He scrambled to his feet and pointed at her accusingly, his face red.

"You—! You promiscuous woman! Stay away from me!"

With that declaration, he actually turned and walked quickly out of the room, practically fleeing.

Seeing this reaction, Heena burst into genuine laughter.

She’d had many expectations about how the wedding night might go, but she absolutely had NOT expected that the supposed "villain" of this story would turn out to be such a shy, inexperienced person when it came to actual physical contact.

’This is going to be easier to manage than I thought,’ she realized.

---

’’[After Samuel Left]’’

Now that Heena was alone, she looked around the room more carefully.

Then she snapped her fingers.

The System appeared immediately, materializing in his current form—a small, cute lion that Heena still hadn’t quite gotten used to.

She looked at him and asked, "Where have you been?" 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Hearing that question, the System looked at her and said cheerfully, "Oh! The wedding feast food was really good, so I was eating! There were so many dishes, and I tried everything—"

Hearing that, Heena looked at him with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes and said slowly, "From this morning until right now, I haven’t eaten anything. Not one bite. Because I’ve been too busy getting ready for the wedding, participating in ceremonies, and dealing with all of this."

She continued, her smile becoming sharper: "And you were eating? While I was starving? Are you on MY side, or are you just here for the free food?"

Hearing that accusation, the System gulped nervously and said, "But Host, you just got married! It was a celebration! I thought—"

"If you keep eating every time I get married," Heena interrupted, "then I think you’ll either turn into a pig instead of this cute lion form, or you’ll get so fat you won’t be able to move at all."

Hearing that threat, the System tilted his head in confusion and said, "A pig? What’s wrong with eating at weddings?"

Heena just shook her head and waved her hand dismissively.

"Forget it. Listen, I need you to go follow my so-called lovely husband. Track where he goes, what he does, who he talks to. I need to know his actual resources and plans."

Hearing that order, the System looked at her and muttered quietly, "Yeah, yeah. I’m not really a System anymore. I’m just your personal surveillance device. Always following him, always watching people, never getting to rest..."

Hearing that muttering, Heena said sharply, "Excuse me? What was that?"

Hearing that dangerous tone, the System immediately shut up and said quickly, "Nothing! I’m going! I’m going to follow him right now!"

And with that, the System disappeared to track Samuel.

Heena looked around the room again.

Despite what the System had confirmed—that this really was Samuel’s assigned living quarters—she still didn’t entirely believe it.

She had about as much trust in Samuel as she had in his father’s integrity or wholesome nature: absolutely zero.

’Either this is genuinely his situation, or he’s testing me to see how I’ll react to hardship,’ she thought analytically.

’Either way, I don’t actually care that much. I’m not here to become some pampered noble lady. Just being his wife in name gives me enough legal protection and social status to work much faster toward my actual goals.’

’I can tolerate poor living conditions temporarily if it means achieving my objectives.’

With that philosophical acceptance, Heena lay down on the bed—which was at least comfortable even if the room was falling apart—and went to sleep.

---

’’[The Next Morning]’’

The next morning arrived.

Heena’s body jolted awake automatically at 3 AM—the time she’d been conditioned to wake up for the past weeks to fetch water.

She sat up, disoriented for a moment.

Then she remembered: ’Wait. I’m not a servant anymore. I’m the young mistress now.’

With that realization, she smiled, pulled the blanket back over herself, and went immediately back to sleep.

The System, who’d been dozing nearby, looked at her and asked, "Host, aren’t you going to fetch water?"

Hearing that question, Heena looked at him with an extremely disgruntled expression and said, "If I were going to keep fetching water and doing servant work, why the hell would I have gotten married in the first place? Shut up, you idiot. Let me sleep."

With that, she pulled the blanket over her head and went back to sleep.

’Finally,’ she thought with satisfaction. ’Finally, I can sleep past 3 AM.’

---

’’[The Confrontation]’’

Heena was still sleeping peacefully when she heard a loud scream from outside.

She slowly opened her eyes, yawned, stretched, and reluctantly got up.

She opened the door, still wearing her nightclothes—a simple two-piece sleeping outfit that covered her completely but was definitely not formal daywear.

As she walked out into the courtyard, she saw Maya, who looked like someone had literally set her head on fire. The woman was absolutely burning with rage.

"What the HELL?!" Maya was screaming. "Where is the WATER?!"

Then she turned and saw Heena, and her fury intensified.

"Where is the water?!" she demanded, pointing at Heena accusingly.

Hearing that demand, Heena looked at her calmly.

This time, she showed absolutely zero respect or deference in her tone. Why should she? She was now the young master’s legal wife—technically equal in status to Maya herself.

"What do you think, where would the water be, ’Mother’?" Heena said, deliberately emphasizing the word "Mother" in a way that made it sound almost mocking.

"Of course it’s where it should be—in the river, ’Mother’. If you want water, then just go fetch it yourself, ’Mother’."

She continued, her voice dripping with false concern: "If you have so much energy to shout in the morning and act like a shrew, at least remember that everyone was still sleeping, ’Mother’."

Every time Heena said "Mother," Maya felt like an arrow was piercing her head.

Anyone would be shocked and angry when a girl barely two years younger than you—a girl you’d been tormenting as a servant just yesterday—was now calling you "Mother" and treating you like an elder.

The same girl who’d been calling her "Mistress" and "My Lady" with bowed head was now speaking to her as an equal or possibly even superior.

Maya looked at her, pointing with a shaking hand, and started to say, "You—! How DARE you—!"

But then she heard footsteps approaching and immediately transformed her expression.

Like a switch being flipped, her angry face became that of a pitiful, wounded flower.

Tears began falling from her eyes—instantly, as if she’d turned on a faucet.

’How do these women make tears fall so easily?’ Heena wondered with genuine curiosity. ’Is there some kind of internal button they press? A technique they learn?’

The old Master appeared in the courtyard, looking concerned when he saw his wife crying.

"Why are you crying so early in the morning, sweetheart?" he asked, moving toward her with worry.

But then his eyes landed on Heena—

And he froze mid-step, mid-sentence, completely stunned.

Because Heena was standing there in her nightclothes, her long hair completely loose and flowing down her back. She hadn’t tied it up, hadn’t covered it, hadn’t made any attempt to make herself "proper" for public appearance.