Thirty-five years old.
Hong Siyu had spent two years in a daze.
—"What's wrong with you today?"
One night, at a restaurant, the man sitting across from her asked strangely, "You're rambling before you even finish a thought. Did you drink before coming here?"
Rambling, huh... That was normal too.
She smiled bitterly to herself.
Because whenever she wanted to tell him the truth, every organ in her body capable of making sound would cease to function, leaving her unable to utter a single word.
Her body no longer seemed to belong to her. Her consciousness drifted between clarity and sleep. Even when she acted while lucid, every movement she made was like that of a machine fitted with hidden locks, constrained at every turn.
Information she was not permitted to mention could not be spoken. Thoughts she was not permitted to have would be subconsciously forgotten. Much of the time, even she herself did not know what she was doing.
Was she even still human? She could no longer tell.
But she had to continue existing like this. She had to endure. Because she still had so much information, so many things she wanted to tell the man before her.
So she forced herself to smile, picked up her wineglass, and held it out toward him.
"Kingdom released a new evaluation list for Magical Girl Flower Cards last month. Two new rising stars appeared all at once."
What she actually wanted to say was: Senior Margaret has already become a Flower Card. Are you really willing to completely give up the power of a magical girl?
"Is there any point in talking about that now?" The man clearly did not want to answer that question.
"Is caring about your juniors pointless?"
What she really wanted to ask was: Look