Alaric Von Seraph shot him a lazy glance. "If you've already come here, you're going to say it anyway."
The curve of Raphael's smile widened. With Alaric Von Seraph, not refusing outright already counted as curiosity.
"At first, everyone thought Zora was just the pampered daughter of a general," Raphael began slowly. "Later, we found out she was actually bullied in the General's Manor. She was even known throughout the Imperial City as a waste."
His tone shifted as he continued, "Then this year, everything changed. She rose overnight. First place in the royal hunting competition, the famed divine physician of the Imperial City… all of it happened within this single year."
As Raphael spoke, the shock he had felt earlier resurfaced.
It finally made sense why Zora had never resembled a sheltered noble lady. Being bullied and scorned for years, treated as worthless… how could someone like that be pampered? Even the lives of common folk might have been easier than hers.
