Samuel smiled slightly despite the serious topic. "You say ’usual paranoid precautions’ like you’ve dealt with assassination attempts before."
Heena froze for just a fraction of a second, then recovered smoothly.
"Just being practical. Anyone who rises in status quickly makes enemies. It’s common sense."
But Samuel had caught that montary hesitation. His eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
"You’re not just a servant who got lucky, are you? Your education, your strategic thinking, your complete lack of fear when dealing with dangerous people—none of that cos from growing up as a village maid."
Heena turned to face him directly.
"I told you I’d share my past gradually, as I learned to trust you. We’ve been married less than a week. I’m not ready to tell you everything yet."
Samuel studied her face. "Fair enough. But understand—the more you hide, the harder it is for to trust you completely. And if sothing from your mysterious past cos back to threaten us, I’d like advance warning."
"If sothing from my past threatens us, you’ll know imdiately," Heena promised. "I’m not going to let secrets endanger you without warning. But so things are complicated, and I need more ti."
Samuel nodded slowly, accepting this for now.
"Alright. But Heena?" He used her na instead of "wife" for the first ti, making it feel more personal. "Whatever you’re hiding, whatever you’ve done before—it doesn’t scare . I’m not going to judge you. I just want honesty between us."
Heena felt sothing unexpected—a tiny crack in the emotional walls she’d built around herself for this mission.
’Damn it,’ she thought. ’Don’t start developing actual feelings. This is a business arrangent. A strategic partnership. Nothing more.’
Out loud, she just said, "Thank you. That ans more than you know."
An awkward silence fell between them—the kind of silence that happens when two people are starting to see each other as real individuals instead of just strategic pieces.
The System, watching this interaction from his invisible position, thought: ’Oh no. Host is starting to care about this one. This could get complicated.’
But before either Samuel or Heena could say anything else, there was a sudden commotion outside—shouting, running footsteps, soone screaming for help.
They both rushed to the door and opened it.
A servant ca running up, looking panicked.
"Young master! Young mistress! Please co quickly! The Master has collapsed! He’s unconscious and no one knows what’s wrong!"
Samuel and Heena exchanged a quick look.
’Here it cos,’ Heena thought grimly. ’Maya’s next move.’
"Lead the way," Samuel said to the servant.
As they rushed toward the Master’s quarters, Heena’s mind was already racing through possibilities.
’Poison? Probably. Fake illness? Possibly. A trap specifically designed to implicate ? Almost certainly.’
’Well, Maya,’ she thought with cold determination, ’let’s see if your next plan is any better than your ridiculous surveillance attempt.’
’I doubt it.’
.
.
When Heena and Samuel walked into the old Master’s room, the scene that greeted them was quite dramatic.
The old Master was lying on his bed, supposedly unconscious, his face pale and his breathing shallow.
To any normal person who saw this, they would believe that he had genuinely collapsed from so serious dical condition.
But not Heena.
Because her eyes imdiately focused on his eyelids, and she saw it—a slight movent in the eyes beneath the closed lids. The telltale flutter of soone who was awake but pretending to be unconscious.
’Damn old man, even playing tricks and acting like he’s dying,’ Heena thought with disgust.
This was the old era, not modern tis. It wasn’t like everyone could just take anesthesia or so drug to instantly knock themselves out convincingly. So the old Master was clearly acting, probably following Maya’s plan.
The performance would fool most people, but Heena had seen enough fake illnesses across multiple worlds to recognize the signs imdiately.
Maya was at the foot of the bed, crying loudly and dramatically, clutching the bedpost like she might collapse herself.
"Master! How can this be?! Why?! Why did this happen to you?!" she wailed, tears streaming down her face. "I’ve never done anything wrong! Why is heaven punishing us like this?! What sin did we commit to deserve this suffering?!"
The performance was Oscar-worthy, Heena had to admit.
Heena and Samuel stood there calmly observing the scene.
Samuel looked genuinely worried despite his usual composed deanor—the sudden collapse of his father, even if they had a terrible relationship, was not a good thing for the household or the family business.
He walked forward to examine his father and asked with concern, "What’s wrong with Father? What happened? Did he complain of any symptoms before collapsing?"
Hearing that question, Maya reacted like a mother hen protecting her chick from a predator.
She literally threw herself between Samuel and the bed, spreading her arms wide to block him.
"Stay AWAY from him!" she scread, her voice shrill with accusation. "This is all YOUR fault!"
She pointed at Samuel with a trembling, accusatory finger, tears still streaming down her face.
Hearing that absurd accusation, Samuel looked at her with a deep frown and said carefully, "Just because Father is sick doesn’t an you need to lose your rationality and start making wild accusations."
Hearing that calm response, Maya’s expression twisted with rage.
"I’M going crazy?! I’M being irrational?! YOU—!" She pointed at him, then swung her finger to point directly at Heena. "You married this BITCH who has done this to my husband! She’s the one who poisoned him!"
Hearing that accusation, Heena raised her eyebrows in genuine surprise.
’Ah, so we’re going with poison. How predictable.’
Samuel also looked at Maya with shock and said sharply, "Have you completely lost your mind? What the hell do you an by that? My wife has been with the entire day. How dare you point at her like this without any evidence?!"
Hearing Samuel’s defense, Maya paused for just a mont, then she looked at him and scoffed loudly.
"Ha! With YOU, so what?! Being with you doesn’t an she couldn’t have done it earlier! She could have poisoned his food this morning, or yesterday, or any ti before today!"
With that dramatic declaration, she reached into her sleeve and pulled out a small plant—roots, stem, leaves and all—and threw it at Samuel’s feet.
"See?! THIS is what your precious wife mixed into the old Master’s food! Don’t you know how DANGEROUS this herb is?! This is clear evidence of her murderous intent!"
Heena also walked forward, curious to see what so-called "deadly poison" the heroine was so confident about.
When she looked down at the plant that had been thrown on the floor, she was absolutely dumbfounded.
She literally could not believe what she was seeing.
She stared at it for a long mont, then looked up at Maya with an expression mixing disbelief and secondhand embarrassnt.
"Mother-in-law," she said slowly, "are you absolutely SURE this is the sa plant I gave to the old Master? You’re 100% certain this is what made him collapse into this condition?"
Hearing that question, Maya looked at her triumphantly and said, "Of COURSE I’m sure! There’s no mistake! This is the EXACT plant that was found in the kitchen right after you prepared my husband’s al!"
She pointed at Heena dramatically.
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