So it appears that I was wrong to worry about Collin being manipulative, as it seems Riko is actively trying to manipulate Mary...This poor girl just can't catch a break can she...?

THE PARALLELS BETWEEN THE FOURTH AND 11TH PAGE ARE DEVASTATING!

The way Collins facial expressions when greeting her father are very subdued—small even! There's not a hint of light in that poor girls eyes! HELL! The whole page is covered in shadow—so dark you can't really make out the details! The bottom panel is long and thinner compared to the bottom panels in page 11. And once again, everything is shrouded in darkness. The scene feels kinda drawn out and cramped.

Now compare it to when she greats Mary! She shouts out her name, big smile, eyes wide and sparkly with highlights. The whole page is covered in light, you can clearly make out details. There are three panels at the bottom that follow in quick succession.

With her father the world is dark, cramped, interactions are too long, you can't truly see the details. And with Mary the world is bright, fast, everything is clear and pretty.

But thanks to you, everyday is like Spring: Filled with so much warmth and happiness

YOU CAN LITERALLY SEE IT IN THE PAGES AND NOT JUST THE ONES I'VE MENTIONED! MY HEART, SOMEONE PLEASE KILL THAT MAN—DEATH BY A THOUSAND CUTS!

As ShadowEdge put it:

Colin truly believes that her dad loves her. And maybe he does, in his own sick and twisted way. We don't know. Maybe he believes that is the "right" way to love. And maybe now she too thinks that's the right way to love, she loves Mary the same way that daddy loves her.

And that's where I believe is the point the story is trying to get. It's not uncommon for abused children to become abusive adults. And where is the point where someone stops being a victim?

What if the direction the series goes in is Colin falling in love with Mary and then abusing her bc that was how her father showed his own affection towards her?

That would be absolutely fuuucked

We've already seen examples of this sadly

She'd found Pii-Chan awhile before she actually gave the toy back to Mary, she kept it because she didn't want Mary to go. When Mary doesn't visit the garden for one day her immediate reaction is violent—she pushes the other girl down— then tries to guilt her by calling her a liar and claiming she was going to give Pii-Chan back the day before. When Mary snaps back with the hypocrisy of calling her a liar she hits her were it hurts—pointing out her problems with her mother. Mary understandably gets upset at this and lashes out to which Colin immediately goes in with "But don't worry! I still love you!"

Which brings up another thing, she is constantly declaring her love for Mary—even before she really knows who she is (love bombing her in a sense). It's all very manipulative. She most likely doesn't even realize she's doing anything wrong—she's a child and her father probably uses these same tactics on her. She probably thinks these are normal behaviors when it comes to the people you love—as was previously pointed out.

(Sidenote: When Mary slaps her Colin doesn't look hurt, angry, or upset. She looks confused. Like internally she's going "What the–? Oh shit...oh shit that did not have the intended effect!")

Colin is already showing signs of being abusive/manipulative even if it's not purposeful. And Mary...Mary was the perfect victim. At this point She knows she's falling into something very bad but in her mind Colin is all she has—Colin is the the only person who loves her. What truly worries me is whether or not Colin's behavior is going to get worse...

So yeah...This is absolutely fucked...