Merel is at the final stage, and the debuff is frankly nasty. He would have taken out Ayko, Garrett, and himself, and a bunch of NPCs, if it weren't for the worm. But Beata caught a curse that could eventually turn into a full-fledged conviction with some nasty debuff, like Keliandra had. I don't really want to test it, of course, it's just my assumption. But there is a difference.
This is not a curse! It's a BLESSING!