The Status Effect Count - Chapter 38

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

An Abnormal Count’s Circumstances — Episode 38
Before she could think, Anne found herself holding a single iron pillar, her mouth falling open in shock.
“Gasp!”
Anne hastily shoved it back into place. Fortunately, the pillar slid back perfectly.
To any observer, the fence stood pristine and undamaged.
“Whew. For a moment, I thought I’d broken it.”
Anne exhaled deeply.
The gaps between fence pillars were exceedingly narrow, but if she removed one pillar as she just had, there would be just enough space for someone as small as Anne to squeeze through.
But then—
“Do I really have to climb over? Truly?”
The landscape she’d glimpsed when pulling out the pillar was utterly unlike anywhere else she’d wandered—a garden clearly tended with meticulous care.
Given that such a high fence guarded it, this might well be the estate’s private garden.
This would make her an outright trespasser.
It would be far better to simply ask a passing traveler for directions.
If anyone happened to pass, that is.
Anne bit her lip.
She knew all too well what became of those who lost their way in the mountains—they either starved or fell prey to wild beasts.
There shouldn’t be any wild beasts in the forests of the Imperial Capital, but still…
If Anne didn’t return in time, the Count would simply leave without her.
“All right. I’ll go inside and ask someone for help. I’ll tell them I got lost in the woods.”
Once she’d removed the single pillar, a gap just wide enough for someone as slight as Anne emerged.
Anne wriggled through with effort, and as though it had been waiting, Jaelongi darted ahead, leading the way.
“Wait! Go slowly!”
After quickly returning the pillar to its place, Anne called softly after the creature.
It wasn’t listening at all.
Following the flutter of the yellow thread attached to Jaelongi’s tail, Anne hurried behind.
“Oh my…”
Beyond the fence, a luminous white garden—adorned with white hydrangea, lilies, and daisies—shone brilliantly beneath the warm sun.
At the center of the garden stood a large pond from which water fountained up in clear arcs.
Anne forgot her predicament entirely, turning about to admire her surroundings.
‘It’s like an angel’s garden.’
Standing amidst this gracefully appointed garden made the Count’s own garden feel unusually barren by comparison.
Perhaps when I return, I should suggest to Belentche that we hire a new gardener.
One who could dig such a grand pond and raise magnificent swans and…
Swans.
Swans?
“Odette!”
Suddenly, an irritated man’s voice shattered the silence of the garden.
Anne quickly pressed herself into a thicket. Coarse branches scratched her cheek, but she couldn’t afford to be concerned.
The moment Anne was fully concealed within the foliage, a woman appeared.
‘My.’
She was an elegant beauty with dark blue hair, dressed in silk so finely woven it hurt the eyes to look at.
With each step she took, her white dress swayed and glimmered softly.
“Wait!”
A man came dashing after her.
His bright hair caught the sunlight so intensely it was almost blinding.
Anne’s brow furrowed. She recognized him.
He was the face from that strange dream she’d had at the hot spring not long ago—though now he’d grown taller and more refined into a proper youth.
Crown Prince Lewendalin, the powerful ally of the hero Natan Preneta.
‘Wait. Let me think.’
If this was a woman the Crown Prince would chase through the Imperial Capital, and if this garden belonged to someone named Odette with white swans…
‘Ah, that’s right! The Prospective Crown Princess’s name is Odette!’
The pristine white swan and white lilies were the emblems of Princess Odette, the Prospective Crown Princess.
There had been whispers that on the occasion of Princess Odette’s Coming of Age Birthday, the Crown Prince had commissioned this garden as a gift from the Imperial Palace.
So this was it?
Crown Prince Lewendalin seized Odette’s wrist. Her delicate frame lurched briefly before steadying.
“Stop evading me and answer my question. Odette.”
“It seems, Your Highness, that in the time we were apart, you’ve grown rather rough in manner.”
Her cool voice made the Crown Prince release her wrist as though burned.
Odette rubbed her wrist with an impassive expression, but even from her hiding place, Anne could see the angry red marks left behind.
“Even if you hadn’t run away like that, I wouldn’t have treated you this way.”
“To blame all of your own failings on others—truly, Your Highness sets a remarkable example for the Imperial Family.”
“How is it you’ve become so twisted and difficult?”
“Having cast aside every courtesy of the Imperial Family, it seems you’ve forgotten me as well.”
The frigid atmosphere between them bore no resemblance whatsoever to the legendary lovers everyone spoke of.
‘Surely they exchanged the Flower Ring and made vows of eternal devotion the night before his departure?’
Lovers? They behaved more like sworn enemies.
Yet for Anne, none of that mattered—what mattered was not being discovered.
This was hardly the moment to ask them for help. And there was no one else passing through.
Fortunately, neither of them had brought knights or attendants, and they showed no sign of noticing her.
‘I’ll just stay quiet and slip away unnoticed.’
As Anne glanced toward where the two had appeared, a familiar name reached her ears.
“You should withdraw your request to His Majesty to betroth Count Preneta to the Holy Maiden.”
Why was the Count’s name coming up here?
Anne’s ears pricked up quietly.
“Why should I do that?”
“Odette!”
Lewendalin gritted his teeth and stepped forward sharply. Odette lifted her golden eyes to meet his.
“As the Prospective Crown Princess of the Empire, it is entirely my place to arrange suitable matches between unmarried nobility. This is my proper duty.”
“So…”
“Since the Holy Maiden’s station is too humble for her to remain in the Palace indefinitely, I was merely ensuring she would have a suitable place to go when she departs—a proper foundation for her future.”
“She was born of royal blood.”
Odette let out a cold, mirthless laugh.
“Your Highness would acknowledge the power of a fallen kingdom that you yourself destroyed?”
Lewendalin’s mouth snapped shut, caught off guard. Odette continued without hesitation.
“Natan Preneta is a hero of continental unification and destined to become the exemplar of the New Nobility. A stalwart ally to Your Highness. If you give him a woman and he becomes completely trustworthy—becomes firmly your ally—could anything be more advantageous?”
“Mind your words. She is not merely ‘a woman’—she is the Holy Maiden. She too played no small part in the unification of the continent!”
“Which is precisely why she would serve as an excellent example. When a continental hero and the Holy Maiden marry, all the people will rejoice.”
The sharp exchange continued without pause. Lewendalin and Odette glared at each other as though their eyes might pierce through bone.
Even hidden in the bushes, Anne’s breath caught.
It was better not to know anything!
It was better to simply live stupidly as a maid!
Words she should never have heard kept pouring in. Covering her ears would do no good.
After a long silence, Lewendalin released a deep sigh.
“Odette, just be honest with me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Admit you’re jealous. She’s more beautiful than you, society adores her, and you’re losing attention because of her—just say you’re jealous of the Holy Maiden.”
“Your Highness!”
“You’re a woman before you’re a noblewoman. I’m not unaware that jealousy is natural.”
“I, that, am jealous?”
Flames kindled in Odette’s eyes.
‘Send me home.’
Anne desperately wanted to slip away and return to the peaceful study.
Why come here at all! Whatever that golden thread was doing—!
She longed for the warm tea Hugo offered and the expensive sweets.
‘So… who exactly ordered me to come this far?’
Anne’s eyes quietly sought out Jaelongi.
‘Is it nearby?’
The yellow thread connecting Jaelongi and Anne stretched across the white gravel path of the garden.
At the end of the yellow thread, Jaelongi fluttered.
Anne slowly lifted her head.
“Think what you will. However, I will not withdraw the petition I presented to His Majesty.”
“Odette!”
Hair like golden thread caught the sunlight, swaying softly.
The face was matured and clearly that of a young man, yet the slender, flawless cheeks still held a lingering freshness, a boyish innocence not quite grown away.
And Jaelongi was now…
…perched directly above the Crown Prince Lewendalin’s head.
‘Good heavens…’
[Crown Prince Lewendalin O Denata]
The brilliant golden Name Plate—the kind she’d only ever seen above the Count’s head—now hung suspended between Jaelongi and the Crown Prince’s head.
Ding.
[Third step
■acquire ■■■■ to ■■.(2/4)
Reward ~measuring~]
[New ■water has been added.]
[You can now check Favorability.]
“What?”
In an instant, the Garden that had been filled with noise fell into a sudden, eerie silence.

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