The old matriarch slowly turned her head to look at the maid. The warmth she had shown Heena vanished completely, replaced by an aura of deadly, suffocating majesty. The sheer weight of her decades of absolute authority crashed down upon the room like a physical blow.

"What did you just dare say?" the grandmother whispered, her voice dangerously quiet.

Nanny Wang’s knees instantly turned to jelly. She trembled violently, her face draining of all color as she dropped back to the floor, her hands shaking. "I-I did not mean it that way, Grand Madam! I only meant... the Marchioness explicitly called for just the Young Lady..."

The grandmother leveled her cane, the heavy wood clicking sharply against the floorboards as she stared down at the groveling servant.

"Listen to me very carefully, you insolent dog," the old lady rumbled, her voice dropping into a stern, terrifyingly forceful register that brooked no survival. "This entire Marquisate, every single stone of this estate, belongs to me. Since when did this household give your precious Marchioness—or a low-life servant like you—the cosmic power to tell me what I can or cannot do in my own home?"

Nanny Wang practically pressed her forehead against the polished floorboards, her breath hitching in her throat as the suffocating pressure of the old matriarch’s gaze pinned her down. The arrogance she had carried into the room just moments ago was completely shattered, leaving her shivering like a wet stray in a winter storm.

"Forgive me, Grand Madam! Forgive this servant’s clumsy tongue!" she pleaded, her voice cracking under the weight of her panic. "I would never dare question your authority! I only... I only feared the Marchioness would be left waiting..."

"Then let her wait," the grandmother retorted flatly, her tone cutting through the air like a razor-sharp guillotine. She didn’t even grant the kneeling woman another glance, completely dismissing her existence as she turned her eyes back to Heena. Instantly, the terrifying, glacial aura around the old lady melted away, replaced by that same deep, overflowing warmth. "Come, my darling. Let us not allow a brainless dog to ruin our morning appetite."

Heena offered a perfectly timed, dutiful nod, her eyes curving into a lovely crescent shape. "Yes, Grandma. Whatever you say."

On the floor, Nanny Wang’s knuckles turned white against the carpet. She wanted to stand up, to run back to the Marchioness’s courtyard and report this immediate defiance, but her legs were trembling too violently to support her weight. Worse, she could feel Heena’s gaze lingering on the back of her neck.

Heena looked down at the groveling woman, a thoroughly amused, dark smirk playing at the corners of her lips where the grandmother couldn’t see. *Look at this,* she thought, a cold ripple of satisfaction settling in her chest. *The Marchioness thinks she rules this den of vipers just because she holds the keys to the front gate. She forgets that the ancient dragon who built the cave is still resting right inside.*

With effortless elegance, Heena looped her arm securely through her grandmother’s, gently helping the old lady stand up from the velvet sofa. She took the polished wooden walking stick and placed it firmly in the matriarch’s grip, stepping into the role of the perfect, doting granddaughter without a single flaw in her movements.

"Grandma, I heard the estate chefs prepared some fresh plum cakes and savory congee this morning," Heena murmured sweetly as they began to walk toward the grand double doors. "You must eat a little more today to keep your strength up."

"Ah, you clever creature," the grandmother chuckled, patting Heena’s hand with her frail, warm fingers. "You always remember what this old woman likes. Unlike those unfilial scoundrels downstairs who only care about checking my pulse to see when I’ll slide into the grave."

As they brushed past the still-kneeling Nanny Wang, the heavy oak doors were pulled open by the waiting attendants outside.

Standing right in the corridor, leaning casually against the stone pillar with his arms crossed over his chest, was Samuel.

He had already discarded his servant’s robe from the previous night, now dressed in a pristine, structured navy guard uniform that perfectly accentuated his broad shoulders and narrow waist. His heavy iron visor was raised just enough to expose his sharp jawline and the tiny, neat linen bandage Heena had applied to his neck hours prior. The moment the doors opened, his dark eyes instantly locked onto Heena, a brief, wicked glint of mischief flashing in his gaze before he seamlessly dropped his head into a rigid, disciplined soldier’s bow.

"I greet the Grand Madam. I greet the Young Lady," Samuel rumbled, his deep baritone voice dripping with formal, unyielding professionalism.

The grandmother stopped, her sharp eyes scanning Samuel from his polished boots up to the neat collar of his uniform. A faint, approving nod escaped her. "So you are the personal guard His adopted brother assigned her? At least that boy has some sense. You look sturdy enough to crack a few skulls if the need arises."

"I live only to protect the Young Lady’s safety, Madam," Samuel replied smoothly, his tone so incredibly deadpan and serious that Heena had to physically restrain herself from rolling her eyes right out of her head. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

*Sturdy? Crack skulls?* Heena scoffed internally, staring at the back of his ridiculously handsome head. *This absolute fraud is a top-tier province scholar who hasn’t held a real garrison shield in his entire life. If my grandmother knew he sneaked through my window at two in the morning just to whimper about a scratch on his neck, she’d have him thrown into the estate dungeon.*

"Good," the grandmother said, her voice turning stern as she gestured forward with her cane. "Follow us to the secondary dining hall. Keep your eyes open, Guard. This house is full of rats."

"As you command, Madam," Samuel adjusted his stance, stepping into stride exactly two paces behind Heena like a towering, protective shadow.

As the small procession moved down the sprawling, sunlit corridors of the residential wing, Heena could feel the invisible eyes of the estate watching her from every corner. Servants whispered behind silk pillars, and hidden sentries shifted in the shadows. The news of the original heiress’s terrifying return had clearly thrown the entire household into a state of high alert.

But Heena wasn’t paying attention to the local gossip. While her physical body walked gracefully beside her grandmother, her mind was already flashing with the glowing blue holographic interface of the System, which was silently updating in the corner of her vision.

[ Host, ]

the little lion’s voice suddenly crackled in her mind, completely hidden from the outside world. [ I’ve successfully established an encrypted priority uplink to Senior Internal Affairs! The lady officer from our last evaluation has officially received your formal suspicion regarding our queue rigging. ]

Heena didn’t change her expression, keeping her lovely smile fixed on her grandmother as she mentally replied,

’And? What did she say? Did she trace the origin of this death-trap assignment?’

[ The trace is currently deep-diving into the dark sector database, Host, ]the System reported, his digital tone uncharacteristically grave. [ But she confirmed one thing. The rogue system we captured in our last world belonged to a highly influential faction of rogue hoppers who specialize in collapsing low-tier universes for illegal soul-harvesting. If someone intentionally altered our random draw to dump us into this thirteenth-loop apocalypse, it means there is a mole inside the Bureau’s dispatch unit who is working directly for them. ]