"Maybe she’s never seen a young tomato plant before?"

"But everyone knows what tomatoes look like..."

The whispers were damaging Maya’s reputation and credibility with each passing second.

Finally, Maya seemed to deflate, all her dramatic energy draining away.

"I... I was just so worried," she said in a small voice, her earlier shrieking completely gone. "When my husband collapsed, I panicked. I saw that plant and I didn’t recognize it, and I jumped to conclusions. I... I apologize."

The apology was clearly forced and insincere, but it was an admission of defeat.

Heena looked at her with a cold smile.

"I accept your apology, Mother-in-law. I understand that worry can make people act... irrationally."

The way she said "irrationally" made it clear she thought Maya was an absolute idiot.

Samuel picked up the tomato plant carefully.

"I’ll return this to the garden where it belongs," he said. "And Father, perhaps you should rest more if you’re feeling unwell from overwork. We wouldn’t want another sudden collapse."

The pointed way he said "sudden collapse" made it clear he suspected the whole thing had been staged.

"Yes, yes, rest," the old Master said quickly, clearly wanting everyone to leave. "I just need rest. Everyone can go now."

Samuel bowed respectfully. "Of course, Father. Come, wife. Let’s leave Father to recover."

Heena bowed as well, the picture of filial piety despite the chaos that had just occurred.

As they left the room, Heena could hear Maya starting to berate the old Master in a furious whisper:

"I told you this would work! You said you could pretend to be unconscious convincingly! You said—"

"YOU said you knew what poison plants looked like! How could you confuse a TOMATO—"

Their voices faded as Heena and Samuel walked away.

Once they were far enough from the room, Samuel let out a breath he’d been holding and said, "That was..."

"Pathetic?" Heena supplied. "Embarrassing? The worst-planned scheme you’ve ever witnessed?"

Samuel laughed despite himself. "I was going to say ’concerning,’ but yes, all of those too."

He looked at her seriously. "You handled that well. Staying calm, pointing out the obvious facts, not letting her provoke you into losing your temper—well, mostly not losing your temper."

Heena smiled slightly. "I have practice dealing with incompetent schemers."

"Clearly," Samuel said. "Though I have to ask—where did you learn to identify plants so accurately? That’s not typical knowledge for a—"

He stopped himself before saying "servant."

Heena finished the sentence for him: "For a servant? No, it’s not. But I’ve always been interested in useful knowledge. I learned what I could, when I could."

It wasn’t a complete answer, but Samuel accepted it for now.

"Well, your knowledge just saved you from a very nasty false accusation," he said. "If that had been an actual poisonous plant, or if you hadn’t been able to identify it so confidently, things could have gone very badly."

Heena nodded. "I know. Which is why Maya’s next attempt will probably be more sophisticated. She’s learning from her failures."

"That’s not a comforting thought," Samuel observed.

"No," Heena agreed. "It’s not."

They walked in silence for a moment, then Heena said, "Your father was faking. You know that, right?"

Samuel nodded. "I suspected. The timing was too convenient, and his ’recovery’ was suspiciously quick."

"So they were working together on this scheme," Heena said. "Not just Maya acting alone."

"Which means my father is actively trying to harm you now too," Samuel said grimly. "Not just inappropriate interest—actual malice."

Heena shrugged. "One more enemy doesn’t make much difference at this point."

Samuel looked at her with concern. "You’re remarkably calm about having the household’s master plotting against you."

"What’s the point of panicking?" Heena asked reasonably. "Panic doesn’t solve problems. Strategy does."

Samuel found himself once again impressed by his unusual wife.

"You’re right. So what’s our strategy for the next attack?"

Heena smiled. "We make it harder for them to attack by being more public. More visible. More integrated into household activities and the community."

She explained: "Right now, they see me as isolated and vulnerable—easy to frame or harm. But if I’m well-known in the community, if people see me regularly and form positive opinions, any accusation against me becomes harder to make stick."

Samuel nodded slowly. "So we attend community events. Market days. Religious ceremonies. Make you visible and sympathetic."

"Exactly," Heena said. "And in the meantime, we continue gathering evidence of their financial crimes. When the time comes to strike back, we’ll have ammunition."

Samuel found himself smiling. "You know, when I agreed to marry you, I thought I was getting a useful ally. I didn’t expect to get a strategic partner who thinks like a general planning a campaign."

"Surprise," Heena said dryly. "I’m full of unexpected talents."

"I’m beginning to realize that," Samuel said.

As they returned to their quarters, both of them were already planning their next moves in this increasingly complex household war.

Behind them, in the Master’s quarters, Maya was having a complete breakdown while the old Master tried to calm her down and salvage what remained of their plan.

But neither of them realized the truth: they weren’t just fighting a clever servant girl who’d gotten lucky.

They were fighting the Black Lotus.

And they’d already lost—they just didn’t know it yet.

.

.

[The Next Morning]’’

Heena woke up to find Samuel already dressed and preparing to leave their quarters.

"Where are you going so early?" she asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

Samuel turned, looking slightly surprised that she was awake. "The monthly merchant assembly. All the established traders in the region gather to discuss business matters, trade agreements, and market conditions."

He hesitated, then added, "You could come with me, if you’d like. Wives don’t usually attend, but there’s no actual rule against it. And it would serve our purpose of making you more visible in the community."

Heena was already getting out of bed. "Give me fifteen minutes to get ready."

Samuel blinked. "You don’t want to think about it? Ask what’s expected of you? Prepare for days like most women would?"

"Why?" Heena asked, already pulling out a simple but respectable day dress. "It’s just a business meeting. I’ve handled worse."

’Much, much worse,’ she thought, remembering councils of war and political assemblies from previous worlds.

"Most women would be nervous about meeting so many important merchants and business leaders," Samuel observed, watching her efficient preparations with interest.

Heena just smiled. "I’m not most women. You should have realized that by now."

Exactly fifteen minutes later, they left together.

---

’’[The Merchant Assembly]’’

The assembly was held in a large community hall in the market district. When Samuel and Heena arrived, the room was already filled with about thirty merchants and traders—all men, Heena noted—engaged in animated conversations.

Their entrance caused an immediate hush.

All eyes turned to stare at the young master and his controversial new wife.

The whispers started immediately:

"That’s the servant girl he married?"

"She’s quite beautiful, actually. I can see why he was interested."

"But married? Really? Not even as a concubine?"

"The scandal of it..."

"I heard his father was furious."

Samuel guided Heena to a seat near the side of the room—not at the main table where the senior merchants sat, but also not in the back where servants or observers would stand.