Heena looked at the System. He was literally drenched in taphorical sweat, frantically wiping his forehead with his tiny handkerchief.
’Yeah, this lion has a handkerchief,’ Heena thought absently. ’And apparently he even has functional paws that can grip things and wipe sweat. Since when do spiritual entities need to wipe sweat anyway?’
The System was stamring nervously: "Host, I don’t know anything! I really don’t! I’m just a simple System! I don’t have access to classified mission paraters!"
Hearing that obvious lie, Heena looked at him with narrowed eyes and thought: ’Now I KNOW sothing is wrong. Definitely. Sothing is deeply ssed up here.’
’This story is NOT as simple as it appears.’
’Because if this was really just a standard difficulty world with basic villainess-defeat objectives, the System wouldn’t be this nervous and evasive.’
’Nah, nah, nah. There’s sothing MAJOR being hidden from .’
---
’’[Back to the Present Scene]’’
While Heena was having these suspicious thoughts, the old Master suddenly WOKE UP.
His eyes fluttered open, and he looked around weakly at the gathered people.
His gaze landed on Maya, who was still crying beautifully beside his bed.
"Oh... my sweet wife..." he said in a weak, trembling voice. "Don’t cry, sweetheart. It’s nothing serious. I’m fine."
Hearing that—hearing this OLD MAN call his YOUNG wife "sweetheart" in that tender, doting voice—Heena literally felt like VOMITING.
’Like, this man is calling her ’sweetheart,’’ Heena thought with disgust. ’If you looked at this scene from another perspective—if you DIDN’T know they were husband and wife—you would absolutely think an old grandfather was talking to his youngest daughter or granddaughter.’
’It’s GROSS. So, so gross.’
Samuel, who was standing beside Heena, noticed her expression of barely-suppressed nausea and discreetly hit her with his elbow.
"Don’t make that face," he whispered. "Control yourself."
Heena imdiately schooled her expression back to neutral concern.
After enduring several more minutes of the old Master’s "loving words" to Maya—all of which made Heena want to scrub her ears clean—she and Samuel both approached the bed to pay their respects and ask after the old man’s health.
They spoke the appropriate filial words, expressed proper concern, and then CHEERFULLY got the hell out of there as quickly as politeness allowed.
As soon as they exited the study and were out of earshot, Samuel sighed deeply and said, "Ah, damn it. I just lost my biggest business deal because of this nonsense interruption. I was supposed to et with Master Zhao this afternoon to finalize a major contract."
Hearing that complaint, Heena looked at him and said pointedly, "But where were YOU when you were supposed to be at that eting? Oh, that’s right—you were sitting with in the bushes trying to spy on Maya."
Samuel looked at her and said thoughtfully, "You know, no matter how many tis I look at you, I have to say—you really don’t look like either a servant girl OR a typical noblewoman."
Heena raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Then what DO I look like?"
Samuel considered seriously. "Maybe you were a reborn general in a past life or sothing? You have that kind of strategic, military mindset."
Heena paused, then said casually, "Who knows? Maybe I was."
’Closer than you realize,’ she thought. ’I’ve been an Empress with command over armies. Close enough to a general.’
Samuel shook his head and said, "Actually, no. If I’m being honest, you look more like... a cunning, wicked strategist type. Like a master tactician or political manipulator. That fits better than a straightforward military general."
Hearing that surprisingly accurate assessnt, Heena looked at him, paused for a mont, then said dismissively, "Anyway, stop all this nonsense speculation. Tell —why were you REALLY at Maya’s courtyard? You said you were ’just passing by,’ but I don’t believe that for a second."
Samuel looked at her and said with a slight smile, "Well, I WAS genuinely just passing through that area on my way to another appointnt. But then I saw YOU doing sothing interesting and suspicious, so of course I followed. How could I not?"
Hearing that explanation, Heena looked at him, and her eyes showed absolutely ZERO trust in his words.
Seeing her skeptical expression, Samuel sighed and said, "Anyway, I need to tell you sothing important about Chen Yifan. There’s sothing that looks strange about this whole situation."
Heena waited for him to continue.
"You just need to make sure Maya and Chen Yifan don’t do anything drastic for about a month. After that, Chen Yifan’s assignnt in this district will end and he’ll be transferred elsewhere. The distance will make their relationship much more difficult to maintain."
Hearing that tiline, Heena literally wanted to tell Samuel: ’In one month, your FATHER will be in HELL, not Chen Yifan transferring away!’
But of course, she couldn’t say that out loud.
And she knew—she KNEW—that normally she should wish the old man well, or at least avoid actively cursing him. It was really bad karma to curse an elderly person.
But given all the terrible deeds the old Master had done until now—the predatory behavior, the abuse of servants, the corruption, the general awfulness—Heena genuinely could NOT bring herself to bless him or wish him well.
So hell was the only destination she could honestly envision for him.
And while Heena was going to try to prevent the original plot’s worst outcos, she absolutely was NOT going to shed any tears if the old Master happened to et an unfortunate end.
She looked at Samuel and said, "I’m going to walk by the riverside for a while. I need to clear my head and think. Let’s et up later."
Samuel looked concerned. "Should I co with you? You’re still recovering—"
Heena shook her head. "No, you should go handle your business matters. I also need so ti alone to calm my mind and process everything."
Understanding her need for solitude, Samuel nodded. "Alright. But don’t overexert yourself. And stay within the safe areas of town."
"I will," Heena promised.
---
’’[By the Riverside]’’
Heena walked out of the household and made her way to the riverside area—a relatively peaceful spot on the edge of town where the water flowed gently and there were so large stones to sit on.
She sat down on one of the smooth river stones and leaned back against a large boulder, letting the sound of flowing water soothe her frayed nerves.
The System appeared beside her, still looking nervous and guilty.
Heena looked at him and said bluntly, "Sotis I think you’re literally USELESS."
Hearing that harsh assessnt, the System looked at her with pitiful eyes and said, "Host, what did I do THIS ti?!"
Heena gestured at him. "Like, you can FLY. You’re INVISIBLE to normal people. But I can’t even send you to eavesdrop on what the protagonists are saying to each other! Aren’t you completely useless for espionage purposes?"
The System looked hurt and said, "Host, it’s not that I don’t WANT to help with that! But you know I physically CANNOT go too far away from you! The connection tethers to your location. If I go beyond a certain radius, the link breaks and I could be forcibly recalled to the Bureau!"
Heena sighed and nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I know. It’s still frustrating though."
She stared at the flowing water for a mont, organizing her thoughts.
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