Reincarnated as the Baron's son: My Infinite Card Upgrade System-Chapter 102: A death for a savior.

As Alaric walks out of the portal, his eyes meet Ava’s, cold and unreadable.

For a good second, the ladies stared at Alaric, confusion hitched on their faces.

Ava was surprised as to how Alaric was on his feet, and Hina, on the other hand, didn’t expect him to be of this world.

Before she made any kind of deal with the goddess, she was told Alaric would be kept in a world where he wouldn’t be harmed by whatever was happening in the real world.

So why? Why was Alaric back in his body?

Hina could barely make sense of it.

She thought she had been scammed, but that made even less sense as a goddess had no reason to scam her, not after everything she saw in the box.

Questions flooded her mind.

"Lord Alaric?!"

Both she and Ava called out in unison.

It was obvious they both had questions they wanted answered.

And Ava wasn’t planning to give Hina any chance to get the upper hand.

"Lord Alaric?! There’s something horribly wrong with Hina!" she yelled as she sprinted forward.

"Dammit!" Hina cursed, contemplating whether to chase after Ava or not.

To Ava, it was better to let Alaric know what was happening than for her to fight Hina.

When it came to Alaric, she knew he always had a solution for anything. She trusted him that much.

"The poison, it was her. I don’t know why she did it, but I think she’s being con—"

Ava’s eyes widened in shock.

Her feet rose from the ground as Alaric’s fingers wrapped around her neck, lifting her up.

She grabbed his hand, though she didn’t add any force.

"L...Lord A...laric?" she muttered the best she could.

Something wasn’t right.

Alaric didn’t have that optimistic glare he normally had. His hair was covering his right eye, and his other eye seemed to glow as if pulsing with energy.

Suddenly, Alaric took a quick breath.

And then he uttered,

"I know you as much as I know my soul. Ava Isenberg, a true woman of honor and morals. There’s a reason I respected you more than I did the others; it’s because you are just that impressive, the light I always yerned for. Sadly, I no longer need that light... I can’t let you get in my way this time."

A single tear dropped from her eye.

Ava wasn’t sure why she was crying, but that very moment made her heart burn, ripping her from the inside out.

Not a single word left her mouth despite her having so much to say in her head.

All she could do was hold his hand, praying she wouldn’t lose consciousness as she could never dream of hurting him.

"Rest now. You no longer need to look after me."

Using his strength, Alaric broke her neck, watching as Ava’s eyes closed instantly.

For some reason, he remained like that for a while, looking at her face while holding her up in the air.

Such a calm face for eyes filled with only darkness.

Finally, he tossed her body to the side.

Once he was done, he turned his attention to Hina and began to walk towards her.

Hina couldn’t move a muscle, not after what she had just witnessed.

Though she hated Ava, she never expected Alaric to kill her so easily. Whatever the case may be, she knew Alaric could never, ever kill Ava.

It wasn’t something anyone could imagine happening.

Watching as he walked towards her, Hina could only tell she was next.

Her fingers that were once curled around her neck began to loosen up, wondering if Alaric would kill her the same way.

Considering he was back, it could only mean he had spoken to the goddess, and with that, he knew Hina was the one who poisoned him.

She knew she had it coming.

Thus, she closed her eyes, more than willing to accept her fate.

’If it’s Alaric... if it’s you, then I’m fine with dying by your hands. I wouldn’t want any other way.’

She silently whispered to herself, knowing deep in her heart she meant every word.

Sending him to the goddess was just one of her plans; she already intended to die once he had left. The only thing that held her back was securing his body in a place no one would find it.

That way, she would be the only one to spend time with him, the last person to be by his side... before she died.

Her last hope and reason to live as well.

"What are you waiting for? Let’s get out of here."

Hina’s eyes snapped open the moment she heard Alaric’s voice zoom past her ears.

She looked behind her, watching him as he walked away.

To her front, the soldiers of Lorik were rushing in, almost covering every corner, the sound of their boots matching against the ground got louder.

There was no time to hesitate, not after she was sure Alaric was referring to her.

Without wasting any time, she sprinted and stopped once she was behind him.

The reason being, she didn’t feel worthy enough to stand by his side. Instead, she would follow behind him, always watching over him from wherever she could.

At the end, once the soldiers arrived at the scene, all they could see was Ava’s body on the ground.

It wasn’t just that.

Right beside her was a small, ominous-looking box, the same box that Velmo had given Alaric.

"Quick! Inform the Duchess; the lady knight is here, and she’s badly hurt!" one of the knights yelled.

...

"Huh? Where am I?"

Ava opened her eyes.

She was in an empty space, a place where only she existed.

Well, until she saw him.

Alaric, his back slightly turned to her.

In front of Alaric was Hina, dressed in a black gown, with a sinister smile playing on her face.

Ava’s eyes pulsed.

"Lord Alaric! Get away from her!" Ava tried to warn him, her voice breaking as she was about to take to her heels to save him.

Hina was bad news; she didn’t need anyone to tell her that.

But the moment Ava tried to get close to Alaric, she noticed she wasn’t getting any closer; instead, he was getting further away from her.

She ran, ran as fast as she could, and yet, she couldn’t catch up to him.

It was then she heard his voice; the very voice she had heard every day of her life no longer sounded familiar.

"I don’t need you anymore, Ava. Stop chasing after me and live your life."

Who knew words could hurt so much your heart stops to understand its predicament?

Ava fell to her knees in shock.

She watched as Alaric turned his back and began to walk away from her.

The very same way he once did when she was little.

"Don’t leave me."

Those words were not bold, yet they held every emotion Ava could possibly let out.

"Not again..."

She crawled forward, a last desperate act to keep him by her side.

"Please don’t leave me... Alaric!!!"

Her scream jolted her up from her dream.

She sat upright, her hands stretched forward as she did in her dream.

Before she could even understand what was happening, she noticed Meren standing at the side of the room, holding a box in her hand while she stood there, observing Ava.

"That was quite the dream you had there. Should I take that to mean you are not also working for Alaric?"

"Lord Alaric?" Ava muttered.

She stood up from the bed, about to storm out of the room.

"If you are going to look for him, I can assure you he is already long gone by now."

Ava stood there, her hand lingering on the doorknob.

"When we arrived at the scene, you were unconscious on the ground. Honestly, I don’t know how you’re alive; that type of strain on your neck should have killed you. Being a diamond-ranked knight comes with its own perks."

As Meren spoke, Ava rubbed her fingers on her neck, clearly remembering how Alaric snapped her neck.

"Not that I expect to understand anything, but I know you should have a bit of knowledge about what is going on. Here..."

Meren tossed the box to Ava, which she caught, her eyes now filled with what seemed to be horror as she held the box in her shaking hands.

"We found this at the scene; do you know what it is?" Meren asked.

Expecting to get an answer, Meren was shocked to see Ava slowly fall to her knees while hugging the box.

At first, it was silent, just a whisper.

But after some time, Ava could no longer hide it.

"Arrrrrrrghhhhhhhhh!!!"

She cried her heart out.

Nothing could have prepared her for such a moment.

The moment she realized Alaric could be gone forever, and she had no way of stopping it.

"Akkkkahhhhhh!"

For the first time in a long time, Ava understood what it felt like to lose something.

Something that was gradually shattering her heart into tiny pieces.

The pieces Alaric had promised to pick up for her if it ever got broken.