Whose youth romance story begins with a witch's trial?!

“I’m waiting to see you reveal a love that can’t be faked, a twisted, ugly, and disgusting love—yet it’s ‘real’.”

"..."

"Oh dear, perhaps it's a little hard to understand if I put it that way?"

Marge turned to look at Chang Rong on the hospital bed. Moonlight shone in from the balcony, gently enveloping the girl in her kimono. It was as if the light was illuminating her location to prevent her from getting lost, or like ripples on ocean waves, slowly pulling her into the deep sea.

“Initially, when Hiro and Coco dragged you out and blushed as they announced their relationship, I already knew that this love was ‘fake.’ It had no soil to take root in, no nutrients to sprout, and it was all just a hypocritical and empty castle in the air.”

"But... in our subsequent interactions, I gradually noticed that although this 'love' itself was a fabrication wrapped in false evidence, what was being nurtured within it was an undeniably intense emotion—I couldn't understand this behavior. You clearly knew their hypocrisy, so why did you willingly choose to maintain, or even reinforce, this inexplicable relationship?"

As Baosheng Mag looked at Chang Rong, her tone gradually lost its original smoothness and indifference, revealing her true feelings and true voice to Chang Rong little by little.

"I don't understand, but I know very well that hypocrisy is the central theme. If you can accept the hypocrisy constructed by Hiro and Coco, then... what about the dark secrets surrounding Meruru, her twisted, morbid, and false 'love'? It will definitely be different. When the witch yearns to be judged, when justice gathers to punish evil, you will surely choose to follow everyone's justice and personally sever this illegitimate affection—"

"However, Brother Changrong, you chose to believe once again, to believe in Meruru's love, even absolving, bearing, and consuming her sins and punishments—are you a fool who knows what 'love' is, or a cold and aloof saint who can never touch another's heart? Perhaps the answer is..."

Baosheng Mag looked at Chang Rong, trying to see through the white-haired boy in front of him.

He was surrounded by countless, distinct kinds of 'love'. These loves were born for different reasons, had different goals, and manifested in different forms—but without exception, they were all held in Chang Rong's hands and carefully nurtured until they sprouted and grew.

This was behavior that Baosheng Mag couldn't understand. She stubbornly believed that she knew what 'love' was, and therefore she also stubbornly believed that Chang Rong was absolutely incapable of bearing all 'love'. He would eventually be exposed, revealing his true nature and showing the madness and embarrassment of when things went off track despite his supposedly perfect plan.

However, no matter how hard Baoshengma tried, she still couldn't see the moment when that 'false love' crumbled and collapsed. That love remained steadfast, and even continued to grow new branches.

And this also means that... the 'love' that she herself has always believed in, upheld, and recognized may be the very thing that has long been distorted, decayed, and corrupted.

……

The infirmary was eerily quiet; there was no electricity, no water droplets, no breeze, not a sound at all, only an endless silence.

Finally, Chang Rong broke the silence.

“Margot, your cooking is really bad. And it’s the kind of bad that’s made to cover up your bad cooking, which will only cause more damage – yes, you’ll secretly go to the kitchen to learn, but it seems you only tried a few times before giving up and giving up.”

"...Huh?" Baosheng Mag blinked, her eyes momentarily blank with an adorable expression. She couldn't understand why Chang Rong would blurt out such a thing at this moment.

"And when you were decorating your bedroom into a fortune-telling hut, the way you obtained some materials wasn't 'deception,' but purely 'nobody wanted me to pick them up,' which is the most despicable method of 'stealing.' At least that's how Nanoha Kaori's blankets were victimized! It made me... cough cough, never mind."

"Then, it's obvious that nobody wants them—"

“But Marge, you’ve used your own tactics before, like how you often trick An’an into eating green peppers! You’re an adult, yet you’re always fooling a child into eating leftovers. It’s really shameful!” Chang Rong raised her left hand and pointed at Bao Sheng Marge, her tone aggressive, seemingly with no intention of letting her off the hook.

"No, if we're talking about age, I'm not older than An'an...!" Marge quickly tried to explain that she could still be considered a 'girl' and that it wasn't as shameful as Chang Rong described.

"You actually make bets with Nanoha Kaori, winning the butter cookies and then secretly taking them to the library as snacks. Mag, you made a rule against making noise while eating in the library, so to avoid being caught breaking the rule, you even use sound magic to muffle the sound of eating cookies while you're eating them!"

"Oh dear, this is slander, there's no evidence...?"

"Emma's nose and Nanoha's hallucinations have told me the truth!"

"Ugh...!!" Baosheng Mag showed a shocked and panicked expression. He never expected that the little secret he thought he could take to his grave would be directly exposed by Chang Rong.

"Brother Chang Rong, are you... are you observing me?" Bao Sheng Mag looked at Chang Rong and asked with some disbelief.

"It's not so much 'observation,' it's just something you'll naturally learn after spending a lot of time together. As for why I'm suddenly bringing this up now, it's naturally for 'revenge'—revenge for the trouble you caused Meruru back then."

Chang Rong pointed at Bao Shengma and said loudly, judging from Ma's wonderful expression just now, this 'revenge gift' was indeed quite effective. Ma, who always deliberately maintained the image of a mysterious master, had been completely exposed in these trivial details, which made her really not know how to respond for a moment.

It feels like you've performed a levitation act in front of everyone, thinking you're so cool, but the audience has already seen Hannah Tono hiding behind you, gritting her teeth and straining. Just a quick recap and you're stabbed with shame again.

"That was quite a severe revenge... But Chang Rong, you're not wrong. To almost get Meruru judged by the witch just because of a confession was indeed a bit too much—"

"Meruru isn't trying to confess her feelings; she's trying to atone for her sins. Although she knows perfectly well that nothing can be redeemed, at least Meruru's resolve shouldn't be used as a guinea pig for your 'test'!"

Chang Rong's tone was very serious, and you could tell that he was indeed very focused at the moment, with a hint of anger in his voice.

"...Oh dear, it seems I really made a mistake. I'm sorry, Brother Chang Rong."

Baosheng Mag blinked, then bowed slightly to Chang Rong in apology.

Without a doubt, Chang Rong's 'love' for Mei Lulu was genuine. He tried to protect Mei Lulu's timid, confused, and fragile affection, just as he had done time and time again.

Perhaps, I am the one who is wrong.

He truly can accept every love unconditionally, and treat every love with the utmost sincerity. And if that's true… if that's really the case, perhaps, perhaps even I…

"A tough guy is handsome, and I never expected you to become even more handsome, Chang Rong... Hehe, this is such a pleasant surprise!"

thump!

Baosheng Mag walked to Chang Rong's side again, but unlike before, she pounced on Chang Rong.

The loose kimono draped down, making her already exposed shoulders appear even more precarious. White stockings slowly emerged during the swaying of the kimono, constantly brushing against Chang Rong's legs.

"Waaaaah—Magat...!?"

Chang Rong was startled. Although he knew that Bao Shengma was a girl who liked to suddenly "get physical" and whose hands were not clean, suddenly pounce on the bed was still too radical. This was something that Shirley should have done.

"Hey, Chang Rong... let me tell you a little secret."

Baosheng Mag straddled Chang Rong, her black hair falling down her temples, her purple eyes looking down into Chang Rong's gray eyes, the smile on the girl's lips growing more pronounced.

"I... actually hate being touched by the opposite sex, because contact with the opposite sex only reminds me of the times when my father beat and abused me."

“Domestic violence—” Chang Rong was stunned. He had never known about Baosheng Mag’s past. This was the first time he had glimpsed fragments of the past that this con artist girl in front of him was most unwilling to recall.

“At first, he would pretend to be kind to me. But as time went on, all he gave me was endless beatings and insults, as if my purpose in this world was to bear someone’s anger.”

"Oops, I've gone off-topic~ Anyway... if it's Brother Chang Rong, if it's you—could you come and help me alleviate this ailment? It seems some books say that as long as you have intimate contact and deep communication with someone, this physiological reflex-like fear will be relieved."

Baosheng Mag gently stroked Chang Rong's cheek, and the smile on her face became even more radiant.

"Hey... can you save me? Brother Chang Rong, would you be my cure? Just unbutton my shirt and hold me in your arms—"

"Alright, then so be it."

"Ugh—!?"

thump!

What happened in an instant caught Baosheng Mag completely off guard. The white-haired boy, whom she thought she had completely under control and could 'play with' at will, suddenly burst forth with power. He grabbed Baosheng Mag with his left hand and pulled her into his arms in a very rough manner, then suddenly rolled to the side, directly pinning Mag, who had been riding on him, beneath him.

"This is what you requested, right? Then I'll respectfully comply." Chang Rong brushed aside the black hair on Bao Shengma's forehead with her left hand, looking at his purple eyes and responding calmly. At the same time, her fingertips slowly slid down his forehead, nose, chin, neck, and collarbone to the sash of his kimono.

"Oh my... I didn't expect that you, Brother Changrong, would prefer... a more proactive approach?" Baosheng Mag was taken aback by the sudden change. She tried to maintain her composed demeanor, but her body began to tremble uncontrollably.

Chang Rong gripped the huge bow tightly with his left hand. With just a pull, Mag's fair and slender upper body would be completely exposed in front of him.

The bow, held tightly, twisted and stretched downwards, while Baosheng Mag's breathing grew increasingly rapid. Looking at the increasingly unfamiliar white-haired boy before him, Baosheng Mag uncontrollably hallucinated once more the fragments of what he thought he had long since reconciled—the beatings, the confinement, the corporal punishment.

An inescapable pressure surged into Marger's chest, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't breathe back the air she exhaled, leaving her only with the agonizing pain of suffocation.

"no, do not want……"

Just before his consciousness was swallowed by darkness, Baosheng Mag's lips involuntarily and instinctively uttered a faint sound.

"Don't want it? That means you want it!"

Upon hearing that faint plea, Chang Rong roared and pounced on Bao Shengma!

"Waaah...!"

Marg curled up, closed her eyes, and then—

Boom!

A sharp, painful impact struck her forehead, and Mag, whose eyes were tightly shut, trembled violently.

But that was all. A few seconds later, Mag slowly opened his eyes, only to see the white-haired boy giving him a helpless smile. Judging from the way he flicked his left index finger, that was a powerful flick on the head.

"Stop this self-destructive approach, Marge. I sympathize with your past and genuinely want to help you move on. Even if you still can't trust me, at least—stop ruining yourself, and stop judging others with malice, okay?"

After forcing herself to say those words to Baosheng Mag, Chang Rong collapsed beside Mag. The symptoms of severe anemia rushed back all at once. She felt it was a miracle that she had managed to fight back and ride on Mag; she couldn't even control her adrenaline.

"Brother Chang Rong, you..."

Marge blinked, and after a moment of stunned silence, she belatedly got up from the hospital bed and clumsily moved Chang Rong back to the middle of the bed.

"...I'm defeated by you."

Marge wanted to say something, but this time, the con artist who boasted that he could fool people with just his eloquence simply shook his head.

He did not accept my 'request for treatment' because he could see from the beginning that it was nothing more than my self-destructive behavior of giving up on myself.

Seriously, I'm completely defeated by you.

Baosheng Mag slumped to the side. Her performance as a con artist had been completely unacceptable; it was utterly nonsensical.

Even so... the boy did not abandon her, but continued to respond to her 'love' in his own way.

He completely controlled the rhythm...

As Marge lowered her head and mocked herself, a strange sensation suddenly flowed from her head into her body. Marge gently raised her head and saw that Chang Rong, lying on the bed, had raised her palm and gently placed it on her hair.

"Do you still feel the stinging or tension, Margot?" the boy asked softly, gently stroking the black-haired girl in the kimono.

"A little itchy, a little warm, and then... that's about it." Baosheng Mag blinked, the smile that belonged to a 'con artist' returning to her lips, and looked up at Chang Rong with a smile.

"Huh?! Impossible! My head-patting skills are unbeatable!" Chang Rong stared wide-eyed in disbelief. Her head-patting skills were a terrifying technique that could even tame someone like Hiro. How come it was only rated at this level when applied to Mag?

However... being able to let Mag be patted on the head peacefully is already a huge improvement for me.

Chang Rong comforted herself in this way, while Mag got up again, walked to the side, and picked up a water glass.

The moment she turned her back to Chang Rong, Bao Shengma's cheeks turned incredibly red, a visible blush appearing on her face, so much so that she had to reach out and touch them to make sure she didn't have a fever.

Just now, when she tackled Chang Rong and was then killed and pinned down by Chang Rong, their contact was clearly more aggressive and intimate, but at that time all she could feel was a cold, stinging fear.

On the contrary, it was this ordinary, even somewhat 'inexplicable' casual touch that made Baosheng Mag's heart beat even more lightly.

Is this what they call... no, it's just that suddenly getting up causes insufficient blood supply to the body, so the heart has to pump faster?

Baoshengma knew what 'love' was, and she also knew that her current fluttering heart, this warm current, this uncontrollable smile—this was definitely not 'love'.

I just messed up my level 1 and 2 skills. I'm still the world's number one con artist, and I have my own rhythm.

Baosheng Mag thought to himself.

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