There were no magical girls in this world.
An Shiyu had known that since she was very little.
Because back in Beihai, no matter how many times she prayed, her illness had never improved.
Her existence seemed incapable of ever bringing any happiness or joy.
Magical girl anime had been popular in Beihai for a while.
Miracles that could grant any wish, heroes who could save everyone.
But it was all a lie.
She decided never to believe in magical girls again.
She was six that year.
Even by the time she left Beihai, she had never heard of or seen a real magical girl.
To treat her illness, her parents boarded a coach from Beihai to Hulin City.
Then they were caught in a horrific crash on the way.
Many people died in that crash.
Because of that crash, An Shiyu also lost the hearing in her right ear and was left with a rather ugly scar on her neck.
Her mother was hospitalized and left partially paralyzed, and before long, her father lost his job too.
Their once reasonably comfortable family suddenly fell into hardship.
She was still sent to neighboring Hulin City.
At the hospital, her parents held her hand and gently told her to listen to the doctors and not wander off.
They were only going somewhere far away, and it would be a long time before they returned.
But An Shiyu never did see her parents return.
She waited from winter until spring, and from spring until summer.
The little girl's small wishes had never come true.
Whether it was her wish for her illness to get better.
Or her wish for her parents to come back and visit her.
Wishes that could never come true would only wither away, until time swept them into