Stigma Effect

Proofreader: kuroneko_chan

She did what Baraha wanted. And as she had done what he told her to do, so this time it was Baraha’s turn to give her the answer.

Yuriel approached Baraha and asked a question.

“Is there a reason I have to hide my gun, Baraha?”

Baraha stroked his wavy hair and looked down, pretending not to hear Yuriel’s question.

“What’s going on? You have to tell me so I can prepare myself.”

His half-closed eyelids made his expression helpless and languid.

He was thoughtless, helpless, and sometimes negligent enough to appear to have given up on life, but he wasn’t really that stupid.

The reason he taught her how to assemble the gun and even asked to hide it was probably because there was something to do with it.

That has always been what he had done.

For him, it doesn’t matter if he lives or dies, and in the end, he helps her. Just like he did when she left Mogris Estate and was reunited in the Alchemy Tower. When Yuriel was in a really dangerous situation, he stepped forward as if he had no choice.

She couldn’t seem to figure out what he was thinking beyond that stupid looking expression.

Yuriel evaluated Baraha in her heart. It was a rather harsh evaluation.

While Yuriel was thinking about him, Baraha mumbled with his eyes closed.

“… I, can’t… .”

“Huh?”

A muffled voice came back as an answer. Yuriel, who didn’t hear properly, tilted her head, and he responded by drooping over the desk.

She poked Baraha in the back, who had fallen on the desk, but there was no response.

“Baraha, wake up. Get up.”

Yuriel tormented Baraha until he responded. The response came when there was a knock on Yuriel’s door.

Baraha jumped to his feet when he heard a knock on the door.

“Go away, Yuriel. I will open it.”

He said sharply as he grabbed Yuriel’s shoulder and headed straight for the door.

It was a sensitive tone, as if he had seen an explosive. In fact, even when he was in the middle of a pile of explosives, he still had the attitude of a laid-back person.

Yuriel, seeing his sensitive attitude for the first time, retreated nervously.

Who is the knocking person that made Baraha react like that?

Yuriel hid behind Baraha’s back and grabbed the hem of his robe. The back of Baraha’s hand as he opened the door flinched for a moment.

“Baraha, won’t you open it?”

“… I’ll open it.”

She gripped the hem of his robe tightly, and asked. Baraha slowly turned the doorknob. In the sunny atmosphere, she could hear a loud noise that she would normally not care about.

The sound of turning the doorknob and the sound of the door opening slowly followed.

The door opened, and Yuriel, who saw the knocking person, let out a small scream and grabbed Baraha’s hem more strongly.

“Hello, Miss Yuriel.”

The knight bowed his head and greeted in a hard tone. He didn’t seem to have confirmed that it was not Yuriel who opened the door with his head bowed.

The knight slowly raised his head, confirmed that the person in front of him was Baraha, not Yuriel, and blinked his eyes.

“Obviously, I heard that this is Miss Yuriel’s room, but why is Sir Baraha together… . Ah.”

The Princess’ knight looked at Baraha’s face and spoke curiously. Looking at Baraha with puzzled eyes, the knight then looked meticulously at Yuriel who was hiding behind Baraha.

The knight’s eyes quickly scanned Yuriel’s room.

The desk, which was in a dizzying state from assembling and disassembling her gun, and the knight who checked Yuriel’s attire, which was a bit disheveled by hiding the disassembled gun, shook his head slightly as if understanding.

He said calmly, as if he would pretend he didn’t see anything even though he knew.

“According to the Princess’ order, I have come to bring Miss Yuriel to the Princess. If you need time to prepare, I will wait in the hallway.”

The Princess’ loyal knight said so and naturally closed the door.

He closed the door without even giving Yuriel time to answer. As the knight’s figure disappeared, Yuriel shook Baraha’s body with a pale face and said,

“Why is the Princess calling for me? Is she calling me to the Imperial Palace? What should I do, should I follow him?”

“Wait, calm down. It’s a little….”

Baraha’s body shook at the strong hand. The tone that had stood stiff suddenly returned to a tone that was slow and unreliable. Facing his dry attitude, Yuriel said, thinking she would never let Baraha go.

Being alone with a princess who seems insane. She would rather be tortured by Helio.

Yuriel grabbed Baraha’s arm and said desperately.

“I can never go alone. Come with me, Baraha.”

Baraha simply twisted Yuriel’s wrist. Yuriel’s hand gently slid away from him as his long fingers twisted her wrist.

Baraha removed Yuriel’s hand and opened the door.

The knight stood stiffly, a little away from the door. However, upon closer inspection, he was not alone. The Princess’ knights whom Yuriel had been avoiding were lined up all over the hallway.

She felt that they did say they were going to take her, but if she refused, they looked willing to take her by force.

Seeing the knights of strong physique lined up in the hallway, fear flooded her.

Lord Raphlet is busy with the festival right now, so she can’t contact him right away….

Even if she left a letter to Raphlet, he would only be able to check it late at night. When he hears that the Princess has taken Yuriel, he would come right away, but meanwhile she has no idea what the Princess would do.

And now she had the core Shudmuel asked her to keep….

Yuriel wept as she looked at Baraha, who didn’t say anything.

“Baraha, are you going to leave me?”

Seeing that the door opened without any answer to her plea to accompany her, it was clear that Baraha did not want to be involved in the troublesome work.

She could see him handing her over to the Princess’ knights and walking down the hallway with a timid gait.

“… I won’t leave you, so please calm down.”

“Really?”

Yuriel, who had her arms down and crying, smiled happily at the answer he gave.

“Are you going with me?”

“Yes.”

When asked by holding Baraha’s arm again, he answered quietly, this time without letting go of her arm.

Baraha, who slowly raised his head, asked the Princess’ knight.

“What is the Princess calling Yuriel for?”

“She said Miss Yuriel will know when she meets her. It’s been a long time since she’s seen Miss Yuriel’s face, and she just wants to meet her.”

It was a tone that seemed to imply an old friend who wanted to see her.

The knight maintained his respectful attitude and said,

“If Miss Yuriel goes with Sir Baraha, she will be very happy.”

At the words of the knight inviting Baraha together, Yuriel sighed in relief.

Immediately after dealing with Raphlet, who had been poisoned by the monster at the Princess’ banquet, she was relieved to remember what Baraha had said.

He said he was thinking of taking her out if it seemed dangerous.

Although she bluntly replied that she didn’t believe it, she knew that Baraha kept his promises. Baraha will help her when a dangerous moment arises.

Yuriel, who nodded in relief, remembered the monster core she had left on the bedside and shouted.

“Oh, then wait a minute! Wait for me!”

Shudmuel told her to carry it with her when she left the room….

Yuriel ran into the room and shoved the box containing the monster core into the pocket of her uniform. Baraha asked, squinting his eyes.

“What is that?”

“Ah, this is a monster…. No, I’ll tell you later.”

Yuriel, who was about to tell Baraha about the core, looked at the knight in front of her and bit her mouth.

She’ll just have to tell Baraha a little later.

“I’ll guide you when you’re ready.”

After confirming the preparations, the knight guided the two to the Princess.

***

“Yuriel! Don’t you think it’s too much for me that you haven’t shown your face once in a while?”

“Pri, Princess?”

“I didn’t even get presents. I’m sad.”

Yuriel, who was called in front of the Princess, froze as she was embraced by the Princess, who rushed to her. The Princess, who was taller than Yuriel, was wearing shoes with heels today.

The Princess with a slim body that looked just like the knights around them hugged Yuriel’s body and greeted her fiercely.

“Princess, your hand….”

A slender arm tightened Yuriel’s waist.

“And you can call me Ithaca.”

“Miss It….”

“Don’t be like that. You have to show yourself confidently according to your abilities. Say it again.”

“Miss Ithaca.”

The Princess who tightened her arms with force, as if she was dissatisfied with Yuriel calling her a princess, said sternly. Yuriel answered with a crawling voice despite the Princess’ determined attitude.

Hearing her droopy voice, the Princess spoke in a stricter tone.

When Yuriel spoke in a correct voice, she smiled like a fairy, as if she was satisfied only then. She had a face that looked like she saw a toy working properly.

“Yes, that’s much better. Call me like that from now on. But why didn’t you receive my gift? Don’t you like my knights? I pride myself on them being good.”

The Princess who released Yuriel said with a dismayed face.