Love System Redemption

Chapter 543: Who Am I? She knows.

....How? The old memory hit him full in the chest: the cliffs, the wooden sword, a boy's clenched fist, a promise whispered between two children.

It was too close... and all wrong.

She seemed to remember it, this exact memory, his mind said, plain and simple. Not a fluke. Not a dream. He felt the old memory's shape press against his chest: the cliffs, the wooden sword, a small fist clenched, a promise whispered between two children. It felt close and wrong at once.

Nnenna stood in the ring amid the noise. People cheered and cried and pointed, but she seemed cut off from all of it. Her eyes were fixed on Stephanie, but she wasn't really looking. The applause sounded distant, like a tape left playing in another room.

A hush settled in her head. The memory had opened something raw, a small living room of moments she had never expected to visit.

Not everything returned. Only pieces: wind on cliffs, a boy with messy hair, a wooden sword on his back; a tiny girl's voice saying, They said I'm small; they said I'll never be strong. Arthur crouched, teaching, whispering, It's about surprise. Timing. Trust. A hand poked a small nose. A small laugh. A promise.

And under those bright fragments ca question she hadn't planned to ask.

Who am I? The question felt dizzying. She remembered being sure of herself, she always had a name, a place, the line of events that led here.

But that bright, soft memory didn't fit neatly into the life she had been living. It slipped past the edges of what she knew and left a blank she couldn't fill.

For the first time, doubt tasted like acid in her mouth. She had always been certain that the person she was now matched the person she remembered being.

Now a seam had split.

The memory raised the possibility that the orphan girl who was raised in the Lionara royal family, the orphan girl who suffered so much from a little age of six, the orphan girl who died and cback stronger, might not be the neat, sure part of her past she had expected.

The cheers swelled again, ringing hollow. Nnenna carried herself off the stage with slow, exhausted steps. Her muscles felt like they belonged to someone else.

She walked past the referee, past the cameras, the noise pressing at her back, and kept going until the bright lights gave way to the quieter hallways behind the arena.

People shouted after her. A dozen hands reached. Someone called for medical staff. Streams choked with speculation: Is she okay? Why is she leaving? Somto and Carl both rose before they realized they had moved. They started down toward the exit, then paused and looked at one another. Different worries hung in both their faces, not shouted, not formed in full, only a hard, wordless shape.

Is she... connected to Arthur's past? Carl's eyes asked.

Or: Is there something we don't know? But Somto's gaze lowered without a single word.

Neither voice spoke it. Their worries sat heavy between them as they watched Nnenna disappear from view. Arthur could barely sit still. His eyes were locked on Nnenna, and his heart pounded in his chest. Doubt gnawed at him.

He had told himself tand again that she couldn't possibly be the person he was thinking of, but now... now, everything felt wrong. He had to get answers. He couldn't wait any longer. He had to hear it from her.

Without a word, he surged after her, his body a blur of controlled urgency. Every movement was calculated, swift, like a storm silently gathering strength. His thoughts churned, each one sharper than the last, cutting through the noise in his mind. Nnenna. The nechoed in his head like a mantra, pushing him forward. There was no hesitation in his steps, no second guessing. He needed answers, she had to be the one to give them to him.

Could the girl before him truly be the sperson? The one he had known, the one he had trusted, the one who had vanished from his life? He had to know if his childhood friend still existed underneath this unfamiliar face. No one else could answer that.

He wouldn't stop until she did.

Somto saw the shift in Arthur, and his heart sank. He recognized that look, Arthur the one Arthur got when he was determined, when he was fixated on getting answers, no matter the cost. No... this wasn't good.

Somto's panic surged. Arthur was about to ruin everything. Somto shot up from his position, his body moving faster than his mind. He couldn't let this happen. He couldn't let Arthur get close to Nnenna right now. Somto rushed out of the arena, leaving Carl standing there, confused and still processing what had just happened.

Nnenna didn't notice. She barely even heard the cheers and congratulatory shouts as she walked away. Her body was moving on its own, but her mind? Her mind was elsewhere.

The arena, the audience, the match, none of it mattered anymore. As she walked, she passed by groups of students who had gathered to watch the match online.

Scalled out her name, congratulating her for her performance, but she didn'¤respond. but Her focus had shifted, her mind still caught on the fragments of the memory that had forced its way back into her consciousness. "Hey, Nnenna, you were amazing!" a voice called out, but she didn't acknowledge it. Another student waved as she passed by, offering a smile, but Nnenna didn't even blink.

She didn't know what was happening, why the weight of everything felt so overwhelming now. The pieces of her memory felt broken, scattered, fragments that didn't quite make sense.

It was like she was seeing her past from a distance, unable to reach it, unable to grasp it.

As she neared a quiet, secluded spot in the academy, the questions that had been swirling in her head grew louder, pushing against her chest.