Off Work, Then I Become a Magical Girl
Chapter 109: A Surprise

For a moment, the booth in the corner was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

Veronica stared at Xia Liang, blinking twice, suddenly unsure of what to say. Or rather, Xia Liang’s question had caught her completely off guard, so much so that she hadn’t even prepared a response in her mind.

She had never expected Xia Liang to think in this direction.

But her silence didn’t make Xia Liang reconsider—if anything, Xia Liang was nervous about offending Veronica. She only dared to sneak glances at her while pressing on, forcing herself to list out other possible explanations.

"Then what exactly is the truth? Did you really change, inside and out, into a man?"

"Is there truly a magic spell that can completely alter one’s gender? Could a magical girl become male, even to the point of fathering children?"

"Or… is your ‘Uncle Lin’ appearance just an illusion? But if that were the case, then how did Xiaolu come into existence…?"

Even though she sounded hesitant, once the topic was brought up, Xia Liang became unstoppable, throwing out theory after theory as if determined to exhaust every possibility with her imagination.

It was clear that this question had been weighing on her mind for a long time.

But as Veronica listened, her fingers, resting on the table, slowly curled into a loose fist.

The fact that Xia Liang had discovered the truth—that Veronica and Lin Yun were the same person—was already a reality. Veronica had no reason to hide it from her.

But this question… was outside that scope.

"Why do you assume this?"

She cut off Xia Liang’s rambling with a calm question. "Why not consider other possibilities? What if I was simply born male?"

"Junior, are you trying to fool me with an impossible scenario?"

Xia Liang lifted her head slightly. "Everyone knows that there’s no such thing as a male magical girl—not even I could be ignorant of that."

"What if I’m an exception?" Veronica retorted, her tone indifferent.

"If you were an exception…"

Xia Liang hesitated for a moment, picturing all the times she had acted intimately with Veronica over the past few days.

If Veronica was actually a man…

"Then you’d probably be arrested and questioned by the police?" She muttered uncertainly.

Seeing Veronica’s eyelids lower as if she were about to roll her eyes, Xia Liang quickly laughed it off. "Kidding! Just joking! We both know that’s impossible."

"After all, isn’t a magical girl’s true form supposed to reflect her soul?"

"From the moment we transform, our appearance is shaped by our original self. And once we reach Bud-tier, our magical girl body becomes fixed—it never changes with time."

"So no matter how your outward appearance shifts, your first form—your true form—will always be the same. The girl sitting in front of me now, isn’t that the real you?"

Her reasoning was logical and well-structured.

If an outsider were to judge, they’d likely find her argument compelling.

If Veronica were not the subject in question, she herself might have admitted that Xia Liang had reasoned well.

But that was a big if.

"A good child's curiosity should know its limits."

Veronica’s voice was calm as she looked at Xia Liang, her face emotionless.

"You’re smart and perceptive. You already know where to stop."

She wasn’t just referring to this specific question.

Xia Liang understood that.

The eagerness in her gaze slowly dimmed. She understood what Veronica was truly trying to tell her. Her lips parted slightly, but in the end, she said nothing more.

"…Maybe I did get a little carried away today."

She lowered her eyes slightly, a wry smile on her face. "Sorry."

Veronica watched her quietly. After a moment, she placed her hands on the table and stood up.

"Let’s go home."

—

By the time they left, the sun had begun its descent, casting a golden glow over the city.

The atmosphere between them had shifted from playful to awkward and heavy. Veronica walked ahead with crisp, measured steps, while Xia Liang silently followed behind.

After bidding farewell to the café owner, they retraced their steps to the parking lot and got into the car.

Veronica adjusted the raised pedal in the unfamiliar driver’s seat, then swiftly buckled her seatbelt.

The engine rumbled to life.

"I wasn’t actually blaming you."

Her voice broke the silence.

"I told you before—compared to you, I’m an adult. I also promised that, as part of caring for you, I’d allow you some room to be willful. And I wouldn’t get mad at you."

"You don’t need to apologize. I wasn’t angry about your behavior today. In fact, I’m glad you had fun."

"Before we left this morning, I wasn’t sure how today would go. We’re from different generations—when it comes to magical girl training or academics, I can guide you seriously as a mentor. But if you need a friend, a family member—someone to just have fun with—I wasn’t confident in that role."

"So I did what I could—I took you to places I enjoyed when I was young. Places where I had my own happy memories, hoping they’d bring you joy too."

"And in the end, even if the process was a little chaotic, I think it worked out well."

Though her tone remained as cool and composed as ever, her words were honest.

From the back seat, Xia Liang lifted her gaze, catching Veronica’s reflection in the rearview mirror.

"…Junior, you did more than enough."

She smiled, trying to mask her lingering disappointment. "I know—you were the one who put the most effort into this ‘date.’"

"When it rained this morning, I didn’t know what to do. But you didn’t mind the unexpected turn of events—you changed the plan and pulled me along."

"When we ran into my… former ‘friends,’ and I didn’t want to deal with them, you respected my unreasonable request and drove them away."

"This afternoon, I was the only one having fun. I could tell you weren’t that interested, but you still went along with my antics."

"So today was really fun for me. I’m really grateful for everything you did."

"I’m only feeling down now not because you told me to ‘stop,’ but because I realized something—I haven’t changed at all."

Veronica frowned slightly and glanced sideways. "Do you want me to report those girls to the Juvenile Guidance Office? It would be fair to you, and it would make sure they don’t continue down a bad path."

"No, no! That’s enough as it is!" Xia Liang waved her hands in a panic before sighing. "I meant myself."

"I realized I’m still the same—I get caught up in self-indulgence so easily."

"Before, I hid behind the ‘good child’ act, using obedience as an excuse to avoid change, avoid responsibility."

"Now, because you told me I could be ‘willful,’ I thought I could push boundaries. I mistook ‘willfulness’ for ‘reckless selfishness.’"

"I messed up again."

She lowered her voice. "I wanted to get closer to you. But in the process, I overstepped. I lost control."

Veronica said nothing.

Because she didn’t see the need to.

No one is perfect.

Even she had regrets. She had no right to demand flawlessness from a child.

Self-awareness was already more than what most people had.

And guidance, not criticism, was what was needed here.

She reached the villa, parked, and stepped out, leading Xia Liang toward the entrance.

"This is your second lesson," Veronica said, unlocking the door.

"Love is not scarce."

The door swung open.

Inside, the living room was adorned with banners and streamers.

And at the entrance, Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan grinned, pulling the strings on their party poppers.

"Happy birthday!"