Reincarnated as the Baron's son: My Infinite Card Upgrade System-Chapter 107: A planned meeting.

"I don’t mean to be rude... and certainly not trying to rage bait, but... by any chance, are you even eating anything at all?"

Meren asked with a raised brow.

She was seated at the end of the dining table, Kika and Erica joining her.

As preparation for the civil war about to take place, Meren decided it was best to stay in the Montclair Barony for a while, at least until she gets reports from the scouts.

Also, she viewed it as a good opportunity to finally speak with Kika after so long.

To her surprise, her old friend looked like she could drop dead any second.

Kika flinched at the question, immediately waving her arms in denial.

"Of course... why... do you ask?" she stammered.

"You have dark circles under your eyes, and your hair is scattered. The same for Erica. Is everything alright?"

Erica intentionally focused on her food, not willing to give any reply without her mother taking the lead.

"Sorry, I shouldn’t have come to see you looking like this. I... barely even noticed."

Meren sighed, "We are friends; there is no reason for you to be so formal. I asked because I’m concerned, not because I am repulsed."

Truly, she was concerned.

She and Kika had been friends since she was still a contender for the throne.

Back then, Kika was the head maid of the Lorik house, and Meren was still getting to adulthood. Meren looked up to her, wishing to be a better woman.

Which was why, when she took the throne, she immediately placed Kika in royalty, making her a baroness. Any more, and she knew people would speak; if it wasn’t for that, Kika would have been the royal advisor.

Finally feeling free to speak, Kika uttered,

"I know... it might sound biased since he is my son." She winced, "But I can assure you, something was wrong for Alaric to act this way. He isn’t the type to just..."

"It’s alright, Kika. I understand where you’re going with this. Need you forget, I have been watching over him for years; I too know he is not like that."

Meren uttered, her gaze now fixed to the side where she could see the sun rays slipping through the window.

"And it’s not like he has done anything that would cause the king to get involved. All he did was attack my mansion and the barony. It could be he is simply going through something we don’t understand. So I don’t think there is anything to worry about."

Kika smiled, "I’m glad to know you still have a kind heart. You know, maybe if everything works out, I’ll tell him about the fact he’s engaged to you since you were kids."

Meren could be seen getting slightly flustered, although she immediately composed herself.

"No, don’t do that. I’ll be the one to inform him myself. Besides, he needs to be punched for stressing everyone with his stupidity."

"Hehe~ I can agree on that too."

Watching them speak, Erica couldn’t help but smile.

Just as her mother had said, she felt the same. She wanted to help her brother as much as she could; all she needed was for him to let her.

Later that day,

Ava was outside the mansion, sitting on the single wood with her blade hugged in her arms.

Looking at the night stars, she was in deep thought.

Rather, she was thinking of the one man who could never leave her mind.

"Here you are; I’ve been looking everywhere for you," Eric said as he moved closer.

Being the second-in-command of the Montclair army, he had been busy making sure both the knights from the barony and from outside the barony were getting along and had places to lay their heads.

Normally, Ava, being the commander, would have to handle it, but since she was going through some stuff, no one dared to disturb her.

"Ever since the young master left, you’ve been cooped up in your room. You can imagine my surprise when I wanted to sleep and I saw you sitting out here."

Eric stood close to the wood, staring at the stars as well.

Ava didn’t give any response, her eyes still focused on the sky.

"You know, the other day my men were talking about how the barony was infiltrated by demons. We lost five of our comrades to them, and apparently, the one who led them was Lord Alaric himself." Eric stole a glance at her, "If something were to happen again, and we lost more of our good men, are you willing to make the hard call?"

Ava shook slightly.

"No one knows why Lord Alaric is doing what he is, and quite frankly, we have way too much respect for him to question his every move. That said, innocent lives can’t keep getting punished for our loyalty. You understand, right, Ava? If the time comes, and Lord Alaric becomes a threat to the kingdom... we might have to..."

"He won’t..."

"He almost killed you."

"And yet, here I am."

"Yeah! Because you were saved! Come on, even you can see this; regardless of the reason, if Lord Alaric becomes a threat, we have to make the hard call."

There was silence for a while.

"If he becomes a threat... then I’ll handle it as I see fit." Ava threw a death stare at Eric, "Anyone else who tries to harm him is my enemy."

Eric sighed, "Everyone has gone crazy, that’s for sure. Ahh, whatever, we won’t have a choice if the king gets involved. I’ll be going to bed now; you should too."

He walked away.

Ava resumed gazing at the stars.

"Am I... making the right choice?"

She whispered to herself, hugging her blade tighter.

"If you were in my shoes... how would you handle this? Would you put yourself first, or the people you’ve sworn to protect? I don’t know... I don’t know what I should be doing. Where... do I even begin?"

...

(Somewhere in the northern region.)

Dergen and his army had set camp at the northern borders, just as Meren did in the Montclair Barony.

Although one of the main reasons was because Dergen felt he could kill off the northern civilians faster and use Meren as a side dish for his murderous intent.

Unfortunately, the northerners had all moved away, now taking refuge in the bigger city close to the capital as requested by Meren herself.

Still, it didn’t stop their plan; Dergen was more than determined to end Meren.

Seated on the ground, with baskets of fruits surrounding him, Dergen stared at the guests he had with him.

His long black hair nearly covered his face completely.

"Huh? The hell do you mean he isn’t here? Then why did you come in?" He frowned, his guards towering at both sides of the tent.

The guests in question were Laura and Aurora.

"We only told you he would speak to you, not that he is present here," Aurora responded.

"What?! Are you messing with me?"

"Keep it down; you don’t need to raise your voice," Laura said, clearly feeling disgusted.

Her words were met with multiple piercing stares. Soon, the knights drew their blades and aimed them at her.

"Perhaps I didn’t get that. But did you just tell me to shut up?" Dergen glared.

"Call your guards off, or I won’t be responsible for whatever happens right after," Laura replied.

Meanwhile, Aurora acted like none of it was her business as she was busy whirling her hand inside a small black hole in her bag.

"You insolent... I welcome you into my home, and this is how you repay me? Kill her, and do the same to her fri—"

It happened so fast that Dergen had to make sure he wasn’t dreaming despite his face being covered with blood.

All four of his guards were down on the ground, soaking in their blood with their heads completely disintegrated.

Even though he didn’t see it happen, Dergen knew in that moment that it was the doing of the two women in front of him.

"Lord Dergen, as I said earlier, my master would like to speak to you. Will that be alright?"

Dergen, his chest filled with fear, took a second to understand the situation he was in.

If people like this have a master despite being so strong... does he really stand a chance?

Now carrying a serious look on his face, he tried to play off the fear crawling up his throat.

"Sure... I don’t mind."

"Thank you very much."

Aurora placed the box on the table and pushed the button sticking out of it.

Immediately, a hologram glowed, a hologram that was representing real-time information.

The one who was displayed on this hologram was none other than Alaric himself.

Dergen was taken aback by the sight, his eyes trying to understand what the glitching image was.

Suddenly, Alaric spoke, 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"Good evening, Duke Dergen. I do hope your plan for the war has been going well. Let me introduce myself; my name is Alaric Montclair. It’s an honor to be of service."

..