Chapter 261: Chapter-261

“You have until tomorrow morning. Come find me in my study if you agree to the arrangement. If you don’t come, I’ll assume you’re declining, and you’ll be on your own dealing with whatever Maya tries next.”

He turned to leave, then paused and looked back.

“One more thing: that performance you give—the meek, timid servant act—it’s very convincing. You almost had me fooled for a while. But whoever you really are, whatever you’re really capable of… I think you’re wasting your potential scrubbing pots and fetching water.”

With that observation, he walked away, leaving Heena alone in the garden with her thoughts.

The System appeared immediately, practically vibrating with excitement.

“Host! This is perfect! This is exactly what you wanted! You should accept immediately!”

Hearing Samuel’s proposal, there was no happiness or excitement on Heena’s face—not at all the reaction the System would have expected.

Instead, she looked toward the direction Samuel had walked away and said with a genuinely disgusted expression:

“Ugh, he really is his father’s son. Why are both this father-son duo so obsessed with having me work in their study rooms?”

Hearing that unexpected complaint, the System looked at her in complete disbelief and said, “Host, didn’t you listen to what he just said?! This is exactly what you wanted!”

Heena looked at him and said flatly, “Of course I listened.”

The System sputtered, “Then why this reaction?! He agreed to protect you, just like you predicted! This is perfect!”

Hearing that naive enthusiasm, Heena looked at him and said with exaggerated patience, “Ah, my dear System, sometimes I really think that whoever made you must have been the dumbest person in the entire Transmigration Bureau.”

Hearing that insult, the System looked shocked, then suddenly offended. “What the heck did you just call me?! DUMB?!”

Heena looked at him calmly and said, “No, I didn’t call ’you’ dumb. I called the person who ’made’ you dumb. There’s a difference.”

The System paused, his small face scrunching up in thought. “Wait… but if a dumb person made me, and I was made by that dumb person, then doesn’t that mean I’m also dumb? So you ARE calling me dumb!”

Hearing that tortured logic, Heena shook her head and said, “No, you’re not dumb.”

The System looked relieved for a moment.

Then Heena added with a sweet smile: “You’re dumber than dumb. You’re a complete fool.”

“HOST!” the System shouted indignantly.

Heena looked at him seriously and said, “Are you crazy or what? How many times have I told you: before the arrow hits the target, don’t jump to conclusions and celebrate! Why the hell do you think my work is done? Why the hell do you think I should be happy right now?”

Hearing that sharp rebuke, the System looked confused and said, “Because just as you predicted, Samuel came to you! He made an offer! Your plan worked!”

Heena looked at him and shot back, “Yes, he’s here. And THAT’S the problem.”

Hearing that, the System was completely lost. “I don’t understand, Host.”

Heena looked at him and said dryly, “Yes, I also can’t understand whoever made you and gave them a job creating AI systems.”

Hearing that repeated insult, the System tried to protest: “Host—”

“Fine, fine,” Heena interrupted. “Let me explain it to your limited processing capacity.”

She held up one finger.

“You fool, just think about it rationally: Why the hell would a young master come to a lowly servant with such an offer? Just because he thinks she’s ’interesting’? No. Do you really think I’m so special that a nobleman would risk his reputation and household standing just to protect me? No.”

She held up a second finger.

“He wants to know who I really am. Do you think a servant who could beat a grown man to unconsciousness is a normal person in this era? Do you think having absolutely no fear or worry in my expression after what I did last night is normal servant behavior?”

She continued: “Anyone with half a brain who thinks about it would realize this woman—me—is unusual. Potentially dangerous. Definitely hiding something.”

She held up a third finger.

“But for Samuel, I’m not just unusual. I’m ’useful’. Because I happen to be someone his stepmother Maya desperately wants to destroy. ’The enemy of my enemy’ and all that. I’m the perfect pawn to use against her.”

She looked at the System seriously.

“Do you really think that if I just accept his offer blindly, Maya will suddenly stop caring about me? Do you think Samuel won’t eventually dump me the moment I’m no longer useful to his schemes? Do you want me to end up with no protection from Maya AND no support from Samuel? Do you want me to have neither house nor heart to rely on?”

Hearing that comprehensive breakdown, the System looked at her and said slowly, “I… I really don’t understand what you’re planning, Host.”

Heena looked at him and said, “You don’t need to understand every detail. Just remember one thing: we are NOT going to say yes to Samuel right now. Not immediately. Not without conditions.”

She raised her hand and made a money-counting gesture with her fingers.

“Until we get concrete benefits—real, tangible advantages that can’t be easily taken away—we will not say yes. Understand?”

The System nodded reluctantly.

“Good. Now stop bothering me. I have work to do.”

—

’’[Cleaning the Study from Hell]’’

And so Heena continued with her daily work routine.

Eventually, it came time to clean the old Master’s study room as she’d been ordered.

She stood outside the study door with her cleaning supplies—a broom, dusting cloths, a bucket of water—taking a deep breath to prepare herself.

’God help me through this,’ she thought grimly.

She opened the study room door—and when that door swung open, she was immediately hit with a wave of stale, unpleasant smell.

It was exactly like entering a space that hadn’t been properly ventilated or cleaned in weeks.

The old man’s smell permeated everything.

Now, Heena wasn’t saying that all elderly people smell bad or anything. Some older people took excellent care of themselves and smelled perfectly fine—pleasant, even, with nice soaps and powders.

But this old bastard?

’Like, can you use some scented powder or something?! Why the hell do you think your natural body odor is going to smell ’flowery’ or ’attractive’ to anyone? It’s disgusting! It’s like someone urinated in here and never cleaned it up!’

And she strongly suspected the old man actually HAD urinated in corners of this room—after all, at his age, he probably couldn’t always control his bladder properly.

Looking at how old and decrepit he appeared, he didn’t just look 57 or 58 years old like the official records claimed.

’He has to be at least 70, maybe even older. No, wait—he IS 70. The official age is a lie to make him seem more virile.’

Heena paused in the doorway, genuinely curious despite her disgust.

’How does he even get enough energy to function at this age? Where does he get the stamina to chase after young women? Most men this old can barely walk without assistance!’

She shook her head and stepped fully into the study, closing the door behind her.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep