Chapter 2: Now is it, twenty years later?

iang Lingwei’s eyes brimmed with confusion.

She didn’t even know why she was crying.

She had no memory of the weeping girl before her.

“Did you… mistake me for someone else?”

Jiang Lingwei asked cautiously.

“I… I…”

The girl’s expression froze, disbelief etched on her face.

She bowed her head, hiding her eyes where Jiang Lingwei couldn’t see their light fade.

“Mom… you, you don’t remember Xiaoyao?”

“I…”

Jiang Lingwei struggled to explain.

She couldn’t grasp the situation.

By age or true gender, having a daughter this old was impossible.

True, a magical girl’s transformed state consumed little magic without spells or spirit attire.

She could maintain it indefinitely, even for a lifetime, if she chose.

But this girl looked at least fifteen or sixteen.

Jiang Lingwei was only seventeen!

Pregnant at two years old, as a boy?

Absurd.

“I’m… a bit confused. What’s happening here?”

“Oh, Mom, you just woke up!”

The girl panicked, hastily wiping her tears and standing abruptly.

“I-I’ll go get the doctor!”

She rushed out the door, leaving Jiang Lingwei on the bed, utterly bewildered.

“Uh, this…”

Watching the girl disappear, Jiang Lingwei climbed out of bed.

She slipped on the bedside slippers, locked the door, and approached the wardrobe in the room’s corner.

She pulled out a pristine, unopened set of white clothes.

“…Huh?”

Jiang Lingwei glanced down, sensing something odd.

After two years as a magical girl, the female body held no mysteries.

She’d explored her transformed form soon after gaining the ability.

She knew her body well—her transformed state wasn’t particularly striking.

Her pink-haired magical girl form was average in height and development.

But now… wasn’t it a bit much to say?

Her chest was noticeably more prominent, her center of gravity tipped forward, and her height seemed greater.

In front of the wardrobe, she ungracefully pinched her hips.

Indeed, they’d grown larger too.

Before, she was a pure magical “girl.”

Now, her figure rivaled a mature woman’s!

“No, no, no, this isn’t right.”

“Even if I grew in magical girl form, it’s only been days. This kind of change is impossible.”

She touched her neck instinctively.

“Where’s my transformation device?”

Shock hit her—her transformation device was gone.

Closing her eyes, she sensed for it.

No response.

The device wasn’t nearby.

Strange.

A magical girl could maintain her transformed state, but only if the device remained close.

Hers was a necklace with a pink heart-shaped gem, her magic core.

Yet now, the device was missing, but she remained transformed.

Had she transformed unconsciously in her coma?

It wasn’t impossible.

Without the device, a magical girl’s power weakened significantly, but transformation was still possible, though it strained the body and limited mobility.

“Alright.”

Clutching the clothes, Jiang Lingwei took a deep breath.

“Transformation canceled.”

“…”

“Transformation canceled!”

“…”

“Transformation canceled!!!”

Nothing changed.

Her body remained the same.

Panic crept in.

Not only could she not undo the transformation, but she also felt no magic flowing through her.

True, she’d exhausted her magic in the battle, but after so long in a safe place, some should have recovered.

Unable to cancel the transformation?

No, she needed answers.

The fairy would know.

Jiang Lingwei hurriedly dressed, buttoning up, and searched by the bed for her phone.

As she rummaged, the door handle rattled.

Someone tried to enter, found it locked, and knocked.

“Knock, knock, knock.”

The girl’s voice called out:

“Mom! Open the door.”

“Uh…”

Jiang Lingwei adjusted her clothes, ensuring she was presentable, and unlocked the door.

“Mom!”

The door swung open, and the girl, tears still in her eyes, threw herself into Jiang Lingwei’s arms like a darting swallow, clinging tightly.

Instinctively, Jiang Lingwei hugged her back.

She looked up at the man in a white coat outside, who resembled a doctor.

“Who are you? Can someone explain what’s going on?”

The man gave her a pitying look, speaking gently:

“I’m the doctor overseeing this recovery ward. My name is Xia.”

Jiang Lingwei glimpsed his name tag: Xia Wenqi.

“Ms. Jiang, are you feeling any discomfort?”

“No.”

Jiang Lingwei replied, “Everything feels normal.”

“Good.”

Dr. Xia jotted something in his notebook.

Jiang Lingwei couldn’t see it, but she doubted she’d decipher a doctor’s scrawl anyway.

“I suspect your memory has… gaps.”

“No.”

Jiang Lingwei tensed.

The battle before her coma, training with friends, daily life—all were vivid.

Nothing felt missing.

“What’s the most recent thing you recall?”

“Recent…”

Jiang Lingwei hesitated.

Magical girl matters were best kept secret.

If her companions had resolved the dark invasion and erased memories…

She chose a vague response:

“A big accident in the city a few days ago?”

“…My oversight. Let me rephrase.”

Dr. Xia took a deep breath.

“Ms. Jiang, what year do you think it is?”

“What year?”

A bad feeling stirred.

She answered nervously, “Isn’t it 2012?”

“No.”

Dr. Xia shook his head.

“It’s 2032.”

“You were admitted here in 2021. You’ve been in a coma for at least eleven years.”

“Your brain may have sustained damage, causing significant memory loss, but please believe me.”

He gestured to the girl in her arms, who looked equally lost.

“This Miss Jiang Yao is indeed your daughter.”

Boom!

A thunderbolt seemed to strike Jiang Lingwei’s heart, scattering her thoughts.

2012 to 2032—a twenty-year gap.

But she quickly steadied herself.

She reassessed her surroundings.

The crying girl, the sudden doctor, the sanatorium…

Doubt crept in.

‘I suspect this is an illusion, a trap woven by some phantom demon.’

Those wretched creatures loved such tricks.

Did they think they could fool her?

She was a magical girl—an experienced one!

‘Hmph.’

With a mental sneer, she turned to Dr. Xia.

“Dr. Xia, may I borrow your phone?”

“Of course.”

He nodded.

“Contacting reliable people would be ideal.”

‘Heh.’

Jiang Lingwei eyed Dr. Xia.

She knew this “Dr. Xia” wouldn’t produce a phone.

The illusion would soon crumble.

Phantoms couldn’t create.

Their illusions, no matter how intricate, drew from the victim’s mind.

They couldn’t conjure what she’d never seen.

Portraits could stem from forgotten memories, behaviors from her past.

But technology?

They couldn’t fabricate that.

If twenty years had passed, her Banana phone was only fifth-generation, so…

Dr. Xia pulled out his phone, lit the screen, and handed it to her.

Jiang Lingwei froze, taking the sleek black device in disbelief.

It was nothing like the phones she knew—thinner, with a larger screen, multiple cameras, and a sharper display.

She gripped the oversized phone awkwardly, its size alien to her memory.

She looked at Dr. Xia.

He nodded.

Her heart raced.

She slid the screen, pressing digital buttons too firmly out of habit.

“Beep… The number you dialed is unavailable.”

A call to a companion.

One by one, she dialed familiar numbers.

The next was unavailable.

Another, a gruff male voice claiming a wrong number.

Another, out of service.

From hope to numb repetition.

“Mom.”

Jiang Yao tugged her arm, halting her futile actions.

Her pleading eyes whispered, “Let’s go home.”

“…”

Jiang Lingwei’s mouth felt dry, her voice lost.

She raised her head, returned the phone to Dr. Xia, and asked faintly:

“Where’s my… husband?”

“I don’t know.”

Dr. Xia pocketed his phone and gestured invitingly.

“If you wish to be discharged, I recommend a full physical exam first.”

“Alright…”

Jiang Lingwei patted Jiang Yao’s shoulder, dazed.

She was at a complete loss.