After Donna had left, Alcina called the whole staff to gather in the main hall. Now that Joseph knew the whole story of the Dimitrescu family, it was time for Alcina to set in motion the plan she and her daughters had discussed. Before long, all two dozen staff members had arrived in the hall, each confused as to why they were here. Alcina moved to the front of the crowd joined by her daughters and Joseph.
"Excuse me. May I have your attention?" Alcina called.
Everyone went silent.
"Thank you. Now I'm sure you are wondering why I've called you all here. So I won't keep you waiting. By this point, I assume you have all met Joseph?"
Everyone nodded.
"Good to hear. For those who don't know, he saved my daughter Cassandra's life a couple weeks ago, and I can't begin to express to him how grateful I am. But he has done more than just save my daughter, he has treated all of us with kindness and compassion on a level that I didn't even know was possible, even though he himself had been hurting."
The crowd murmured to each other, wondering what she meant by that. Alcina held up her hand to quiet them down.
"So in short, his actions have not only touched us, they have opened our eyes to just how foolish we were and how cruel we have been to you over the years. So that is why I am announcing that there will be great changes in this castle from this moment on. To start off with, there will be no more killing. Blood will instead be collected from donors, should you choose to do so, and we will make sure no harm will come from such donors in the process. Also, we will make sure that you all have a much healthier and safer work environment to make you comfortable. Your pay will be raised as well to help you better financially."
The entire crowd gasped, and resumed murmuring amongst each other. Had they heard that right? They would no longer have to live in fear of the Dimitrescu family? This seemed too good to be true. One of the maids spoke out loud.
"Countess, do you speak truly? And if so, why the sudden change? I know you said Joseph saved Lady Cassandra, but what was it about that that brought about this change?"
"A good question." Alcina replied. She took a deep breath before continuing.
"People need dramatic examples to shake them out of apathy, and that is exactly what Joseph did for us. You see, he didn't just save Cassandra. At the time, he had just survived a plane crash that left him injured as well. Not only that, but he had no home and no family due to some terrible things from his past. In fact, he was on that plane because he was trying to find a fresh start, to start his life over. Yet despite that, he still risked his life to save my daughter. It…It was like a guardian angel was sent to protect my child."
Alcina started to get emotional. She dried her eyes and recomposed herself before continuing.
"So yes. It was quite an eye opener for all of us, but now Joseph himself would like to say a few words."
Joseph had asked Alcina if he could say something to the staff before she had called them, and when he explained it, the Countess whole heartily agreed.
Joseph stepped up.
"Here's the thing though. We know that despite these changes, it still doesn't erase the bad experiences that you've had here. And if you can't bring yourselves to forgive the Dimitrescus, they will understand, as will I. That's why we are offering you a chance to resign from the castle and return to your homes. You are free to leave if you so choose. If you have any personal belongings, you may pack them and take them with you. I promise you this is not some kind of trick. We really mean what we say."
The staff were all frozen. They weren't sure how to process what they had just heard, nor did they know if they could trust it, but the looks on Joseph's and all of the Dimitrescu family's faces told them they were telling the truth. After all, this was a look they had never seen on their faces before.
There was silence for an uncomfortably long time, but eventually one maid walked up to Alcina, removing her maid's hat and offering it to her as a sign of her resignation. Alcina took it and slowly nodded. She made no move towards her. She didn't try to stop her when she left the room. It was clear now that Joseph was indeed telling the truth.
One by one, maids started following suit and approached Alcina to give her their maid's hats to resign. They all left without saying a word. Out of the two dozen maids that were originally in the room, only six chose to stay, including Olivia and Julia.
There was another uncomfortable silence before Alcina turned to the maids and spoke.
"Why did you choose to stay? I'm not judging. I'm just curious."
Olivia decided to speak for the whole group.
"Well, we know that what you said about Joseph was true. We saw with our own eyes how kind and selfless he was, and how it began to change you. It was surreal to see that honestly. You seemed more calm and happy in a way we'd never seen before. Forgive me if this is too personal, but the hostility that you used to have, was that because of Mother Miranda?"
Alcina nodded with a sad face.
"Yes Olivia. She manipulated all of us into thinking she cared for us, but in reality, we were just pawns to her. It wasn't until Joseph came along that I became wise to that."
Olivia smiled and took a few steps forward.
"I know the other maids couldn't forgive you, but we do."
"What?!" Alcina gasped.
"It's like you said, Mother Miranda was using you. Physically and mentally, she made you into something you were not, and once you learned the truth, you started to change. You wanted to be better, and we have to thank Mr. Brody for that." Olivia said.
"Olivia, I told you to just call me Joseph." The man chuckled.
Olivia shook her head.
"No. You deserve to be called that, or would you rather be called Sir Joseph?"
"Oh hell no. That makes me sound like a knight from the round table."
Everyone laughed at that, but Cassandra looked intrigued.
"I don't know. You sure came to my rescue like a knight in shining armor."
Joseph blushed.
"Well, I would say more like a samurai given what I used, but yeah, I guess I did."
"Wait, what do you mean?" Julia asked.
Cassandra smiled.
"Oh, I forgot to mention. Joseph has a kick ass sword. It's seriously one of the coolest things I've ever seen."
Bela folded her arms while giving a teasing grin.
"Just for the record, you're talking about his katana right?"
"BELA!" Alcina shouted. Everyone was now laughing harder than before, except for Joseph and Cassandra who were both red as a tomato.
"For god's sake sis, we just got together! We're not at that point yet!" Cassandra yelled.
Upon hearing that, the maids stopped laughing.
"You two are together? Oh, that's wonderful! I'm so happy for you!" Olivia said.
"I know right?!" Daniela said with excitement.
Alcina sighed.
"I swear, you will all give me a heart attack by the time the year is over."
Cassandra walked over to her mother and gave her a hug.
"It's ok, mother. We were just joking. Joseph and I are happy just the way we are right now."
She then went back over to her partner and took his hand.
"Exactly. There's no need to rush anything. We have all the time in the world." Joseph said.
That made Alcina feel better. She smiled at them..
"Thank you Joseph. I need time to let this all sink in, but you two really do make a great pair."
The couple smiled, then looked at each other lovingly and kissed, causing everyone's hearts to melt. Olivia hated to interrupt the moment, but she felt she had to.
"So, what do we do now?"
That was indeed a good question. Everyone looked amongst each other, not sure how to answer that, before Bela spoke up.
"Well, we only have a quarter of our staff left so we're going to have to cut back on things for a while. It'll be hard, but I think we can manage."
Cassandra turned towards her sister.
"Hey, I'm just happy for what we got. It sure beats having no one, right?"
Joseph smiled at his girlfriend. She really was evolving into a better person.
"Well said, Cassandra." Alcina said "Everyone, welcome to day one of the new house Dimitrrescu!"
"Oh! Can we celebrate by watching a movie? We have a few hours before dinner." Daniela begged.
Joseph nodded.
"Sounds like a plan. I know just the film to put everyone in a good mood."
And that's how everyone found themselves in the entertainment room. They watched another Godzilla film, but as Joseph had promised, this one was a lot goofier and light hearted. The highlight came when everyone was laughing hysterically at Godzilla using his atomic breath to fly through the air.
"Well, at least Japan is…creative." Bela said while trying to breathe.
"Isn't that one of the best things you've ever seen?" Joseph laughed. "I need to ask Donna to make that into a tee shirt."
"Oh my god! Please do!" Cassandra begged.
"Hey! That could be the symbol for our weirdo club!" Daniela said.
"Oh yes! Make some for us too!" Olivia said.
As the chatting continued, Cassandra looked around at everyone in the room. The maids, her sisters, her mother, and of course, Joseph, all having a great time and smiling together. The brunette felt more at peace than she'd ever had. For the first time in what felt like forever, life was good.