The Status Effect Count - Chapter 8

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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 008
Anne hurried after the head maid, who was moving with urgent haste.
Creak—
Since there was no sticky residue clinging to the floor, opening the bedroom door posed no difficulty.
With a twist of the hinges, the interior slowly came into view.
The windows of the old-fashioned room stood wide open.
White sunlight poured in from outside, revealing the interior in full clarity for the first time. It was indeed an expensive chamber.
On the bed that hung long near the window, her employer lay sleeping quietly, breathing softly.
The man who had hardened like a stone lump, belching forth viscous fluids, now lay in sleep with a peaceful expression—pale, perhaps, but colored with life.
“You’re looking somewhat better.”
Relief washed across the head maid’s weary face.
‘What is this? It’s as if nothing ever happened at all.’
Then Anne noticed something hovering above the Count’s head.
A golden Status Tablet.
‘That’s right. He was wearing it when I first saw him, and when he’d hardened like a stone too.’
When she’d first seen it, she’d found it odd, certainly—but she’d assumed it was some peculiar fancy of the nobility.
‘But that… doesn’t it look somewhat like the tray I saw earlier?’
Stripped of its fine decorations and gilding, it bore an uncanny resemblance to the tray that had been troubling her.
Yet the Count’s golden Status Tablet bore characters Anne could not decipher.
‘The writing on the tray was in the common tongue of the continent…’
Wait.
The moment the thought crossed her mind, a white tray abruptly materialized before her eyes.
[Beginning optimization…]
The period at the end of the text bounced and danced. Then the golden Status Tablet above the Count’s head flashed with light.
Anne rubbed her eyes and looked again at that thin tablet.
‘Can I read it?’
The strange characters written on the tablet slowly transformed.
And what was written on that beautiful tablet was this:
[Preneta, Count
※Status Abnormality—30 days until death]

What in the name of—
“Head Maid!”
At Anne’s cry—almost a scream—the head maid lifted her head. Anne called again, her face drained of color.
“What is it?”
“That, that thing there! Don’t you see it? The Status Tablet!”
“Status Tablet?”
Frustrated, Anne thrust her finger upward, pointing at the space above the Count’s head, and the head maid rebuked her gently.
“Mind your manners, Anne Marita.”
“I’m sorry. But that, that thing—”
“What exactly is there?”
“The thing the Count is always wearing!”
The head maid fell silent.
Frustrated, Anne flapped her hands open and shut, struggling to explain.
“An oblong tablet. Gold-colored, and decorative-looking… like an ornament.”
The head maid, Belence, listened quietly to Anne’s words before sighing.
“…It seems you’re not fully awake yet. No wonder, after yesterday’s ordeal. You must be tired.”
“You really don’t see it?”
“The Count is not one for ornamentation. Not for the kind of gaudy colors you’re describing.”
“But—”
“But… but there are strange letters written on it.”
“What do they say?”
Anne’s mouth snapped shut.
How could she possibly tell her that it said the Count would die in a month?
As Anne fell silent, the head maid’s expression grew sympathetic.
Anne turned back to look at the Count.
Hovering obnoxiously above his head, glittering and ornate, was the Status Tablet.
How could something so flashy and elaborate be invisible to the head maid? Only she could see it? Only to her?
Whether Belence interpreted Anne’s confused expression correctly or not, she spoke in a softer tone to soothe her.
“You’ve eaten nothing since yesterday, so it’s no wonder. When hunger takes hold, one sees illusions. There will be much for you to help with going forward, so you must take care of yourself. Rest for a while and come back.”
Anne felt a sudden surge of injustice.
I’m telling you, I saw it the whole time! I’m still seeing it now! Are you saying that’s a hallucination?
Just as Ann was about to protest again to the head maid.
A low rumble echoed through the kitchen.
Both their eyes snapped to Ann’s belly. Her face flushed crimson in an instant.
“You’re dismissed, Ann Marita.”
“Y-yes…….”
* * *
“So what are we going to do?”
“Huh?”
In one corner of the kitchen.
What should have been a bustling place was now eerily quiet—everyone who could have stayed had fled.
Sonya, one of those who hadn’t managed to escape, spoke up, her crisp white apron immaculate against the gloom.
“This place. Everyone’s going to leave, right?”
Sonya glanced around, seeking agreement like a child looking for validation.
“After something like that happened, nobody’s going to stay, are they? Right?”
Last night—whatever had transpired, something catastrophic had clearly occurred.
That much was obvious from how most of the household had fled in a matter of minutes.
Lightning pouring from the sky, that strange reek emanating from the manor, people screaming as they bolted out the doors.
In moments, chaos had consumed everything. Yet no one seemed to understand what had actually happened.
All those who might have known the household’s secrets had vanished, leaving only ignorant young servants in their wake.
Even the head maid, who had summoned the remaining servants that morning, kept silent about yesterday’s events.
Instead, she had distributed sweeping promotions to those who stayed—even pressed gaudy badges and ribbons into their hands.
“You have served Preneta House with loyalty, and you have shown composure in the face of chaos. For this, I grant you commendations befitting your steadfast dedication.”
Some servants had actually grown more frightened by her grand announcement.
Sonya, the red-haired kitchen maid, began babbling her pleas in rapid-fire succession.
“If we’re going to run, let’s run together. I don’t want to be the only one left here.”
“Why didn’t you leave when everyone else did?”
“I was trying to! I just missed my chance!”
Sonya’s face twisted in frustration.
“Do you know how angry the head cook gets when the fire goes out? I went back to check, and I thought she’d kill me!”
“So… you came back?”
…….
It wasn’t until the next day that Sonya realized everyone had abandoned the Count’s House.
“Look, let’s quit right now. Before something even worse happens, yeah? Come on?”
“I’m not sure…….”
“Just look at the situation! The door’s been locked!”
The head maid hadn’t left behind only promotions.
The main gate of the Count’s residence had been sealed shut.
Closing the gates of a manor this grand signified that something grave had transpired.
Either the master’s life hung in the balance, or the house faced something akin to martial law.
As things stood, they would be trapped here, unable to leave, swept up in whatever was to come.
Sonya bounced on her heels in agitation.
“I’m not quitting.”
A voice cut through suddenly.
“Who said that? Who just spoke?”
“Me.”
In the corner of the kitchen, a young girl with an unfamiliar face—who’d been eating a sandwich at a distance from the others—raised her hand.
The servants exchanged murmurs.
“Who was that?”
“No idea. One of the new recruits?”
Staff came and went at the manor frequently; she was likely among those recently hired to fill gaps.
Jac, the apprentice butler, adjusted his spectacles as he asked.
“You’re the one who was standing behind the head maid earlier, aren’t you?”
The servants gasped, their eyes sharpening with tension as they fixed on the unfamiliar young maid.
“So you caught the head maid’s eye? Is that where you got your little taste of power?”
Sonya shot the barb without hesitation.
“Looks like you don’t know anything about what’s happening outside, but they say experience at Preneta House doesn’t count elsewhere. It’s worthless, basically.”
The titles the head maid had handed out were hollow. Promotions doled out hastily in such a short span would never be recognized by other noble households.
“Is that so?”
At the maid’s calm response, Sonya’s pride flared and she launched into another tirade.
“You think we’d get a warm welcome? Everyone from Preneta House will be turned away wherever we go.”
No matter how quietly people spoke, news of the Count’s illness had long since spread. And not merely whispers of sickness—darker rumors swirled that it might be a Curse or a Plague.
“If the Count were to die—!”
“Sonya!”
Jack cut her off. She flinched for a moment, then her expression turned savage again.
“What does it matter! The rumors are already out there, aren’t they? The Count will be dead soon!”
“Still…”
“If we wait much longer, we’ll have nowhere left to go!”
Sonya’s fingernails clicked together sharply.
“But if things are as you say, wouldn’t it make no difference whether we leave now or later?”
“What?”
The maid blinked, her eyes round and gentle—like a rabbit contentedly chewing grass.
“If they’ve already marked us and won’t hire anyone from this house, wouldn’t it be better to stay close to the Count’s household while they still have money?”
Her words made the whole situation seem suddenly less dire.

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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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