Stigma Effect

The Grand Duchess gave Yuriel the key so she could enter the cellar at any time.

“If you need a core when I’m away, you can take it out of this drawer and use it.”

It was a light attitude as if to bring out some refreshments. Yuriel nodded her head as she looked at the Grand Duchess’ face, who looked as excited as Yuriel when she thought about the day she would have a child.

“The important explanation is over, so you can go up. I have more to organize, so you can go back first.”

“Will I run into someone else?”

“There is a set time for the servants to come here. It’s fine now, so you can go up.”

After finishing her words, the Grand Duchess waved her hand towards Yuriel as if to go quickly. Yuriel’s head was busy as she climbed the stairs, leaving the Grand Duchess in a frenzied lust for exploration.

It was fortunate to find out the cause of the fetus not growing.

The only problem was that it was the Grand Duchess who provided the information, and that she and the Grand Duke were so engrossed in knowledge of alchemy that they gave birth to Raphlet using the monster’s core.

It was a fact Yuriel had known for a long time that the Grand Duke and his wife had not shown Raphlet the affection that parents should have shown to their children. The thought of educating and observing Raphlet was an overshadowed affection of the Grand Duke and his wife.

They were really just observing Raphlet.

There was no way for such people to let Yuriel’s child grow up freely.

The Grand Duchess’s satisfied voice, who said that she did not know how fortunate it was for Yuriel to be a commoner and not a woman of a noble family, crossed Yuriel’s mind.

Her satisfaction must have meant that Yuriel would be comfortable having her child observed at will.

Yuriel, who was terrified, thought as she rubbed her cold body.

There was not just one thing to worry about.

It was very disturbing to hear that the high priests knew.

They knew that someone was born with the power of a monster in Mogris Estate.

Although they reported that it did not live long and died, the priests would surely focus on Raphlet’s birth if they were to find out that Raphlet was not the saint.

Raphlet was safe because they accepted him having a core implant while actually harboring a monster, but when they found out that the healthy person was not the saint after the core transplants….

By the way, if Lord Raphlet was not the saint, what does it mean to be a monster?

Yuriel, who continued to think while swiping her arm, let out a low sigh. An intense shiver ran through her body at the realization that cut through her thoughts like a thunderbolt.

“Ah….”

A passage from the prophetic book she had seen a long time ago popped into her head like a passage she had just read.

The saint will come to Albraka himself….

Yuriel went to Albraka herself in search of Raphlet.

“No.”

The one who possesses the monster.

There, she became pregnant, and the child she had was the child of Raphlet, whom the Grand Duchess called a monster.

“That can’t be true.”

Her head tingled as if she had been hit with a blunt weapon. Yuriel staggered and leaned against the wall. Before long, she had arrived in front of Raphlet’s room.

Yuriel was unaware that she had stopped while looking at Raphlet’s room, and then she came to her senses.

She could see the bedroom Raphlet had been using, but couldn’t get into it.

Power drained from her body that was leaning against the wall. Unlike her weak legs, her heart was beating fast. Her head felt dizzy because of her heart beating so loud that it was painful.

Yuriel sat down on the floor and her breath was choking.

I can’t be the saint. The saint is a special person like Lord Raphlet….

She tried to calm down, but she hardly could ever calmed down.

… She could predict the monster’s appearance. There were times when she even predicted movement.

When she tried to forcefully push the facts that she had recognized once, the thought that she might be the saint grew like a snowball.

Before the monsters appeared, she remembered having nightmares. It was immediately after she became pregnant with Raplet’s child that her abilities completely disappeared.

She could only think that it had something to do with the monster.

If Lord Raphlet isn’t the saint, and I really am the saint. Was there any chance of getting caught?

No. Only Helio and Shudmuel know that she was pregnant. They don’t know that Raphlet has anything to do with monsters.

It’s ok, no need to worry. She wasn’t even sure that she was the saint in the first place.

Yuriel sighed and thought so.

She took a deep breath while pressing her palms against her chest, which was beating so fast that the blood vessels passing through her neck, temples, and thin skin were pounding, and then she got up.

Since there was no way the High Priest could tell the story she heard from the Madam to Helio or Shudmuel, it would be fine…. Wait, Shudmuel… !

Just when she stood up with her shoulders against the wall, she saw Raphlet’s door open. Raphlet’s face hardened as he left the door.

He harshly opened the door and came out to find Yuriel leaning against the wall.

His hardened face softened for a moment, then cooled again. Raphlet saw Yuriel holding her body and opened his mouth.

“I was worried because I couldn’t find you in the room. Where have you been?”

“… The Madam called. I just went to talk for a while.”

Raphlet approached, grabbed Yuriel’s arm and raised his eyebrows.

Yuriel felt the need to tell Raphlet what the Grand Duchess had told him, but she could hardly speak. A brief answer to his question was all Yuriel could do now.

The moment she woke up, the thoughts that passed through her burned Yuriel’s insides.

Shudmuel knows it. Shudmuel is the illegitimate son of the High Priest… !

The person closest to the High Priest was Shudmuel.

Shudmuel seemed to have contempt for the High Priest, but the High Priest did not. Even if they had only met once, Yuriel noticed that the High Priest had affection for Shudmuel.

If it were the High Priest, he seemed to have given Shudmuel the information he knew.

It would be, if not immediately.

The Grand Duchess said that she did not believe in God, and she showed no deep interest in prophecy. She ridiculed those who believed in prophecies and was superstitious about the existence of the saint.

Even if she knew all the information, to the Grand Duchess, things about saints and prophecies were not worth considering.

It doesn’t matter if the Madam finds out about it. When she finds out Yuriel was the saint, she’ll try to kill her…. However, Shudmuel….

If it was Shudmuel, he would try to use Raphlet the same way he used Yuriel. He was a terrorist hiding in Albraka.

Knowing that Raphlet wasn’t the saint, he would be the one who would try to destroy the core that Raphlet had also implanted in.

“Yuriel, can’t you walk? Let me know if you have any discomfort. Did Mother ever ask you a strange question or things?”

Raphlet asked while holding Yuriel’s arm. It seemed that he was worried about Yuriel’s condition, who could not take a single step.

Yuriel tried not to show her anxiety and forcibly adjusted her expression. After biting hard on the inside of her cheek, she was able to answer in a plausible voice.

She needs to make up her mind and find a way to keep Raphlet from being found out that he’s not the saint.

“No, what Madam said was that I should be comfortable here.”

Raphlet looked carefully at Yuriel’s body, as if he did not believe her. It was evident that he also did not have much faith in the Grand Duchess.

His gaze was keen to see if the Grand Duchess had done any harm to Yuriel.

“Mother is very interested in your pregnancy. If she asks for something strange….”

“It’s not really like that, but my back hurts. Lord Raphlet, I have a bruise here.”

Yuriel raised her jacket and said so. Raphlet stopped talking when he saw the bruised waist on. Raphlet let out a low sigh as he saw the traces of him gripping her tightly with his fingers still remain.

“I’m sorry I hurt you.”

“I said it could be dangerous, but you did too much.”

Yuriel pouted her lips.

Looking back on their affair that time, there were many dangerous moments. Forcibly grabbing her waist and forcefully inserting himself.

“Never do that again, okay?”

“… I’m sorry.”

Raphlet blurted his words vaguely. Not giving a clear answer made her think that he would demand a stronger affair again.

＊＊＊

As Yuriel thought, Raphlet had a rough s*x with her that night.

When having s*x with him, there was no room to delve into thoughts about prophecy, Shudmuel and the Grand Duchess, and monsters.

Although she wanted to have a conversation with him about monsters, it was difficult for her to get a chance to talk with Raphlet. He seemed reluctant to talk to Yuriel.

A few days passed and the news that this year’s subjugation was over, but Raphlet did not return to Albraka.

“Lord Raphlet, I think it would be better for you to go back to Albraka.”

Yuriel’s uneasy comments were not accepted. The Grand Ducal couple revealed their greed for Yuriel’s pregnancy, and Raphlet acted as if he had no regrets for Albraka.

Yuriel, who was watching him, dried up inside.

The sensitive daily life, as if walking on thin ice, continued.

When she realized that the child’s time seemed to have moved again, Yuriel heard the news that Albraka’s pursuit team had arrived at the Mogris estate.