Cocolia pinched An's cheek and complained with a pitiful expression:
"My precious daughter, you have no idea how annoying those old fogies are. They all call themselves the Reformist Faction, but they're far more cowardly and stubborn than the Conservative Faction. Sometimes I really wish I could just dismiss them all, sparing myself from their nagging me every now and then!"
"Then I'll go and wipe them out!"
"Cut it out! I still need the various resources they have in their hands, and besides... at least investigate first. We aren't terrorists, we can't just go around killing people!"
"So troublesome! Mama is so naggy!"
An said with an expression of utter disgust, yet she reached out to stroke the top of Cocolia's head, clumsily trying to comfort her.
Cocolia rolled her eyes with a chuckle, then pressed her face against An's and said:
"Hey, if you really want to help Mama, repeat after me—I love Cocolia Mama the most!"
"...No way!"
"Huh? Why not?"
"I just don't! It's too childish, I'm not a little kid anymore. Go find Rosaliya and Liliya, those two idiots!"
"Too much! I wasted my affection on you, no afternoon tea or little cakes for you today!"
Cocolia puffed out her cheeks and stubbornly poked An's cheek.
Although she was at the age of a married woman past thirty, Cocolia had the delicate and fine face of a twenty-year-old girl, paired with a mature, devilish figure and childish expressions, making her look exceptionally cute.
At least An, sitting obediently in her arms, didn't find it annoying at all.
My back and waist hurt for over a week, a continuous cold, continuous misery, and it only got better after taking ibuprofen for five days... It was only after I recovered that I realized that series of symptoms might possibly have been catching the virus. But during that time I didn't get a nucleic acid test at all, nor did I think to grab a thermometer to check, and even ignorantly pushed through it to go to work... I gave up on thinking about whether I was spreading the plague at the office or anything, the main thing was that I could actually have taken sick leave! Oh man, I missed out, I feel so miserable, it feels like I lost a hundred million!
Chapter 31: Mama Must Be in Love!
"Ah! My dear precious daughters, you're finally here, Mama missed you to death! Come on, let Mama give you a kiss and a hug! Muwah~ muwah~ muwah!"
The little girls with long pink hair and long blue hair arrived in a daze at the room deep within the snow mountain base. Before they could even change out of the fluffy cold-weather clothing used during their flight, they were scooped straight into Cocolia's arms head-on.
"Were you cold on the way?"
"Were you good at home?"
"Did you miss Mama?"
"Let's kiss again, muwah!"
Cocolia was so enthusiastic and excited that her once sharp and calculating purple eyes were now filled entirely with shimmering surprise.
Rosaliya and Liliya were squeezed tightly in Cocolia's arms, crushed by that bountiful bosom, and reached out in absolute terror toward An by the door, pleading for her help with two pairs of frightened, wide eyes.
"An! Help!"
"Help! Cocolia Mama seems to have broken down!"
They struggled with all their might, but given only the strength of ordinary little girls, breaking free from Cocolia's grip was utterly impossible.
An leaned against the door, crossing her arms with a malicious smile.
"You two big idiots, just enjoy yourselves properly!"
That's right, just enjoy the changes in Cocolia Mama! She had been the only one forced to endure this enthusiasm for the past few days, and as fellow members of Cocolia Orphanage, how could she let those two escape the same fate?
"Tch!"
Yet, as An looked at Cocolia's radiant smile full of doting fondness and delight, her own smile suddenly vanished.
What is this, she literally said I was her favorite daughter this morning, what a big liar!
An patted her cheeks with both hands, shook her head, and forcefully shook off her inexplicable little moodiness.
Cocolia held the two bundled-up girls as if holding a pair of top-tier mascots, and while rubbing and kissing them, she could fully feel the smoothness and warmth of their cheeks.
Her fondness from the past life, the residual memories and emotions of the original Cocolia, and the natural cuteness of the two girls combined, leaving the current Cocolia utterly out of her mind with joy, like she had hit the jackpot.
"Ah! Why are there such cute kids? Mama loves you to death! Let's kiss again, muwah! Muwah! Muwah!"
"Thud!"
Just as Cocolia was about to lose control, An's small fist struck her on the head.
"Mama, that's about enough, you're going to scare them to tears!"
An said with her hands on her hips and an exhausted heart.
It wasn't that she had grown soft toward the two little idiots who usually liked to pick fights with her; it was simply that with Bronya absent right now, An was the eldest daughter of the household, and when Mama started getting unreliable, she still had to shoulder some responsibility.
Cocolia calmed down, released the cute little ones in her arms, rubbed her head, and pouted with dissatisfaction:
"One and all, you haven't even grown up yet and you're already starting to disobey. Clearly I'm the Mama!"
"If you're Mama then act a little more mature! Right now you look like a pervert addicted to huffing little girls!"
"I don't care! It's everyone's first time being human, why should I have to be more mature? I'm going to huff them, I'm going to, I'm going to!"
An Cocolia Kiana sat on the floor unhappily, kicking her legs about and uttering entirely willful remarks.
"Thud!"
Using her most practiced violent methods, An brought the mother-daughter dispute to an end.
She rubbed her reddened little fist and looked to the side, only to see Rosaliya and Liliya huddled together in utter helplessness.
QAQ! ×2
A dinner marked by Cocolia's one-sided and overwhelmingly enthusiastic passion finally passed.
Afterwards, taking advantage of Cocolia going off to wash the dishes, Rosaliya and Liliya forcefully dragged An into a corner. The three of them squatted down together and began chatting.
Rosaliya: "Is Mama sick?"
Liliya: "I think she might have been driven out of her mind because Big Sis Bronya ran away from home, so her brain broke."
An: "I don't know... Anyway, after a trip to the frontline base, she suddenly turned into that exact state. The moment she sees me she insists on hugging and kissing me, and at night she insists on sleeping with me. She's practically like a completely different person."
An felt that the issue didn't have much to do with Bronya. She had a pretty clear understanding of the lead-up and aftermath of Bronya's departure, and she hadn't noticed anything unusual about Cocolia during that time. Still, these serious matters were irrelevant to the blockheaded Aileen sisters; at the very least, neither Cocolia nor Bronya would want the two of them to know, so she simply brushed it aside.
In any case, An was also searching for the reason behind Cocolia's change.
Rosaliya and Liliya exchanged glances, and the sisters worked their dim little brains to the absolute limit.
Suddenly, Rosaliya's eyes lit up as she raised a finger and declared:
"I get it! Whenever a woman suddenly changes, it must be because she's fallen in love!"
... ×2
An stared at her own fist, clenching and releasing it, releasing and clenching it, feeling deeply ashamed of herself for having held even a momentary glimmer of expectation toward Rosaliya just now.
With a deadpan expression, Liliya squatted and scooted two steps to the side, silently putting some distance between herself and Rosaliya.
Completely oblivious to her sisters' reactions, Rosaliya simply tilted her nose up triumphantly and said with utter confidence:
"That's how it always goes in cartoons! No matter how powerful, cold, or proud a heroine is, the moment she falls in love, she instantly turns foolish and gentle! So there's no doubt about it, the reason Mama suddenly turned into that state is definitely because she's fallen in love!"
An looked up and down at Rosaliya, who was basking in self-satisfaction over uncovering the "truth," and then shifted her position as well, crowding together with Liliya while pulling out a tablet.
"My guess is that the problem still lies over at the frontline base, so I pulled up a lot of related intelligence. From the conclusion, everything else is completely normal, and the only special part is that a soldier met with Mama late at night, and the two of them stayed alone in the room for the entire night. However, whatever happened in between was blocked off by Mama, so nobody knows what the two of them talked about."
"So the problem is with this person? Kuerla Endrabid, a big sis we've never heard of at all."
The two whispered and discussed, yet they couldn't spot anything amiss from Kuerla's photo and resume either.
Just then, Rosaliya popped up behind the two of them, resting her hands on their shoulders.
"Ho ho! This is the proof right here! A lone woman and a widow—wait, a lone woman and another woman stayed alone together for an entire night, and afterwards Mama turned into that look, plus this Kuerla looks quite pretty... They're definitely in love!"
Rosaliya nodded repeatedly, deeply convinced of her own deduction. As for why two women could also get involved in a romance, this was not the least bit strange in their eyes. Cocolia Orphanage contained no male organisms, nor had it ever taught them common knowledge about men and women; in the minds of these little girls, romance was simply a relationship of flirtatious banter, and gender was a point they wouldn't pay attention to at all.
However, An and Liliya had already relegated Rosaliya to the status of a non-existent entity.
Liliya: "I think we should just find a time to ask Mama directly. If it's something she can tell us, she won't keep it from us."
An: "I think so too. Besides, I've also been trying to contact this Kuerla lately. Anyway, let's figure out as much as possible what happened to Mama, otherwise seeing her like this makes me feel a bit worried."
The two of them smoothly exchanged opinions, discussing how to track down the truth amidst Rosaliya's occasional naive interjections.
Chapter 32: Theresa Joins the Journey Too
At the kitchen doorway, Cocolia leaned one hand against the door frame, watching the girls huddled together in the corner with a gentle smile in her eyes.
Hey hey hey, get this straight, you aren't actually their Cocolia Mama!
Why not? The protection and care Cocolia could give them, I can give. The closeness and affection Cocolia couldn't give them, I can give as well. Why can't I be their Cocolia Mama?
...I always feel like that's just self-deception. From a realistic standpoint, we're actually their enemies—our hands stained with the blood of their mothers.
Just don't say it out until then. Anyway, we'll keep using this identity of Cocolia until the day she "dies." I really like them, and I have the confidence to keep being their Cocolia Mama.
Fine, self-deception it is then. Let's just treat it as all Cocolia's fault.
Well, who could resist the super cute Vodka Sisters and An?
Cocolia's death was deserved, but as for the matter of deceiving them, we can only work hard from now on to let them find happiness.
There's no such thing as a flawless perfection in this world; we're all adults now, don't be childish.
The Anqis conversed back and forth, pushing aside the moral dilemmas that couldn't be sorted out and reaching a consensus that An Cocolia Kiana would continue to be a good mother.
Come to think of it though, every single body I've ever possessed in my life was actually a virgin, how did I suddenly get upgraded to a seasoned mother?
Cocolia's mouth twitched slightly; the most over-the-top thing she had ever pulled off up to now was nothing more than generating electricity by herself, and as for anything deeper, she had zero experience regardless of whether it involved men or women.
At this thought, the Anqis simultaneously felt a wave of profound sorrow.
Cocolia Anqi, Young Lady Anqi, this is St. Freya Anqi, come in, please reply!
Huh? What's going on?
Oh, Theresa has shown up, huh?
What a great opportunity! Then next up is the Young Lady's stage!
Rewinding time back five minutes.
In the Japanese tatami ryokan room, an extravagantly priced and pathetically portioned seafood sushi feast was laid out before the five Anqis.
Kiana's hands were moving at a speed that was almost a blur, rapidly stuffing food into her mouth and eating with great relish. Although the portion of each individual dish was tiny, the total number of dishes was large, so it could still sustain this kind of consumption from her.
"It's not as good... chew chew... as Mei's... chew chew... cooking... chew chew... but outside we shouldn't demand... chew chew... such high standards..."
The ahoge atop the little white-haired head was happily swaying left and right, yet she still didn't forget to uphold Raiden Mei's lofty status in her heart.
—Referring to her status as the supreme homemaker.
Raiden Mei let out a soft chuckle, feeling somewhat embarrassed by the praise. As she watched Kiana eating with gusto, those pale purple eyes rippled with an overwhelmingly doting and tender glow.
Bronya sought guidance from Raiden Mei on proper dining etiquette.
"Big Sis Mei, is this how you use wasabi and soy sauce?"
"That's right, Bronya did a wonderful job. But if you really want to strive for perfection, you can lower your elbows a bit to form an elegant arc between your wrists and the backs of your hands... like this."
Raiden Mei demonstrated the dining posture with poise and elegance, gently covering her lips with one hand and making slight chewing motions with her jaw, as if every single pore of hers was radiating an air of refined, cultured nobility.
One could only say she was truly worthy of being the Queen of the Raiden family, a daughter of the native aristocratic samurai of the Far East, whose attention to etiquette was simply an eye-opener for everyone present.
Looking at their expressions of wonder or admiration, Raiden Mei smiled shyly and said:
"Alright, these are just weird formalities that you never actually use in daily life. As long as you eat happily, you don't need to mind them."
The onlookers immediately nodded.
Indeed, they were Valkyries fighting against Honkai, not high-society debutantes dedicated to marrying into wealthy families; they didn't need these overly fussy rituals.
As long as it wasn't Kiana's wild boar-rooting-for-truffles demeanor, anything else was fine.
"Sigh..."
At that moment, curled up in Himeko's soft embrace, Anqi let out a listless sigh.
Before you continue