At 1 a.m., Xia Mo suddenly jolted awake from a shallow dream.
Then, she heard a cold voice beside her.
“Your perception isn’t entirely dull.”
Turning toward the direction of the voice, Xia Mo’s pupils contracted slightly.
Her.
A girl with white hair and a black dress was sitting on the open window ledge, swinging her feet wrapped in black stockings, watching her with great interest.
A butterfly-shaped hair clip was pinned to her bangs, and her deep red eyes gave Xia Mo a sense of foreboding.
After carefully scrutinizing the uninvited guest who had appeared in the middle of the night, Xia Mo’s unease grew stronger.
“Who are you?”
“Who do you think I am, Miss Rosemary?”
The girl gently pushed off the window sill and landed lightly in front of Xia Mo.
She leaned in slightly, extending a finger to lift Xia Mo’s chin.
Hearing the name “Rosemary,” Xia Mo pressed her lips together uneasily.
She wasn’t naive enough to think the other girl was just bluffing.
This girl’s tone was so certain, as if she held irrefutable proof in her hands.
And in Xia Mo’s memory, there was only one person like that.
“Ming Die!”
“I thought you’d call out my name the moment you saw me.”
Ming Die giggled, fluttering like a butterfly as she floated behind Xia Mo and rested her head on Xia Mo’s shoulder, speaking softly.
Instinctively, Xia Mo pushed Ming Die away from her. What exactly did this mysterious enemy want?
From Ming Die’s current demeanor, Xia Mo couldn’t sense any hostility, but she didn’t believe for a second that Ming Die came in the middle of the night just for fun.
Ming Die definitely had a purpose.
Ming Die, pushed aside, tumbled onto Xia Mo’s bed, even rolling over once before finally sitting up under Xia Mo’s murderous glare.
“What do you want?”
“I already told you—my mission is to make the magical girl Rosemary disappear completely. I failed last time and got scolded by the bigwigs for quite a while,” the white-haired, red-eyed girl said with a sigh.
“So,” she continued, “to regain their trust, I have to work overtime to get the job done.”
Upon hearing this, Xia Mo’s body tensed up immediately, her right hand instinctively reaching for her chest.
A soft lavender glow began to blink through the fabric over her heart.
“I don’t mind fighting you right here,” she said, “but… it’s the middle of the night—your friends are still fast asleep, aren’t they?”
Ming Die didn’t care at all about Xia Mo’s defensive gesture. She lowered her head and toyed with her pitch-black fingernails, her tone lazy and casual.
“I won’t be pulling any punches. If those siblings get hurt…”
“Are you threatening me?”
“Bingo~ Correct.”
Ming Die tossed her a wink.
The wink was cute, but in Xia Mo’s eyes, it was as terrifying as the smile of a demon.
The thing she feared most had finally happened.
With Ming Die’s blatant threat hanging over her, she didn’t dare transform and fight.
“When I saw your true identity, you had already lost,” Ming Die said, still swinging her legs like a cat toying with its prey.
Her crimson eyes narrowed slightly; she seemed to be enjoying this.
“But for now, I’m the only one who knows your secret. You don’t have to worry about anyone else bothering your friends. After all, I’m not that much of a demon.”
“Come on, don’t look at me like that. I don’t even particularly hate magical girls. In a way, we could be considered comrades-in-arms.”
Ming Die shrugged at Xia Mo, and for once, she wasn’t lying.
The goal of Polar Night was no different from that of the magical girls—they both wanted to drive out monsters and protect the world.
But Polar Night’s methods were far too extreme and were not accepted by the magical girls.
Compared to other evil organizations, Polar Night wasn’t all that evil.
Even after defeating a magical girl, they wouldn’t harm her.
Instead, they would ask for her cooperation in their research.
“Then why do you still want me to disappear?”
A comrade? Xia Mo wanted to believe it, but after what Ming Die just said, how could she possibly trust that?
“Because the existence of Rosemary is just too troublesome. If you’re willing to give up your identity as a magical girl, I can forget everything about you. No one will know you were ever a magical girl. You can live a safe and peaceful life like an ordinary person.”
She continued, “Get married to the one you love, have children, grow old together. You wouldn’t have to live in this dangerous world where your life is constantly at risk. Isn’t that a better way to live?”
“Protecting the world… That kind of thing shouldn’t be done by children who haven’t even grown up yet.”
Ming Die was serious—Xia Mo could hear the sincerity in her words.
It was different from the earlier mockery.
This time, Ming Die truly meant what she said.
Give up here?
Go back to being a normal girl?
Xia Mo bit her lip, her expression flickering with uncertainty.
She remembered Bai Ye’s evaluation of her—that she was an unqualified magical girl.
She remembered Luo Shuangyue’s encouragement.
Even though Shuangyue didn’t want her to become a magical girl, she still stood firmly behind her, supporting her.
If continuing as a magical girl meant putting Shuangyue and Shuangxing in danger, then…
Xia Mo hesitated.
The number of blows she had taken in just a single day had already exceeded her limit.
She was now fragile—so fragile that just a little push might completely shatter her resolve.
Seeing this, a glimmer of triumph flashed in Ming Die’s eyes.
Ha!
I knew it.
This plan was flawless!
Now all I need is one final push, and then—
K, K, K…
Just as Ming Die saw the light of victory within reach, soft footsteps suddenly echoed in the corridor.
Judging from the direction of the steps, they were headed straight for Xia Mo’s room.
Luo Shuangxing, you troublesome brat. It’s 1 a.m.—why aren’t you asleep?!
Cursing in her heart, Ming Die wasted no time and darted toward the open window in a few quick steps.
“Think about it carefully. Tomorrow I’ll—ow!”
Maybe she was in too much of a hurry, or maybe her socks were too slippery without slippers, but as Ming Die tried to jump out the window, she tripped on the sill.
The elegant butterfly girl let out a tragic shriek and tumbled out the window in a rather comical fashion.
Her figure disappeared into the thick night, and the next moment, Xia Mo’s door was gently knocked.
“Sister Xia Mo? I think I heard something strange from your room…”
Xia Mo stared at the still-open window in silence for a few seconds, a strange expression creeping across her face.
“…Nothing. Just a dumb cat running into the window.”
“?”
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