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“Remi!” she repeated happily, and I thought how ridiculous the name sounded, yet it didn’t bother me as much as I’d expected.

“Mina.” I replied. The second her name escaped my lips, the truth struck me: the vast void within me could be filled by just four letters:

Mina. Real. Or even… Remi.

So sweet.

So disastrous.

☾

I finished the butterfly design in one week.

Now I was scared.

Scared that Mina wouldn’t like it.

Which was very illogical. Until now, I had executed every task given to me with perfection; no one had ever found fault in my work. I was engineered to be flawless, distinct from a normal human being. As reliable and precise as a machine.

But a strange impulse stirred inside me. I was curious. What would happen if she didn’t like it? How would she react? I didn’t want her to turn her back on me, but a part of me wondered what it actually meant to disappoint someone.

What did it feel like to fall short in someone’s eyes?

Would anyone still hold respect for me if I was not perfect?

Mina. She would. She was simply so full of love.

I arrived home just as her miserable father was leaving. The man shot me a sour, contemptuous glare before stepping out into the street. I watched him go, my jaw clenched. I hadn’t witnessed him resort to physical violence yet, but his cold neglect toward his daughter was blatantly clear.

The familiar symphony of destruction echoed through my mind once more, but the mere thought of Mina anchored my frayed nerves. I couldn’t fathom how she managed it, but just imagining her always brought sense of peace washing over me.

My new master was so… peculiar.

I went up to her room, wearing my usual calm face, yet my heart was racing. Swallowing hard, I climbed the stairs with the butterfly hidden behind me. There was no need for me to be tense; after all, Mina was already being friendly. Very friendly. She constantly showered me with soft kisses, gentle cuddles, and always telling me how cool I was and how lucky she was to have me.

Everything about her… was too much to handle.

She had a personality as sweet as Penelope’s—maybe even more annoying—but something was different. With each passing day, I grew more nervous around her. It wasn’t the familiar dread of my mother’s stern gaze, nor the weight of disappointment when Penelope looked at me expectantly.

This was alien. I had nothing in my past to compare it to. It left me completely disoriented. I was lost, and perhaps, deeply afraid. Someone, something, was confusing me.

So exciting.

When I went inside, Mina, who was lying on her bed, stopped staring at the ceiling, and glanced at the door. Her face lit up, and a big smile formed on her lips.

“Remi! You’re early today! I missed you so much!”

She rushed to embrace me, and my eyes were already closed. Mina Olind was always like this. Although I was a little taken aback by so much physical contact at first, if I wanted to finish this task, I had to bear with it.

“I brought you something.”

Her gaze dropped to my palm. She clapped her hands and bounced on her heels. “Is it what I think it is? Really, Remi? Really? Really?”

I parted my fingers, then held my breath. A golden butterfly emerged, its wings fluttering softly. Mina froze, then her mouth fell open, excitement washing over her face. I was wondering how she would react, but seeing this expression was worth it. If she was this happy over a silly butterfly toy… What if she knew I would give her the whole world?

Ask me for more. Everyone else does, why don’t you?

Ask me. Ask me. Be dependent on me.