Stigma Effect

“It’s been a while, Yuriel.”

“Madam… ?”

It was the Grand Duke’s wife, Raphlet’s mother, who opened the door. It was unbelievable that the one in modest outfit, who looked at Yuriel, and spoke with delight was the Mistress of this Grand Duchy.

The cheeks, the backs of the hands, and the shoes were all covered in soot.

She carelessly brushed off the hem of her clothes and motioned towards Yuriel, who was standing in the center of the room.

“I heard the story from Raphlet. Don’t worry too much. I know very well that you are not a child who will cause terrorism.”

“Madam.”

“It’s okay to stay here until the accusation is cleared. There are so many places to hide in Mogris.”

The Grand Duchess spoke in a light tone, as if trying to relieve Yuriel’s tension. Yuriel trembled at her gentle suggestion. Facing her favorable behavior, it became a realization that Yuriel had finally returned to her hometown.

The Grand Duchess approached with a warm smile as if she was Yuriel’s mother. The Grand Duchess grabbed the back of Yuriel’s hand, which was frozen.

The Grand Duchess’s fingers, who was immersed in alchemy, were rough from all the drugs she had touched. As she touched the back of Yuriel’s hand with her rough fingers, a strange smile appeared in her eyes.

“More than that… are you pregnant? It must be Raphlet’s child, right?”

As if longing for something, the blazing eyes turned to Yuriel. Seeing the terrifyingly twinkling eyes, Yuriel took a step back and tensed her hands.

Yuriel looked at the Grand Duchess’ face as her eyes lit up and she grabbed Yuriel’s hand. Yuriel’s anxious expression as she looked at the Grand Duchess was clearly conveyed to the other party.

Yuriel’s keen sense was such a famous story that after she departed for the imperial capital, it was still spoken of by the servants.

‘On days when Yuriel is anxious, a monster always appears.’

‘If you just looked closely at Yuriel’s expression, you could avoid the monster.’

The servants who were still staying in the Grand Duke’s residence where the monsters came out were talking as if reminiscing about the unfortunate past.

Seeing Yuriel unable to hide her anxious expression, the Grand Duchess spoke in a soothing tone.

“Why do you look so anxious? There’s no way monsters can come up here, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

The Grand Duchess said that because she knew Yuriel was always anxious before monsters appeared, but Yuriel knew that now even if she was engulfed in anxiety, monsters wouldn’t appear.

It was not the monsters where the anxiety comes from….

“Don’t worry about it, just tell me about your pregnancy.”

It was the Grand Duchess’ kind tone and attitude. It was slightly different from the supposed attitude of a noble, who noticed that her maid was pregnant with her son’s child.

She was waiting for Yuriel’s answer with an excited face.

“How many months is it?”

“About, about eight months….”

“Eight months! You’re not that full for that. At eight months, it should be almost right before childbirth, but what is this…. Is it okay if I touch you?”

As she murmured, she asked, reaching out her hand to Yuriel’s stomach. She had already touched Yuriel anyway so Yuriel’s answer was useless.

“I also had a hard time giving birth to Raphlet. I’m sure you do too. That child…. He’s a special child.”

The Grand Duchess said with a faint smile. Yuriel caught her gaze on the lips with a strange smile.

As absurd as it may sound, in Yuriel’s eyes, the Grand DUchess did not seem very different from the alchemists who were plagued by a frenzied lust for experiments.

She led Yuriel as she smiled faintly with a blunt face similar to that of Raphlet’s.

“Come with me.”

“Yes?”

“I’ll tell you why you are in this state.”

Yuriel was led outside and left the room. Going down the floor Raphlet was using, she passed the floors with the other rooms, and the places with the spacious halls.

“Here is… ”

The place the Grand Duchess was going to enter was a cellar where no one was allowed to enter except the Grand Ducal couple and Raphlet.

As she went down the stairs that gave off a quiet atmosphere, a firmly closed door appeared. In the basement, where no light enters at all, a lamp made of magic stone was illuminating the way.

It was a hallway that felt like a way into the stomach of a monster.

A gloomy hallway that was difficult to see even an inch ahead unless the only entrance and exit, where the magic stones were lit. It looked like a very awkward place, but it had a strange coziness.

Yuriel, following the Grand Duchess, slowly descended the stairs and looked at the place with curious eyes.

“Yuriel, come in.”

The Grand Duchess urged Yuriel, who had been preoccupied with the cold marble sculpture engraved with words. Chill and bright light streamed from the half-open door.

The inside was not visible.

Yuriel hesitated and approached the Grand Duchess’s side. As she entered the half-open door, a bright light irritated her eyes. The Grand Duchess said while waiting for Yuriel with her eyes tightly closed.

“You can’t even imagine how happy I am to have you with Raphlet’s child. It’s a good thing you are not a noble woman.”

“Madam.”

“There must be a reason why the fetus didn’t grow. Come on, this way.”

“… That’s a monster.”

Yuriel, who slowly opened her eyes, looked at the reagent bottles that filled the room, the tools she didn’t know, and the small-sized monsters in the bottles filled with liquid and took a deep breath.

1 month, 2 months, 3 months…. Under the bottle were the Grand Ducal couple’s writings and an uncorrupted monster was encased in a small bottle.

Goosebumps rose by its resemblance to a human fetus.

The Grand Duchess, seeing Yuriel hesitated, let out a long sigh.

“Yuriel.”

A sharp voice came out as if rebuking Yuriel for hesitating.

“I’ll explain that slowly from now on, so come on over.”

At the sound of her annoyed voice, Yuriel shrunk her shoulders and approached her, asking the question carefully.

“By the way, where is Lord Raphlet? I woke up and couldn’t see him….”

“He is talking to my husband. Raphlet is trying to convince him that he should not let you stay here.”

“Ah….’

“Sit down.”

The Grand Duchess ordered. Sitting in the chair that she was pointing at, Yuriel noticed that it was from this place where the dark shards and liquids smeared at the Grand Duchess’ hem.

The Grand Duchess, who took Yuriel’s face with one of her hands and turned her neck to check her face, said with a frown.

“Your face color isn’t bad, so why didn’t the fetus grow up?”

“Does it have anything to do with the color of my face?”

“When was the last time you had a relationship with Raphlet?”

“… I think I heard the question wrong. What did you just say… ”

Yuriel stuttered with a stiff smile. When the Grand Duchess asked the question in an awkward tone, she turned around as if she didn’t need an answer.

“No, this is fine. I have to tell you something more important than that.”

“Ah yes.”

Yuriel sighed in relief at her firm answer.

The Grand Duchess picked up a small orb that had been laying around like litter from her desk and shoved it into what appeared to be an experimental device.

“That….”

“It’s the monster core. You’ve seen it before, right? Put this here….”

As the Grand Duchess manipulated her tools, a terrifyingly sharp piercing sound leaked from between the device.

It was so sharp that it sounded like a scream. As Yuriel furrowed her brow, the Grand Duchess who saw it, smiled as if seeing something funny.

“You do too. I hated hearing this when I was pregnant with Raphlet too.”

Looking at the terrified Yuriel, she opened the device. It seems that it was a device to destroy the core. A shattered core was revealed.

“I’ve heard it’s very difficult to break that size. And it was worth a lot of money….”

Seeing the little marbles rolling on the desk, Yuriel’s words trailed off into the air. Things that were considered precious in the Imperial Capital were just rolling around like rubbish here.

The Grand Duchess didn’t seem interested in Yuriel’s words. Ignoring Yuriel’s murmur, she slowly retrieved the fragmented core.

The Grand Duchess, who had picked out the fragmented pieces, spoke in a low tone.

“Have you ever wondered what is the reason for you being in that state for eight months?”

Without waiting for Yuriel’s reply, she spoke without a break.

“It’s because Raphlet isn’t a normal human being. That child is a special monster.”

“What….”

“If it’s the same as when I had Raphlet, then your child needs monster cores to grow up.”

The Grand Duchess held out one of the fragments to Yuriel.

“Here, if you really have Raphlet’s child, nothing would happen if you eat it.”

The blood drained from Yuriel’s face. Yuriel saw what happened to the knight’s body part that had been implanted with the fragments of the monster core.

Surprised, Yuriel tilted her body from the chair and looked up. She could see a face with a gloomy desire for experimentation.

She couldn’t believe the words that flowed out of the Grand Duchess’ mouth and the hand holding out the fragment of the monster core.

Instead of accepting the fragment the Grand Duchess handed over, Yuriel flapped her lips, drained of blood.

“Lord Raphlet is not a normal human… a monster, what do you mean? No, no matter how, Madam can’t insult Lord Raphlet like that… !”

Yuriel shouted with courage, but the laughter that came back was bizarre. The Grand Duchess said with a cool smile.

“What do you mean by an insult. That child is my masterpiece. How can I insult the most perfect child I have ever created?”

Seeing the unreasonable expression, Yuriel felt that she had to leave this place immediately. The moment she got up from her chair in a hurry, the Grand Duchess’s hand wrapped around Yuriel’s arm.