But then Samuel did something completely unexpected.

He reached up and touched his own face with a slight trembling motion.

Heena squinted at him in the dim light and said with disbelief, "Are you... are you ’crying’?"

She literally could not believe it. ’Come on, man. What the heck are you even crying for?!’

But sure enough, there were actual tears forming in Samuel’s eyes as he looked at her and said in a wounded voice:

"What is it that I ’lack’ that you need to go outside searching for other men?"

At that line—delivered with such perfect, tragic sincerity—Heena felt like an arrow had shot directly through her heart.

Because in this moment, with those words, SHE looked like the villain.

Like a cheating husband going out to visit prostitutes or something equally shameful.

And Samuel sounded like a wronged, traditional wife questioning her unfaithful spouse.

The entire power dynamic had completely reversed, and the one whose character was now in question was HEENA.

She looked at him and protested, "Come on, I was just ’passing by’! It wasn’t—"

Samuel looked at her with utter disbelief, tears still falling, and said, "The guards’ quarters are on the completely OPPOSITE side from any route you would normally take!"

He covered his face with his hands and actually started crying harder.

"I knew it. I knew you thought I was ugly!"

’Ugly?!’ Heena thought with exasperation. ’Come on, man, you’re literally the most handsome guy in this entire household! Probably the entire district!’

"No, that’s not it at all—" she tried to say.

Samuel looked at her through his fingers and said miserably, "I knew I wasn’t enough for you. That’s why you’re looking at other men!"

"That’s NOT it!" Heena insisted.

Then Samuel grabbed her hand and placed it directly on his chest, under his partially open robe, against his bare abs, and said tragically:

"Look—I don’t even have good abs! That’s why you need to look elsewhere, isn’t it?"

Heena’s hand involuntarily explored the ridiculously defined muscles under her palm and said automatically, "No, you have absolutely perfect eight-pack abs—"

She caught herself, but it was too late.

Suddenly Samuel’s crying vanished completely.

The tears stopped. His expression shifted from tragic to satisfied.

He lowered his hands, and there wasn’t even a ’trace’ of moisture on his face.

’What the HECK?!’ Heena thought with shock. ’This man just FAKED crying?!’

Samuel looked at her with a completely serious expression and said, "So, my dear wife. Since you’ve just confirmed that I’m not lacking in anything physically, why the FUCK were you looking at other men?"

Heena’s eyes widened. "You’re using swear words now?!"

Samuel looked at her incredulously and said, "My wife is literally ’emotionally cheating’ on me, and you’re worried about my LANGUAGE? Come on!"

He crossed his arms.

"So how about you explain yourself? Right now."

Heena knew she was completely trapped.

She looked desperately at the System and thought frantically: ’Give me some excuse! Some explanation! ANYTHING!’

The System, however, was calmly sitting nearby eating popcorn, clearly enjoying the show.

’I’m going to watch this entertainment until the very end,’ he thought cheerfully. ’This has nothing to do with me!’

Heena literally wanted to CHOKE this useless system.

She glared at him with her eyes, silently screaming: ’You damn bastard, HELP ME!’

But the System was completely lost in his popcorn, ignoring her distress signals.

Samuel noticed Heena looking off to the side and turned around—but of course saw nothing since the System was invisible to him.

He looked back at her and said with renewed hurt, "Now you don’t even want to LOOK at me. I knew it. I really AM ugly to you!"

And just like that, the tears started flowing again.

Heena knew—she KNEW—this was an act. She knew he was being a complete drama queen.

But there was a fundamental truth: when a man cries, most women simply cannot handle it.

So of course, against her better judgment, Heena found herself hugging him and saying all the standard reassurances:

"No, no, you’re MORE than enough! I would never look at other men! You’re perfect! I’m so sorry!"

All the garbage that cheating partners say to their betrayed spouses.

And Samuel, playing his role like a devoted, forgiving wife, hugged her back tightly and said magnanimously:

"I forgive you this time. Just this once. But you must never do it again!"

And somehow—Heena genuinely didn’t know HOW it happened—they ended up in bed again.

Her waist, which was already sore, started hurting even MORE.

And they went on for FIVE additional rounds that night.

Five.

’FIVE.’

By the time they finally stopped, Heena couldn’t even remember her own name.

.

.

.

Midnight.

Much later, after Samuel had finally fallen into satisfied sleep,.

Heena woke slowly, her body warm and thoroughly exhausted.

She blinked in the darkness, letting her eyes adjust to the dim moonlight filtering through the paper screens.

Samuel was sleeping beside her, one arm draped possessively across her waist, his breathing deep and even.

For a moment, she just lay there, studying his peaceful face.

’When did this happen?’ she wondered. ’When did he stop being just a strategic partner and become... this?’

Carefully, slowly, she began extracting herself from his hold.

His arm tightened reflexively, and she froze—but he didn’t wake, just made a small sound and settled deeper into sleep.

She managed to slip free without waking him and reached for her outer robe.

The garment was simple—essentially a bathrobe held closed by a single tie string. If that string came undone, the robe would fall completely open, leaving the wearer naked.

But it was sufficient for a quick trip outside.

She tied it securely and moved to the small table, picking up a cup of water she’d left there earlier.

Then she quietly opened the door leading to their small private courtyard and stepped outside.

The moon was incredibly bright tonight, hanging full and heavy in the sky.

The household, which during the day could be called merely quiet, now looked almost... haunted.

Somewhere, a loose wooden plank was rhythmically hitting against a wall—probably from the wind, but the sound was eerie in the stillness.

The air was chilled, making Heena pull her thin robe tighter.

Trees rustled and swayed, their shadows dancing across the courtyard stones.

Heena honestly didn’t understand how people called nights like this "beautiful" or "romantic."

Right now, it looked utterly, completely ’creepy’.

But whatever. She wasn’t going to let atmosphere stop her from getting some air.

’What would I be scared of ghosts for,’ she thought wryly, ’when I’ve already died so many times? And right now I’m literally living in a dead person’s body, so maybe I should be the one people call a ghost.’

She walked across the courtyard and sat down on the stone bench positioned there.

Sipping her water, she looked up at the sky.

’This’ was beautiful—the vast expanse of stars shining so brilliantly without any light pollution to dim them.

Countless points of light scattered across the darkness.

Many disturbing thoughts were running through Heena’s mind right now.

This mission was definitely ’not normal’. Not her usual assignment at all.

And honestly? She was getting bored.