In a certain town existed a married couple who didn’t love each other. The man was a rich and powerful bishop, and the woman had been assigned as his breeding partner. He was born in a family of respected clergymen, she had come from an adventurer family, and had awakened the White Magic element. He had as much money as he could wish for, she was poor. Their parents arranged their marriage so that each side could profit from it; The clergymen would have one more White Mage in their ranks, the adventurers would receive more money than they could spend if they sold their daughters to them. And a year later, in the same town they were sent to succeed the prior bishop, the woman was in pain.

“Miss Mary! What is wrong?” A maid approached her hurriedly, as the woman was starting to lose strength in her legs.

“It’s—The baby… I need to—haa, haa…” She tried to go to her bed, but the distance was too great, and she fell on her knees, out of breath.

“The baby is coming! Go get Mister Abbot! Quick!” The maid yelled to the curious villagers who had stopped near the window. He understood the situation quickly and departed for the church, where said Abbot worked and lived.

“Miss Mary, your husband will arrive soon! I will help you lay on your bed, please try to relax.”

“Yes, I—haa, haa—I understand…”

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“Mister Abbot! Mister Abbot!” A villager rushed in the church.

“What is it? Why do you yell in this sacred place, Alexander?” Asked the bishop, annoyed at the sudden noise.

“Its, it’s Miss Mary! She’s giving birth! You need to go see her!”

“Oh, finally. Hmm. Alright, I’ll go. Maggid, you’re in charge until I return!” He said to a pastor in a rigid manner.

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When Abbot arrived at his home, Mary had already given birth and she was sleeping. He overlooked his wife and asked the maid, who was taking care of the baby, to take him in his arms.

“Sure, please wait a moment, I will simply finish to wash him and put a towel around him.” She said, concentrated on caring for the infant.

When she was done, the baby opened his eyes, looked around, and then locked eyes with hers. She suddenly felt incredibly dizzy, and only had the time to put the baby on the table before she lost consciousness.

“Hey, what’s wrong? What are you doing?” Abbot asked, at first annoyed at her, then with anger. He turned her around and discovered she wasn’t breathing anymore. He panicked slightly before finally going outside the house hurriedly, calling for help, and a doctor arrived shortly after.

“What happened to her?” The doctor asked, looking at the maid.

“I don’t know, she had the baby in her hands and she suddenly fell… So, how is she?” He asked, uninterested.

“… I’m very sorry, I’m afraid it is already too late to save her… Her heart isn’t beating anymore, and my potions didn’t have any effect.”

“Oh, I see. How about my wife? And do look after the baby too, please.” Abbot continued, not caring in the least what happened to a mere maid. She could easily be replaced, after all.

“Huh? Oh, yes, sure.” The doctor answered, not used to have this kind of response when announcing the death of someone. “Your wife is fine, she simply passed out from the pain. Her body still needs rest, but she should wake up within two or three hours. As for your kid… He’s healthy too, and—Urgh..” After his eyes met the baby’s, the doctor fell on the ground and passed out.

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“Waaa, waaa!” I cried, as I came to my senses. I felt weird, having to breathe for the first time and leaving the comfortable place I was in for 9 months ago.

“Shh, calm down, it’s alright… There, there… Miss Mary, congratulations! It’s a boy!” I heard a woman say. What is she saying? I don’t understand... I felt my consciousness fade as she lulled me to sleep.

I woke up as the woman from before put me in a bath of warm water. It was very comfortable, and I looked around happily. When she took me out of the water and put a cloth around me, I looked at her face, and our eyes met. I felt a weird sensation for a short moment, but her grip suddenly felt weak, and I almost fell. She put me on the table and I saw her fall on the ground, emotionless. I started crying, unable to understand why this was happening, as the man who was in the room left hurriedly while yelling some incomprehensible things.

He then came back, accompanied by a man. The new person opened a case and took a vial out of it after having checked the condition of the woman. He tried to make her drink something, but it didn’t seem to go as he had planned. The two men talked shortly, the newcomer went to the bed, where a beautiful woman was lying, and then approached me. I looked at him in the eyes, felt the same sensation as earlier and he fell on the ground. After this, the man that was still standing muttered some things before taking me in his arms, avoiding to look at me. He took me in a way that made me unable to see his face, and he left the house with me in his arms.

“Everyone, look at this baby! It is the son of me, Abbot, and my wife, Mary! He has been blessed by the Gods, and will grow up to be a fine clergyman, like me!” The villagers arrived by dozens, trying to peek a glance at me. But, every one I locked eyes with fell on the ground.

“What is happening? Why is everyone…? Mom?” Asked a child whose mother just passed out.

“It’s this child! Everyone that this kid looks at dies!” Yelled a man.

“He is not blessed by God, but by a demon!” Said a woman.

“He must be killed! He will bring bad luck to our village!” Yelled someone.

“Yeah! We must not allow him to live any more!” Added a villager.

“Everyone! Please, calm down, and listen to me. This kid… I feel a great power in this child. We must not act harshly! Remember that he is my son, I, who is in a direct relation with the Gods! This baby, I tell you, has the blood of God flowing in him! We must not kill him!” Said Abbot with determination, as he hid my eyes with his palm.

“That must be true, he is the one who said it…” The people trusted their bishop blindly, since religion was known to be absolute.

“But, you saw what he just did… We can’t allow him to kill any more people! His eyes must be sealed!” Someone added.

“I agree with you on that point. But, as I said before, let’s not act harshly. Those eyes might be a blessing of the Gods! We cannot allow ourselves to damage them. We have to, instead, revere him so that the God will be pleased.”” Retorqued Abbot, still hiding my eyes. I started drowsing off, fighting against my fatigue.

“Yeah, and what do you want to do? Let ourselves be killed every time we come across the child?” The villagers started to get impatient, because trust cannot be kept when their own lives are on the line.

“Then, we must hide his eyes! We cannot allow him to see!”

I finally lost my battle, and I fell asleep.

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When I woke up, I tried opening my eyes, but I couldn’t. Something was pressing on them, making it impossible to see. I started crying, and I heard some noise.

“He’s awake! What should we do?” Asked a man.

“Go call Mister Abbot! I’m not entering this place!” Answered another.

After a while, steps could be heard.

“Where is he? In here? Oh, Abbot, what have you done to our child?” Asked a woman.

“This child is dangerous, Mary. But we must let him live, and raise it ourselves, in order to be able to use him efficiently later on. The villagers will be way easier to control if I can make good use of his power.” Abbot answered.

“What are you talking about? This kid is ours! Why would you want to use him? We need to raise him and love him like parents should!” Mary said angrily.

“Mary… I do not remember giving you permission to talk to me in this manner. And you do not have the authority to go against my orders either. If I tell you that we will raise him this way, then we will, and you do not have a say in it.” Abbot answered, annoyed.

“Ah… Yes, please excuse my attitude just now. I have been rude. May I ask if I could at least name him?” She pleaded.

“Sure, I don’t care about that kind of thing.”

“Then… He will be known as Norr, son of Mary… and Abbot. May I go in and meet him?”

“If you want to. I’m going back to the church, make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid.” He ordered the guards.

“Yes, sir!” They both answered.