Chapter 724 --724

Chapter 724: Chapter-724

The blinding migraine from the memory download slowly receded to a dull, rhythmic ache. She blinked a few times, letting the ambient light filter in as her vision finally stabilized. The rotting, damp ceiling of the woodshed was gone. The cold rain and mud of the alleyway were completely absent.

Right above her head was a sturdy, unadorned wooden canopy.

Heena slowly turned her head against a soft cotton pillow, her dark eyes scanning the perimeter. It was an entirely unfamiliar room. The wooden furniture was plain but remarkably well-kept, devoid of any intricate carvings or expensive porcelain displays. It was a space that was decidedly less luxurious than the gilded, wealthy halls of the main Lu estate, but it was warm, quiet, and infinitely safer than where she had been.

Heena stared at the wooden canopy for a long moment, cataloging the sensations in her body. The agonizing, sharp spikes of pain in her ribs had been reduced to a heavy, tight throbbing. She looked down. Her ruined, garbage-soaked shift was gone, replaced by a clean, coarse linen tunic. Beneath the fabric, her fractured ribs were tightly and professionally bound with white bandages. The faint, bitter scent of medicinal herbs hung in the air.

"Oh, thank the heavens!" the System cried, the golden lion cub materializing on the edge of the bed. It wiped a digital tear from its eye. "Host, you were unconscious for an entire day and a night! Your fever was so high I thought your brain was going to melt into the pillows!"

"Who brought me here?" Heena asked, her voice raspy and dry. She slowly pushed herself up, wincing as the bruised muscles in her core protested.

"The man you fell on in the alley," the System explained, its blue interface pulling up a quick holographic layout of the building. "He owns a small herbal clinic in the lower district. He carried you all the way here, brewed medicine for your fever, and bound your ribs. But Host... there is a slight complication."

Heena paused, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. She looked at the System, her dark eyes narrowing. "Define complication."

Before the System could answer, the wooden door to the room creaked open.

Heena’s gaze snapped to the doorway, her instincts flaring. A man stepped into the room, carrying a steaming clay bowl on a wooden tray. He froze the moment he saw her sitting up, his dark, almond-shaped eyes widening in surprise.

Unlike the wealthy, pampered beauties of the inner courtyards—men like her scheming brother-in-law who draped themselves in sheer silks and painted their faces—this man was strikingly grounded. He wore a simple, faded blue cotton robe, his dark hair tied back in a neat, practical braid. His face was clean and handsome, but his hands bore the faint calluses of someone who worked for a living.

He quickly lowered his gaze, staring fixedly at the floorboards, and took a hesitant step backward. A deep, furious flush of crimson crawled up his neck and colored his ears.

"You... you are awake," he said softly, his voice the same melodic tone she had heard in the alley, though now it was laced with intense, rigid nervousness.

Heena looked from his flushed face down to the clean tunic she was wearing, and then it clicked. The sudden, blaring emphasis in her memory about a man’s reputation.

She had been found half-dead, soaked in cold rain and garbage. To save her life, to bind her fractured ribs, this man had been forced to strip off her ruined clothes, clean her, and touch her bare skin. In a society where men were the protected, delicate gender, a man intimately touching an unmarried woman—even for medical emergencies—was a catastrophic breach of propriety. If word got out, his reputation as a pure, respectable man would be completely ruined. He would be treated no better than a plaything from the pleasure houses.

"He has been terrified you were going to wake up and accuse him of taking advantage of you," the System whispered through their mental link. "Or worse, that you would leave without taking responsibility, leaving him completely unmarriageable."

Heena remained silent, her cold, calculating eyes assessing the herbalist.

He had saved her life. He hadn’t stolen her five hidden silver coins or the deed to the shop, both of which she could see neatly folded and placed on a small wooden table near the door. He was a commoner, clearly possessing skills in medicine, and entirely isolated in this small clinic.

A slow, calculating thought took root in Heena’s mind. She needed a base of operations. She needed an apothecary to heal her body properly, and she needed an ally who understood the lower districts if she was going to turn that worthless spice shop into a weapon against the Lu family.

"Look at me," Heena commanded, her voice dropping into a smooth, authoritative cadence that left absolutely no room for argument.

The man flinched slightly, his grip tightening on the wooden tray, but he slowly raised his head, his dark eyes meeting hers with a mixture of fear and quiet resilience.

"You bound my wounds," Heena stated calmly, gesturing to her wrapped chest.

"I am a healer," he answered quickly, his voice trembling just a fraction. "You were dying in the street. I... I did not look inappropriately. I only did what was necessary to stabilize your ribs and bring down the fever. Please, I ask for nothing but your silence on the matter."

"Silence?" Heena echoed, a faint, predatory smile touching the corner of her lips. She leaned forward, the terrifying aura of a conqueror bleeding effortlessly into the modest room. "You saved my life, and in doing so, you tied your reputation to mine. I am not the type of woman to take a debt and walk away."

The man blinked, clearly caught off guard by her intense, unapologetic stare.

"What is your name?" Heena asked.

"Ren," he whispered.

"Well, Ren," Heena said, casually pointing to the folded property deed on the table. "My name is Heena. I have five silver coins, the deed to a run-down spice shop, and a very long list of people I intend to ruin. I need a partner, and you just proved you can handle a bleeding body without fainting. How would you like to go into business?"

"Host, what are you doing?" the System shrieked through their private mental link, its digital interface flashing with a rapid stream of question marks. "Why are you giving him your true name? And why are you doing this? Taking responsibility? A business partnership? You just met him!"

Heena didn’t break eye contact with the herbalist standing in the doorway, but inside her mind, she shot the golden lion cub a freezing, telepathic glare.

"Are you entirely crazy?" Heena snapped back mentally, her tone laced with sharp, undeniable logic. "He saved my life. Do you think he teleported us here? He had to carry an unconscious, bleeding woman through the lower market alleys. People definitely saw him. If I just walk out that door today and disappear, this twisted, hypocritical society will declare his purity ruined. They would drown him in rumors, burn his clinic down, and probably sell him off to a pleasure house by the end of the week. I do not leave innocent people to die because of my messes."