After the movie, Cassandra told Miranda her idea about forming a triathlon team with Joseph and Mandy, and The Priestess absolutely loved it, though she was a bit nervous for Joseph and Mandy's safety as going to a public event could expose their location to their parents. The brunette tried to assure her that they would be okay and that they could handle anything that she could come with them if it made her feel better, which did calm Miranda's nerves a bit.

That changed the following morning however as she suddenly became a nervous wreck and was currently meeting with Alcina in her private office about something. Joseph was confused as to why and he made a note to ask about it later.

Right now however, he and Cassandra were again in the armory for another katana training session. This time, the brunette was going to practice on precise strikes with her blade by striking fruit that was both stationary, and tossed to her by her boyfriend. It was making quite the mess, so they promised the maids that they would clean up after themselves when they were done.

Cassandra stayed in her battle stance, laser focused, as she cut down every piece of fruit that was tossed in her direction, her sword cutting through them with ease. She had to admit, this was pretty fun, but she never let that distract her from what she was doing and the weapon she was holding.

When she was done, it was a fruit massacre in the armory, her blade dripping with juice, and Joseph had a big smile on his face.

"You got thirty seven out of forty fruits that were thrown at you. That is a great performance! Especially for your first time!"

Cassandra smiled back.

"I have a good teacher, and you make this fun too. Well, except for the clean up part." She said as she looked at the sliced up fruit scattered around her.

Joseph chuckled

"Hey, we did promise the staff we would clean this up."

The brunette sighed.

"We need to use less fruit next time. Less work for us."

"Definitely."

….

It thankfully didn't take too long for the couple to clean up the fruit and wash their blades off, about ninety minutes. And as soon as they were done, they were on the road heading to Otto's Mill to continue with the renovations. Things were progressing very well. The walls and beams had been reinforced, and now, everyone was currently working on laying down some new floor coverings. The walls would remain wooden however as they wanted the store to have that cabin, outdoors feel to it.

When they arrived, several villagers were already helping with the project, which made them smile, but when they entered the building, Heisenberg walked up to them with a look that was a mix of concern and anger.

"What's wrong, Karl?" Joseph asked.

"I'll tell you exactly what's wrong." The lord replied. "When we came in this morning, we found that the door had been booby trapped with a shotgun that was tied to it. It was clearly supposed to shoot anyone who tried to open it. We consider it a miracle we caught it before someone was killed."

This shocked the couple and they looked at each other with looks of concern.

"Do you know who placed it there?" Cassandra asked

Heisenberg shook his head.

"There's really no way to tell, but it's clear that it was intended for one of us since we are usually the first ones here in the morning. What the fuck is wrong with these people?! We're just trying to build a new store for everyone and they respond by trying to kill us?! I swear to god, if I ever find out who it was…"

Joseph put his hand on his shoulder.

"Easy. Like you said, we have no way of knowing who it was, but I do have a few good guesses."

"Same here. I'd wager money that bitch Helen was involved with this."

Cassandra clenched her fists as her anger started to boil.

"If it was her, I'm going to fucking kill her!"

Joseph turned back to the brunette.

"Cassie…"

"No, Joseph! This is not okay! It was bad enough when she said all of those hurtful things about us, but this?! This is crossing the line! I won't let anyone threaten my family!"

Her boyfriend now put his hands on her shoulders and started to rub them.

"I'm not arguing with that, Cassie. I draw the line at this too. Like your uncle said though, we have no way of knowing who it was. It could have been any of the villagers. Hell, it could have been someone who is helping us renovate."

Heisenberg shook his head.

"Nah, it definitely wasn't one of them. The person who set the trap got in by breaking one of the newer windows. That doesn't make sense if it was one of the workers. They all have a key. Why would they need to break in?"

This was a good point. Heisenberg had forged locks for the mill's doors to keep it secure as well as keys for all the workers so that only they could enter. It made no sense for them not to use their keys, and this calmed the couple down significantly.

"That's good to hear." Joseph said. "At least we can be mostly confident we can trust the workers."

Heisenberg shook his head.

"Yeah, but I'm not taking any chances. Why don't you guys head back to the castle and take the day off? We'll handle things here. In the meantime, I'm going to see if I can track down the fucker who did this."

The couple looked at each other before nodding.

"Okay. Thanks, Uncle Karl." Cassandra said. She was still furious, and Joseph and Heisenberg couldn't blame her.

….

When the couple got back to the castle, they told Miranda and Alcina about the booby trapped door, and they too were furious and terrified to hear that someone tried to hurt their family. So they called for an emergency meeting in the dining room. Everyone was there in five minutes, and they were just as shocked when they were told what happened.

"This is obviously cause for serious concern." Alcina said. "We have been harassed by villagers before, but now they are taking it farther and are actually trying to cause harm to us."

"Why are they doing this?" Daniela asked, terrified. "Can't they see that we want peace? That people are happier now because of the changes? Why can't they leave us alone?"

Joseph sighed.

"It's like I said on New Year's Eve, some people don't want to let go of the past. They don't want peace. All they want is to see the ones responsible for their pain destroyed, and they'll stop at nothing to get it."

The tension at the table upon everyone hearing those words could be cut with a knife, because Joseph was right. The people who chose to resent them won't leave it at just a booby trapped door. They will keep coming after them, and they absolutely will not stop unless something is done.

Bela broke the silence.

"Don't they see that what they're doing is wrong? What if it was another villager who opened that door and got shot? They would have killed an innocent person who had nothing to do with anything, and that's no better than what we used to do."

Mandy then spoke up.

"They don't care. All they care about is revenge, and revenge is one of the scariest things there is. It can change a person, turn them into something you never thought they were capable of being, something even worse than what you guys used to be."

"Yes…" Miranda said. She took a deep breath before turning to her Godson

"Joseph, you noticed how nervous I was this morning, right?"

He nodded, and The Priestess continued.

"Thing is, we were going to have this meeting even if this incident didn't happen, because something even more concerning happened last night. Your father called Mandy on her phone using a different number, despite Alcina's warnings."

Joseph froze as The Priestess continued.

"He sounded absolutely furious. He was so delusional, he thought that we had kidnapped Mandy and brainwashed her into believing what she said to them on New Year's Eve. He made some serious threats too, saying he and your mother would come for us if we didn't let her go."

Joseph was starting to hyperventilate, and Cassandra started rubbing his shoulders now to calm him down, but it wasn't helping much. He wasn't intimidated by the villagers, but his parents were a different story. They not only were crazy enough to try and come after him and his family, but they had the skills and connections to do it too.

Seeing the scared look on her Godson's face, Miranda tried to reassure him.

"I immediately took Mandy to a nearby town and told the police everything. They had to make sure that Mandy really wasn't kidnapped of course, but once they contacted her phone company and heard the calls from New Year's Eve and last night, they believed us and assured they would be on high alert and that they would warn other nearby towns as well.

"They didn't reach out to anyone in the U.S. however as I told them that could put us in danger due to the connections your parents have. We then destroyed the phone when we got back so nobody could trace it."

Joseph was surprised to hear all of this. This all must have happened when he was asleep last night as he didn't see or hear any of this.

"So they can't find us?" He finally asked.

"It's very unlikely that they would, at least not here." His Godmother said. "There's always a chance however, and with the villagers making things more serious, we need to take some serious precautions to make sure everyone is safe. Alcina?"

The Countess nodded and pulled out a sheet of paper that she had written down notes on.

"Here's what we're all going to do," She said. "The castle's doors and windows will remain locked at all times now, even during the day. There is also a list of people from the village who are permitted to enter. If anyone that comes to the castle is not on this list, they are not to be let in under any circumstances. Anyone who stays at the castle is required to carry a firearm with them when they leave for whatever reason to protect themselves, for I fear that it's not just us, but people who are friends with us that are being targeted. Lastly, under no circumstances is anyone to leave the castle alone or at night for any reason."

Everyone nodded in agreement at this.

"Those are good precautions, Countess Dimitrescu." Elena said. "May I make a suggestion for something?"

"Of course, Elena."

"I propose that we have Joseph start teaching self defense to everyone in the castle so that should the worst happen, we would be ready for it."

Joseph nodded.

"Of course, Elena. We can start tomorrow if you want." He said with a shake in his voice. It was clear the threatening call from his parents made him uneasy.

"That would be perfect. I'm sure the staff will all agree with that."

"It's settled then." Miranda said. "I'll contact Duke to help us with some other preparations right away. Everyone is dismissed."

Everyone got up and proceeded to head out of the room, but Joseph didn't go far and took a seat at one of the couches in the main hall. Seeing this, Cassandra walked up and sat down next to him, wrapping her arms around him.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

He shook his head as tears began to well up in his eyes.

"Not really. I knew there was a good chance this would happen, but that doesn't make it any less scary. My parents threatened me and my family. This is different from the villagers. They are from the military, and that doesn't mean they're not just crazy, they're dangerous too, and they can pull off what they want to do. I've never been so scared in my life. I'm scared to death that they might try and hurt you, Mandy, your sisters, or anyone else. And the worst part is, I don't know if I'm strong enough to protect you."

The brunette's eyes widened and she gasped.

"How could you say that!? You're the strongest person that I've ever met! If anyone can do it, it's you!"

"You've never seen them, Cassie. They're just as well trained as I am, maybe even more so, and I doubt they will be alone when they come. And yes I said when because I know for a fact that it's only a matter of time before they find us. Maybe not here, but if we do this triathlon thing, they absolutely will. And I feel sick just thinking about it. I don't want to lose you! I can't live without you!"

He started sobbing now, something that hurt his girlfriend to watch. She completely understood as she herself was terrified. They had worked so hard to overcome their pasts and the pain it brought to be better people, to rebuild their lives together. And now, people who weren't willing to let go of that past were threatening to take it away from them. Dangerous people at that, and Joseph didn't know if he had what it took to protect his family.

That last part however gave Cassandra a moment of pause. Joseph was doubting himself, thinking he may not be good enough, and this she wasn't going to have.

Cassandra suddenly smacked Joseph across the face.

"For god's sake Joseph, snap out of it and stop being an idiot! You taught us about strength and how to be confident in ourselves, yet when things start getting hard, you just throw yourself under the bus and say you're not good enough?!"

Joseph rubbed his cheek, a bit shocked his girlfriend had hit him, but she had his full attention now. She took a deep breath to calm down before responding

"Do you remember something you told us the day after you first came here? Something Master Hisashi taught you when you were training? You said, 'A warrior's greatest weapon is their heart. It is what gives them the strength to fight and push forward. No matter what.' Do you remember that?"

Her boyfriend slowly nodded. The brunette continued.

"You want proof that you can defend us from your parents? There it is right there. You have a heart of gold, and would go above and beyond for the people you love, not giving a shit what stood in your way. That's what makes you stronger than them. They fight for themselves, you fight for everyone, and you absolutely will not give up to do so. No. Matter. What."

Joseph stood frozen for a moment as Cassandra's speech, processing what he had just heard in more ways than one. He had helped Cassandra through her pain and taught her to be confident and strong. Now it was him who was being helped by her, being told the same things. It showed just how far the brunette had come as a person.

Before long, he smiled and gave her a hug. His tears turned from scared to happy.

"You're right. My heart is what makes me stronger than them. Unlike them, I have something worth fighting for, something worth living for. I will fight the devil himself if it means protecting you, Mandy, and the rest of my family, because I love my family more than anything."

Now his girlfriend was shedding tears of her own. They separated and gave each other a loving kiss. When they parted, Cassandra spoke again.

"There's one more thing. While your dad certainly hates you, I don't think your mom does."

Joseph gave a confused look.

"What makes you think that?"

"Even though I was in the other room, I could hear what your parents were saying when you and Mandy called them. I don't know if you noticed, but your mom didn't have that hatred in her voice that your dad did. In fact, it sounded like she wasn't completely confident in what she was saying or doing. I know this because Mandy had that same tone when I first spoke to her."

Joseph thought about it for a moment. He hadn't given much thought to such detail since his emotions were high during the call. But thinking about it now with a clearer head, he got what his girlfriend was saying.

"Now that you mention it, yeah." Joseph said. "She didn't sound one hundred percent sure about it. Maybe she's trying to bury pain or guilt with anger like Mandy did. That would make sense. She was always less harsh on me than my dad was."

Cassandra nodded.

"I could be wrong so we should take it with a grain of salt, but I think there's a chance there's more going on with your mom than she's letting on."

Joseph nodded back.

"Definitely. Until that theory is proven however, we should prepare for the worst. I don't fuck around with my family's safety, especially when others threaten them."

His girlfriend smiled.

"Now that's the confident Joseph I want to see. You keep standing strong like that, we'll have nothing to worry about."

The couple embraced in another hug. They knew at that moment that there was nothing to be afraid of. Let these people come. Let them try and destroy what they've built, because they will fail. Joseph, Cassandra, and their whole family will stand against them and they will beat them the same way they have beaten all other obstacles thrown their way.

Together.