Debuff Master

Siegfried was shocked. As far as he was aware, there were still three weeks left before Gyul was born. How come she was already having labor pains?

“Are you sure she’s not sick?!”

“No, Your Majesty! We\'re certain that Her Majesty is having labor pains right now!”

“I-I’m going!” Siegfried said as he rushed over to the hospital in the castle.

‘Gyul is coming out? Goodness!’ Siegfried couldn\'t get a grasp at the thought of becoming a father even though it was only in a game. He ran as fast as he could to the ward where Brunhilde was located, but he was stopped by the maids.

“No! Your Majesty, please stop!”

“Your Majesty must not enter!”

“Please do not cross this line, Your Majesty!”

Siegfried tilted his head in confusion and asked, “Huh? Why can’t I?”

The chamberlain, Sebastian, and the chief maid, Herione, appeared and stopped him as well.

“They\'re right, Your Majesty.”

“Your Majesty, please do not enter.”

Siegfried protested, “Why?! A husband should be by his wife’s side when she’s in labor! Please move!”

“We cannot, Your Majesty!”

“But I’m the king here?”

“It is against the law.”

“T-The what?”

“Your Majesty must not be aware of it as you are from another world, but only women are allowed to enter when the queen is in labor.”

“S-So I can’t go in? But I want to be there for her and hold her hand…”

“No, you may not,” Herione adamantly stood her ground.

Sebastian also chimed in, “Please behead me first if Your Majesty wishes to enter.”

“…”

“Your Majesty is indeed the king, and that is all the more reason for Your Majesty to follow the law! Please wait patiently for the princess’ birth.”

“But…”

“Please return.”

“Kyaaaaah!”

Brunhilde’s screams could be heard from beyond the door.

“B-Brunhilde!” Siegfried shouted, and he rushed to the door.

However, the chamberlain and chief maid blocked his path. “Your Majesty!”

“Can’t I be there for her?!”

“Your Majesty may not enter even if the sky is falling!”

“Bu,t still!”

“You may not!”

“Aaaah…! Kyaaaah!”

Brunhilde’s screams echoed once again, and Siegfried couldn\'t remain calm after hearing it.

‘Argh! Damn this law! I’m going to change all of it one day!’ he thought while gnashing his teeth.

“But why is she already in labor? I thought there were still three weeks remaining?” he asked.

“Your Majesty…” Herione replied as she looked at him as if he had said something strange, and then she explained, “Even ordinary humans like us can be born in eight months instead of ten.”

“R-Really?”

“So it is not strange at all for a special being like the princess to be born earlier than scheduled.”

“I see…” Siegfried muttered and sulked after being treated like a fool.

“Your Majesty, I implore you to patiently wait while being mindful of your status as the king,” Sebastian said.

“All right…”

In the end, Siegfried could not stay beside Brunhilde and was forced to return.

“Sigh… But I really wanted to be with her…”

It was then…

“I greet the king.”

“Hmm?”

Siegfried ran into Jessie while he was walking.

“Hello, you seem to be doing good,” he greeted in a stiff tone. Siegfried was always kind and polite to the servants and maids—except to Jessie. She was a follower of the Church of Osric and a criminal who had plotted to kidnap Gyul.

He would not have forgiven her so easily and would have inflicted as much pain on her as possible if she hadn\'t turned herself in and if Brunhilde hadn\'t appealed for her on her behalf.

“It is all thanks to the grace Your Majesty has given me,” she replied.

“Don’t be grateful to me,” Siegfried said as he shook his head, and then he added, “It’s not me but my wife that allowed you to continue working in the castle.”

“Your Majesty…”

“But what brings you here? I believe it’s not good for you to come looking for me on your own accord?”

He had a valid point.

She was doing a perfect job of deceiving Carlisle into thinking that she was faithfully doing her duties to the church. However, she seemed quite restless whenever she talked to Siegfried.

The reason she was so restless whenever she was speaking to him was due to the fact that everyone knew just how terrifying of a person he could be toward his enemies. She knew that he was capable of smashing her head open without batting an eye.

“That\'s…” Jessie said before she bit her lips and continued, “Her Majesty is going to give birth soon, and the church is going to—“

“Aha!” Siegfried exclaimed in realization. Brunhilde going into labor meant that it was now time for them to start their counterattack plan against the Church of Osric.

“I believe Carlisle and the Church of Osric are going to come soon,” she said.

“I guess that means we should start getting ready,” he replied.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Hmm…” Siegfried pondered for a second before he said, “Should we chat somewhere else?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

He decided to go somewhere else to discuss his grand plans of dealing a huge blow to the Church of Osric.

***

‘What?! The spawn of that bastard and that bitch is about to be born?!’

Carlisle somehow managed to overhear the ruckus between Siegfried and the maids.

‘Finally!’ Carlisle rejoiced inwardly.

Pukeok!

Bruce kicked him on his side with a flying kick.

“Kuheok!” Carlisle coughed up blood as he fell to the ground.

Bruce squatted down and whispered in his ears in a threatening manner, “Hey, what the fuck are you thinking about? aren’t you going to concentrate?”

“I-I apolo—“

“Do you want to get beaten to a pulp again?”

“I am already beaten to a—“

“Hmm? Wow, look at this bastard talking back.”

“N-No! That was not my intention, sir!”

“I think you need to be taught some manners.”

“I apologize!”

“Let’s do our best, okay?”

“Yes, sir!”

“I can accidentally kill you, remember?”

“I remember, sir!” Carlisle replied and immediately stood up. However, he was hurling all sorts of curses inside, ‘This fucking piece of wood! I’m going to show you who the boss is later!’

Just how much beating had he received from Bruce up until now?

Truth be told, he had gotten subjected to so many beatings that he had already lost count of them. All he knew was that there wasn\'t even a single day that his body wasn\'t aching, all thanks to the beatings. He had to rely on bottles of potions just to ease the pain every night, and it was a miracle that he was still alive.

However, he could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

‘Just a bit more… I just need to endure this a bit more. I’ll finally be free from this hell once they shit out their precious little princess! Hahaha!’

The thought of kidnapping Siegfried and Brunhilde’s child helped Carlisle endure the pain from the beating.

How come?

Because revenge was right in front of his eyes!

***

Meanwhile, Siegfried and Michele were talking in the former\'s office.

“So that’s what we decided to do,” said Siegfried. He had just shared the conversation he had with Jessie.

“That is a good idea,” Michele replied with a smile, and then he added, “As expected, Your Majesty’s useless craftiness is truly—“

“What did you just say?”

“Ah, it is nothing, Your Majesty.”

Michele hurriedly changed the subject after seeing Siegfried glaring at him.

“That is one thing, but what are Your Majesty’s plans for Desire?”

“Hmm… I guess I should send another letter to the emperor and ask him to place a bounty on him again? He won’t be able to sell his artifacts to others if I do that, right?”

“Your Majesty seems hell-bent on killing him,” Michele said while shaking his head. He wondered how a person could be so cruel, but he heard how much Siegfried suffered against Desire, so he decided to let it go. He was not feeling sorry or anything for Chae Hyung-Seok; he was just surprised by how evil his liege could be.

“He needs to experience the agony of living on the edge day by day.”

“Haha…”

“Anyway, if the emperor places the bounty on his head and our guild members track him down…“ Siegfried muttered. He eventually started laughing as he said, “Hehehe... I have a great idea.”

“What is it, Your Majesty?”

“So I was thinking…” Siegfried proceeded to explain his idea to Michele.

“Wow…” Michele muttered in amazement.

“What?”

“Your Majesty…”

“Yeah?”

“Are you perhaps… a demon?”

“D-Demon?”

“I believe you have crossed the limits of humanity when it comes to making people suffer…” Michele said as he shook his head once again.

He couldn\'t help but feel a chill travel down his spine after hearing Siegfried’s idea, and he wondered if such an idea could come from a human’s mind. The plan was so evil and heinous that he was confused if this came from the mind of a human or a demon.

“You need to go this far at least, don’t you think so?”

“Your Majesty is right.”

“Come to think of it… Ugh…”

“What is the matter, Your Majesty? Is nature calling you?”

“No! I’m just worried about Brunhilde!” Siegfried retorted.

“I see…” Michele said with a nod before he asked, “Does your family know about it?”

“What did you just say?!” Siegfried snapped. He misunderstood Michele\'s words and thought that the latter was asking if Siegfried\'s family knew about his devious schemes.

“Are you picking a fight with me?!”

“Huh? Why would you think so, Your Majesty?” Michele asked while tilting his head in confusion.

“W-Wait, what?”

“Your Majesty’s mother and sister are in the other world, right? Technically, they are going to be a grandmother and an aunt soon, so I was asking if they knew about that.”

“O-Oh, I see…”

“What did Your Majesty think I said?”

“Nothing…” Siegfried muttered while scratching the back of his head before saying, “I thought you were making fun of me for being so nasty…”

“…”

“M-My bad…”

He had gotten so used to getting reprimanded and insulted by Michele that anything sounded like an insult to him now.

“So, have you told them or not?” Michele asked.

“I-I did!” Siegfried replied. Of course, he had no other choice but to lie to Michele after imagining what the conversation would be like.

“Mom.”

“Yes?”

“I… I’m going to be a dad.”

“W-What?! A dad? What did you do?!”

“It’s nothing like that… I married an NPC in the game and will be a dad—“

“You punk!”

“Ack!”

Siegfried\'s mother slapped him in the back with her signature back slap.

Siegfried snapped back to reality and screamed inwardly, ‘N-No! I can’t tell them no matter what!’

Siegfried couldn\'t tell his mother that he had married an NPC and was about to become a father in a game. He couldn\'t bring himself to do such a thing to his mother.

“What are you thinking of right now, Your Majesty…?” Michele asked.

Siegfried was repeatedly shaking his head while seemingly in despair.

***

Siegfried had been standing outside the hospital for hours, pacing back and forth.

Brunhilde’s labor pains were still ongoing, and he couldn\'t just log out of the game.

How could he log out and sleep when his wife was going through labor?

Siegfried was forced to wander aimlessly around the hospital. However, Brunhilde’s labor pains showed no signs of ending, and Siegfried ended up staying up for two straight days.

[Warning: You have played Brave New World for forty-seven hours now!]

[Warning: Excessive gaming is detrimental to your health!]

[Alert: Your connection will be terminated in one hour!]

He hadn\'t logged out in so long that the game was about to forcefully log him out.

“Ah, should I go take a nap for an hour…? It’s going to be a problem if I get forcefully logged out—”

“Waaah! Waaah! Waaaaah!”

A baby’s cry abruptly echoed from the ward.

“…!”

Siegfried’s face stiffened after hearing the cry.

“Your Majesty!” Herione ran out of the hospital and exclaimed, “Congratulations, Your Majesty! The queen has given birth to the princess, and the queen has made it safely!”

“R-Really?!”

“Please go in and meet the princess!”

“Ah! Okay!” Siegfried rushed into the hospital and headed to the ward where Brunhilde and Gyul were located.

“Waah! Waaah! Waaaah!”

He was greeted by Gyul’s cries.

Gyul was in the arms of a maid and was wrapped in silk of the highest quality.

However, Siegfried went to Brunhilde first before going to his daughter.

“Sniff… Sniff… Huk… Huk…!”

Brunhilde was crying for some reason.

‘Why is she crying?’ Siegfried was flustered to see her cry.

It was all because he could tell that she wasn\'t crying tears of joy.

“Sniff… Sniff… D-Darling…!”

She was crying so sorrowfully that his heart ached just from seeing her cry. He felt as though his heart was getting ripped into a thousand pieces seeing her cry right after going through the excruciating pain of birth.

“What’s wrong, honey?! Why are you crying?!”

“The baby… Our baby is…”

“Our baby?”

“She\'s…”

“Calm down, and tell me! What’s wrong?!”

“Our baby is…”

Brunhilde finally revealed why she was crying.