Stigma Effect

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Raphlet had to accept that Yuriel had left him. The long summer was over and autumn was coming to an end, but there was still no trace of Yuriel.

If Yuriel wanted to meet Raphlet, there were plenty of opportunities. Raphlet wandered around Albraka alone late at night, and his residence had no guards to identify intruders.

He had no memory of how the summer subjugation had passed, what he had ordered and what achievements he had achieved during that time.

The only thing that Raphlet remembers was that the number of monsters in the imperial capital had decreased considerably since Yuriel left Albraka.

The news that some of the unique monsters that the princess had personally used also escaped from the day Yuriel escaped were also a hot topic. The princess who had the monsters must have seen Yuriel that day, but she did not give any information.

The atmosphere that had loosened up while he was with Yuriel disappeared. Raphlet has become more sensitive and sharper than before over the course of a few months. It was common to wake up to the sound of the wind rustling the trees and open the window.

Trains and carriages, everything going out of the imperial capital was investigated. Even though he searched through the luggage compartments where no one could ride, he couldn’t find Yuriel’s single hair.

He searched all legal and illegal methods, but nothing came up.

Had she not taken the train, she would have had to cross the mountain that surrounded the imperial capital, but it was difficult to expect that Yuriel would have crossed the mountain alone.

The priests were intent on tracking Yuriel. Albraka’s top priority was no longer to subdue monsters.

‘They will capture the disappeared Yuriel who leads the monsters.’

If she resisted or manipulated the monsters to oppose, an order was issued that allowed to kill her. There was nothing to gain by killing, and they had to figure out how Yuriel was controlling the monsters, so the kill order was quickly withdrawn, but injuries were an exception.

The final order from the priests was to bring Yuriel with only her breath, whether cutting off her arms or legs.

“Raphlet!”

Raphlet, who was walking without a smile on his face, stopped. Commander Helio blocked him with his body.

Helio’s expression looking at Raphlet’s uninspired face was very different from before. Helio let out a sigh as he looked at Raphlet, who was looking at him with dry eyes.

About a month after Yuriel disappeared, Raphlet’s expression changed. Helio became the closest observer of the man’s madness-eroded face.

Several times he tried to tell Raphlet that Yuriel was pregnant, but saw his face and gave up. In this state, if he found out that Yuriel had left Albraka while pregnant, it seemed obvious that Raphlet would subdue Albraka and throw them all away.

There was only one reason for Raphlet to remain in Albraka.

Because it’s a place to find Yuriel. This was where he would most likely find her, and that was what remains.

Yuriel was the only one that thought she was Raphlet’s property. He was afraid to guess what he was thinking after losing it.

Helio thought of the things he had abandoned of his own will. The princess’ envy and respect for him, the comfortable bedding, the fine art that never offended his aesthetics, the elegant parties and the gentle words of the nobles.

There were things that came to mind even though he had thrown them away of his free will. How angry would he have felt if they had been taken away by force rather than by his own will?

That must have been what Raphlet was feeling.

Aside from Raphlet’s wrath, he doesn’t think Yuriel had left him, but Raphlet’s heart seemed different.

Raphlet seemed to have something on his mind about this situation.

The reason Yuriel left his side.

“The last subjugation is tomorrow. Where are you going at this hour?”

Helio asked, blocking Raphlet’s front. The night was so dark that it was hard to find the way back.

Raphlet’s golden eyes gleamed like that of a predator in the light from the magic lamp beside them. Helio, who saw the hard-to-believable human eyes, hardened his shoulders.

However, perhaps because he was able to understand him at least a little, Helio did not feel the sultry sense he felt when he first met Raphlet.

On the contrary, Helio was feeling the desire to comfort Raphlet, who had lost Yuriel. He wanted to tell him that she would be back soon, she would have a baby and she would contact you when she was safe.

There was no way of knowing where her reverence for Raphlet came from. Even a few months ago, it was impossible to understand why she had such an attachment to a person who was considered to be as terrible as a monster.

Rather, it was the priests, not Raphlet, who were offending Helio these days. His body relaxed when he saw the knights who had been implanted with the monster cores, but whenever the priests came to ask for news of Yuriel, he became tense.

The subjugation was just as bad as it could be. After decapitating the head of the monster and digging through the dead body to find the core, nausea came over. It seemed that it wasn’t just Helio’s feeling.

Helio encountered several times in which the knights who had finished subjugation groaned and shed tears. They hid out of the sight of their comrades and let out a desperate cry as if they had killed their own people.

It did not make sense that those who were accustomed to subjugation felt the opposite of killing now. The knights were proud of killing monsters. They were the ones who raised the head of a monster and smiled brightly at the many people they had to protect.

The knights’ change was a plague that was secretly spreading beneath the surface of Albraka. It was a disease that only those who have transplanted a monster’s nucleus will suffer.

If a person with pity for monsters was discovered, those with plagues will be treated like the way history has dealt with them.

They will be expelled from Albraka like those who had been quarantined and burned without leaving a corpse, and will be stoned by those who risked their lives to protect them.

Just like the people did to Yuriel.

Helio pretended to be ignorant of this strange plague that the knights began to suffer from. He, too, could not escape from the emotions that began to spread quickly.

A strange belief held over his head that if Yuriel returned to Raphlet, everything would be resolved.

“I am in charge of tracking Miss Yuriel. Raphlet. When the pursuit team returns, they will report to their Commander first, so calm down.”

Helio looked like a loyal subordinate.

“Did the pursuit team find any traces of Yuriel?”

“… Traces of the monster eating food were found. As you know, monsters don’t need food, Raphlet.”

“… That means.”

“I think it is a trace that the monster moved to protect Miss Yuriel. If you pursue it, you will find her quickly.”

Helio said in a confident tone.

With that alone, it was not difficult to guess where Yuriel was going.

It was not a paved road and it was a disturbing movement without knowing where it was headed, but there was one goal at the end.

The place where Raphlet and Yuriel lived together, Yuriel was going to Mogris.

Helio, who saw Raphlet’s fiercely shiny eyes, added a meaningful statement.

“By the way, I remember hearing that the forest in the estate of Mogris is very vast.”

The light made from the monster core began to flicker as if it had exhausted all its power. The lights that had been repeatedly turned off and on quickly lost their light.

In the darkness where it was hard to see each other’s faces right in front of them, Helio looked at the lamp that turned off. He felt his chest tighten and he opened his mouth.

“It is said that even if there are monsters or people hiding, no one will be able to find them. Is that correct, Raphlet?”

Helio waited for Raphlet’s reply. After a while, when the darkness became so familiar that Helio could discern Raphlet’s face, Raphlet finally opened his mouth.

“For tomorrow’s subjugation, Commander Helio, please take the overall command. I will take on the rear support.”

“How many troops do you need?”

He muttered with a noble face that Yuriel liked and wanted to protect the most.

“Alone is enough.”

＊＊＊

“Oh, cold. It’s cold!”

Yuriel hugged her trembling body and jumped out of the lake splashing water. While she was washing her body in the cold lake, the monster lying on the shore of the lake raised itself.

The monster put a cloth in its mouth, which had been draped across the low twigs, and approached her. Yuriel muttered as she received the cloth brought by the monster.

“It was fine in the summer, but it gets a little cold in the autumn.”

The monster growled briefly as if giving an answer. When Yuriel wiped away all the water on her body, she was used to the way it put its body tightly together as if to convey warmth.

Yuriel put on her clothes, wrapped around her slightly convex stomach, and buried herself in the fur of the monster. It was easy to move because she wasn’t full yet, but she was worried that something was wrong.

Even if she wanted to find a doctor, it was difficult to find food and clothes because of Yuriel’s information in each village. The first time she visited a clinic was a few days after leaving Albraka.

She went to the house of a doctor who lost his sight where he lived alone and received treatment.

‘It must have been about three months.’

She couldn’t tell that she was going to be over eight months pregnant.

‘Yes. Just stay as healthy as you are now.’

After leaving Raphlet’s side, it seemed as if the child’s time had stopped. Yuriel received some medicine from the doctor who said she was okay and left.

The animals hunted by monsters were used to pay for the medical expenses.

The blind man mistaken it for a large hunting dog that Yuriel was carrying.

Yuriel put her cold feet together and rested her face on her lap.

It took a very long time to return to the Mogris Estate, unlike when she went to the Imperial capital, but she was soon arriving in Mogris.

A dense forest began to appear.