After receiving news of Bronya's injury, Cocolia rushed back to the orphanage from the lab. At this moment, she was personally bandaging Bronya's wound.
"Why did you fall down the stairs?"
"The Bronya was not careful enough." Bronya's lips curled up slightly as she watched Mama Cocolia carefully bandage her right leg, but she still chose to hide the truth.
"Oh? You're hiding something, aren't you, Ural Silver Wolf?" Cocolia tightened the bandage slightly at the end, causing Bronya to break out in a cold sweat from the pain.
After finishing the bandaging, Cocolia sat beside Bronya and looked at her.
"With your skills, it's impossible for you to not even be able to walk down the stairs properly, right? Or... did someone push you?
But if it were you, you could have snapped that person's neck the moment you were pushed, couldn't you?"
"The Bronya accidentally fell while going down the stairs." Bronya looked back at Cocolia, still giving the same excuse.
"Is that so... If you don't want to talk about it, then forget it." Cocolia stood up to leave, handing a list to Bronya as she did. "You need to protect yourself. The day of the experiment is approaching. I don't want the experiment to be affected because you're injured."
"The Bronya will take care of herself."
Bronya looked at the list. Her name, Sin's, and Seele's were on it.
"And... don't forget to say goodbye to Seele. Don't leave any regrets..."
"Understood... Mother."
After Cocolia left, Bronya looked at the list and thought for a long time. In the end, she chose to face it. This was an experiment she had known about for a long time. Sin knew too, but Seele didn't. Mama Cocolia didn't plan on telling Seele, and she herself didn't plan on letting Seele know.
After all, she had agreed to participate in the experiment so that Seele wouldn't have to.
At night, Bronya returned to her room, which she shared with Seele. It was a very simple room with two single beds.
Bronya didn't see Seele, but there was a large box in the room, and from inside, Seele's voice could be heard. Seele kept saying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
Bronya knew that Seele was hiding in the box. Seele was a coward; whenever she was scared, she would crawl into the box and lock herself inside.
Once this kind of box was closed, it could only be opened from the outside. In the past, it was Cocolia who would open the box to find Seele. Now, it was her turn to open the box and find Seele.
Bronya unlocked and opened the box, revealing Seele huddled inside, crying with her head in her hands. She threw away the crutch she was leaning on, grabbed Seele's hands, made Seele look into her eyes, and then hugged her.
"I'm sorry... Sister Bronya... I clearly saw what Sin did to you...
But I was too scared to move."
"It's okay... Seele... The Bronya thinks it's fine for Seele to be just the way you are."
Bronya looked at Seele and smiled. Bronya was an assassin and was usually expressionless with others. Only with Seele would she smile.
"As long as I'm with Seele, the Bronya doesn't feel any pain at all."
"But... but... Sister Bronya is so strong... It's all my fault..."
"No... it's not Seele's fault."
Bronya hugged Seele, and both of them couldn't help but think of the past.
The Second Honkai War had torn many families apart. The army took in many orphans and trained them to be child soldiers. Bronya Zaychik was one of them. Bronya was trained as an assassin, and after assassinating people, she earned the title of the Ural Silver Wolf.
While on a mission to assassinate the witch, she was captured by Cocolia. Looking at Bronya, Cocolia felt as if she had met an old friend. In the end, she didn't kill Bronya but kept her at the orphanage.
Two years ago, not long after Bronya arrived at the orphanage, some armed terrorists kidnapped Seele while the witch Cocolia was away.
Bronya Zaychik, at only 12 years old, upon learning that Seele had been kidnapped, followed the trail left by the kidnappers and tracked them to the place where Seele was being held, all by herself.
Facing heavily armed kidnappers who had her surrounded, Bronya disguised herself as a wandering prostitute and, when the gate guard let his guard down, strangled him with her stockings.
She took his weapon and then silently killed all the heavily armed kidnappers by herself.
Finally, a blood-soaked Bronya found Seele cowering in a corner. Seele's face was streaked with tears and filled with terror. Bronya removed the tape sealing Seele's mouth, only to hear an unbearable sentence.
"De... mon! Don't come here... Don't come here..." Seele cried as she wriggled her body backward.
Bronya thought she was talking about her and froze on the spot. But Bronya didn't know that at that moment, behind her, there was a dark shadow holding a huge scythe, its eyes glowing with a crimson light.
After that, Bronya made a promise to Seele that she would never hurt anyone again.