Did she realize I would resist, so she made a move on me in advance?!
Instinct made Bronya raise her hand to struggle, but when she looked, it wasn't a rope binding her wrist, but a white bandage.
Her body froze instantly, a trace of confusion gradually appearing in her gaze.
Is this... a medical bandage?
She had often been injured in her past missions, and bandages were one of the cheapest forms of medicine.
As a "reward," her former masters had never been stingy in treating her injuries.
But that was a "reward."
Bronya seemed to realize something. She looked up again at the bright room.
Sunlight shone in through the large, open window. The pulled-back curtains swayed gently in the breeze on either side of the window.
A small wind chime made a pleasant sound in the wind. Bronya looked out the window. The gentle sunlight crested the low wall and landed softly on the grass in the yard.
The sunlight danced on the dewdrops, then smiled at her.
She avoided the smile from the sunlight and looked at the "softness" that enveloped her.
Is that a blanket... It can actually be this thick. A bed can actually be this warm, this soft...
Bronya lowered her head. Cocolia stood at the door, quietly waiting for Bronya to speak.
"Will you... become the Bronya's new master?"
After a long silence, Bronya looked up and said this to Cocolia.
Faintly, Bronya felt a strange emotion in her heart.
It was anticipation... an emotion Bronya had never had before. It was the second essence of life that emerged after intelligence, the second extravagant wish Bronya had after "I don't want to die."
A tool could not have desires. Bronya knew she was no longer a "qualified" tool.
But the feeling of a wish coming true fascinated her... Something she craved became a reality. This was subversive in Bronya's life, which had only consisted of tedious "giving."
She wanted more... more.
For example... this soft bed.
Perhaps...
A home.
Sentimentality made her start scheming. She wanted to use the current situation to gain a small benefit for herself.
Reason warned her: You can't go too far. You must continue to carefully fulfill your duty as a "tool" to protect yourself, so you won't be eliminated, won't be abandoned again...
She wanted this bed... wanted this warmth, wanted to receive medical treatment even after a "failed mission." She wanted...
"Master? Heh..." Cocolia let out a chilling sneer. Bronya lowered her head.
See, you went too far. You haven't even proven your worth to her...
"Is that the kind of thing those people drilled into you?" Cocolia dropped her crossed arms, then gently stroked the sea-like girl's head.
She took a step forward, striding to the bedside, and then sat down on the edge of Bronya's bed.
"I will not be your master," she said to Bronya. "I will be your mama."
Bronya's head snapped up. Cocolia looked with satisfaction as a trace of human emotion appeared in Bronya's vacant eyes.
It was a touch of confusion.
"Mama?" The word sounded unfamiliar when Bronya said it. She didn't understand what it meant. Was it the same as "master"?
She rationally considered the meaning of the word. Was it a preference of her new "master," or some brand-new network of relationships? Had the things she needed to do changed, or...
A warm embrace...
Cocolia gently bent over and hugged the small girl.
No one had ever been so close to Bronya before. Cocolia felt the stiffness and unnaturalness of the girl in her arms, and she gradually tightened her embrace.
"Yes, I will be your mama. From this moment on, I promise you, you can wake up naturally in your own bed every day, eat hot food whenever you want, you can study, you can play on the grass...
"The fires of war will not reach you again. Danger will be kept outside this wall by me.
"Ural Silver Wolf... no, Bronya.
"No matter what you have experienced in the past, from today on, you are my child. This is your home, a place that will protect you forever."
Cocolia withdrew her hand, took a yellow doll from the bedside, and placed it in the dazed Bronya's hands.
"This is—Homu (home)."
Homu... it was a yellow rabbit with a cheeky smile and mischievous eyes, ugly enough that it was hard for anyone to like it at first sight.
Bronya stared blankly at the doll in her hands. Cocolia withdrew her hand, patted Bronya's shoulder, then stood up and led the blue-haired girl out of the room.
"How was it, how was it?! Was that person super mean?" Faint, excited chatter could be heard from outside the door.
"Silly Rozaliya, how could you think that person was mean..."
...
Reason stopped working. She couldn't analyze the current situation anymore...
This is home? I can be sheltered? Mama, child...?
She couldn't analyze it. No lesson had ever taught her how to handle this kind of situation.
So, the recently awakened sentimentality began to work.
Home... isn't that what she was looking for?
Bronya suddenly had a feeling. The answer she was seeking was right here!
Then, let's ask herself again here!
What is home?
Bronya looked at the window.
It's a place where the warm sunlight can reach...
Bronya looked at the bandages on her hands.
It's a place where any wound can be healed...
Bronya looked at the bed she was on.
It's a place where all fatigue and hardship can be entrusted and eliminated...
Bronya's gaze finally landed on the ugly yellow cloth rabbit that Cocolia had placed in her arms.
It's...
...the Homu (home) that can accompany you wherever you go.
This is home.
That night, a small wolf with a lame leg staggered into the town, huddling in the corner of a house, yearning for a trace of warmth from within.
And the master of the house came out, carried the small wolf inside, and gave it warmth, food, and shelter...
Bronya returned the hug she had received from Cocolia to the Homu doll, her expression a mixture of a smile and tears.
That winter, the girl named Bronya received the first light of her life.
And to this day, the only one.