CHAPTER 264: CHAPTER 264: IT IS CURSE

The fog lifted slowly, curling like breath on a winter’s window, dissolving into threads of light as the darkness peeled away from her vision.

Liora floated in a place both familiar and not. And when her feet touched the ground again, it was not her body that moved first, but Aeris’s.

She was looking at her like a bystander.

A hallway stretched out in front of her. The scent of natural tea hung faintly in the air. Her steps were light, but not cautious. The sun filtering through the windows dappled the floor tiles in gold.

And then, there he was.

Xu Kai sat at her desk, already waiting. His head was slightly lowered, fingers flipping through her open notebook. And the way the sunlight caught on the curve of his neck made Aeris and Liora pause for a breath. Both of them were mesmerized with the scene.

Aeris smiled, without even thinking. "You’re early," she said, her voice bright as always.

He didn’t lift his gaze. "You told me to come whenever, so I did."

Her bag hit the floor with a gentle thud, and before he could reply, she was already settling onto his lap, like it was her rightful seat—and it was.

His arms curled around her in a quiet rhythm, not tight, not hesitant, just... natural.

Liora watched everything. The way Xu Kai always let her talk. The way his quiet attention made Aeris feel like she was the only one in the world.

He didn’t say much, but he never missed anything. Whether it was her bad jokes, her excitement over finding a new pastry shop, or the way she always forgot her light brain.

But he was always there for her; soon Aeris was completely dependent on him.

Time passed gently between them, like petals falling from a branch. Afternoon walks. Shared meals. Late-night tea warmed over quiet laughter. His silence, and her voice. Their world was small, but it was whole. Aeris always clung to his arm when they walked, and Xu Kai never pulled away. His eyes would soften, just slightly, every time she looked at him.

Liora’s chest ached, but her lips curved faintly.

Her Xu Kai... He had always been like this.

Even in the past, before everything turned strange and cruel, he had been gentle and attentive.

She was proud of her choice. Of who he had been to Aeris. Of who he still was now.

But that peace didn’t last long.

One night, Aeris returned to her dorm after a long study session, humming something soft, the edge of Xu Kai’s coat still clinging to her shoulders. She dropped her bag, switched off the lights, and curled into bed with her cheek pressed to the fabric that smelled faintly of his cologne.

Everything was still.

And then—

The world disappeared.

When Aeris opened her eyes again, the dorm was gone.

She was lying on the uneven ground of a desolate valley—somewhere deep in the restricted zones of her own military academic planet. The air was cold and still, and the once-familiar sky above felt distant now, clouded in a dim gray veil. Rusted remnants of old training structures peeked out from the overgrown brush, half-swallowed by time and neglect.

This place hadn’t been used in years.

And yet—she was here.

She sat up slowly, disoriented, her breath visible in the chill. Her hands were the first thing she noticed—slick, red, trembling.

Blood. On her hands.

Dark stains stretched across her fingers, sticky and half-dried. Her breath caught. Liora felt Aeris’s confusion surge forward all at once.

"What...?"

She looked around, turning slowly. Her body swayed as she could not remember what happened to her, something she didn’t understand at all.

But there was no memory of how she got here. Aeris only remembered lying in bed, sleeping soundly in the dorm. Then how the hell did she wake up in a place like this?

And most importantly... this was a restricted zone.

Her breath caught. If she were found here, she would be heavily punished.

Liora stared at Aeris’s confused and pale expression. Her heart twisted. She could understand Aeris’s emotions—every flicker of panic, every ragged breath.

But Liora was just as confused. Her gaze had always been fixed on Aeris during these integrations—watching from the sideline like a quiet shadow. Then why hadn’t she seen anything at all?

How did she even appear here?

Maybe... maybe it was because she was seeing Aeris’s memory. And if Aeris didn’t remember what happened, then there was no way Liora could see it either. That thought sank into her like a stone.

Liora’s attention shifted back to Aeris, who was now frantically looking around herself, eyes wide with alarm. Her gaze dropped to her palms, slick with red. She turned her hands over, searching for a cut, a scratch—anything. But there was no wound.

The blood wasn’t hers.

Then there must be someone else... because someone else’s blood was on her hands.

But who?

And where was that person?

Did she do something to them...?

Or had she simply helped an injured person and forgotten?

Her questions spun like a vortex. But nothing in this empty valley offered answers. The place was utterly still. Silent. And most unnerving of all—there was no blood on the ground. No trail. No stain. Which meant...

This wasn’t the place where she got the blood on her hands.

Aeris’s expression slowly drained of all color.

Her eyes widened with a creeping horror.

Was she now walking in her sleep... and actually devouring people alive?

The very thought made her feel faint.

She squeezed her eyes shut and fell into herself, mentally diving into her soul realm—searching for any sign of disturbance. Or a new soul trapped there. Her breath hitched with each second as she searched for the new soul.

But after a tense moment, she exhaled shakily.

There was no one. No extra presence or any additional soul. Only her previous souls gently floated.