The Status Effect Count - Chapter 9

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Status Abnormality Count — Episode 009
The servants began nodding along one by one, emboldened by the strange maid’s words.
“Besides, it’s too late to back out now, isn’t it?”
“If you wanted to leave, you should’ve run this morning. They’ve already locked all the doors.”
As the other servants chimed in, Sonya glanced around with visible alarm.
“And besides, I can’t go anywhere else.”
The young maid, Ann, unwound her disheveled head scarf, letting hidden hair tumble free.
Those who saw her locks gleaming jet-black even beneath the bright lamp let out a collective gasp.
It was a color unseen in the Capital in recent years—and here it existed for the second time.
The same color as Count Nadan Preneta.
“You… are you the master’s relation?”
“How could I be? I’m Temple-born.”
Temple-born meant a war orphan. During the long war, all refugees and orphans had been taken in by the Temple.
An orphan with skin as dark as ink could find work nowhere easily.
Only here—only in the Preneta Mansion, where the master bore the same coloring—would such a thing be possible.
“And what other house offers wages like these?”
Every eye wavered.
The Preneta Mansion was already famous for its generous employment terms. And today, with the promotion on top of that, Ann’s future wages would surely more than double.
Ann rose from her seat and brushed off her skirt.
“Then I’ll be going. I need to tidy the bedchamber. Thank you for the meal, Deputy Cook.”
“Ugh.”
Without hesitation, Ann turned and hurried out with light steps.
Watching the small figure disappear—hair and dress alike dark as pitch—the servants fell silent as mice.
Then, someone spoke up.
“I… my mother is actually very ill…”
“I have debts at home too. If I leave, loan sharks will hunt me down and kill me.”
“And I… my brother needs tuition badly.”
Every soul there had their reasons.
“So… you’re all staying, then?”
They all sealed their lips. But the meaning behind them was different now.
‘This is maddening!’
Only Sonya, too timid to leave alone, wrung her hands in despair.
* * *
‘I was hoping to ask the others if they’d ever seen that strange panel myself.’
Ann regretted it as she stepped into the Count’s bedchamber.
She shouldn’t have meddled. She should have kept quiet.
From the looks on the other servants’ faces, none of them seemed likely to speak to her again.
‘But if I’d said nothing, they would’ve all run.’
Panic spreads easily. Once it takes hold, even the handful of servants they had might flee entirely.
‘That won’t do. I can’t manage everything alone.’
Ann had become a Senior Maid now. Belence had kept her promise.
Considering she’d only been working here a month, it was an extraordinary promotion.
Even if it might be temporary.
‘Either way, I got promoted!’
Promotion meant a raise—and that was what mattered most to Ann.
Beyond the quiet chamber, long curtains hung shadowing a figure. The Count.
‘Still asleep…’
Though the Count’s complexion had improved somewhat, he remained unable to wake.
[Count Nadan Preneta
※Status Abnormality—30 days until death]
There. That was the problem.
Her employer was dying on borrowed time.
Ann exhaled slowly.
‘Why can only I see it?’
She wanted to ask the other maids who’d entered the Count’s chamber whether they could see it too, but none remained.
Ann rubbed her eyes. The panel, when she looked again, still gleamed in vivid gold.
The words she’d overheard in the kitchen echoed back.
‘The rumors are already spreading, they said. The Count is going to die soon.’
That couldn’t happen.
If it did, Ann would have nowhere left to go.
After thirty rejections, I’d finally landed this golden opportunity of a job!
The life and death of the Temple that raised me and countless younger siblings now rested in my hands.
Yes, the rural Temple where I grew up was desperately poor. It was all because of Dergal, our only priest.
Kind-hearted as he was, he couldn’t turn a blind eye to children orphaned by war. Naturally, the operating expenses fell short, and donations were scarce.
Fortunately, unlike Dergal—who was too gentle and guileless for his own good—the Temple’s children were sharp. Once old enough to walk and talk, each one pulled their weight.
We barely scraped by on the small wages we earned from odd jobs, but…….
‘Of all things, we had to fall into debt…….’
I ground my teeth.
A year ago, Emil struck out on his own. The most capable of us all, he harbored ambitions and became an adventurer.
And he was swindled.
The money he borrowed from a moneylender introduced by a con artist kept accumulating interest, until eventually it became a burden Emil alone could no longer bear.
Emil fled, and the moneylenders descended on the Temple.
If we didn’t pay back the debt, not only would the Temple’s building be lost—my younger siblings might be sold off.
Dergal, kind-hearted but stubborn as he was, might even volunteer himself first, telling them to take him instead of the children.
‘Ugh.’
That’s why I’d hoped the Count would last a little longer. At least until I could pay off Emil’s entire debt!
‘If only that weren’t there…….’
I glared a hole through the top of the Count’s head.
Status Abnormality—what was a Status Abnormality, anyway?
Was it some kind of magic?
The floating panel and glowing letters looked all too much like magic to me.
Of course, I knew nothing about magic.
Some curse that slowly killed you over a month?
‘Can’t it be removed?’
I grumbled internally.
If that weren’t there, I could truly enjoy this comfortable position without worry. I’d pay off the debt in no time!
Zing—
Without even speaking aloud, as if I’d summoned it, the panel shot up into the air.
[Would you like to lift the Status Abnormality?]
“Huh?”
You could do that?
The panel, which had seemed so peculiar up until now, suddenly felt like a blessing beyond measure.
“Yes. Yes! Let’s lift it right away!”
I nodded vigorously, whispering my response.
Perhaps this panel was a gift from an angel for poor, wretched Ann Marita!
As if waiting for my answer, the panel produced a new display.
[Status Abnormality Resolution Quest (1)—Quest Started!
Please select a Target.]
A Target?
[Please select a Target.]
What did that mean?
[Please select a Target.]
There it went again.
This panel was always fussy and pestering like this every time.
Whatever the mage who created this panel was like, they must have been terribly impatient.
I furrowed my brow.
Wait.
There was light coming from somewhere in the room. From inside the Count’s bed curtains.
What was that?
I approached the bed cautiously. Beyond the translucent curtains, the Count lay sleeping.
The Count I’d seen so far was either with his long hair cascading down like dripping seaweed, or frozen stiff as a stone statue.
‘Hmm, now that I look closely, neither “seaweed” nor “stone” quite suits him.’
Rather, he had the elegant, handsome impression of a young nobleman.
Despite the ominous rumors surrounding him—war hero, or the grim reaper of a winter forest—the Count had the youthful, gentle features of someone caught between adolescence and adulthood.
With black hair neatly framing his forehead and his eyes closed in peaceful slumber, he had an oddly docile expression.
‘And he has such a refined nose. His jawline is quite lovely too.’
I found myself staring, entranced, at the sleeping Count for quite some time.
‘No. Wait. Get a grip. Ann Marita!’
I shook my head briskly and patted my cheeks.
‘But what’s that light coming from?’
Golden light was pouring from the Count’s body.
Then, in that moment, the panel she had forgotten about surfaced in her mind again.
[Please select a Conquest Target.]
“So… that means I’m supposed to touch the Count?”
The panel flickered as if confirming her words were correct.
No, it understood so well—then why had I been ignoring it all this time?
Staring at the panel with an incredulous expression, somehow it seemed to be pushing her forward. As if to say: hurry.
Anne swallowed hard.
Was it permissible to touch a nobleman so casually?
‘Do nothing disrespectful toward your master.’
The piercing voice of Belence, the head maid, seemed to ring in her ears. Anne startled and glanced around the room.
But in this vast chamber, there was only the Count, his bed, and Anne guarding it.
And she alone could see that sign. There was no one to scold her, no one to stop her.
‘…It’s not like I’m touching him with any ill intent. Besides, this is to get rid of that ominous sign. If I don’t remove it, the Count will die. What am I supposed to do?’
Besides, the Count was still deep in sleep, so if only for a moment, there would be no risk of being discovered.
‘Just for a moment. Just a very brief moment….’
Anne slowly slipped her hand between the bed curtains.

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