Lin Ye was the only male magical girl in the magical-girl organization.
He thought the seniors' smiles were sincere. He thought "We believe in you" was a promise.
It wasn't until the day he was sent into a trap that he learned it had all been a lie.
His magic core twisted in despair, turning him from a boy into a girl.
A thorny crown, a pitch-black skirt, and power drawn from pain: thus was born the being known as the Witch of Agony.
Zhao Ming was just an ordinary office worker.
He'd joined in online bashing of Lin Ye and liked posts saying, "It's disgusting when men hang around with a bunch of girls."
Then the magical girls used him as bait and fed him to a monster.
The one who came to save him was the very person he'd insulted.
From then on, a witch moved into his apartment.
She took over his bed, drank the tea he brewed, and played games in his old T-shirt.
Watching her fall asleep with a frown, blood seeping from the thorns on her collarbone, made his heart feel as if something were squeezing it in a brutal grip.
He began clumsily trying to be kind to her.
But he didn't know she was the Witch of Agony. Every time he touched her heart, the thorns tightened; every time she felt warmth, her wounds began to bleed. His kindness was killing her inch by inch.
All he knew was that he didn't intend to stop.
"You're only human. What makes you think you can share my pain?"
"Because I owe you. Because I want to. Because you're the only person I want to marry in this life."
A magical girl's end is to become a witch, and a witch's end is to find someone who won't let go of her hand.
Even if it means embracing the thorns.
