The Status Effect Count - Chapter 23

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Abnormal Status, Count 023
‘What a nuisance this has become.’
Nadan surveyed the ruined reception room.
Two ashen-faced conspirators and their entourage stood uncertainly, frozen in place.
His original intent had been to let them into the mansion and sound out the Duke’s intentions. But.
‘If they were men of any consequence, they’d have acted with more care.’
Even if he interrogated them, they’d likely turn out to be nothing more than minor pawns.
Nadan looked down at another woman lying rigid on the floor.
The frantic girl who usually darted about with such energy had gone unnaturally still.
“Listen.”
“…….”
“Anne.”
When he brushed her hair aside, her eyes were blank—the pupils of her ashen face devoid of focus. She seemed lost in panic.
‘That’s what I get for not warning her to keep her head down.’
Nadan swallowed a sigh and pulled Anne toward him.
“I find things inconvenient without this girl around. I’ll take her with me.”
The moment her feet touched the ground, Anne stumbled. Nadan caught the woman as she nearly collapsed, surprised at how light she was.
“Handle the mess tomorrow. Belence, see our guests to their rooms with proper courtesy.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Belence bowed respectfully.
“And.”
Nadan added in a flat tone.
“It seems our mansion’s security is rather lacking—vermin slip in and out as they please. We’d best fortify the defenses. Fortunately, the Knights Order has just arrived, which is convenient.”
The Knights Order?
In that instant, everyone present realized there were armed men waiting outside.
Nadan opened the door with Anne cradled in his arms. Through the gap, the darkness beyond was filled with knights standing in a long line.
Though dust clung to their armor in patches, every last one was dressed for war.
“Then, a pleasant evening to you all.”
Nadan’s voice held an oblique, almost amused quality.
Dern’s face drained of color.
* * *
“Listen.”
A sound came, as though tapping against some thick, heavy barrier.
Tap, tap, tap.
The gentle noise accumulated until the thick veil shattered, and her vision suddenly flooded with light.
Before her eyes stood Nadan, his expression impassive, looking down at her.
“Wh—what?”
“You’re finally conscious.”
Confirming that Anne had come to, Nadan exhaled and settled onto the edge of the bed.
“I was just about to call for a physician—you wouldn’t wake no matter how much I called.”
Whether she’d been dreaming or whether something terrible had happened, everything felt like a blur.
Fragments of commotion drifted back—snatches that had filtered into her ears.
Being seized by the Aekeom Lady. Being misunderstood as having done something strange, and so the Count had…….
Anne bolted upright.
“I didn’t do anything!”
“…….”
“Please, believe me. I don’t even know how to cast a curse or summon a demon.”
“Sit down, Anne Marita.”
The Count’s voice carried the weight of command. Anne felt her legs go slack and sank back down.
Was he interrogating her?
Looking around, this wasn’t a cold prison cell at all—it was the Count’s chamber.
No shackles or instruments of torture; instead, a warm blanket lay draped across her lap.
Did he suspect her without investigating?
“Didn’t I tell you to avoid drawing trouble?”
“…….”
She had nothing to say for herself. How could Anne have known she’d be caught up in something like this?
Anne murmured in a subdued voice.
“……I’m sorry.”
“…….”
She glanced at him, but there was no anger in his face, no reproach—only his chin resting in his hand as he studied her with an unreadable gaze.
The awkward silence that followed made Anne Marita speak first.
“Is there anything you’d like me to do?”
“Ha.”
“Looking like that, and the best you can manage is that?”
Nadan exhaled as if utterly exasperated.
‘Then why does he keep staring at me?’
Like someone with something to say.
Tap-tap.
When someone knocked at the door, Nadan rose from his seat. He fixed her with a stern warning.
“Stay put. Though I doubt you could stand anyway.”
Was it just that?
Anne Marita glanced sideways at her reflection in the window.
Oh. Her hairband was gone too, and her clothes were an absolute mess from cleaning out the hot spring. She’d been walking around like this.
And her legs felt heavy, exhaustion seeping into every limb. Her wrists ached dully.
She rolled up her sleeve and gasped—deep purple bruises bloomed across her skin. They must have formed when the Aekeom Lady had grabbed her. And now her ankle was starting to throb as well.
‘I’ll need to get some medicine later.’
Anne Marita quietly rolled her sleeve back down.
“Here.”
“Oh!”
Nadan returned and tossed something to Anne Marita with a flick. She caught it reflexively with both hands.
“Medicine box. Open it and you’ll find the Contusion Salve I use. Take some and apply it.”
Anne Marita blinked, holding the box.
Then, startled, she held it back out to him.
“I’m fine! Later—”
“It’s a problem you can solve now. There’s no sense in putting it off and letting it get worse, is there?”
Nadan stood with his arms crossed, looking down at her—ready to supervise whether she applied the salve right then and there.
Anne Marita obediently opened the medicine box. Among the tightly packed medicine bottles lay the salve he’d mentioned.
‘This probably costs more than my monthly wages.’
She turned the salve over in her hands, half expecting to find a price tag.
“Do I need instructions on how to use it?”
A hand suddenly shot out and snatched the salve from her fingers.
“Oh.”
“The smell is rather strong, but it works well for bruising.”
Nadan popped the lid open easily and scooped up a generous amount of salve with his fingertip.
“That’s far too much!”
“The more you use, the faster it heals.”
He answered in an unbothered tone and extended his other hand with a questioning gesture.
Was he asking to apply it?
“I’ll do it!”
Anne Marita jolted, frantically waving her hand in protest.
What servant received medical attention from their master?
“Too late.”
Nadan grasped her hand firmly and pulled her sleeve down.
Angry red marks scarred her pale wrist. He studied them quietly, then spread the salve across the bruises.
Each time his thick fingers worked across her wrist, her skin tingled faintly.
Anne Marita tilted her head slightly to look up at his concentrated face.
His forehead really was quite handsome. How could anyone have eyebrows that long?
“Does this happen often?”
The sudden question made Anne Marita’s eyes widen.
‘That kind of thing’—he meant…
“Neterine making life difficult. Does it happen like that here at this mansion too?”
Anne Marita was about to shake her head with both hands, but realized he still held one of them, so she shook her head vigorously instead.
“Never! I’ve never been treated that way!”
Nadan paused and looked up at her.
His gaze questioned whether she spoke truly.
Anne Marita felt interrogated and tucked her chin down defensively.
“Truly. My friends now are all kind, and…”
“Before that?”
Before that, things had been different.
Before that day, the servants in the Preneta Mansion had treated Anne Marita in exactly two ways.
People who shirk their duties and torment others, or those whom she simply preferred not to entangle herself with.
Anne Marita had always walked alone, but it had never truly grieved her.
“It’s all right. I have many friends outside this mansion, you know.”
Nadan looked down at her with a complicated gaze.
It was the sort of look one might give a foolish younger sibling—a pitying look that seemed to say, ‘What am I going to do with you?’
“Really, I have plenty of frie—”
“Fine. Let’s call it that.”
But it was really true, not something to be dismissed!
Yet Nadan continued, his face betraying complete disbelief.
“From now on, no such thing will happen again. I’ll make certain that no one in the Preneta Mansion disrespects you simply because you have black hair.”
……
“I promise you.”
Nadan gripped her hand firmly and spoke in a calm tone. It was excessive consideration for a mere servant girl.
In other workplaces, if conflicts arose among the servants, they would blame everything on the person who didn’t fit in—attributing it all to a lack of individual ability.
Could it be that the Count was……?
Anne Marita’s eyes widened as if she had just understood something.
‘……His conscience is bothering him about tormenting me!’
Yes, that made sense.
Anne Marita bobbed her head in agreement.
One cannot see one’s own faults until observing how others behave—only then does one recognize how shameful one’s actions have been.
Such realizations typically come in adolescence, but men are said to remain children forever, after all.
……
“Why are you staring at me like that?”
“Because my lord is so thoughtful—no, admirable!”
That didn’t seem right at all.
Nadan gave her a suspicious look, but the impudent servant girl merely smiled.
‘Well, it doesn’t matter. She seems to have regained her spirits anyway.’
Nadan, having thoroughly applied the sticky salve, tapped his knees lightly.
“Your feet.”
“I can do that myself, truly!”
The moment of warmth evaporated entirely, and Anne Marita jumped to her feet.
But when she put pressure on her injured ankle and let out a small cry of pain, Nadan’s brow furrowed.
“Do you want me to force your shoes off instead?”
“……No……”
Once again, Anne Marita had no choice but to surrender her feet.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————