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

Chapter 506: It’s Her

Just hang in there.

No one noticed Arthur.

He stood frozen at the middle of the field, his breathing shallow, his arms limp by his sides. Everything around him faded, the sound of the wind, Somto’s worried murmurs, Carl’s precise movements. All of it disappeared into silence.

His eyes stayed locked on Nnenna.

That move...

She shouldn’t have known it. No one should’ve known it.

Because only one person had ever learned it before. And it wasn’t Nnenna.

A memory surged to the surface like a wave, uninvited but unstoppable.

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Eleven years ago.

At the edge of the southern cliffs.

Arthur was barely fourteen then, all sharp elbows, messy hair, and a mind always racing faster than his mouth could keep up. His shirt was stained from a morning training session, and a wooden sword was slung across his back.

She came running to him that afternoon, barefoot, face streaked with tears, and fists clenched.

Six year old Anastasia.

"Arthur!" she sniffed, her voice wobbling as she stomped up the hill. "They said I’m small! They said I’ll never be strong like you!"

She dropped to the grass beside him, hugging her knees. Her cheeks were red from crying, but her eyes still sparkled, stubborn and stormy, like always.

Arthur blinked at her, then let out a sigh. "They said that again?"

She nodded hard, wiping her face roughly with her sleeve. "They laughed when I said I would beat you one day."

Arthur "..."

He looked at the spirited little girl who barely reached his knees when they stand together, for a long second. Then slowly, he smiled.

"Alright then," he said, standing up and brushing grass off his trousers. "Come on. I’ll teach you something no one else knows."

Anastasia blinked up at him, confused. "Really?"

He nodded once, serious now. "But just you. Promise?"

She grinned. "Promise!"

The wind picked up as Arthur crouched down beside her. "This one’s mine. I made it up last year," he whispered like it was a treasure. "It’s not about being fast or strong. It’s about surprise. Timing. It only works when you trust yourself."

She frowned in deep concentration as he guided her small arms and legs, adjusting her posture with care. He even poked her nose once when she got the footwork wrong, just to make her giggle.

When she finally did the move, clumsy, but full of heart, Arthur clapped and spun her around.

"See?" he said softly, still holding her hand. "Who says you’re not strong?"

She beamed at him. "I’m gonna get better and beat you one day."

Arthur just chuckled, ruffling her hair. "I hope you do."

The memory dissolved like mist in the morning sun, but its echo clung tightly to Arthur’s chest.

He blinked back into the present.

The world returned, harsh and loud. The distant whirl of sirens. The bark of orders from Carl. Somto’s voice. Rushed footsteps.

And there she was.

Nnenna.

Still unconscious, her brows faintly furrowed, a trace of sweat clinging to her skin. Her lashes fluttered as if caught in some silent struggle.

For a second, just one impossibly sharp second, Arthur didn’t see Nnenna.

He saw her.

The child from the cliffs.

The little girl who swore she would beat him.

Anastasia.

That same stubborn jaw. That same spark behind the pain.

His chest tightened.

It’s her.

The thought came without permission. It wasn’t a question. It was a certainty that hit him like a punch to the gut.

His pulse pounded in his ears.

But then, reason pushed through.

No.

Anastasia was gone. Missing. Lost to stone and fire. He had seen the aftermath with his own eyes, or at least... he thought he had.

No. Not dead. Just missing.

And I’ll find her one day, he reminded himself for what felt like the thousandth time.

But even as he clung to that truth, his eyes drifted back to Nnenna

And there it was again.

A shadow. A flicker.

Something in her... was her.

His chest tightened.

He shut his eyes tightly, as if doing so could force the thought away.

This doesn’t make sense. It can’t be. Nnenna is... Nnenna.

But his heart wouldn’t listen.

It kept whispering: Look again. Look closer.

Confusion twisted in his gut. His head throbbed.

He staggered one step back, clutching the side of his head.

Not now.

Not here.

He opened his eyes again just as the ambulance doors swung open. A small team of medical personnel moved swiftly, working under Carl’s calm, clear instructions.

Carl handed one of them Nnenna’s hair band, then climbed in after gently adjusting Nnenna’s IV line. He didn’t say a word, his face had lost a touch of its usual warmth and was replaced with worry, his eyes never left her.

Somto hesitated for a second, glancing back at Arthur, but didn’t speak. He followed them into the ambulance and closed the door behind him.

The engine roared to life. The vehicle pulled away.

And just like that

Arthur was alone.

The wind swept across the training field, rustling the grass around his boots.

He didn’t move.

Didn’t speak.

He just stood there, staring at the empty space the ambulance had left behind.

The ache in his head deepened.

And for the first time in years, Arthur felt something he couldn’t name, something too wild to trust and too loud to ignore.

A question bloomed in the silence.

What if it really is her?

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At the mini but highly equipped hospital on the castle grounds, the atmosphere was tense.

One of the attending doctors, not seeing Carl around, stepped forward briskly, feeling the weight of urgency press against him. They needed to get started.

Snapping on a pair of gloves, he motioned toward Nnenna’s bed.

A nurse, already anticipating the routine, picked up a pair of scissors and leaned in to cut open Nnenna’s training gear.

But before the blade even touched fabric, a hand shot out, firm, unyielding.

"What do you think you’re doing?"