Chapter 191: Unloved Children Grow Up to Be Monsters (Part 1)
Regarding the Black Sun Curse, Lynn's view aligned with Geralt's: in a world where gods truly exist, genuine prophecies undoubtedly exist too.
However, the Etiwabad Prophecy wasn't a true prophecy; it should be called Madman Etiwabad's Fanaticism. True prophecies rhyme, but Madman Etiwabad's Fanaticism didn't rhyme at all.
This so-called prophecy was merely a tool the Brotherhood of Sorcerers intended to use. They aimed to exploit these ravings to break alliances between kingdoms, disrupt noble intermarriages, and throw the established order of nations into chaos, ultimately profiting themselves.
The rapid, plague-like spread of the Black Sun Curse was naturally aided by the Brotherhood of Sorcerers. They pushed Etiwabad to the forefront, letting him incite panic and disrupt order. If people eventually realized there was no Black Sun Curse, they would only hold Etiwabad accountable, while the Brotherhood of Sorcerers would remain unscathed.
Simply put, the Brotherhood of Sorcerers lacked the courage to truly save the world, but they possessed immense audacity when it came to using the guise of salvation for personal gain.
As for the things Syanna would do in the future... rather than the Black Sun Curse driving her mad, it was more purely a result of her tragic childhood compounded by the hardships of exile. Individuals like Naruto Uzumaki, born in darkness yet still yearning for light, were ultimately rare exceptions. Most turned out as an elven proverb described:
Unloved children grow up to be monsters.
When Lynn answered "no," Duchess Carolberta's disappointment became unmistakable.
Lynn, feigning ignorance, inquired, "Your Grace, has someone in the palace been afflicted by the Black Sun Curse?"
"It's Miss Syanna," replied Court Sorceress Fringilla, not the Duchess.
"Miss Syanna?"
"She is Her Grace the Duchess's granddaughter. According to the common law of primogeniture on the Continent, Miss Syanna would become the future Duchess of Toussaint, but..."
She didn't need to elaborate further; Lynn already understood. It was the same situation as Diederik and Renfri. Despite their noble birth, if deemed a "child of the curse," they were automatically stripped of their right to succession.
"Master Lynn, you come from the North. I've heard that Northerners either kill girls afflicted by the Black Sun Curse or imprison them in towers, subjecting them to abuse?"
Facing Duchess Carolberta's question, Lynn candidly nodded. "Yes."
"Is there truly no other way?"
"There is."
Lynn recalled that in the original storyline, after Syanna was exiled from Toussaint, she lived alone for many years. The same went for Diederik and Renfri. If Madam Benecka was spared due to her powerful position, which made the Brotherhood of Sorcerers hesitant to act rashly, what prevented these three girls from being captured by the Brotherhood of Sorcerers? Was it a lack of desire, or an inability?
As mentioned before, girls born during an eclipse were physically no different from normal girls. They had no second heart, no third lung. Even the Brotherhood of Sorcerers couldn't precisely locate someone based on just a name. Not even magic could. It would be like finding a needle in a haystack.
In other words, whether a child was truly a "child of calamity" entirely depended on their parents. If the parents chose to remain silent and conceal the child's true birth time (eclipses last only a few minutes at their shortest, a few hours at their longest), the Brotherhood of Sorcerers would have no way of knowing.
Therefore, after a moment's thought, he replied, "There is one way: ensure no one else knows this child was born during an eclipse, and treat her like any normal child. This way, when she grows up, she will naturally be like any normal child."
Duchess Carolberta and Fringilla exchanged glances. They clearly hadn't expected the witcher's solution to be surprisingly unlike a witcher's.
The Duchess gave a wry smile. "Master Witcher, how I wish you had come to Toussaint ten years earlier."
Then, she couldn't help but sigh. The witcher's proposed solution actually coincided perfectly with Fringilla's suggestion when Syanna was born. Unfortunately, when Syanna was born, the Duchess's husband—the Prince of Toussaint at the time—was still alive. He didn't heed Fringilla's advice or the Duchess's fervent pleas. Instead, he chose to contact the Brotherhood of Sorcerers.
They quickly responded, sending a sorcerer. Based on the Etiwabad Prophecy, they soon confirmed that Syanna was indeed a "child of calamity" who could potentially cause the world's destruction. That sorcerer told the Prince they would revisit Toussaint on Syanna's eleventh birthday and take the "child of calamity" away.
Despite the Duchess's desperate attempts to conceal it, the news of the Brotherhood of Sorcerers' visit and Syanna being a "child of calamity" spread like wildfire to every corner of Toussaint. Both nobles and commoners were outraged. If they hadn't known that this "menace" Syanna would one day be taken by the Brotherhood of Sorcerers, a rebellion might have even erupted.
Naturally, the palace guards, servants, and maids never treated Syanna like a normal princess due to the Black Sun Curse. This led to Syanna never receiving love or care throughout all these years.
Now, Syanna was already ten years old. Her eleventh birthday was just a few days away. The Prince had long passed away. Logically, as the ruler of Toussaint, if Duchess Carolberta insisted on keeping Syanna, the Brotherhood of Sorcerers couldn't forcibly take her. However, this would inevitably lead to extreme discontent among Toussaint's population, from nobles to commoners.
Though Toussaint was praised as a fairytale kingdom and the land of knights, this didn't mean it was free of intrigue and ambition. After all, the first Duke, "Grand Duke of the Lance" Ludovic, had originally triumphed over the land's previous owner through cunning schemes.
Duchess Carolberta clearly understood that if she refused the Brotherhood of Sorcerers taking Syanna, she would face a major rebellion. At that point, even the nobles and knights who originally supported her would likely turn against her.
Therefore, Duchess Carolberta could only hope to find a loyal and reliable protector for her child.
"I've heard witchers use the Law of Surprise to take children and train them to become new witchers."
Duchess Carolberta wondered if her idea was a bad one. Although Syanna had never received affection, she at least never lacked for food or clothing. But a witcher's life... the Duchess had heard that most of them led miserable lives. No matter how hard they strived, the world showed them no mercy, only endless suffering.
If she had a choice, the Duchess wouldn't want Syanna to live a witcher's life. But even a witcher's life, however bad, was better than being confined in a tower for an entire lifetime.
(End of this chapter)
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