Return of Black Lotus system:Taming Cheating Male Leads

Chapter 204 --204

Heena smiled. "Of course I threw Seraphina into the stables specifically because I knew that as a pampered noble lady, she couldn’t handle this kind of stress. Even as a protagonist, sleeping in stables, doing manual labor—it was destroying her mental state. And then seeing me happy, finding out that the male leads she’d worked so hard to capture knew she was suffering and did nothing? Of course she’d get angry. Of course she’d try everything to bring me down. She can’t stand seeing me rise above her."

She grinned.

"And that desperation was the ’perfect’ chance to grab that damn System."

The System looked at his Host with newfound respect and a bit of fear.

"Host... you’re terrifying."

"Thank you," Heena said pleasantly. "Now, let’s go get some water. I’m thirsty after all that horse riding."

And with that, she walked back toward the palace, humming cheerfully.

The game was almost over.

The Church was next.

And Heena was ready.

...

As Heena had been walking for just two minutes, she saw Larus coming toward her from the palace direction.

Seeing him, she paused and smiled. "Ah, you’re awake."

Larus nodded as he walked to her, carrying a bottle. The bottle was made of copper, gleaming in the sunlight.

As he reached her, he looked at her and said simply, "Thirsty?"

With that, he offered her the bottle of water.

Heena looked at the bottle, then at him, and said with surprise, "How did you know?"

He smiled gently. "The servants mentioned you went out horse riding, so I thought you might be thirsty."

Heena nodded and said, "But I was just heading back to the palace anyway. I could have drunk water there. Why did you even need to work so hard? You should be resting more."

He looked at her and said, "If you’d gone back, you would have just drunk water immediately, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah, that’s the plan."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small wooden box. Opening it, he revealed a piece of jaggery—unrefined sugar candy—and fed it directly into her mouth before she could protest.

Heena automatically opened her mouth and took a bite. "Jaggery?"

He nodded as he handed her the water bottle. "Drinking cold water immediately after coming out of such strong sun isn’t good for your health. If you do that, your throat could hurt and you might feel sick. It’s much better if you eat something sweet first—like jaggery—and then drink water. It’s better for you."

Heena smiled as she opened the bottle and took a sip. "Really, if someone didn’t know you were the Emperor Consort and I was the ruler of this kingdom, they’d think we were so poor that jaggery is the only sweet we can afford."

He looked at her seriously. "You would go back and eat cookies or pastries, right? That’s of course not as good. Always eating those refined sweets is bad for your health."

Heena laughed out loud. "Yeah, yeah, sorry, Doctor Larus."

She drank the water, then looked around. "Let’s sit down there." She pointed toward a large tree with a bench beneath it.

As they sat down, a cool breeze passed by their faces, bringing relief from the heat.

Heena sighed contentedly. "Ah, so much better."

Larus also closed his eyes and said, "Yeah, it is."

Then he opened his eyes and looked up at the tree. He smiled and asked, "What type of tree is this?"

Heena looked up and said, "Oh, this? This is an apple tree."

He paused, looking at her with surprise. "An apple tree?"

"Yeah, it’s an apple tree," she confirmed.

He asked, "But normally in royal palaces there are only flowering trees and decorative trees. Who planted an apple tree here?"

Heena looked at him and said, "Wait—you haven’t come to this area before, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I’ve seen it from far away, but I thought there were only flower trees and ornamental plants."

Heena looked at him seriously. "No. This apple tree was planted by my mother. And there are many more trees like it—pear trees, avocado trees, and there’s even a whole grape farm here. It’s quite extensive. And there are also... what do you call them... watermelons, melons, strawberries, and other fruits."

Larus looked at her in complete surprise. "But in all the other parts of the palace I’ve traveled to, there’s nothing like that. I never heard about this."

Heena looked at him and said matter-of-factly, "That’s because this is the Emperor’s personal grounds. This area falls under my direct authority, so of course you haven’t been here. Only the imperial family has access."

Suddenly, Heena paused, stood up, and looked at him. "Stand up."

Larus stood up, looking at her with confusion.

She grabbed his arm and said, "Come on, let me show you around. Do you know how to ride horses?"

He nodded, but then paused and gave a helpless smile. "But I don’t think I should do that right now."

Heena looked at him, realized what he meant, and then laughed. "Well, yeah, okay. It’s fine—let’s walk instead."

With that, she grabbed his arm and slowly walked with him.

And in just a few steps, she started showing him around enthusiastically.

She showed him the pear trees first. "Look at these! Beautiful, right?"

Then she pointed to another section. "There are also avocado trees here. This one is ten years old, you know. It was planted by my father because my mother really loved fruits. She used to say it was useless to have a garden with only flowers and no fruits. She believed that such large grounds without a fruit garden were a complete waste."

She pulled him along further. "Come on, there’s more!"

She showed him around with genuine excitement. "That’s the mango tree—also ten years old. It produces the best mangoes. Quite delicious. But I think I haven’t tasted them in a few years because the last time I ate them, I had to go to war. And when I came back, I was so busy with work that I never made time. Mostly the chefs use them in cooking now."

Larus was looking at her hand—how she’d grabbed his arm and was talking animatedly, pointing at different things with her free hand. A warm smile spread across his face as he watched her.

Heena slowly showed him the mango trees, then the grape gardens.

"This section is specifically for wine production," she explained. "The grapes here make excellent wine—some of the best in the empire."

She even let him taste a few grapes that were ripe.

Then she showed him the strawberry garden—rows and rows of carefully cultivated plants.

And finally, she showed him something that genuinely shocked him: a full vegetable farm within the palace grounds.

Larus looked at her in complete amazement. "I literally never thought... I had absolutely no idea this existed."

Heena looked at him and said, "Oh please. You know that not only do these farms supply the palace kitchens, but most of the products—the wine, the fruits, vegetables—are also transported outside and sold. Nobles buy from here. Merchants buy from here. Most of the high-quality produce in the market comes from these imperial farms."

Larus was genuinely surprised.