Apocalypse: Transmigrated with an Overlord System-Chapter 252: I Am His, Even Without Memories

Xu Kai froze.

The warmth of her skin, the softness of her voice, the lingering sweetness of her kiss—all of it faded into the background, drowned out by the weight of the name that had slipped from her lips.

Aeris.

He hadn’t heard that name in two long years.

And certainly not from her.

His heart stilled in his chest, as if caught mid-beat. His hand, which had been tracing gentle circles along her waist, dropped to his side. A strange tightness seized his lungs. Something heavy clawed at his throat. His eyes, dark and unreadable, bore into hers.

"Liora..." he whispered, but it came out like a plea.

The moment shattered around them, the intimacy now replaced by tension that prickled along his skin. She looked up, startled, confused by the sudden change in him.

His voice was hoarse, barely a whisper. "Do you remember... your past memories?"

The question wasn’t calm. It wasn’t planned. It spilled out of him raw and desperate, like a dam had finally broken and there was no stopping the flood. He hadn’t meant to ask it—not like this—but the moment she said that name, he couldn’t hold it in.

She blinked, taken aback. "My... past?"

Xu Kai stepped back slightly, just enough to see her expression better. "You said Aeris. That’s not a name you should know—unless..."

He couldn’t even finish the sentence.

His fists trembled at his sides.

She had never said anything before. Not once. Not a single word. Not even a flicker of recognition in her gaze when they had first met again in this new world, as strangers.

But now...

Now she had said it so softly, like it meant something.

Like he meant something.

Liora’s lips parted, and for a moment she hesitated, unsure how much to say. She could see it in his eyes—the storm of pain and longing barely contained beneath the surface.

She lowered her gaze, then nodded slowly.

"I don’t remember everything," she said, voice quiet. "But... I had a dream. A very long dream."

Xu Kai’s breath caught.

She continued, "You were there. By my side. And my name wasn’t Liora. It was Aeris."

His entire body tensed.

"I don’t remember much after that," she admitted, fingers curling against her own palms. "Only that we were together in the military academy of Spire. We trained together. Laughed. You always scolded me for being reckless."

A ghost of a smile tugged at her lips, but her eyes remained distant, as if still half-trapped in that dream.

Xu Kai didn’t move.

He couldn’t.

Every word she spoke dragged him deeper into a haze of memories—ones he had tried so hard to bury. Ones that had haunted him every day since she disappeared.

Two years ago.

Without a word.

Without a trace.

He had searched the academies, every planet of core spire, even the wastelands the war had left behind. But she was gone.

And when he finally found her again—here, in this strange world far away from spire—she had looked him dead in the eyes like he was a stranger.

Like none of it had happened.

That had crushed him more than any battlefield injury ever could.

And so he had said nothing.

He never asked because he could not get the enough strength and emotions to ask her...he was afraid...afraid of many things. What if she disappeared again and worse she said something that ruin his all hopes...so he could only wait while battling with himself.

But now...

Now she remembered.

Even if it was just fragments.

But Xu Kai needed to hear it in her words. He needed to ask the question he had been afraid of for too long.

"I thought you don’t remember," he murmured.

Liora blinked. "You knew?"

"I thought you didn’t remember. You didn’t recognize me at all when we met again. You never said my name. You never even looked at me the same."

His smile was sad now, laced with years of quiet pain. "I thought... maybe the world had erased me from your heart completely."

Her breath caught.

"I was going to ask," he admitted, "about what happened. About why you left. Why you never came back. But then I saw how lost you were... how different you seemed. I thought it would be selfish to drag you back into a past you didn’t remember."

He looked up at her, the corners of his mouth trembling. "But I never stopped loving you. Not for a single second. Not even when you forgot me."

The tears in Liora’s eyes spilled over.

She stepped closer, trembling, unsure of what to say. But Xu Kai didn’t let her speak.

"Do you remember everything?" he asked, almost afraid of the answer.

She shook her head. "Only pieces."

A silence fell between them.

He nodded slowly.

"Then I’ll wait," he said gently, taking her hands in his. "I’ll wait for the day you remember everything. Even the part you’ve forgotten the most."

She tilted her head, confused. "What part?"

He smiled—but it was the kind of smile that hid a deeper sorrow. "Nothing," he murmured. "Not now."

He wasn’t ready to tell her. Not yet. Because Liora, no—Aeris—had already suffered enough. The pain of lost memories, of twisted identity, of being reshaped by some cruel reality she still barely understood.

Telling her now that she had left behind a child...That would break her. And Xu Kai couldn’t bear to watch her fall apart again.

She lowered her gaze, then nodded slowly.

"I don’t remember everything..."

"Why... why didn’t you tell me before?" he asked, his voice thick with emotion. "If you remembered... even just a part of it... why didn’t you say anything?"

Liora looked up slowly, guilt painting her features. "Because I didn’t understand. The memories came in flashes—like echoes from another life. I thought I was losing my mind."

She swallowed, the weight of it all pressing down on her chest.

"I only told you now because... when you touched me, when you looked at me like that... it felt familiar. I remembered your eyes. The way you held me. The way I used to feel when you were near."

"But I am afraid what if it was all lie...and you don’t like me but Aeris.