They Hated Me in My First Life, But Now I Have the Love System

Chapter 464: You Kept Up... Barely

But twenty minutes in, she risked a glance at Arthur. He was running without the slightest hint of strain, his jaw set in that same composed line.

He noticed her looking. "Eyes forward," he said curtly, though there was no real anger in his tone. Just something tense, tight, something he didn’t want to examine too closely.

She swallowed and looked straight ahead. The pace didn’t slow.

Thirty minutes passed. Then forty.

Her lungs began to burn. Sweat soaked her hairline, trickling down her neck in cold rivulets. She tried to keep her breathing even, but each inhale felt like it scraped her throat raw.

Surely we’re stopping soon, she thought desperately.

But Arthur didn’t so much as glance at the time. He kept going, silent, as though determined to run her into the ground.

Inside, he was wrestling with something he didn’t quite want to name. Why did it unsettle him to see her push herself? Why did it matter if she impressed him, or if she never looked his way at all, except as a student?

Stop thinking about her like that, he told himself sharply.

When the hour mark passed, he still didn’t slow.

"Sensei," she gasped finally, her voice cracking. "It’s been, more than an hour."

He didn’t answer, just kept running. For a moment, she wanted to cry, or yell, or collapse. But something in his unbending steadiness pulled her forward.

She clenched her teeth and kept going. One step. Another. Another.

At last, after what felt like an eternity, he drew to a stop near the training ground entrance.

to a halt beside him,

face her, his own breathing perfectly controlled. He studied her, her flushed cheeks, the sweat darkening her clothes, the stubborn light

she could

caught himself,

kept up," he said flatly.

small part of him wanted to tell her she had done well. But he swallowed

felt, there was a

Sensei," she said

the familiar irritation

at me like that? Like you’re...pleased

hydrate," he said roughly. "Then we

himself it was just training.

the tightness in his chest

than five minutes to catch her breath after the run. He simply turned

lingering for a second longer than they should have, but he didn’t let any expression slip

swallowed, her throat dry. She lowered herself into the position and began counting in

One.

Two.

Three...

the burn spreading up through her shoulders and into her chest. At the eighth,

beside her, his form perfect and effortless. He started his repetitions without a single wasted

the fluid power in his arms and back. His breathing was so calm, so controlled, it

When she finally forced herself to raise her head, his gaze shifted, meeting hers just for an instant. His expression was

mockery in his tone, just a neutral