Reincarnated as the Baron's son: My Infinite Card Upgrade System-Chapter 70: Are you in love, Ava?

Rumors about the battle that happened with Stefan quickly spread amongst the soldiers. Most of them felt sorry for Stefan, while some couldn’t help but admire Ava for how strong she was.

Ava, on the other hand, was inside the same room with Erica.

Kneeling on the ground while Erica sat on the bed, her arms folded and legs tucked.

"I’m listening... What led you to bullying our soldier?" Erica inquired.

Ava could barely say a word, her eyes not leaving the ground.

Erica had a good idea as to why Ava was acting up, though a part of her didn’t want to believe it was true.

"Is this because of my brother?" she asked.

Lucky for her, she was quick to notice the swift change in Ava’s body movement.

’So I was right then...’ Erica whimpered in her mind, so desperately wanting it to be false.

"Ava..." She also knelt down. "Inasmuch as you are my brother’s knight, you are also my friend and part of this family. Mother says so, and we all agree. If you have a problem, you shouldn’t be hesitating to let me know."

While the words did reach Ava, it didn’t seem like she was going to just up and open up.

One reason being she had never been the type to speak much about her feelings.

’I don’t even know what’s wrong with me,’ Ava whispered to herself, her hand resting freely on her lap.

’I know I’m upset about Lord Alaric ignoring me... but why? Why does it bother me so much? I never cared about it before, right?’ She gripped her chest.

Erica couldn’t help but sparkle a bit.

It felt like she was witnessing some of her dreams come to pass, one of them being Ava falling in love with Alaric.

She didn’t plan on missing the opportunity.

"Are you in love with my brother?" she asked without adding any filler whatsoever.

Just like she had hoped, Ava’s reaction to the question was spot on.

Her eyes had widened, and her cheeks were completely beet red, no different from the color of a blooming red rose.

"You are in love with him..." Erica leaned forward.

"No, no, no, I’m not! I promise, Lady Erica, I am not in love with him!" Ava denied, waving her hand frantically. "How can a knight be in love with someone she’s meant to protect?"

"Who protects a person more than the one in love?" Erica smiled.

Unable to think of a way to counter, Ava bit her lower lip, questioning her own thinking.

For as long as she remembered, the sight of Alaric had always irritated her.

The only reason she was able to endure him for so long was due to her sense of duty as his bodyguard.

She didn’t want to fall short of the expectations of Kika Montclair and the Duchess Meren, so she kept up with his shenanigans for as long as she was in the line of business.

To her surprise, she noticed he suddenly began to change out of nowhere. It came as a shock initially, but with time, Ava grew fonder of whoever Alaric was at the time.

Suspicious, she felt Alaric had been replaced by someone else. His character had changed a bit too much for it not to be questioned, though she had doubts since no one else seemed to question it too.

Days passed, and Ava began to realize she couldn’t help but think about him. No, it was more like she enjoyed being by his side, and whenever she wasn’t, she felt something missing inside her.

It was a feeling she couldn’t understand.

Not until now.

"Ava..." Erica called out again, this time, her hands cupping Ava’s cheeks. "You love him, don’t you?"

Ava wanted to deny it so badly, her eyes lowering to avoid eye contact.

What was she to do if Erica was right?

If she was in love with her lord, what did that say about her value as a loyal servant?

She knew all these, yes, they haunted her—a chain keeping her down to her values. Yet... she could not hide from it anymore.

"Yes..." she mumbled under her breath.

Erica smiled after hearing her response.

"How can I take you seriously when you hide your vulnerability from me? I shall ask you again."

This time, Erica raised Ava’s head, allowing their gazes to meet.

She could see the tears slowly dripping from Ava’s eyes.

"Do you love my brother?"

"Yes... I do..."

"That’s quite brave of you to admit it. Not many can do that." Erica moved her forehead and gently pressed it against Ava’s. "As your friend, I’ll always support you, regardless of what happens."

"B-but, I... I am a knight. It’s utterly wrong for a knight to..."

"My father was the royal family’s horseman before he married my mother and became a Baron. Is that to say my father was stupid to do so?" Erica interrupted.

Ava was surprised, as it was information she didn’t know even existed.

"Listen, if you truly love my brother, I am willing to help you as many times as I can. As his older sister, I know you are the only one who can put him in his place. Mother and Father agree to this..."

Ava listened.

"That said, if I am going to give you my full support, I need you to show me you truly love him. No more half-work and slow signs. Ava, you have the power to make him yours before it’s too late."

"I... don’t exactly know how to... do that," Ava managed to speak. "I have never... felt... you know..."

Erica giggled. "I know I shouldn’t laugh, but you’re so cute it’s almost hard to believe you are the same knight that killed all those people at the pub."

Settling down her laugh, she smiled. "I was told knights allow their blades to speak to them as they battle. Now allow your heart to do the same..."

"And if I fail? What if he ends up hating me even more because of this?"

"Then Mother and I will knock some sense into him," Erica clenched her fist in a joking manner. "And besides, I doubt my brother will reject you."

"You sound so sure..." Ava chuckled nervously.

"I am his sister, after all."

Their discussion not only made Ava more confident, but it also showed her something she didn’t think she had before.

Her reason to fight... had always been linked to Alaric.

...

Outside the mansion, toward the forest leading to the Neuk Barony, Alaric had most of the workers he had under him cut down the trees and stack them up for transportation.

Since the merging of both the Montclair Barony and Neuk Barony was going to take place, Alaric decided to cut down the unwanted trees for when he would need to make a road toward both baronies.

So far, he was able to gather up seven wagons stacked with logs.

Thanks to Hina, who was always running the calculations, Alaric had time to work on other things, like figuring out the rest of the resources he needed.

Though there were lots of resources he needed to pull off the project, three from the many stood out:

—Wiring.

—Insulators.

—Batteries.

He had already used his engineering diamond-rank skill for the 3D model of what he needed, hence why it was so much easier for him to get the details down to the letter.

If he was to build anything, he would most definitely need help from known blacksmiths.

There was only one man he could think of...

"I refuse."

"Ahhhh!" Alaric shouted, his hand stretched forward. "Why not?! I’m willing to pay, old man!"

"I still refuse," Johnny replied coldly, his rest resting on the wall while holding his hammer.

Alaric, helpless, looked at Hina with a sad look in his eyes.

Hina sighed. "Master..."

"You! Don’t you dare call me master... you... traitor!" Johnny shouted.

Hina, shock-driven, could barely say a word...

"I heard you ended up being a diamond-rank healer. What’s that about?!"

"Uhmm... I just..."

"Didn’t you say when you get a good rank you’d attend the royal academy? Did you just throw that dream away to hang out with pretty boy over here?"

Alaric’s expression changed. He never really thought about it, but the old man was right.

The only things stopping Hina from attending the royal academy were money and rank. She has both now, so why didn’t she go?

"Tsk! I refuse to let you call me master when you have such a weak conviction," Johnny spat.

Hina couldn’t reply; he was 100% right, and she knew it.

"Hey now, give the girl a break. I was the one that turned her into my secretary," Alaric chimed in.

"I’m not surprised."

"The only reason she hasn’t attended the royal academy is because I made her stay. Is that such a big deal?" Alaric leaned forward.

Johnny sighed. "Do as you please."

"Will you help me now?"

"No."

"Damn it!!!"