Chapter 728 --728

Chapter 728: Chapter-728

She looked at the older woman. Up close, the resemblance to Ren was obvious, though her face was lined with years of hard labor and stress. This was a commoner woman who had likely spent her entire life fighting tooth and nail to protect her son in a world that viewed him as either a fragile liability or a piece of meat.

Heena actually respected that. It was a stark contrast to the matriarch of the Lu family, who had thrown her own flesh and blood to the wolves for the sake of political convenience.

"I apologize for the intrusion," Heena said, her voice a ragged, breathless rasp. She calmly brushed a clump of damp earth from her shoulder, attempting to salvage whatever shred of dignity she had left. "The alleyways are remarkably poorly lit. I encountered a patrol of thugs and took the nearest vertical exit."

"And managed to rip your stitches wide open in the process," the older woman observed coldly, the tip of her stick finally lowering to the grass. She let out a heavy, irritated sigh. "You nobility are all the same. Too much pride, not enough sense. You should have stayed in the bed."

"Mother, please," Ren interrupted, his voice lacing with desperate urgency. He stepped out from behind her, his eyes fixed on the dark, spreading stain on Heena’s linen tunic. "She is losing blood. If we do not bind her ribs again, the bone could shift and puncture her lung."

His mother crossed her arms, her jaw setting into a hard line. She looked at Heena with absolute, unapologetic warning.

"I don’t care about whatever family drama got you thrown into the gutters," the older woman stated, her voice iron-clad. "And I don’t care about whatever grand revenge you are planning. But my son is a pure, unmarried man. He runs an honest clinic. If you bring the city guards, the merchant guilds, or a bunch of alley thugs down on our heads, I will personally throw you back over this wall."

Heena met the woman’s fierce gaze without blinking.

"I will not bring ruin to this house," Heena swore quietly, the terrifying, absolute conviction of the Black Lotus bleeding into her words. "You have my word."

The older woman stared at her for a long moment, searching Heena’s hollow, dark eyes for any sign of deception. Finally, she let out a sharp grunt and turned on her heel.

"Ren, boil more water and get the heavy bandages," she ordered gruffly, marching back toward the clinic’s rear door. "And you, noble lady. Try not to bleed all over my clean floorboards this time."

Ren let out a massive sigh of relief. He turned to Heena, offering a small, polite, and slightly amused bow.

"Welcome back to the clinic, Miss Heena," he murmured softly.

Heena closed her eyes, letting her head rest back against the cold brick wall as the adrenaline completely faded, leaving nothing but absolute exhaustion.

"Shut up, Ren," Heena whispered..

.

.

The second round of medical attention was a decidedly different affair.

This time, Ren was strictly banished to the outer hallway. The older woman took complete, undeniable charge of the dimly lit room, her weathered hands moving with a brutal, practiced efficiency that left absolutely no room for negotiation. She stripped away the ruined, blood-soaked linen of Heena’s tunic and applied fresh, violently stinging poultices to the bruised flesh over her ribs. She worked with a rough, unapologetic pragmatism, making it entirely clear that she viewed this injured noblewoman as nothing more than a hazardous nuisance.

For her part, Heena did not try to pull another dramatic stunt. The sheer, exhausting reality of her physical limits had finally caught up with her. The adrenaline was gone, replaced by a deep, bone-aching fatigue. There were no cold glares, no mysterious promises, and no performative arrogance. She simply sat on the edge of the wooden bed, gritted her teeth through the blinding sting of the herbal paste, and took the fresh bowl of bitter medicinal sludge handed to her without a single word of complaint.

As soon as the new bandages were pulled tight against her chest, Heena lay back against the coarse pillows and fell into a heavy, dreamless sleep, completely surrendering to the exhaustion.

When she opened her eyes again, the dull, gray light of morning was filtering through the oiled paper windows. The paralyzing, blinding pain in her chest had subsided into a dull, manageable ache. More importantly, with the sun finally up, the chaotic maze of the lower market district outside was visible. The puzzle of the ancient, winding streets was solved by the simple presence of daylight.

It was time to leave.

She found Ren and his mother in the front room of the clinic. The older woman was aggressively sorting dried roots on a worn wooden counter, while Ren stood quietly in the corner, grinding something into a fine powder with a heavy stone mortar.

As soon as Heena stepped into the room, the older woman looked up, her expression instantly hardening into a mask of pure, cynical pragmatism.

"Leaving?" the older woman asked flatly, not even pausing her rapid sorting. "Good. I know you aren’t going to give me a single copper coin because you are entirely broke. I can see it on you. So just take your things and get lost before the morning patrol walks by and starts asking questions."

The System, floating invisibly by Heena’s shoulder, winced. "Ouch. She read you like a cheap, transparent scroll, Host."

Heena ignored the AI. She didn’t glare, and she didn’t bristle at the blatant insult. In fact, she felt a profound sense of respect for the woman’s sheer, unvarnished survival instinct. Instead of snapping back, Heena paused at the threshold, turned to fully face the older woman, and offered a deep, genuine bow of her head. In a world defined by suffocating arrogance, a woman of noble blood bowing to a commoner was completely unheard of.

"My shop is located in the east sector of the market," Heena said, her voice smooth and entirely devoid of its usual lethal edge. "Even though I do not have much right now, please come there if you ever face trouble. I swear to you, I will repay this debt."

The older woman scoffed loudly, tossing a handful of twisted roots into a woven basket with a sharp clatter. "Just don’t ever come near this clinic again. That would be a grand enough gift for us. That is all the repayment we need."

Ren, standing quietly by the mortar, looked up with a deep frown. "Mom—"

"Shut up," his mother snapped instantly, pointing a warning, dirt-stained finger directly at his face.

Ren immediately closed his mouth, casting a deeply apologetic, helpless look toward Heena.

Heena simply nodded. She understood the dynamic perfectly. Survival in the slums required absolute ruthlessness, and this mother was simply protecting her vulnerable son from a woman who reeked of blood and dangerous secrets. Without another word, Heena turned and stepped out into the bustling, sunlit streets of the capital.

The walk to the east market took twenty agonizing minutes. With every step, her bound ribs pulsed with a heavy ache, but the sheer distraction of the awakening city kept her moving forward.