad and ignored illegitimate child, so in her next few lives, she had done everything to make Novia happy.

Celia acted excited to meet Novia, and claimed she always wanted a sister, leading her in by the hand and declaring that they would live together.

Lord Scarlett was more accepting of Novia after that, and Celia shared her clothes, shoes, jewelry, gems, gold, and bought Novia expensive gifts, which made her stand out.

But then, Novia still killed her, and her murder speech included Celia treating her as a 'Charity Case'!

Celia shared her time with Novia, shared her books and especially knowledge with Novia, determined to make her an outstanding Mage.

But Novia would still kill her, and her murder speech would change to Celia using her to stand out, or Celia trying to exert control over her life!

Eventually, Celia came to hate Novia, and it was evident in a few lives.

She found proof that Novia wasn't her father's daughter, and cast her out of the Scarlett Estate, and sometimes out of Blixia, the Capital City, or even completely out of Luxia!

But like Master Lean's case, Novia's hatred still led to her death, and a few times, she even somehow appeared in the Royal Palace, killing Celia on that same nineteenth birthday!

'Should I just kill her?!' Celia pondered a few times. 'It would be sooooooo easy!'

But the two times she followed that thought, were the only two lives where she died before her nineteenth birthday!

So Celia ignored the fact that Novia wasn't even her sister, and treated her with kindness when she could, and basic courtesy most of the time, while keeping her at arms length.

It didn't save her, but it allowed her time to figure out what Novia's problem was.

And in her twenty-fifth life, she finally discovered something...

It was on her eighteenth birthday... The same ball where Vitav had kissed her beneath the Ice Chandelier.

After their dance, Celia dutifully socialized with well-wishers, but when someone mentioned Novia, she realized Novia had left the ballroom.

And so had Vitav!

In the past Celia always ignored this, but this time it made her feel uneasy, and warning bells went off in her head.

So she left the ball and cast a tracing spell on Novia.

Only to find Vitav and Novia in a secluded spot in the Scarlett gardens, arms wrapped around each other, and lips locked in a kiss that felt like their lives depended on it.

Celia went through several layers of shock, and she quickly slid behind a hedge as Vitav broke the kiss and caressed Novia's face.

"Impatient temptress, aren't you?!" He said between gasps. "Couldn't you wait until the ball was over? I already promised to spend the night with you!"

Novia trailed her finger across Vitav's cheek, then to his chin and neck. "I couldn't resist!" She cooed, her voice sultry. "You were over there looking so handsome and 'Princely', but you even kissed my sister! I needed to mark my territory...!"

The two resumed their kissing, as Celia's knees hit the snowy floor, disbelief washing over her, but when Vitav feverishly began untying Novia's corset laces, Celia hastily left, as the pieces fell into place.

'This has always happened!' She realized.

Every time, life after life.

She had always seen the signs... The long and dreamy stares between Novia and Vitav, the awkward glances, the sudden absences, only to find them in the same place...

'How did I miss it?!!' Celia mentally raged, her eyes wet with unshed tears.

Her naivete had followed her from her first life, making her cling to Vitav, and blinding her to the fact that he loved someone else!

But that hadn't been all...

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Back in the present, Celia let out a sigh.

"Twenty-five deaths... all for a person like that." She muttered.

It wasn't that leaving Vitav never crossed her mind.

After her first few deaths, she had considered leaving Vitav alone and running away to another part of the realm. Given her skills, she would surely thrive almost anywhere!

But she stopped herself each time, concluding that it was unfair to Vitav.

In her mind, they were destined lovers, and he hadn't done anything wrong... that she knew of! Plus, he was an illegitimate child who had passed through hardship, and he needed her to rise as the future King.

And so, Celia had decided Novia was the problem, and she had died twenty-five times trying to "fix" it!

"How stupid!" She rolled her eyes at her own blindness.

In this life, running away wasn't even an option, as she had also discovered that her father, Sara, and the entire Scarlett household were at stake!

So the plan was to avoid Vitav and Novia, find a way to keep House Scarlett out of politics, and focus on making herself stronger, just in case.

And with that in mind, she hurried off to the West Tower after school, where there was a brightly lit indoor garden, and a high-backed chair sat in a shadowed region.

The chair magically turned to reveal Dr. Sylvadeen Florence, who raised an eyebrow and adjusted his glasses to reveal his vivid yellow irises.

Celia sank into a pretty curtsy.

"Master Florence, please be my personal tutor!"

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