I Stopped Simping and the Heroines Lost Their Minds

Kael continued walking beside Arthur, still glaring at the reinforced tournament case tucked under Arthur’s arm.

"You understand what you’ve done, right?" Kael asked.

Arthur adjusted his grip on the case. "Won a tournament?"

"You’ve ruined my life," Kael corrected him, gesturing back toward the arena exit. "For the next year, everyone in this city is going to remind me that Emily’s academy boyfriend came home, entered our local tournament, eliminated me, and then won the whole thing under the Thorne name."

Adrian was walking on Arthur’s other side, looking entirely too entertained, while Emily was extremely pleased.

"Sounds like excellent publicity," Arthur offered.

"For you," Kael muttered. "People are going to think Father trained you from childhood."

"Give it another tournament," Adrian said casually, "and they’ll assume he’s the future son-in-law."

Kael stopped walking for half a second as the realization hit him. His irritation vanished beneath a slowly spreading grin as he looked from Emily to Arthur. "Brother-in-law."

Emily immediately pointed at him. "Kael, do not start."

Arthur, naturally, made everything worse by looking straight at Kael. "Yes?"

Emily’s glare moved to him instead. "What are you doing?"

"What?" Arthur adjusted the tournament case under his arm and resumed walking. "He called me."

Kael’s mood recovered miraculously as he followed, grinning all the way toward the exit.

The short drive back to the compound gave everyone a chance to finally loosen up. Emily leaned comfortably against Arthur’s shoulder while Kael complained to the front seat that this entire tournament had somehow damaged his reputation far more than Arthur’s.

Adrian, seated nearby, pointed out that Kael’s reputation had already been very well established before today, which Kael somehow found even more insulting than Arthur winning the tournament.

Seraphina ignored both of them, already running through the practical logistics for the evening. She needed to notify the right people at the dojo, arrange dinner, and make sure Arthur actually got some rest.

Gareth looked back from the front seat. "How does the body feel?"

Arthur shifted his shoulder slightly. "Tired. Bruised. Nothing serious."

Gareth glanced at the sealed case resting on Arthur’s lap. "We’ll deal with that tomorrow morning. Eat, rest, and let your body settle tonight."

"Not tonight?" Arthur asked.

"You just spent the day fighting," Gareth said simply. "Tomorrow."

The vehicle turned through the heavy gates of the Thorne compound a few minutes later, and it became immediately obvious that the news had traveled faster than they had. There was no grand parade, but junior trainees were gathered near the edges of the training grounds, and a few senior instructors were waiting near the main steps.

Congratulations started bleeding through the open car windows before Arthur had even stepped out. It was messy and loud. A junior trainee eagerly asked Arthur if Corwin had nearly pushed him out of the ring. An instructor called out to Gareth about the Main Dojo bringing home the championship. Someone else clapped Kael on the back and congratulated him too, which accidentally made Kael’s suffering worse.

Someone near the back called Arthur "Champion Vance."

Kael kept walking toward the doors without acknowledging any of them. "Ignore them."

Arthur followed at an easy pace, still receiving congratulations from both sides. "They seem very supportive."

"They’re traitors," Kael muttered, while Emily laughed hard enough beside them that she couldn’t even pretend to disagree.

They stepped into the foyer, leaving most of the noise behind them. Nessa was already there, directing two junior staff members carrying laundry.

She turned as the family entered, her eyes dropping directly to the jacket she had pressed the night before.

"The jacket survived," Nessa noted.

Arthur stopped. "That’s your first concern?"

Nessa stepped closer, her expression perfectly professional as she inspected a faint scuff near his sleeve. "Obviously."

Emily and Adrian continued farther into the house while Nessa inspected the faint scuff near Arthur’s sleeve. Nessa’s eyes lifted to his for barely a second before she turned back to the two staff members waiting for instructions.

By the time Arthur had changed out of his tournament gear, stored the Ironblood case safely in his room, and found something to eat, most of the excitement around the compound had finally burned itself out.

An hour later, he was sitting near the edge of the training hall with Emily, Kael, and Adrian in a comfortable, easy quiet.

Adrian looked over from the practice blade he was checking and asked whether Arthur intended to keep training with the dagger after he left. Arthur nodded. "I’m keeping it. I’d rather not be helpless every time someone gets past the bow."

Kael had been leaning against the wall nearby, but the dagger discussion clearly interested him less than Arthur’s remaining schedule. "When are you leaving?"

Arthur glanced toward him. Kael didn’t sound eager to get rid of him; he sounded like a man calculating how much time he had left to cause problems. "Another day or two."

"Good. I need a rematch." Kael straightened from the wall before Arthur could object.

Arthur gave him a look. "You beat me once and lost once."

Kael spread his hands as though Arthur had just proven his point. "Exactly. Unresolved."

A junior trainee jogged over with a question about the equipment racks, only for Kael to wave lazily toward Arthur. "Ask my brother-in-law. Apparently he’s the expert now."

"Kael," Emily warned.

Arthur ignored her glare, pointed the trainee toward the correct rack, and sent him off before Kael could invent any more credentials for him.

Ten minutes later, Kael told Arthur to help him carry a heavy crate of practice gear across the hall, arguing that since Arthur was supposedly one of them now, he could do some lifting. Arthur calmly pointed out that Kael had two functioning arms.

Adrian happened to pass them carrying a stack of towels and didn’t even slow down. "Be helpful to your brother-in-law, Kael."

Emily stared after him in open betrayal. Adrian continued toward the supply closet without looking back, leaving Kael grinning beside the crate.

Later in the evening, Arthur was crossing the guest wing corridor when he ran into Nessa. The hallway was briefly empty. She stopped, looking at him carefully as she asked if the healers had actually cleared him.

"I’m fine," Arthur said.

Nessa stepped closer and inspected his bruised upper arm herself. It wasn’t the practiced, clinical touch of a nurse applying a bandage. Her fingers lingered against his shoulder for a second longer than professional necessity required.

Arthur caught her around the waist and drew her into a brief kiss. Nessa allowed it without the slightest surprise now, one hand remaining against his bruised shoulder until she pulled back.

"Congratulations," she said quietly.

Arthur smiled, keeping his hand at her waist. "You waited this long?"

"You were surrounded." Nessa started to step away, and Arthur used the opportunity to squeeze her ass once.

She stopped and gave him the same dry look she usually reserved for especially troublesome staff. "You won one tournament."

"Confidence is dangerous," Arthur agreed.

Nessa shook her head and continued down the corridor toward the rest of her rounds before he could manufacture another reason to delay her.

Dinner was louder than usual, with slightly better food on the table and the tournament still slipping back into conversation every few minutes. Arthur sat among them while Seraphina discussed his travel preparations and what he still needed prepared before leaving the compound. Arthur hadn’t settled every detail of the next leg yet, but he expected to head out in another day or two. Gareth worked out tomorrow morning’s refinement, and Kael somehow continued finding new arguments for why the rematch needed to happen before Arthur left.

"Mother, you’re spoiling him already," Kael complained when Seraphina offered to have the kitchens prepare something specific for Arthur’s trip.

Seraphina barely looked bothered. "He’s our guest."

"For now," Kael muttered, and Emily immediately narrowed her eyes at him from across the table.

Seraphina took another bite of her food as though the conversation meant nothing at all. "It would simplify the guest arrangements."

Emily’s head snapped toward her mother. "Mother."

Seraphina calmly reached for her glass, leaving Arthur to hide a smile while Kael looked absolutely delighted that someone else had joined him.

Arthur decided there was no reason to let the opportunity go to waste. "I thought I was your brother-in-law now."

Kael grinned. "Only when it’s inconvenient for Emily."

Emily’s foot struck Arthur under the table before he could enjoy the joke properly. His fork nearly slipped from his hand, which only made Kael laugh harder while Adrian shook his head beside him.

Gareth calmly asked Arthur when exactly they should begin the refinement tomorrow.

"Morning," Gareth decided, answering his own question. "We’ll use the smaller training hall. I want room to see how you move once it takes effect." Gareth told Arthur not to train again that night, and Arthur’s eyes immediately drifted toward Kael across the table.

Kael frowned. "Why are you looking at me?"

After dinner, the household slowly began to separate for the night. Arthur retrieved the sealed Ironblood case, carrying it comfortably under his arm. Emily was walking beside him as they headed down the main hall toward their respective wings.

Farther down the hall, Kael reached a branching corridor and glanced back over his shoulder. "Sleep well, brother-in-law!"

Emily stopped dead beside Arthur. Arthur, meanwhile, didn’t even bother turning around. He simply lifted one hand in casual acknowledgment and kept walking.

"Stop answering to that," Emily snapped as she hurried after him.

Arthur finally looked back at her, genuinely puzzled by the complaint. "He might think I’m rude."

Kael’s laughter echoed from the other corridor. Arthur smiled, adjusted the Ironblood case under his arm, and continued toward the guest wing with Emily glaring beside him.