The scorching heat of the roaring fire nearly singed Cinderella's eyelashes. She stared blankly at Valerie, who was watching with cold detachment.
Valerie's icy words echoed in her mind: "Fight back, or die."
Fear was a deep-rooted poison. Years of memories of being brutally beaten by her stepsisters made her knees go weak at the mere sound of their scolding.
"Go to hell! You ugly freak who only deserves to play in the mud!" Fanny smiled venomously, her hands pressing Cinderella's head down with all her might.
"I am not a dog!!"
Just a hairsbreadth away from her cheek touching the burning coals, a blaze far fiercer than the fireplace erupted in Cinderella's despairing eyes!
She suddenly unleashed the terrifying, brute strength cultivated from years of heavy labor. Reaching back, she grabbed a burning, red-hot log from the hearth and, without a second of hesitation, violently jabbed it straight into Fanny's skirt!
"Ahhh! Fire! My silk dress!" Fanny shrieked, letting go and frantically slapping at her burning skirt. She tumbled awkwardly to the floor, landing in a pile of soot.
"You little bitch! Are you rebelling?!" The elder stepsister, Iris, was furious. She snatched the riding crop from the wall and slashed it viciously toward Cinderella.
Smack! In the past, the mere sound of the whip would make Cinderella tremble. But now, she was like a little beast that had seen blood.
She took the lash head-on without uttering a single groan, then lunged forward like a starving tiger, violently tackling the high-and-mighty Iris to the ground!
Clatter! Cinderella snatched the extremely sharp tailoring scissors off the table. "Didn't you love tearing my clothes with these? Now I'm returning the favor with interest!"
She planted her foot firmly on Iris's chest, wielding the scissors without mercy.
Snip! Snip! Iris's proud, golden blonde hair was chopped into a jagged, dog-chewed mess. Cinderella even pressed the cold blades right against her eyelids, snipping off her long, curled eyelashes in one swift motion!
"Ahhh! My hair! My face!" Iris clutched her bleeding scalp, letting out a pig-like squeal.
"You're crazy! I'm going to call the Sheriff! I'll have the town guards throw you in the dungeon and hang you!" Fanny, having just put out the fire on her dress, roared with a deathly pale face.
"Go ahead!"
Cinderella whipped around and tore open the back of her already tattered, coarse linen shirt.
With a loud Riiip, she revealed a shocking, gruesome sight. Her back was a crisscrossing canvas of old and new scars left by their whips and branding irons over the years. They looked like dozens of hideous centipedes entrenched across the young girl's pale skin.
Brandishing the blood-stained scissors, Cinderella advanced step by step, her eyes looking like a demon crawling out of hell.
"Go call the guards! Let all the nobles in the city see what kind of sadists are hiding in this esteemed Baron's estate! Come on, let's go to hell together and see whose ending is worse!"
Even the most ruthless bully fears a maniac with nothing to lose.
Looking at the blood-soaked Cinderella, who seemed to grow fiercer by the second, the two previously arrogant stepsisters finally understood the meaning of true terror.
Trembling uncontrollably, Iris's corset heaved violently. From beneath her luxurious skirt, a puddle of yellowish liquid began to seep out, accompanied by the distinct smell of urine.
"Oh my god, you actually wet yourself?" Cinderella mocked, lightly tapping Iris's cheek with the flat of the scissors. "Where is the courage you usually use to bully people?"
She turned her head and pressed the freezing, sharp tip of the scissors directly against Fanny's carotid artery. The tip broke the skin, a bead of blood oozing out.
"Don't do anything rash... Please, we won't do it again! From now on, we'll be three loving sisters, okay?" Fanny, her face ashen, begged repeatedly.
"I will be attending the royal ball next week, and I will be going in high profile," Cinderella declared, looking down at them from above.
"No..."
Iris was about to object when Cinderella pointed the scissors directly at her eyeball, feigning a stabbing motion.
"Yes! We'll go together! We will blind the prince's eyes as the three radiant roses of the estate!" Iris babbled incoherently, nodding frantically.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Valerie, who had been standing in the shadows watching coldly, finally stepped forward with a faint, satisfied smirk on her face.
She clapped her hands slowly, sweeping a look of utter garbage over the two sisters on the floor. "Get back to your rooms. Without my permission, you are not to step half a foot outside your doors."
Granted a massive reprieve, the two stepsisters scrambled and crawled out of the kitchen as fast as they could.
In the vast kitchen, only the panting Cinderella and Valerie remained.
With a clatter, Cinderella dropped the scissors. Her legs gave way, and she fell weakly to her knees, gasping for air as tears fell uncontrollably from her eyes.
It was the overwhelming relief of surviving a disaster, and the exhilarating thrill of taking her destiny into her own hands for the very first time.
Valerie walked up to her. She didn't offer a handkerchief; instead, she pointed at the blackish-grey wood ash that had been scattered all over the floor during the fight.
"It feels incredibly satisfying to successfully fight back, doesn't it?"
Cinderella nodded forcefully. "It feels amazing! I can finally protect myself and avenge my wrongs!"
Valerie gently rubbed the top of her small head. "That was impressive. I'm proud of you. Now, let's properly prepare for the Prince's selection ball."
"I will make you the most beautiful princess at the banquet."