"I am quiet fine, Bentley. Don't mind me."
The poor old butler almost had a heart attack when he heard his young miss call him by his name, something that she had never done before.
"Are you really ok, miss?" he asked as he helped her up.
"Very ok. What seems to be the problem?" she asked.
From the memories of the previous owner, Sage felt that the butler would never come to her willingly unless something was wrong and truthfully, something was because they soon heard a shriek which prompted the two to hurry downstairs.
Earlier
After the butler had left, one of the maids tried to politely lead Briar to a sitting room only to be slapped by her.
"Don't you dare look me in the eye." She had said before telling her maids to beat her up. As always, the maids of the house Aurora watched as one of their own was beaten black and blue by their young miss's friends. There was nothing they could do though as they were only servants.
This was the scene that Sage and the butler found downstairs that sent Sage's blood boiling through the roof. Even if she was out of breath, she still went down the stairs as fast as she could and slapped the maid who dared to lift a hand on her own.
"Sage, what are you doing? You are not supposed to harm my maid!" cried Briar as she looked at her maid who cheek was swollen from the slap.
Everyone at the foyer was shocked as they had expected Sage to add in a few kicks and the like yet she had instead stood up for the maid? They were shocked!
"What is going on here?" Sage asked in a scary voice that made Briar shiver. Of course she wouldn't tell the truth.
"That maid stepped on my shoe and refused to apologize. I had to teach her a lesson." She said, trying to regain her composure.
"No, young miss. She is lying! I only wanted to lead her to a sitting room and she s…" the poor maid had clung onto Sage's leg seeking for refuge but alas, nothing is as simple as that.
Before the poor maid could finish her statement, Briar kicked her again and the sound of a rib cracking sounded out in the quiet room.
Sage was furious! She had gotten the gist of the situation and she had decided on how to act.
"Good, very good." She said with hands shaking from rage but no one could tell given how fat she was.
"Bentley, get me my whip. It seems some people need to learn some manners." She said through grit teeth and the servants felt blood leave their cheeks. They knew about the whip and they could only feel sorry for the poor girl who was going to be at the receiving end of it. The poor girl had already given her life up by the time the whip was brought. The other servants all closed their eyes but were shocked when it wasn't the maids cries they heard.
Whip!
Whip!
"Aaaaahhhh!" Briar screamed with each time the whip landed on her.
"Why are you whipping me?" she asked through the screams and whips. Her maids had also joined the mess as they had tried to cover their miss.
"Why? WHY? You dare to ask me why?! You come to my house and bully my people in front of me and you think that I will let you go? You are mistaken."
Sage whipped until she couldn't lift her hand anymore. She was angry!
Briar was among the few people who used to be Sage's real friends but she all of a sudden turned her back on her and started giving her bad advice that led her to do a lot of evil and even become obese.
As she was trembling from anger and over moving her body, the whip was replaced with a warm cloth that the head maid brought, slightly startling her.
"Young miss, look. Your palm is now messed up because of lowly people. You should have told Bentley to take care of them." She told her and Sage felt tears forming in her eyes.
She was lonely in her past life as she was used only as a killing machine but unlike Sage, she had no one. For now, she would fill the void that the old Sage left and make everything peachy. Taking a deep breath, Sage looked to Bentley.
"Grandpa butler, take this pest and her minions back to her house and demand payment for hurting my maid. How dare they?! If they bring up issue with you or so much as lay a finger on you, they will know what it means to be the tyrant of the Flit duchy, are we clear?"
"Yes, young miss." Responded Bentley with great pride. It seems their miss had had a baptism that they didn't know of.
"Remember all of you, you are my people. If trash like them ever dare to bully you, let me know and I will set them straight alright?" Sage asked with a smile and the servants felt like the gods were finally looking down on them.
"Yes, young miss."
"Good. Now, someone help grandpa butler load the trash on our worst carriage and take Lilliana to see the doctor. Send the bill to Count Bush!"
Sage was like a boss queen, throwing orders left and right. The servants immediately got to their assignments. Lilliana was shocked as she didn't expect their young miss to remember her name. Everyone was shocked at the transformation of the young miss but they were not complaining. They liked it. They were tired of seeing their miss be thrown around even more than they were tired of being thrown around.
The head maid escorted Sage back to her room and immediately called for a doctor as well.
"Oh, young miss. Your delicate hands are now all mangled up!" she said as she received a basin of warm water from a maid as she tried to clean Sage's huge hand. Sage watched the old lady do so with great care and felt that the servants of the duchy were really cut from a different cloth.
"None of you is going to ask why I did what I did?" Sage asked as she looked at them to gauge their reactions.
The other maids immediately got down on their knees while the head maid bowed her head low.
"You are our master. Even if you decided that we should all jump, we wouldn't dare sit." The head maid answered and Sage felt that the old her didn't know how to cherish those around her and went for the impurities.
"Don't worry, Sage. They are in good hands."
*
"This is the bill for the things that your daughter broke at the castle and for harming the young miss's maid. The young miss has ordered that you pay it off immediately." Bentley said in a refined manner.
They were currently at the mansion of the Bushes and he was talking to the countess who shamelessly lifted her hand to slap Bentley! As a gentleman, he dare not raise his hand at a lady but his young miss would be hearing about this.
"The payment, Countess Bush." He asked, ignoring the slap.
"I will personally bring the payment to your young miss!!" she answered through grit teeth. After Bentley left, she turned to her daughter and felt heart broken.
"Mum, avenge me. All I have done is be her loyal friend and yet this is how she chooses to repay me!" Briar cried out and the countess felt her heart break even more.
"Oh my dear daughter, don't worry. Mama knows how to handle such pests. I will have her crawling back to you!"
"At least, she didn't destroy your face. Butler, bring the doctor. Hurry!"
Evil people just don't know when to quit!
Back to Sage, she was going around the castle checking on the servants as she was the current master since her brother and father were away. Well, her intentions were not entirely on the servants.
She wanted to start losing weight before the story starts so she was walking around to see how far she could go.
"Young miss, you don't need to come down to the stables! Your pretty shoes will get dirty!" cried the maids and stable hands as Sage sashayed into the stable, examining the horses.
"Oh don't worry. I am almost done. Besides, I am wearing boots." She said and the servants couldn't help but worry. After all the last time she was there, Sage had slipped and fell causing the horses to almost lose their heads!
Sage on the other hand as looking at various things that she could use in her weight loss journey and horse riding was among. One horse in particular called to her soul.
It was pitch black and it seemed to be forgotten as it was placed in a faraway corner, far from the other horses.
"What's the matter with this horse?" she asked and the stable men shivered. The news of Sage's bravery had not yet spread and most were still afraid of her. A little boy who should be with his parents came out and spoke.
"It is untamed, still wild." He said curtly as he grabbed hay for the horses.
Sage grabbed a hand full of hay and walked to the horse to the dismay of everyone present but what happened next shocked everyone.