Off Work, Then I Become a Magical Girl
Book 2: Chapter 10: Lin Xiaolu's Conjecture

Vol 2 Chapter 10 Lin Xiaolu's Conjecture

The world is constantly changing.

Lin Xiaolu wanted to change too—but the truth was, she didn’t really like change.

She wanted to change herself, but she didn’t want the world around her to change.

But reality often runs counter to wishes. As she grew older, it was the world around her that kept changing, while she remained the same.

She had come to understand this gradually—from confusion to clarity, from ignorance to awareness.

The adults she met always called her naive and childlike. Her classmates often found her childish. She hated hearing that, but couldn’t come up with a solid argument to refute it.

She still liked the things she loved as a child. She was still the girl in class farthest from dating. She was still a head shorter than her peers.

And deep down, she was still waiting for her mother to come back.

Her mother had passed away. She wasn’t a child anymore—she understood that clearly. And yet, she couldn’t help wondering what things would be like if her mother were still here.

That was why she had always been resistant to the idea of other women showing up around her father.

She didn’t know how long her father’s feelings for her late mother would last. She didn’t know what their fragile little family would become if another woman entered the picture. She didn’t want a stepmother.

Even though she understood that her father had the right to his own relationships—she just didn’t want it.

And that feeling became especially intense after she met that woman named Hong Siyu.

From the very first meeting, she could sense that woman mimicking her mother’s way of speaking and behaving—trying to use it to get close to her father.

It triggered an overwhelming sense of danger inside her.

“I don’t care. It doesn’t matter,” she told herself.

She was a Magical Girl, someone who had stepped into the magical world. She was supposed to think about the bigger picture, someone above petty everyday concerns.

But that night, when she overheard a conversation between her father and that woman, something else hit her—something far more shocking.

—Veronica knew her father.

And that might very well be the reason Veronica treated her differently.

Even though her father later clarified that it was all a misunderstanding, and Veronica herself told her the special treatment was because her mother had also been a Magical Girl, Lin Xiaolu never forgot that initial guess.

Sometimes she’d ask herself: If what I thought is true, if my father and Veronica have a deeper relationship, if one day Veronica actually becomes the stepmother I’ve always resisted… what then? Would I be upset or… happy?

Based on her usual way of thinking, Lin Xiaolu figured she’d want to reject it.

After all, Veronica was just Veronica. Even if she was someone Xiaolu admired and looked up to, that didn’t mean she could step in and become her stepmother.

But reality didn’t seem to align with her assumptions.

When she truly started thinking about it, even began to imagine the scenario—what if Veronica really became her stepmom—she realized something strange:

She didn’t hate the idea.

In fact, it almost felt… natural. Like if Veronica were her “mom,” it wouldn’t be weird at all.

Back then, Lin Xiaolu didn’t understand where this odd feeling came from.

She brushed it off as random thoughts and kept it to herself.

Until the night of the Moon Festival.

When a huge crisis broke out in the city center and she, along with her teammates, left home to respond—

She caught a glimpse of something. Her father’s bedroom door was ajar.

It was already past midnight. No matter how busy her father’s work was, there was no reason for him to leave at that hour. And yet, he had.

Later, in a fierce battle against the enemy from Black Cinders Dawn, when the situation had turned dire—

Veronica, who had previously said she wouldn’t return during the holidays, appeared out of nowhere and stood between them and the enemy.

And then came that moment on the battlefield—

When the monster calling herself Mors said something that struck her like lightning:

—“Seems like your dad’s got something going on with her too.”

In that instant, Lin Xiaolu’s mind cleared. The pieces clicked into place.

That was why her father had left the house at that hour.

That was why Veronica, despite saying she wouldn’t return, showed up just in time.

Because her father had contacted her.

Because they really were involved—maybe even romantically.

And once all of that made perfect sense in her head, once every part of the logic held up—

As she stood protected by Veronica on the battlefield, Lin Xiaolu finally understood the strange feeling she had about her.

—Veronica reminded her of her mother.

There was no logical reason for it. Her mother Aya and Veronica had completely different personalities.

Aya was warm, bright, and full of energy. She could be a little scatterbrained at times, but even that chaos was inspiring.

Veronica was cold, composed, and serious most of the time—but beneath that chill was a quiet kind of tenderness.

Even someone with the dullest senses could tell the two were nothing alike.

But Lin Xiaolu still had that inexplicable feeling.

And after that night, she had a strange dream.

In the dream, she was a baby lying swaddled in a blanket.

Her mother was looking down at her with a gentle smile, playing with her. She couldn’t speak yet—just waved her hands and made baby sounds.

She didn’t see her father in the dream.

But her mother seemed to be chatting with someone invisible—laughing with a youthful charm, almost girlish.

Then, still laughing, she handed Lin Xiaolu over to that unseen person.

She felt herself being lifted and then lowered gently.

A pair of cool hands caught her, cradled her.

That embrace was cold, but not unpleasant. It was… comforting.

Who is this? Lin Xiaolu wondered.

She tried to open her eyes inside the blanket, struggling to look up and see who it was.

She saw blue.

A pair of deep, sapphire-like blue eyes gazing at her with warmth.

Veronica was holding her—wearing an expression she had never seen before, moving her lips as if speaking words a baby couldn’t understand.

And then, Lin Xiaolu woke up.

Bathed in the morning light, she sat on her bed, half-awake, still immersed in that surreal dream.

It had felt so real—like something that had truly happened.

She realized that maybe this wasn’t just her imagination.

Maybe this dream meant something.

She sat there, thinking—recalling memories, working through the logic, carefully examining the evidence.

And at the end of it all, she arrived at a bold conclusion:

—Her mother had visited her in a dream… to give her blessing. To say it was okay for Veronica to be her stepmom.