Avoid The Lead, No Matter What!

2. Meeting Prince Vitav

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'I must avoid Prince Vitav in my next life!'

Celia opened her eyes and sighed, this time feeling breath come out of lungs that felt younger than they had in years.

And that is because they were!

'I'm nine again...' Celia thought, as she turned her head to see what she knew would be there on her reading table.

The beautiful crystal Lily Prince Vitav had given her.

She sighed, watching it hover in the weak light of dawn.

Each time she died, she always opened her eyes the morning after Prince Vitav gave her the flower.

And then...

*Crash!* The window beside the table broke, and a green vine reached in to take the flower away!

In her past lives, Celia was always sad to see it go.

In fact, in her original life, she had chased after the thief, who turned out to be a burly man with a crescent-shaped scar on his wrist.

That scar was all she had ever seen, as the man was always shrouded beneath a dark cloak, and ran too fast for her tiny legs, vanishing before her father's men could reach them.

"You bloody thief!!!" She had screamed on top of her tiny lungs, and then threw a three-day tantrum, asking her father to investigate the incident!

In the other lives, Celia tried many things to prevent the flower's theft, like quickly dashing for it and holding on to it, but each time she came up with a brilliant plan, the thief flexibly went another way and succeeded!

But now, Celia merely scoffed as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed hurried to the window with a mischievous glint in her red irises.

"I'd throw it away, even if you don't steal it!" She shouted at the large shrouded figure. "Feel free to take that evil omen with you!"

Unlike before, she was glad to see it go!

'If I'm to avoid Vitav, then I must let go of his hold completely!'

And with that, she got out of bed, looking round her room.

Being the sole heir to the Scarlett estate, no expense was spared when it came to Celia, and even stealing her chamber pot might feed a thief for a year!

At present, Celia ran her fingers along the ivory frame of her four-poster bed, shaking her head at the intricate gold patterns etched into it.

Not just the bed, but almost everything in the room was made of a precious material, and her dressing table and mirror were lined in ivory, decorated with real rubies!

"They remind me of your eyes! And the ivory matches your hair!" Lord Scarlett had said.

"Papa! You have the same eyes and hair!" She had protested, but the ivory and rubies had stayed, and she shook her head at present.

'Papa never changes!'

She started when the door burst open, and then beamed as Sara, her ever-loyal friend and maid, rushed in.

"My Lady! I heard a crash?! Are you okay?!"

"Never mind it!" Celia waved her away. "Just someone stealing the crystal lily."

"What?! How dare they?! My lady don't worry! I'll inform Lord Scarlett at once. He'll round up the guards and give chase - !"

"No!" Celia coughed nervously. "Ahem! I mean, since it's gone, it's surely fate! Not to worry! I have ice powers! I can make something similar!"

"Ah, but my Lady! You loved it so very much! And then the boy! And then..." Sara bustled around, lamenting the flower's disappearance as she began Celia's grooming. "What bad luck, my Lady!" she exclaimed, unaware of the flower's meaning.

Sara was eleven years old... An orphan brought in to serve and keep the heir company, and for all Sara knew, her Lady had gushed about the crystal flower all day the previous day, and now some villain had stolen it!

But as she dressed Celia in a simple blue frock, Celia shook her head.

'Sara is also the same every single time!'

And that made Celia strengthen her resolve once more.

That twenty-fifth life had opened her eyes.

If she died in the same way, Sara and her father would die as well.

She couldn't let that happen!

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The Scarlett Estate was a wide and regal structure, with gold and ivory fittings, large grounds with hedges trimmed to perfection, and complete with gardens, several pagodas, an orchard, and a lake.

It wasn't as grand as the Palace, but it was fit for any king, and was the envy of most nobles!

And as golden sunshine filtered in through the large corridor windows, Celia let out a wistful sigh, wishing she could run through the grounds, the wind in her hair.

'I haven't done that in years!' She thought, but only she knew that.

Everyone in the present time believed she had been running around just yesterday, so she couldn't just skip her lessons for something like that.

After twenty-five lifetimes of learning, Celia didn't need her tutor to teach her anything, but she had learned through the years not to reveal too much genius.

And now that she intended to evade Vitav, she needed to hide her talents even more!

Also, though her knowledge was vast, there were too many things she couldn't do in this child state, and if she didn't train and grow into certain spells, she would only harm her body later.

So with another sigh, she entered the small study to meet her teacher, who beamed at her fondly.

"My Lady!" He greeted with a proper bow. "Lovely morning, isn't it?"

Celia smiled at him. "Teacher Lean, I've said you don't need to be so polite!" But her bright smile never reached her eyes.

Once, she had believed this man dearly loved her like a daughter, or at least a niece, but she had learned the hard way that she was little more than a tool in his eyes... A genius he could claim credit for teaching.

At the slightest push from Novia, Teacher Lean had killed Celia in her fourth life.

In her fifth life, Celia had hated him and kept him at arm's length, but because of her hatred, he had colluded with Novia, and killed Celia again.

So Celia had learned to neither hate nor love the person, but to avoid scenarios which would lead to their actions.

In that fourth life, Celia had hired a maid called Rosa, who turned out to be Master Lean's secret love child, and Novia had threatened to reveal the secret, which would have ruined his reputation as a High Mage.

On her nineteenth birthday, Celia had been hiding in the Scarlett mansion with only her mother, Sara, Rosa, and Master Lean, who had requested to stay and use the Scarlett library.

But Master Lean stabbed her in the back.

Literally.

"I'm sorry!" He blurted out, after stabbing her. "It's your own fault for bringing Rosa into the limelight! The sin of my youth... I can't let you ruin my future!"

Since then, Celia kept Rosa out of her lives, and was friendly to Master Lean, but nothing more.

It didn't save her, but it was one less catalyst.

And besides, she had discovered the ultimate catalyst.

Meeting Prince Vitav!

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