I Stopped Simping and the Heroines Lost Their Minds

The bright, vaulted ceiling of the Lornfell Academy cafeteria echoed with the loud, chaotic chatter of hundreds of students. Sunlight streamed through the massive stained-glass windows, a stark, almost blinding contrast to the freezing smog of the city’s industrial sector.

Sitting at a long wooden table near the back, Arthur’s squad was enjoying a rare moment of actual peace.

Emily was practically vibrating in her seat, tapping her boots rapidly against the stone floor. Thanks to the newly signed affiliate waivers and the flawless rotation shifts at the crawler cavern, they weren’t just surviving the academy anymore. They were getting rich.

"We should go out," Emily announced suddenly, dropping her fork onto her plate. "Like, actually go out and have some real fun. To the commercial district and not a dungeon run."

Felix looked up from his heavy bowl of stew, raising an eyebrow. "Go out where? We have combat drills tomorrow morning."

"There’s a new film premiering tonight at the Grand Theater," Emily insisted, her feral brawler energy momentarily replaced by normal teenage excitement. "It’s called The Saintess and the Dragon Knight. We have the credits for it now. We don’t have to scrounge for copper bounties in the forest like the rest of the first-years or asking from parents for allowance. We should celebrate."

Felix chewed thoughtfully, looking down at his freshly polished iron bracers. His repair bills were completely subsidized now. "A couple of hours sitting in a dark room where nothing is trying to bite my face off... Yeah. I’m in. I need a break from bug guts and ledgers."

Sitting quietly beside Emily, Chloe offered a soft, genuine smile. For the first time since she enrolled, she actually felt like she belonged to a real party. The suffocating anxiety of failing out of the academy was gone.

"What about you, Arthur?" Emily asked, leaning across the table. "You in?"

Arthur calmly wiped his mouth with a linen napkin and set it down.

"I can’t," Arthur replied smoothly. "I have some business tonight."

Emily frowned. "Business? On Saturday night?"

"Darius Holt from red boar guild visited yesterday," Arthur explained, his dark eyes entirely serious. "He left a direct threat. I need to know exactly what kind of ’accidents’ the Red Boar is trying to arrange, who they are hiring, and what supplies they are moving."

Felix scoffed, crossing his massive arms. "Let them try. They wouldn’t dare attack our warehouse openly after you humiliated their captain in front of his own men."

"Openly? No," Arthur agreed, his voice dropping slightly. "That was never their style. Which is exactly why I need to speak to Roxanne at The Leaping Stag tonight."

The moment the tavern’s name left Arthur’s lips, Chloe violently choked on her water.

She inhaled sharply, coughing uncontrollably as the water went straight down the wrong pipe. Her face instantly flushed a brilliant, panicked red as she desperately covered her mouth.

"Whoa, easy!" Emily quickly reached over, patting the blonde healer firmly on the back. "Chloe? You okay?"

"I—" Chloe gasped, her eyes watering. "I swallowed wrong. I’m fine. I’m fine."

Emily gave her a sympathetic look, completely buying the excuse, while Felix just went back to his stew, entirely oblivious.

But Arthur didn’t look away.

He sat perfectly still, watching Chloe struggle to regain her composure. A faint, incredibly dark smirk touched the corner of his lips. He knew exactly why she had reacted. And he let the heavy, psychological tension sit there, entirely unspoken, letting the dread slowly crush her.

By the time lunch ended and the cafeteria cleared out, the squad had split up. Emily and Felix walked ahead, arguing about whether to buy popcorn or roasted nuts at the theater.

Chloe lagged behind deliberately. Her heart was hammering a frantic rhythm against her ribs. She just wanted to get back to her dorm room, lock the door, and bury her head under her pillow until the phantom memories of the tavern faded away.

She turned down a quiet, shadowed corridor near the library archives, taking the long way back to the dormitories to avoid the crowds.

She didn’t hear him approach. His custom leather armor absorbed the sound of his footsteps entirely.

Arthur stepped seamlessly out of the shadows, intercepting her path.

Chloe gasped, instinctively taking a step backward. But she misjudged the distance. Her shoulders hit the cold stone wall of the corridor.

Arthur closed the gap in two long strides. He didn’t grab her. He didn’t use any physical force. He simply stepped squarely into her personal space and placed one hand flat against the stone wall beside her head.

The sheer difference in their sizes, combined with the heavy, predatory aura radiating off him, made escape psychologically impossible.

"What’s the matter, Chloe?" Arthur asked, his voice a smooth, dark velvet that echoed softly in the empty corridor. "You looked incredibly tense at lunch when I mentioned Roxanne."

Chloe’s breath hitched. She stared up at his dark, unreadable eyes, her mind completely short-circuiting.

"I—I don’t..." she stammered, her hands gripping the fabric of her white academy skirt.

Arthur leaned down. His face stopped mere inches from her ear. She could feel the ambient heat radiating off his skin, completely trapping her against the cold stone.

"You remember her office, don’t you?" Arthur whispered.

Chloe felt her knees go weak. A deep, humiliating heat instantly pooled in her core. The memory of the wet, filthy sounds, the heavy desk creaking, and the sheer, dominating power he had displayed completely overwhelmed her.

Arthur looked at her flushed face, her trembling lips, and the way her thighs squeezed tightly together.

"Say no," Arthur murmured, his breath ghosting over her cheek. "Say the word, and I’ll drop my hand and walk away. I’ll leave you alone."

He gave her the out.

Chloe’s chest heaved. Her blue eyes were wide, filled with a frantic mix of absolute terror and undeniable, overwhelming arousal. She looked at his lips, then up to his eyes.

She swallowed hard.

"Don’t..." Chloe whispered, her voice barely audible. "Don’t stop."

Arthur’s dark smirk returned.

He lowered his free hand. He slid it smoothly under the hem of her pleated academy skirt, tracing the soft, bare skin of her thigh. Chloe let out a sharp, choked gasp, her head falling back against the stone wall as his hand moved higher.

He didn’t bypass her cotton panties. He simply pressed his large palm flat against the fabric, right between her thighs.

She was soaking wet. The heavy, unmistakable heat of her arousal radiated through the thin cotton. Arthur pressed two fingers firmly against her center, dragging them slowly upward over the slick fabric.

Chloe whimpered, her hands flying up to grip his broad shoulders to keep herself from sliding down the wall.

"You’re a very useful healer, Chloe," Arthur praised softly, his fingers pressing a fraction harder. "You follow orders perfectly. You keep formation. You signed the contract when I told you to. And most importantly... you know how to keep a secret."

He pulled his hand back, sliding it out from under her skirt.

He raised his hand in the dim light of the corridor. The tips of his fingers were dampened with her arousal that had soaked straight through her underwear.

Chloe stared at his fingers, her face burning like a furnace.

Arthur brought his hand to her face, pressing his damp fingers against her bottom lip.

"Open," he commanded quietly.

Chloe’s brain completely shut off. The psychological domination was absolute. Trembling violently, she parted her lips. Arthur slipped his fingers into her mouth. She closed her lips around them, her tongue hesitantly tracing the salt and slickness of her own arousal.

"Good girl," Arthur praised, his voice dropping into a low, rumbling purr that sent a massive jolt of electricity straight down her spine.

He slowly pulled his fingers from her mouth. Chloe let out a shaky, ragged breath, completely and utterly at his mercy.

"I don’t like leaving my colleagues uncompensated for their hard work," Arthur stated, his tone shifting effortlessly from seduction back to calm, calculated control.

He stepped back just an inch, giving her room to breathe, but his dark eyes kept her entirely pinned.

"You like watching, don’t you, Chloe?" Arthur asked.

Chloe couldn’t speak. She just gave a tiny, desperate nod.

"Would you like to come tonight?" Arthur offered, his smile turning wicked. "I told you the first time that if you were going to spy, you shouldn’t do it from the hallway. This time... I’ll give you a front-row seat."

Chloe stared at him. It wasn’t a threat of exposure anymore. It was an explicit invitation.

She nodded again, a soft, breathless sound escaping her throat.

He adjusted the cuffs of his uniform, completely unfazed by the intense, heavy atmosphere he had just created.

"Meet me by the academy gates at sundown," Arthur instructed. "Wear a cloak."

He turned and walked down the corridor, his footsteps completely silent, leaving her alone in the shadows.

Chloe remained pressed against the cold stone wall, her entire body trembling violently. Her hands rested over her chest, trying to calm her racing heart. She wasn’t being punished for her dirty secret. She was being accommodated.

The first time, she had watched by accident. Tonight, Arthur had taught her the difference between spying and belonging.

And somehow, that was far worse.

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