The villainous magical girl's daily mission is to find fault.

Chapter 339 The Burning Past

In countless fairy tales, stepmothers play the role of villains.

Cinderella was ostracized by her stepmother and bullied by her stepsisters, leading a miserable life.

Greta and Hansel, siblings abandoned by their stepmother, wandered the forest and, in their confusion and ignorance, stumbled upon the witch's sweets house.

Snow White was assassinated by her stepmother's men, who even personally tried to poison her with a poisoned apple.

—For children, stepmother is never a pleasant word.

She robs children of their sense of security, separates them from the love and care of their biological parents, and becomes a reflection of the negative emotions in almost all families.

Is Aurora's stepmother such a negative figure?

Judging from her terrified expression, Su Tianqing could already draw a positive conclusion.

"Wait, wait a minute, Alice, what did you just say?"

Nan Jiayu was somewhat surprised.

"You...you brought your stepmother...?"

"I'm sorry... I can't... I can't tell anyone about this..."

The girl said softly.

The golden-haired fox girl frowned slightly, narrowed her eyes, and looked puzzled in her emerald fox eyes.

Alice.

"Can you tell me what kind of person your stepmother is?"

"!..."

Upon hearing this question, Aurora shrank her neck, lowered her head, and her face was filled with fear.

Does simply mentioning it trigger an instinctive defensive reaction? It's similar to the situation when I encountered Fenrir in the port city, maybe even worse.

……

The three sat on the edge of the villain's rooftop.

The communication with Inari had ended, and it seemed that the other party also had things to do, so Su Tianqing did not continue to disturb them.

I've troubled Inari all day; I'll make her some gifts and mail them to her another day, Su Tianqing thought.

but now……

The golden fox looked at Aurora beside her.

The magical girl Alice is telling a story from the past.

Five years ago, my mother became seriously ill.

"After Mom left, Dad was very sad, but a year later he remarried to another aunt."

"Dad said that aunt will be my new mom from now on."

"She's a very strange person."

"She wouldn't let me into the living room; she only allowed me to stay in the bedroom."

"She won't let me watch TV, and she won't let me go out to play."

She also brought an older sister with her.

"My older sister and I both love magical girls, so she took all my merchandise and wouldn't let me touch them. She put them all in her room."

The girl clenched the plush toy in her hand so tightly that she almost squeezed out the cotton.

After a brief silence, these words escaped from the girl's lips:

"...Those were all things my dad bought for me. I hate her."

"So... what happened next? Did you tell your father about these things?" Su Tianqing pressed.

But the result was naturally as expected.

Aurora shook her head.

"...I dare not tell him these things."

"My dad is usually very busy with work and often travels all over the world for business."

"Besides, that auntie knows how to please Dad. If I tell Dad about these things, she'll definitely take it a step further."

"And then..."

"One day, my sister found me and took me to the park near our house, showing off the guardian star she had found."

"She told me that as long as I have a Guardian Star, I can become a magical girl and I won't need any of my merchandise anymore."

"...Those are clearly my things, yet she says they're worthless."

"But she didn't succeed in transforming."

"I said it's because the guardian star didn't respond to her, the star wasn't watching over her."

"She was very angry. She said it was all because of me, that I was the one who bothered her, and called me a unwanted troublemaker."

"She hit me with branches, threw sand and dirt at me, and smashed my head with that Guardian Star."

"I'm very scared."

"I cried and apologized to her, but she wouldn't listen to me and just kept hitting me."

After a long silence, Su Tianqing and Nan Jiayu frowned deeply.

Just listening to it makes you feel the suffocating pressure.

"...Later, I grabbed the Guardian Star from the ground."

That was the first time I transformed into a magical girl.

"She hit me like a madwoman, demanding that I return the Guardian Star to her."

"After we got home, she told the aunt about it."

"They found me and demanded that I hand over the Guardian Star."

"When I refused to give it to her, she hit and cursed me, saying I was a child without a mother, that she would beat me to death, and that she would poison my father's cup."

The girl paused for a moment, then hugged the plush toy in her arms tighter.

"..."

"...I'm very scared."

"I'm afraid she'll hit me again, and I'm afraid she'll hurt my dad."

"I hate her, I despise her."

"She wants to hurt me, hurt my dad and take everything away from me."

Why did Dad let her be my stepmother? Was it because she lied to him?

"Her words were full of deception and the most vicious curses."

"She's a liar, she's a robber, she's... she's a demon, an evil demon."

Aurora's voice gradually trembled, trembling with fear.

"—That night, I locked them in the room."

"I lit the gas in the house, and set the curtains and sofa on fire."

"Thick smoke and fire engulfed the house."

"But when I came to my senses, I was already standing on the roof of the building across from my house in the form of a magical girl."

"...The Guardian Star, it protected me."

"They were crying out for help at the window."

"I saw them, and they saw me too."

"She called me a thief, an arsonist, and used words I'd never heard before to insult me."

"...until the flames completely engulfed them."

silence.

A long silence followed.

Aurora hugged the plush toy tightly, her head lowered, biting her lip, and large tears rolled down her cheeks.

Su Tianqing didn't know what to say.

Years of bullying and repression ultimately led to fire and smoke; who could have imagined such an ending?

A fire destroyed everything.

"...After that, my father moved me to a different place."

"It was from that time that I was haunted by evil spirits."

Aurora clutched her head in pain.

"Those must be evil spirits they've turned into. They will attack everyone they see and tear them to shreds."

"...It's all my fault."

"I'm the one who killed those innocent people, it's all because of me..."

"If I had given up the Guardian Star back then, if I hadn't picked it up..."

"In that case, you won't be able to sit here and chat with us anymore," Nan Jiayu interrupted Aurora's murmurs.

The girl looked up blankly.

The catgirl sat down in front of her, staring intently at her, and said:

"You protected yourself and your father, and even though your methods were extreme, you still gained the recognition of the Guardian Star, so it all made sense."

"Cheer up, Alice! You are now the magical girl Alice, and even without the stars watching, you are still a qualified magical girl!"

"what……"

Hellcat gives a speech in an attempt to cheer Alice up.

The golden fox sat to one side, gently stroking a tuft of fur at the tip of its tail, lost in deep thought.

Now he knows Aurora's background.

So... how should we solve this?