"A blood puddle?" Cassius repeated, looking utterly shocked.

He had thought for a moment that Sir Fluffington had died from natural causes and Joy hadn’t gotten over it.

But it didn’t seem like that at all. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Joy nodded, tears streaming freely now.

"The same fluffy white hair he used to have was covered in blood."

"H-He was beaten, bruised, completely destroyed."

"The majestic animal that used to roam around the stable had been...had been turned into a corpse that wasn’t even in one piece."

Cassius couldn’t help himself. "What happened to him?"

The sorrow in Joy’s eyes was suddenly replaced by something else.

Something darker. Rage—cold, controlled, but burning so intensely he could almost feel it radiating from her.

She spoke in a voice that was barely above a whisper, yet somehow sharp enough to cut.

"The son of the whore who ruled the household also liked Sir Fluffington. But he was cruel. He’d smack him, kick him, treat him harshly."

"Sir Fluffington never responded to him—he just ignored him completely. And no matter what he did, he couldn’t get it to care about him at all."

She paused, her jaw tightening.

"What enraged that brat even more..." She continued. "...was that I could play with Sir Fluffington so easily. He couldn’t even get near it, but I could do anything with him. And he threw tantrums about it constantly."

Her grip on Cassius’s hand was almost painful now.

"One day." She said, her voice flat. "That maggot grew so fed up that he grabbed a bat. And a stick. Whatever he could find. And he started beating Sir Fluffington."

"Dear God." Cassius breathed.

"Sir Fluffington held on for so long." Joy said, her voice cracking. "But finally, he couldn’t take it anymore. He retaliated—spit right in the boy’s face."

"And the moment he realized he was covered in saliva, he ran crying to his mother. Told her everything."

"How Sir Fluffington had rejected him."

"How he cherished me instead."

She let out a hollow laugh. "And that bitch..."

"Joy." Cassius said gently. "You don’t have to—"

"No." She shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks. "No, I’ll say it. I’ll say it all!"

She took a shuddering breath.

"She hated the fact that an animal had chosen me over her own son. She decided no animal should ever exist that preferred me to her child."

"And so..."

Joy’s whole body was trembling now.

"...she gathered a group of servants. And while I was gone, they...beat Sir Fluffington to death."

Cassius pulled her closer, wanting to shield her from the pain she was reliving, wanting to somehow go back in time and protect both her and the animal she loved so much.

"They used everything." She whispered. "Bricks, stones, bats, rods. They struck him over and over."

"And apparently he cried out in the most miserable way."

Her voice broke completely.

"I can imagine it. The sounds he made. Begging them to stop. But they didn’t care."

She was sobbing now, ugly, ragged tears that shook her entire frame.

"They kept hitting him until there was no sound left. Until nothing remained but a pile of meat and broken bones."

"Only then were the mother and son satisfied. They laughed. They actually laughed. They said, ’How will that little vixen play with that dumb sheep anymore?’ And they walked away."

Cassius held her tighter, his heart breaking for the woman in his arms.

"I wasn’t there." Joy said, her voice muffled against his chest. "They’d sent me away. When I came back, I found him like that."

"Just...destroyed."

Cassius didn’t know what to say right now.

He’d always assumed that Maria bore the brunt of the household’s cruelty. That she’d somehow managed to shield Joy from the worst of it.

But it seemed like that household’s evil had reached Joy as well in the worst way possible.

Joy slowly pulled back, wiping at her eyes. She still looked devastated, but there was a strange calm settling over her now. A hollow acceptance.

"Do you know what’s interesting, Cassius?"

He didn’t answer.

"I already had plans to save my mother back then." She said. "I knew how much she was suffering. I was scheming, trying to find a way to save her."

"But I was a coward. A little girl too afraid to do anything."

Her smile was heartbreaking. "You can’t blame me, can you? I was just a child."

"Of course not." Cassius said immediately.

"But it was only when Sir Fluffington died..."

Joy continued, her voice hardening.

"...that all my sadness turned into rage. It consumed me completely. And I went ahead and slaughtered my entire family along with their servants."

She said it so casually, as if describing the weather. But Cassius noticed the change in her tone—the pride creeping in.

"I chopped them into so many pieces..." She said, a dark satisfaction in her voice. "...that they were in a worse state than Sir Fluffington himself."

Cassius realized something shocking.

Back the when she’s killed over two hundred people related to the family in one way or another, she’d only cut off their heads.

Clean, simple executions.

But her family—she’d minced them. Chopped them into unrecognizable pieces.

He’d assumed it was because of her hatred toward the main family.

But now he understood it was something else entirely.

It was revenge for Sir Fluffington.

She’d given them a worse death than he’d suffered.

"Ironic, isn’t it?" Joy said, shaking her head. "The very reason I saved my own mother was because I lost my best friend."

She looked at the woolly sheep in front of them, her eyes distant.

"If I’d just acted sooner...if I’d done what I needed to do before Sir Fluffington died...maybe he could have still been with me."

Her voice was soft, almost wistful.

"Maybe he’d be among those woolly sheep right now. Found a partner. Given birth to little mini Sir Fluffingtons. And I could have petted them all, and we’d have been so happy."

She laughed bitterly.

"But I didn’t. I waited. And..he died."

She looked like she was about to spiral into despair again.

But Cassius reached out and pulled her into an embrace, holding her close.

"It’s not your fault." He said firmly.

She tried to protest. "But Cassius—"

"None of what happened in the past was something you could have predicted."

He insisted, hoping it would reach her.

"The only reason you were able to get your revenge was because of the harvest festival—everyone had let their guard down. You wouldn’t have been able to execute your plan otherwise."

"So don’t blame yourself."

She looked up at him, tears in her eyes.

"But Cassius, I—"

He put a finger to her lips, silencing her.

They stared at each other for a long moment. Then Cassius smiled.

"Do you believe in fate, Joy?"

She blinked, confused by the sudden question.

"What?"

"I myself most definitely believe in fate." He continued. "And I think right now, you telling me all of this—that’s an act of fate. And that very fate has also brought you a gift."

Before she could ask what he meant, he stood up.

He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief.

"Cassius, what are you—"

He gently tied the handkerchief around her eyes, blindfolding her. She didn’t struggle, but she was clearly confused.

"Just give me one second." He said, patting her head. "I’ll be right back. I’m going to bring you something you’ll most definitely like."

She heard his footsteps running away, leaving her alone on the bench.

And in the silence, the memories came flooding back.

The same bitterness.

The same sadness.

The same despair that had consumed her all those years ago.

It was all resurfacing now, overwhelming her. She could barely breathe. The blindfold only made it worse, trapping her in her own dark thoughts.

But just as she felt herself slipping into complete despair, Cassius’s voice came from directly in front of her.

"Hold out both of your hands, Joy. And hold them strong—what I’m giving you is decently heavy."

She snapped back to reality. "What? Cassius, what are you—"

"Just trust me. Show me your hands."

Despite her confusion, she did as he asked, curling her hands in preparation to carry something.

And then he placed it in her palms.

It was warm. Extremely warm. And incredibly fluffy—so soft that it felt like she was holding a pillow made of fur.

The shape was strange, not like a pillow at all, but something more...alive.

And then she heard it.

"Baaaa—!"

The moment she heard that distinctive sound, Joy’s lips immediately parted in shock.

Her eyes beneath the blindfold began to shiver uncontrollably.

Her heart, which had been sinking into despair, suddenly seized in her chest.

She knew this noise. She definitely knew what it was. But she still couldn’t believe it.

This sound was something she hadn’t heard in so many years. Something she had thought she would never hear again.

Her heart began racing at an incredible speed.

Just as her entire being was reacting to that sound, just as she was on the verge of something—

Cassius quickly removed the blindfold.

"So what do you think of my surprise, Joy?"

He asked, his voice warm and full of affection.

"Do you like my little surprise?"

For a moment, Joy couldn’t see anything. Her eyes had become accustomed to the darkness of the blindfold, and the sudden light made everything appear blurred and unfocused.

But then her vision cleared.

And she gasped.

Right there, cradled in her hands, was a baby woolly sheep!

No—calling it a baby was actually an understatement of how young it was.

The creature was so incredibly tiny and fragile that it looked like it had only just been born, perhaps mere hours ago.

Its legs were impossibly thin, barely capable of supporting its own weight.

Its eyes were still adjusting to the world, wide and curious and innocent.

But despite its extreme youth and fragility, it was absolutely covered in the softest, fluffiest wool imaginable.

And it had these small, round, black beady eyes that were currently looking up at Joy with what could only be described as affection and curiosity.

The baby bleated softly again, its tiny voice filled with innocence and Joy was shocked beyond belief.

Her entire body went rigid with surprise and overwhelming emotion.

She looked down at the baby woolly sheep in her hands, then back up at Cassius, her expression a mixture of shock and desperate hope.

"What? What is this?" She asked, her voice shaking with emotion. "Where did you get him from? I didn’t see him earlier. How did you...?"

Her words tumbled out in a rush, her mind struggling to process what was happening.

Cassius sat beside her, placing a hand over her shoulder and gently pulling her close.

He looked down at the baby woolly sheep in her hands with obvious affection, and he gently began to rub its soft fur while Joy herself hugged the tiny creature to her chest in an incredibly possessive manner—the way a mother might hold her own newborn baby.

"This little one you have in your hands right now was actually just born yesterday." Cassius said warmly, his voice filled with tender emotion.

Joy’s eyes went even wider, tears beginning to form.

"Yesterday night." He continued. "One of the woolly sheep who was pregnant actually gave birth. It was a successful, healthy birth. We kept the baby inside the stable because we didn’t want him to go outside too quickly, didn’t want to expose him to the elements before he was strong enough."

As Cassius spoke, a look of absolute love and tenderness appeared on Joy’s face.

She gave the baby woolly sheep a gentle, motherly smile while tenderly petting its incredibly soft wool.

"No wonder he looks so small and tiny and fragile." She whispered, her voice filled with wonder. "He’s barely even a day old."

She couldn’t help herself. She leaned down and gave the baby woolly sheep a gentle kiss right on its tiny forehead.

The baby responded to her affection by letting out a soft baa noise—a sound of contentment and recognition.

"He even looks a bit like Sir Fluffington." She whispered, tears welling up. "The same thick, silky, white fluffy fur."

She held the little goat closer, pressing him against her chest. "He’s just like him." She repeated, her voice cracking.

And then Cassius spoke.

"You know...since he was just born yesterday, no one in the mansion has named him yet."

Joy gasped, looking up at him.

He smiled affectionately. "Normally it would be Vivi’s responsibility to name the animals. But I think I can make an exception today."

"You mean..." Joy’s voice was barely a whisper. "I can...?"

Cassius nodded, reaching out to stroke her cheek.

"This is why I told you that sometimes fate works in our favor. Today, you told me your story. And just yesterday, an offspring just like your own Sir Fluffington was born."

"I believe something is at play here."

He smiled down at her.

"That’s why I’d like you to name him, as this moment belongs to you."

Joy’s eyes filled with tears. She didn’t fully start crying yet, but it was obvious she was deeply moved.

It felt like fate. Like Sir Fluffington’s soul had somehow returned, or perhaps sent his descendant to her.

She looked down at the tiny sheep in her hands, stroking him tenderly.

"Then..." She said, her voice trembling. "You’ll be Sir Fluffington the Second."

She let out a watery chuckle.

"I-I know the name might sound funny. But it’s an esteemed name you’ll have to live up to."

She proudly snorted. "Your predecessor was quite the amazing woolly sheep. Dignified even among his own people."

She patted his head gently. "I hope you’ll grow up to be the same way as him and make him proud."

As if the little one understood her words, he let out a soft baa.

And that...that broke her completely.

Joy burst into tears, hugging the tiny sheep against her chest.

"I-I miss you—!"

She whispered, half-laughing, half-sobbing.

"I miss you so much, Sir Fluffington! I wish you’d never gone away!"

"I...I wish you were still by my side!"

All the years of repressed grief, all the pain she’d buried deep inside, came pouring out in a flood of tears.

She cried for Sir Fluffington.

She cried for the little girl who’d witnessed such horror.

She cried for all the years she’d been too afraid to let herself feel this.

Cassius watched with relief in his heart.

These were different tears from before—the kind that healed, that released, that let go.

He didn’t disturb her. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his embrace.

And Joy, needing warmth and comfort didn’t hesitate to hug him back.

She cried against his chest while little Sir Fluffington the Second squirmed between them, licking her face.

Some might say it was just the salty tears he was after.

But others would know better.

Either way, it only made her cry harder, the tears finally, fully, after all these years, allowed to fall.