Stigma Effect

Chapter 10 – Hierarchy

Translator: Skye Editor: thursdays PR: sj_myself

“If you tortured Yuriel, regardless of the reason, I’ll have you punished immediately.”

“I didn’t think you’d use your authority in this situation. Even if it’s you, don’t you think it’d be difficult for you if you punished me?”

Though she had been delighted by Raphlet’s appearance, Yuriel became startled by Helio’s words, as if his words had burned her.

She pulled on Raphlet’s clothes. Yuriel didn’t care whether Helio received punishment or not; she just didn’t want Raphlet to be troubled.

Raphlet’s body didn’t seem like it would budge, but it was easily pulled by Yuriel’s tug.

“No, that’s not it, Raphlet. I didn’t mean that he actually tortured me, I was just exaggerating a little. I meant that his way of questioning was like torture, so there’s no reason for you to get angry!”

Instead of answering, Raphlet turned and calmly examined Yuriel’s body. When he moved her hair to one side to expose her neck, Yuriel felt a strange feeling she couldn’t explain.

As a rough finger grazed the back of her neck for a split second while brushing back her hair, her whole body tingled but Yuriel could only fidget her fingers in front of him. Meanwhile, Raphlet carefully examined her entire body.

“…I see you’re unharmed,” he then said, sounding reassured when he saw no marks on her.

“Yes, I told you.”

Fortunately, Helio’s method of torture left no visible marks on her body. Though the pain was still vivid in her memory, there was nothing amiss in terms of her physical appearance.

Yuriel frowned slightly at Helio’s gaze that was locked on her but continued.

“Raphlet, did you hear that I might start working here?”

“I heard.”

“Even if you don’t give me your permission, I’m still going to stay here in Albraca. I’m sick and tired of hearing that you’ve gotten hurt through the newspaper.”

“I’ll start replying to your letters from now on, so please go back.”

“Then, does that mean you’ve been receiving my letters this entire time and yet you’ve been purposely ignoring them? I thought the letters had disappeared in transit!”

Despite never receiving any replies, Yuriel had continued to send him letters.

As Yuriel voiced her complaints with widened eyes, Raphlet stealthily avoided her gaze.

“Raphlet, you really received my letters? Then why? Why didn’t you reply?”

The two continued their own conversation while completely ignoring Helio.

Helio was stunned by the sight of Yuriel swinging Raphlet’s arm. He had experienced the same feeling back then at the train station and when he had taken Yuriel under custody, but he still couldn’t believe it.

Raphlet, who seldom opened his mouth unless it was an important matter, was currently in the middle of a trivial scuffle with Yuriel.

It looked like he had no thoughts of pushing away the woman who was in the middle of dangling his arms back and forth. Rather, it seemed like Raphlet had naturally relaxed his arm to match her movements.

“Miss Yuriel wants to be your personal maid, Raphlet. It would be nice for her to temporarily work under you, at least until she can formally start working in the strategy office…”

“No.”

Yuriel’s face withered in disappointment. At the sight of her lifeless face and drooped head, Helio offered, “Then I’ll have her work as my personal maid for now. Miss Yuriel, this way you can stay in Albraca while you wait to get the clearance to start working in the strategy office.”

“Really? Then I’ll do that!”

Raphlet’s piercing gaze turned towards Helio—it was a gaze full of hostility, possessiveness towards Yuriel, and a dark desire.

Helio twisted his lips and grinned.

Yuriel stood in front of the mirror in her new uniform, humming as she tightly braided her hair and fixed her collar.

The uniform was a much more sophisticated style than the one she wore back at the Mogris Grand Duchy. After snapping the buttons around her neck, Yuriel gave one last check over her uniform before leaving the room in contentment.

The room right across from hers belonged to Raphlet.

Raphlet had accepted her as his personal maid after Helio’s last remark. Yuriel didn’t understand why he had changed his mind all of a sudden, but she wasn’t complaining.

One good thing about being Raphlet’s personal maid was that the room she was assigned to was the closest to his, as it would make it easy for her to answer as soon as she was called by her master.

Having the honor of taking over the room across from Raphlet’s, Yuriel made an effort to calm her excited heart and calmly knocked on the door.

But there was no response.

“Raphlet, it’s Yuriel.”

It was currently 5 a.m. It was a relatively early time for one’s day to begin.

Around this time was when the dawn light of summer began to leak through the windows and into the hallway. Staring at the window shining with a bluish tint, Yuriel rummaged through her pockets.

After finding the appropriate key, Yuriel unlocked and opened the door cautiously before stepping inside.

It was a spacious room that was about four times the size of her own. But it felt a bit desolate as there was only a bed and a desk.

Yuriel felt suffocated at the sight of a room that didn’t seem to have any personal objects.

It had been over seven years since Raphlet began to live here after leaving the Mogris domain. But what in the world was this barren room?

Even the room Yuriel had temporarily used yesterday hadn’t been as bare as this one. Yuriel scanned the room with a choked breath. The bed was empty.

It seemed Raphlet had already left. Confirming that her master was no longer here, Yuriel began looking for the lamp.

After turning on the lamp, which was embedded with a magic stone, the room lit up as if it were broad daylight. Most of the items used in Albraca were studded with magic stones.

They weren’t difficult to use because she had seen them often in the Mogris mansion.

Yuriel began tidying up Raphlet’s room under the artificial light, but she became gloomy as there was nothing much to clean. Still, Yuriel kept organizing thoroughly and found a piece of paper lying on top of his desk.

[Rest when you’re done cleaning the room. You don’t have to do anything else. If you’re bored, you’re welcome to go out. Please use the money next to you to buy whatever you need.]

It was a note left by Raphlet.

And next to it, more than ten times the amount of money Yuriel had saved and collected all her life was laid down.

Yuriel glanced back and forth between the money and the room that lacked personal belongings before she finished cleaning and left the room.

“Money? Why did you come to get it from me?”

The money Raphlet had left behind for her was put in a drawer next to his desk.

Yuriel, who had come to the East building that Helio used, found him in the middle of training. She held her hand out in front of him.

Helio frowned at her request to be paid the moment she saw him.

“I’m sorry, Miss Yuriel, but I’m not the one in charge of the maid’s salary.”

“You’re the only one I know, so I have no one else to ask. When I said you could let someone else give me a tour yesterday, you’re the one who told me you would guide me yourself. You have to take responsibility until the end.”

Helio instructed one of his subordinates to take over the training of the other knights and led Yuriel elsewhere.

“I don’t think the one in charge of wages is in yet. Do you have something you urgently need?”

“Yes. I’d like to put some furniture in Raphlet’s room. He likes to relax while reading books so I’d like to get a comfy chair for him to sit in comfortably, as well as a table for refreshments, and….”

“Miss Yuriel. Those are things you should discuss with Commander Raphlet, not me.”

“I can’t take up Raphlet’s time for something like this.”

“So you’re saying you don’t mind taking it away from mine?”

Yuriel didn’t want to be courteous to Helio, who had spoken ill of Raphlet, so she nodded unsympathetically and continued with a smile.

“And I’d like to take a look at the furniture myself, so I’d appreciate it if you could show me around the store yourself.”

“Why would I…”

“I don’t know anything about this place. Please come with me, Sir Helio.”

At her acerbic way of speaking, Helio wore a displeased look on his face and his mouth twitched. He opened his mouth with the goal of refusing, but Yuriel cut in before he could do so.

“Aren’t you curious about when I started being able to predict the approach of monsters? There’s nothing I can’t tell you if you agree to come with me.”

“Was there anything left that you didn’t tell me? In that case, let’s go back to the interrogation room.”

It was a casual tone of voice, as if he had just suggested going for a walk.

“I won’t tell you anything in the interrogation room, even if I’m on the brink of death. I won’t cover for you in front of Raphlet if you torture me again.”

“It seems Miss Yuriel wants to bully me. You must have really not liked it when I spoke ill of Raphlet?”

Yuriel straightened her lips at Helio’s question.

Staring at her expression, Helio gave a shrug and said, “If you can prove your ability, we’ll be seeing each other often. It’ll be difficult for both of us if we’re awkward with each other. All right, then. It’s hard for me to say that I won’t continue disliking Raphlet, but I suppose I can work towards having you understand me.”

After the long explanation, Helio then spoke in a firm voice, “Go back for today.”

“But…”

“Not today. Once we finish the monster subjugation, we can discuss it again once you’ve proven your ability. Your position right now is that of a maid, so even if you don’t like it, you don’t have the authority to refuse my orders.”

It was the high-handed attitude of a superior in the command of many people.

Yuriel was given no choice but to nod her head, unable to refuse the order given to her by the one who was above her in rank.