The next day, Alcina was in her study going over some paperwork involving the winery when there was a knock at her door.

"Come in."

The door opened and Bela and Daniela walked in, the former wheeling Cassandra.

"You wanted to see us mother?" Her eldest asked.

"Yes dear. Please close the door."

Bela obeyed and took a seat in front of her mother with her sister.

"We're not in trouble are we?" Daniela asked.

"Not at all, Daniela. I called you three to let you know I am thinking about making some changes in the castle soon." Alcina replied.

"What kind of changes?" Cassandra asked.

"Well, I overheard the conversation you and Joseph had yesterday…"

The brunette turned red and began stuttering to explain, but her mother just chuckled.

"It's alright dear. Honestly, I'm glad I did, because that's what made me come to this decision."

"Wait, what conversation?" Daniela asked.

Alcina gave a warm smile.

"To put it simply, Joseph has quite the way with words, and he convinced your sister to start working to improve herself after what happened at breakfast yesterday."

"He did?!" Bela asked, completely dumbfounded.

Now Cassandra was red as a tomato.

"Mother!" She whined. "You're embarrassing me!"

Bela giggled.

"Oh hush you. It's about time you started doing that." She teased.

"I think it's about time we all started doing that." Her mother stated.

She had the full attention of her children again. The countess let out a sigh before continuing.

"When I saw how Joseph treated Cassandra with kindness and offered to help her, even after the way she treated him, it woke something up in me. I…I think I'm beginning to understand what a fool I've been all these years."

Her daughters didn't respond. Instead, they motioned her to continue.

"All these years, Mother Miranda has said that she cared for us and would always protect us. And I believed her, despite her coldness and lack of attention to us. But when I learned just how brave and selfless Joseph was when he saved Cassandra, it gave me a moment of pause. It was a level of kindness I had never seen before. Certainly not from Mother Miranda.

"I found myself questioning everything I thought I knew. I didn't know what to think. But when I saw Joseph helping Cassandra again yesterday, I had my answer. Mother Miranda was just saying that she loved us, but it was never true. The proof was standing right in front of me. What Joseph was doing, that's what caring for someone really looked like. And now that I've seen it, the truth about Mother Miranda is all the more obvious to me."

Her children all had a look of surprise on their faces, but none of them objected to what she had said. Bela let out a sigh and shook her head.

"Mother, I have been trying to tell you that for years, but you never listened to me."

Alcina choked a bit at her daughter's words.

"I know sweetheart, and I am truly sorry."

The blonde shook her head.

"Don't be. Mother Miranda changed more than just your body, she got into your head as well. Slowly over time she manipulated you into being something that you weren't. Hell, she did that for all of us, even me to an extent. It seems the only one who didn't fall for it was Uncle Karl."

Alcina scoffed at that.

"As much as I hate to say this, I agree. Now I'm going to have to deal with him rubbing it in my face saying 'I told you so.'"

Her daughters all giggled in response to this.

"Oh wow. Things are changing already." Cassandra teased.

Her mother sighed in defeat before nodding her head in agreement.

"Which brings us back to the main topic. These are the changes I have planned. There will be no more killing in the castle whatsoever. The blood we need will instead be donated by the maids in certain amounts so that no harm will come to them. Also, we will be far less strict with the staff as well. Joseph was right. They are people as well, and they should be treated as such."

All of her children just gawked at her in disbelief. Did they hear that correctly, or did they need their ears checked?

"That's a sudden change of heart for you, mother." Cassandra said.

"Yes, but a dramatic example like the one Joseph has displayed will do that. Surely you all have felt the same way, right?" Alcina asked.

Her daughters all smiled before nodding their heads.

"He…really does have that effect on people." Cassandra said. "Last night he helped a maid clean up a mess she made when changing my bandages. He told her not to worry about it and that she was doing a great job. I've never seen a warmer smile on one of our staff before."

Alcina couldn't help but put her hand on her chest and smile as well.

"All the more reason we should follow his example." She said.

Daniela then turned towards the brunette and gave a teasing smile.

"You like him, don't you?"

Cassandra turned to her sister.

"He's easy to like Dani, and really fun to be around."

The redhead giggled.

"That's not what I meant silly. I mean, you like him don't you?"

Realizing what her sister was implying, Cassandra's blush fully returned.

"W-what?! No! I-"

Now Daniela burst into full out laughter.

"I don't blame you sis. He's really cute."

"S-shut up!"

Even Alcina couldn't help but chuckle a bit at her daughter's reaction.

"Oh Cassandra. You've never been able to take teasing that well."

The brunette just pouted and folded her arms, but unfolded them quickly when it caused her shoulder to flare up.

"Ow."

Alcina's smile faded.

"That actually brings us to our next point. Joseph is obviously going to have to know the truth about us at some point. We can't keep it a secret from him, but for now we need to focus on Cassandra's recovery. Then we can break everything to Joseph."

"Agreed." Bela said. "I'll write down some notes so we don't miss anything."

"This is surreal." Daniela said. "Almost overnight, Joseph turned things around for us."

Alcina shook her head.

"We have a long way to go before we get to that point. But he has helped us with the first and most difficult step, getting the motivation to change."

Her children all smiled and agreed.

"Where is Joseph anyway?" Bela asked.

"He went to see the Duke." Cassandra said. "He wanted to meet him to introduce himself and get some stuff he said we'd enjoy."