Joseph awoke to a knock coming from his bedroom door. With a groan, he slowly sat up and checked the old clock that was on his nightstand. 8:30 am. He had slept for nearly twelve hours.

Wow. I needed that sleep more than I thought. He thought to himself.

Being mindful of his cracked ribs, he slowly stretched and made his way to the door to open it. On the other side was a maid who looked to be in her late teens with dirty blonde hair. She was also holding a bundle of clothes in her arms, which included even pajamas. She smiled before bowing.

"Good morning, Mr. Brody. My name is Olivia. Countess Dimitrescu sent me to deliver your new clothes to you."

Joseph smiled in response.

"It's nice to meet you Olivia. I'm surprisedThe Countess had these clothes ready so soon."

"Oh, it really was no trouble. Lord Beneviento already had some clothes stored away so it was perfect. She's quite the master tailor you know."

Joseph frowned in confusion at this.

"Lord Beneviento?"

"You met her last night. She was the one who took care of Lady Cassandra."

"Oh, her Aunt Donna". He said as he took the bundle from the maid's arms. "She seems like a nice person."

Olivia nodded.

"She is, but she's normally pretty shy. What happened last night was a rare exception. She usually keeps to herself and doesn't really come out unfortunately."

"Why not?"

"I'm not sure. Countess Dimitrescu gets irritated every time someone asks about it so we don't really push it. We prefer not to upset her."

Must be something she's sensitive about. He thought.

"Well, I won't take more of your time." Olivia said. "I have other work to tend to anyway. The countess would like to see you at breakfast when you've finished getting dressed. Have a great morning Mr. Brody." She then gave another bow.

Joseph smiled in return.

"You too Olivia. And please, Call me Joseph."

….

Joseph decided to wear a collared shirt with a nice pair of jeans. He was staying in a castle after all so he wanted to dress at least somewhat nice. As he left his room and walked down the hall, he really began to admire the scenery that the castle provided. It reminded him of those old period piece movies, but it also reminded him of the castle in Dracula. It didn't surprise him though, he was in Romania after all.

It didn't take long for Joseph to realize he had no idea where the dining room was. Embarrassed, he asked a maid he saw where it was and she led him to a set of double doors in the main hall he had seen the previous night.

Joseph thanked the woman and proceeded through the double doors where Alcina and her daughters were already seated. Even Cassandra to his surprise, though her body was heavily bandaged and she was in a wheelchair.

Alcina wasn't facing him so Daniela was the first to notice his presence.

"Good morning Joseph!" She said cheerily "Did you sleep well?"

The rest turned towards their new house member and all greeted him warmly before he responded.

"I slept very well. Thank you for asking. I trust that you all did as well?"

"I did, thank you, but I had to get up early to give Cassandra her medicine and change her bandages." Alcina said.

Bela rolled her eyes.

"And that was after I had to drag her out of the room last night to make sure she got some sleep in the first place."

Daniela giggled while Joseph himself gave a short laugh.

"I don't really blame her." He said. "She's a mother after all. So she's naturally worried about her kids. I'm sure you'll understand when you have children one day."

Bela's eyes got wide while Cassandra snickered. Alcina gave Joseph a sly smile.

"I tell Bela that quite often, but she never listens to me."

Now the blonde's face was red, and she quickly turned away to hide it.

"Mother…"

Now Joseph laughed out loud as he took his seat next to Cassandra.

"It's ok, Bela. It's just teasing. We don't mean anything bad towards you."

"Yeah sis, lighten up a bit." Cassandra said

Bella scoffed.

"You could use a lesson in that more than me."

"Hey!"

"Alright girls, let's keep it civil. We want to make Joseph comfortable, remember?" Alcina said with a bit of firmness.

"Yes mother." They all said in unison.

At that point, the staff came in with that morning's breakfast, eggs and bacon. The smell made Joseph's mouth water. He hadn't smelled something this good in a long time. The daughters seemed to be sharing the same expressions, but they held themselves back until everyone was served.

As everyone began eating, Alcina spoke up.

"So tell us about yourself, Joseph. We know you lived in Japan, but what did you do there?"

Joseph swallowed his food before responding.

"I was there for three years under the care of a martial arts master named Ishiro Hisashi. He was ten times the man I could ever hope to be, and he taught me everything I know."

Cassandra's eyebrows raised.

"Wait, you know martial arts?"

He nodded as he swallowed another mouthful.

"Yep. Karate and Ninjutsu, but honestly the most important things I learned were discipline, self control, and self acceptance."

"Hmmm." Was Cassandra's response. "Martial arts masters seem to be all about that. I never quite got that though. It seems preachy to me."

"Trust me, it isn't. They're the most important things to learn. You could be good at fighting, but without those moral lessons, you won't get far. Master Hisashi even said to me, 'A warrior's greatest weapon is their heart. It is what gives them the strength to fight and push forward. No matter what.'"

The room went silent with those words. None of the Dimitrescu family knew how to respond to that. Finally, Bela spoke.

"Is that what drove you yesterday? To do the things you did?"

Joseph nodded.

"It was the only thing that was fueling me. That determination to keep moving forward. When that bear attacked Cassandra, it was suddenly like my injuries weren't there. They didn't matter anymore. All that mattered to me was helping her and keeping her safe. That drive, I'm thankful master Hisashi taught it to me."

Again, the family sat in stunned silence. Joseph didn't realize how foreign this was to all of them.

"I…don't really know how to respond to that." Alcina said after a pause.

Joseph shook his head.

"You don't have to. I know it can be a lot to take in. But hey, it wasn't all serious like that. The culture in Japan was amazing. The art was something I could stare at for hours, and their movies and shows were just as unique. My favorite without a doubt though was Godzilla."

Daniela almost spit her drink out as she suddenly burst into laughter.

"W-wait. You mean those goofy monster movies with the guys in rubber suits?" She said trying (and failing) to control her laughter.

Joseph couldn't help but chuckle as well.

"Well some of them are pretty damn goofy, but others are much better than you might expect. Maybe at some point I can show you them."

"I don't know." Cassandra said. "It would have to be a pretty good movie for me to take that overgrown lizard seriously."

Joseph just gave her a small smile.

"You might be surprised."

"You want to make a bet?" Cassandra smiled back.

Alcina gave a huge sigh.

"Oh heavens no. Not this again. You should really be focusing on your recovery Cassandra."

Joseph raised an eyebrow.

"She does this often?"

"Unfortunately. Cassandra can be quite the competitive type, even when it's not necessary."

"Guilty as charged." Cassandra said with a smile. "But hey, it's fun. So why not?"

"Well, fun until you lose." Bela snickered. "Remember the time you lost all of your allowance money to uncle Karl?"

Cassandra's smile immediately faded as she turned away from her sister and grumbled.

"Shut up."

That got a good laugh out of her siblings. Daniela was laughing so hard though that she didn't notice the maid next to her pouring some more wine (something Joseph thought was odd) and knocked the pitcher out of her hands where it fell and shattered against the maid's knee.

"AAAAAAAH! FUCK!" She screamed in pain as she grabbed her knee, which had immediately started bleeding.

Joseph immediately got out of his chair to check on the girl, but behind him he heard Cassandra yell, and she sounded annoyed.

"Julia, you idiot! Do you have any idea how much that pitcher cost?!"

Joseph whipped around and glared at Cassandra, surprised she had said that.

"Hey, take it easy! It wasn't her fault!"

Now Cassandra was the one glaring. In fact, she looked furious.

"How dare you! Who do you think you are to use that tone?!"

"Excuse me?!"

"You heard me! Nobody speaks to me that way! You should learn your place!"

Cassandra suddenly froze because at that point, she realized what she was saying and who she was talking to. Her eyes widened in horror and she began to stutter, trying to say something, but nothing came out. Joseph had a look of shock and hurt in his eyes, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he turned back to the maid, Julia, to look at her knee.

"This isn't that bad. Let's get you patched up. I still have the first aid kit from the plane." He said as he escorted her out of the room. He didn't look back once. Cassandra was just frozen there, unable to speak. This man was the reason she was still alive, and this is how she treated him.

"Are you going to punish Julia, mother?" Bela said, finally breaking the silence.

Alcina took a sip from her wine before responding.

"No Bela. Joseph is right, it wasn't her fault. Olivia, can you please clean this up?"

"Of course my lady." Olivia said before running off to get the cleaning supplies.

Alcina then turned towards the redhead.

"Daniela, please pay more attention to your surroundings in the future."

"Yes mother." Daniela said as she hung her head.

Bela was surprised with what her mother had said, but didn't argue as she continued eating.

"And you." The countess said firmly as she glared daggers into Cassandra.

"I know you are uncomfortable from your injuries, but that was unacceptable behavior you displayed towards Joseph! He risked his life to save you! How could you even think to use that tone with him?!"

Her daughter usually argued in these moments, but this time she didn't. Instead, she silently nodded to indicate she understood and continued eating. Though the food didn't taste that good anymore.

She knew that she screwed up badly.