Stigma Effect

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Yuriel was so bewildered that she was unable to express anything. Raphlet never talks in vain, so what he just said must be sincere.

Yuriel, who had hesitated without answering immediately, barely spoke.

“Uh….”

A moan that sounded like a choked throat.

She didn’t think it was some random words, but he was talking about going on vacation for a while, right? There’s no way that Raphlet would quit as a Commander, and her….

Confused by a remark she had never imagined, Yuriel concluded that he was not trying to leave Albraka completely.

In the first place, Albraka was a place where one left everything behind. It was not an easy thing to get out of.

This was the place where one became a priest if it became impossible to become a knight due to an injury during subjugation. They cannot choose to leave.

Yuriel, who licked her lips, looked at Raphlet and said.

“Are you saying you want to take a vacation? If the subjugation is over, it will be winter this year.”

At that time, she would have given birth to the child. Yuriel happily nodded her head.

Shudmuel told her to go somewhere else, but Yuriel was planning to go back to Mogris once she left the imperial capital. She knew everything about the Mogris Estate.

In that case, it was not difficult to find a place to stay away from people even by herself, and it was possible to find a midwife with a heavy mouth.

She had no intention of getting help from Shudmuel forever. She made up her mind to seek help from him only while here, in Albraka.

After her abilities disappeared, she was being paid monthly to work as Raphlet’s maid, even though she didn’t get a pay similar to that of the knights.

Here, she was able to survive for several years with just the money she had accumulated for one year.

After she had the child, when Raphlet returned to his hometown, she wanted to show him the child first.

The child in Raphlet’s arms would be the most adorable.

Would he hold it awkwardly? He’s good at everything, so he might be able to hold and raise the child skillfully.

Raphlet’s cool face tinged with affection came to mind as if painted on.

Yuriel nodded her head and answered.

“Okay, Lord Raphlet.”

Raphlet kissed Yuriel who smiled brightly after finishing her imagination. Yuriel laughed as she received the kiss that fell covering her eyes, cheeks, and forehead.

It was at that moment that Raphlet, who had leaned his body back and kissed Yuriel so that she would not fall backwards, spoke his words.

“I’m glad you like it. But there seems to be some misunderstanding. I’m not talking about taking a vacation.”

“… It’s not a vacation?”

“I’m going to quit.”

“Wait. Lord Raphlet.”

Her smiling face turned pale in an instant. Yuriel removed herself from Raphlet’s arms and looked at him.

Raphlet had a face that showed no hesitation. He only calmly held Yuriel’s arm as she stood up with his usual neat face.

Yuriel wondered if he knew that she was pregnant thus said something like this.

She looked at his face with a piercing eye to try to guess Raphlet’s heart, but all she got was his face was very beautiful even if looked closely.

Yuriel blushed as she looked at his mysterious face and stuttered a question.

“Wh, why?”

Raphlet answered, wrapping Yuriel’s cold fingers.

“I think the imperial capital doesn’t quite fit with you.”

“Yes?”

“After coming here, things keep happening. Monsters and humans, all of them only have a negative effect on you, so there’s no reason for me to stay here. I came here to keep you safe….”

Raphlet said, covering the cold fingers with his own.

Yuriel didn’t care whether he clenched her fingers or not.

It’s nonsense to say he would quit Albraka.

Giving up was not of his will. This was a place where only death was the honorable end.

Neither the wounded nor those who can no longer wield a sword due to their old age had any intention of leaving this place.

Partly because they could be a priest, but partly because life outside Albraka was terrible.

People admired the hero and at the same time had strict standards for them. Albraka’s paladins were heroes. They had to be more faithful than anyone else, so they decided to dedicate their lives to protecting people.

That was why they were worshiped.

If he left Albraka after breaking his pledge to protect those who stood behind him, he could not lead a peaceful life.

In the case of commoners, it was said that they were often killed for betraying the Temple. In the case of nobles, it was less violent, but it was correct to say that they could not lead a normal life.

It was impossible to take over the family, and in the worst case, the family did not accept them again.

Raphlet’s parents that Yuriel knew would have beaten him if Raphlet returned and said he had done something disgraceful.

“You, you can’t do that.”

Yuriel shook her head, grabbing Raphlet’s hand, which was holding her cold fingers.

Raphlet was the noblest of all.

Even before she knew about the prophecy, she thought so. To Yuriel, he was a being who should be in a higher place than anyone else. In order to protect his integrity, Yuriel even thought that it was okay to die in his place.

It was terrifying to even imagine that Raphlet would quit the Knights Order and be pointed at by people.

Yuriel, shaking her body and holding his hand, collapsed from the chair to his feet. She had lost strength in her body from the terrifying imaginations.

Seeing Yuriel collapse from weakness, Raphlet quickly got up. The chair was pushed back and tossed aside. No one paid any attention to the chair that had flipped with a loud noise.

“Yuriel, are you okay? Your body is not….”

“No, Master. You cannot leave Albraka.”

Raphlet moved his hand to pull Yuriel up from the floor, but Yuriel said without releasing her clenched hand. Hearing the hastily continued voice, Raphlet looked intently into her face.

He frowned, but did not stop Yuriel from speaking.

As he calmly listened to the confused-looking Yuriel, he followed her and lowered his body. When he knelt to make eye contact with Yuriel, who was sitting on the floor, Yuriel looked at him and was terribly surprised.

“You can’t sit on the floor!”

“But you can?”

“Yes, I am a servant!”

Yuriel shouted as if it was natural.

Raphlet let out a heavy sigh and sat down in front of Yuriel, bending one knee.

Seeing him with his knee on the floor, Yuriel got up. She couldn’t believe he had his knees bent in front of her. Raphlet was a man who should not have gotten to his knees.

Yuriel jumped up and struggled to get Raphlet up, but there was no way she could handle his strength as he sat down determinedly.

In the end, Yuriel, who gave up raising Raphlet, slumped down in front of him and anguished.

“Lord Raphlet, you can’t sit down like this.”

“Why?”

“Ma, Master is a precious person….”

Yuriel rubbed her lips in response. It felt like she wanted to smash the floor that touched Raphlet’s knee.

Raphlet did not move, whether he knew Yuriel’s radical thoughts or not. Watching him quietly looking at her face, Yuriel opened her mouth.

“You can’t leave Albraka. Even Master knows what happens when you leave…. Even if not, Master is the only one who even received a prophecy, so even moreso….”

“I see…. You knew of the prophecy.”

“Yes, because Sir Helio showed me the prophecy before.”

Raphlet, who had been quietly listening to the story, wrinkled his eyebrows.

He had no intention of telling Yuriel about the prophecy.

‘I should have prevented Commander Helio from showing Yuriel the prophecy.’

Raphlet felt displeased after a long time, and frowned his brow. He was still angry when he remembered Yuriel’s anxiety when he found out that the monster core had been implanted in him.

When Raphlet’s expression wrinkled, Yuriel shrunk her body, wondering what he had misunderstood.

She seemed to think he was angry with her .

With her body curled up, Yuriel spoke her words.

“I think the opposite. Lord Raphlet. Please reconsider.”

Even though she was very frightened, she let out a sigh as she spoke directly.

“I hated it when the Master said you would join Albraka, but now I know. The Master suits Albraka better than anyone. You are a noble saint.”

Raphlet sometimes thought that Yuriel’s feelings for him were excessive.

She was always like this, so he arbitrarily assumed that the feelings she had for him were not a love between the opposite sex.

Raphlet thought with a deep sigh as he looked at Yuriel who looked closer to worshiping a god.

He was not as virtuous as Yuriel thought he was.