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 momentary 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 comes 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 me to trust you completely. And if something from your mysterious past comes back to threaten us, I’d like advance warning."

"If something from my past threatens us, you’ll know immediately," Heena promised. "I’m not going to let secrets endanger you without warning. But some things are complicated, and I need more time."

Samuel nodded slowly, accepting this for now.

"Alright. But Heena?" He used her name instead of "wife" for the first time, making it feel more personal. "Whatever you’re hiding, whatever you’ve done before—it doesn’t scare me. I’m not going to judge you. I just want honesty between us."

Heena felt something 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 arrangement. A strategic partnership. Nothing more.’

Out loud, she just said, "Thank you. That means 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, someone screaming for help.

They both rushed to the door and opened it.

A servant came running up, looking panicked.

"Young master! Young mistress! Please come quickly! The Master has collapsed! He’s unconscious and no one knows what’s wrong!"

Samuel and Heena exchanged a quick look.

’Here it comes,’ 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 me? 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 some serious medical condition.

But not Heena.

Because her eyes immediately focused on his eyelids, and she saw it—a slight movement in the eyes beneath the closed lids. The telltale flutter of someone 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 times. It wasn’t like everyone could just take anesthesia or some 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 immediately.

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 demeanor—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 screamed, 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 mean 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 mean by that? My wife has been with me the entire day. How dare you point at her like this without any evidence?!"

Hearing Samuel’s defense, Maya paused for just a moment, then she looked at him and scoffed loudly. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"Ha! With YOU, so what?! Being with you doesn’t mean she couldn’t have done it earlier! She could have poisoned his food this morning, or yesterday, or any time 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 moment, then looked up at Maya with an expression mixing disbelief and secondhand embarrassment.

"Mother-in-law," she said slowly, "are you absolutely SURE this is the same 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 meal!"

She pointed at Heena dramatically.