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

Chapter 465: No More Distractions

She nodded, swallowing hard.

He demonstrated the first stretch, lowering himself into a deep lunge that looked almost too graceful for a man his size. He held the pose effortlessly, as if his body were made of steel cables instead of muscle and bone.

Nnenna tried to mirror him but wobbled unsteadily. Her hip protested with a sharp pull. She bit back a hiss.

Arthur’s gaze flicked over, assessing her alignment with the same detached scrutiny he might use on a broken weapon.

"Lower your back knee," he ordered calmly.

She adjusted, her face tightening with effort.

"Straighten your spine. You’re collapsing your chest."

She sucked in a shaky breath and obeyed.

He moved behind her, close enough that she could feel the heat of his presence. He placed one hand lightly on her shoulder blade and pressed, guiding her posture without a word. The touch was impersonal, almost, but it sent a strange shiver through her all the same.

Nnenna kept her eyes fixed on the floor, determined not to look up.

He corrected her stance again, this time his fingers brushing the back of her hip to tilt it slightly.

"Better," Arthur murmured. His voice was low, almost distracted, as though he was thinking about something else.

Or trying not to.

After a moment, he stepped away, putting distance between them.

They moved through the rest of the stretches in silence, her body aching with exhaustion. When the timer finally beeped on his watch, Arthur stood straight and regarded her with his usual cold, steady stare.

"That’s enough for today."

Nnenna exhaled, relief and frustration tangling in her chest. She pressed a hand over her racing heart, trying to will it calm.

long moment, as though deciding whether to

running was acceptable, and

snapped up, startled.

"Distractions. Doubt. Or...whatever else it is that takes your mind off your

all the way to her ears. Did he somehow know she

to realize he had said too much. He looked away, voice cooler when

be here at the same

managed, though her throat

hair falling forward like a curtain. Her voice was soft but

Sensei,"

only gave a curt nod.

faster

the way her tired shoulders squared with determination, how she wiped sweat from her cheek, how she glanced back, just once, to check if he was

He clenched his jaw.

I even paying attention to

moment she had collapsed on her mat after push ups, breathless, her face flushed with stubborn effort. He

time she looked up at him with those bright, searching eyes, something shifted in his chest. It was

to face the empty field, crossing his arms over his chest, willing

is nothing. Just training.

His thoughts betrayed him.

so hard. She doesn’t complain. Even

tell she admired Somto. The way her eyes softened whenever Somto was mentioned was different from how she looked at

does that

It shouldn’t.

It doesn’t.

the cold morning air. His jaw tightened as

already gave my heart away. To someone who

laughter, the warmth of her

I even noticing someone

hand curled into a fist