Stigma Effect

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Sometimes Raphlet couldn’t shake the thought that he was taking someone else’s place.

Hearing Yuriel’s story, his chest tightened unpleasantly.

‘Until Lord Raphlet pointed the sword at me, I thought so. I felt like someone else was coming to my rescue. Isn’t that strange?’

Raphlet looked at Yuriel with cold eyes, who spoke as if she was regretful about the past.

He didn’t like that Yuriel felt the same way. The thought of someone else saving Yuriel on his behalf made him clench his teeth.

As Raphlet grinded his teeth, the hand that was touching his hair became more relaxed.

‘It was scary and my heart was racing…. After Lord Raphlet lowered the sword, I wasn’t afraid at all.’

He did not answer, and was listening to Yuriel. Yuriel seems to be unaware of it, and he was glad she didn’t, but back then, Raphlet, was thinking of killing her right after he looked back at her.

Did she notice that?

While Raphlet was confused, Yuriel continued.

‘I must have known that Lord Raphlet wouldn’t hurt me.’

Raphlet’s eyes subsided as he looked at Yuriel smiling innocently. Yuriel looked at him and yawned slightly as if tired.

‘I’m glad I met Lord Raphlet at that time…. It’s not that I’m glad you saved me, I’m just glad I met you….’

The muttering voice had subsided. The hand that had been touching Raphlet’s hair fell to his neck.

She fell asleep in an instant, as if she had been given a drug. Raphlet turned Yuriel’s body, who was lying on her side uncomfortably, to lay her down comfortably, and Raphlet also closed his eyes tightly.

＊＊＊

Raphlet’s expressions increased. There was a moment when the relaxed expression that was only applicable to Yuriel sometimes turned to the servants as well.

He seemed to be finding his place little by little. He was clumsy and inexperienced, as if it was difficult for a human being to find a place that everyone should have taken for granted from the moment he was born.

However, his humane changes were not so welcomed by the Grand Duke and his wife. Yuriel drew out Raphlet’s emotions, such as a gentle smile, friendly consolation, and gestures.

It was all warm and positive, and it was a bit far from what they wanted.

What they wanted from Raphlet was strength and regenerative power comparable to that of a monster, and a bold disposition to attack without taking care of his own body.

He was a child born for the purpose of studying how to infuse the power of monsters into humans. There were many things that they were promised to receive for the research results.

The Temple and the alchemy tower did not spare their support to receive their research records. Of course, they were silent about Raphlet’s bizarre birth.

The content of Raphlet’s birth was their greatest asset. It was not difficult to occupy the most powerful seat of power after holding the method of fusing the monster core and the essence of a human being.

Their ultimate goal was to see a human-like child from a monster. Raphlet was the holy cornerstone for it.

Most importantly, they put their heads together and struggled because they could not waste the experimental record of the individual.

‘Wouldn’t it be more efficient to use that child, Yuriel?’

‘The attachment formation is unique to Yuriel, so if we use it incorrectly, Raphlet can be ruined. It’s not a good idea if you’re thinking of separating them apart.’

The Grand Duke spoke first, and his wife listened.

It was her side to delicately grasp Raphlet’s condition and suggest the alternatives to make experimental proposals for the Grand Duke.

One day, the Grand Duke asked, how about making a human out of a monster’s core? She was the only one who brought the absurd plan to a viable level. He looked at his troubled wife with a serious face.

‘It would be worthwhile to use Yuriel in itself.’

She rubbed her chin and fell into thought. She pondered the issue deeply, and she thought of a simple solution.

‘Make sure to include Yuriel in Raphlet’s training.’

‘That child? She wouldn’t be able to follow. Her strength wouldn’t be able to bear the experiment in the slightest bit.’

Hearing the obvious words, she smirked and said.

‘It’s about punishing Yuriel if Raphlet doesn’t produce results. I can’t wait to see what kind of reaction it will be if the child sees her being beaten instead of him, whom he cherished so much.”

The Grand Duke finally understood what she meant and nodded his head.

The moment they made their decision, Raphlet, who had passed a rough childhood and was facing a peaceful adolescence, was struck by lightning. On his first day of training and seeing Yuriel beaten instead, for the first time in his short life, he rebelled against the Grand Duke and his wife.

There was no use in expressing anger. The more Raphlet protested, the more intense the corporal punishment poured on Yuriel.

To protect Yuriel, he had no choice but to perfect his training. However, it was difficult for him to reach the desired level.

Naturally, Yuriel’s wounds increased. It was not easy to get used to seeing her slender calves swell blue.

‘It’s okay, it hurts less than it looks.’

Looking at him sadly, Yuriel smiled shyly and said. It was around that time that a strange feeling of satiety began to be felt in the midst of sadness.

Seeing Yuriel grimacing in pain with her white calves exposed, his stomach tightened violently. The feeling of hunger filled up with satisfaction when Yuriel dropped her tears.

He didn’t just stop to watch, but he had a bad imagination. It was a vulgar imagination to hurt Yuriel and make her cry. Seeing Yuriel crying, his lips were dry from impatience.

Raphlet judged the sensation as a twisted sexual desire. If it’s sexual desire, he can solve it in his own. He needed a way to solve it.

After tinkering with self-pleasuring, he did it as a habit. After releasing it, the sensation of being unable to tell whether it was sexual desire, appetite, or desire for destruction subsided a little.

Feeling the limit in resolving his own desires started with a very small word from Yuriel. Yuriel said to him as he sat behind Yuriel, who was lying there as usual, and rubbed the ointment on her wound.

Raphlet’s expression looked so gloomy, and her tone was lively, trying to cheer him up.

‘Lord Raphlet, I studied today. I learned good words!’

Yuriel, who was looking for materials to help Raphlet later, often babbled about what she had learned.

Raphlet raised his lips slightly, thinking of seeing Yuriel through the window, when she was trailing behind the butler.

As he heard the lively continuous voice, his lips softened.

‘The butler said that Lord Raphlet is a high-profile and valuable person, so I shouldn’t bother him. He says you are noble, unlike commoners like us.’

‘There’s nothing different from you, and I’m not bothered.’

As he raised his eyebrows displeased with those words, Yuriel put her cheek to the pillow and laughed softly.

Yuriel, who mumbled thank you for saying she wasn’t bothering him, changed her words as if that wasn’t the problem.

‘By the way, I don’t even know what it means to be noble.’

Raphlet nodded his head lightly. It could have been. Yuriel did not grow up in an environment where such words would be heard.

Her soft cheeks flushed, perhaps embarrassed to say that she didn’t know the words. Around that time, Raphlet had applied all the ointment to Yuriel’s wounds. He reached out for the water bowl he had prepared in advance to wipe the ointment from his sticky fingers.

Yuriel lowered her skirt and sat down and approached him coldly.

While Raphlet was wiping his hands, she grabbed the cotton cloth next to him and smirked, then stretched out her hand to wipe his hands dry and, as if it was natural, wrapped his hand in the cotton cloth.

Yuriel said, rubbing his fingers carefully one by one, wiping them dry.

‘I asked the butler, and he said if I didn’t know, I could just think of Lord Raphlet.’

‘… I’ll give you a dictionary. Stop following the butler and read it.’

Although Raphlet was reluctant to do so, the butler’s words and deeds who responded were astonishing.

‘Books are expensive. It’s too much for me. It should be used by a noble person like Lord Raphlet.’

‘You seem to like that word?’

‘Yes.’

The more Yuriel poured out good words, the darker Raphlet’s heart sank.

Along with the thought that he would not be able to live up to her thoughts, the fear that she would be dissatisfied with his self-pleasuring and hurt Yuriel at this rate ate him up.

His patience grew shorter day by day, and he felt he couldn’t handle his urge to bite Yuriel’s throat.

Like a monster’s hostility toward humans, he devised a plan to get out of the situation before he harmed Yuriel with the irresistible desire.

‘I decided to join Albraka.’

The path Raphlet had chosen was to leave Yuriel’s side.

He thought that he would be able to protect her by suppressing his own desires until the day he became an adult, with the nobleness as Yuriel wanted, if he joined that knight’s order, known to be more noble than any orders.

Raphlet pulled out of his old memories and looked at Yuriel’s face.

“Master, you will remain here forever. Right?”

It was harder than he thought to suppress his nature and live up to Yuriel’s expectations.