Reincarnated as the Baron's son: My Infinite Card Upgrade System-Chapter 66: Alaric’s hatred?

[You’ll get 100% rebate every time you spend money on something other than yourself.]

The notification popped up in front of him.

Before he stepped into the room, he had seen the notification; the system informed him about a new feature he had gained.

A feature that let him have a rebate on his spending.

"But only if I spend it on anything other than myself."

[Correct.]

"Interesting." Alaric stared at the template for a while.

Right there, he could see the in-app bank.

[Account balance: 0]

Meaning he currently owned no money, at least not in the game.

The only money he had with him was the 180 million eres he got from selling his family painting to pay for his workers’ salaries.

Though he never paid them, he still planned to use it for just that.

"If I pay each worker 1,000 eres, I’ll get 2,000 eres back per person," he couldn’t help but smile. "This might be the best feature you’ve come up with, Carrier."

[You’re welcome.]

"Money is set. All that’s left is to gather the workers and start the project tomorrow. This should be fun." He turned around, only to see Laura and Aurora sleeping on the bed.

With a smile on his face, he walked over to them before sitting at the side of the bed.

"Yeah, that’s right. Sleep as much as you want. Because tomorrow, you all will be working non-stop."

He said that with yet a smile as he kissed Laura’s forehead.

Just when he wanted to pull his lips away, Laura stretched forth her arms and wrapped them around Alaric’s shoulder before pulling him close for a hug.

"Ack! You’re awake!" he shouted.

"Master kissed me while I was asleep. How could I not wake up! Ahahaha!" she laughed, making sure she was hugging Alaric as tightly as possible.

"S... sorry about that..."

"Umm... I don’t mind it one bit. Come sleep with us, Master! Come!"

"Nooo!"

"Hahaha! Master can be so cute."

...

Outside the room, Ava had just finished speaking to the driver about their sudden trip back to the barony.

Reaching in front of Alaric’s door, she was about to knock to inform him when someone unexpected grabbed her hand.

Velmo Ernest.

He was standing beside her with a smile, his fingers wrapped around Ava’s hand to stop her from knocking on the door.

"Do you want to disturb your master?" he spoke.

Ava stared at the count’s hand for a while, wondering why he would even think of touching a mere knight.

"He told me to report to him once I’m done. I doubt my lord would mind me reporting to him at any time of the day," she replied.

"Is that so..." Velmo smiled, before doing something Ava did not expect.

He tightened his grip around Ava’s hand and pushed her towards the wall in front of him.

Ava’s back hit the wall, only to see Velmo in front of her again, this time his hand on her chin.

"For a knight, you look incredibly beautiful. Should I assume this is also the work of Alaric?" Velmo flirted.

"I’m afraid Lord Alaric has nothing to do with how I look. That was the work of my parents. And with all due respect, I do not think my lord will be happy with you touching me the way you are right now."

As she spoke, she slowly tried to move her chin away from Velmo’s grasp.

Velmo wanted to laugh, but instead, he moved his lips towards Ava’s ear and whispered—

"You’re a diamond-rank knight. A rare kind. It will be such a shame to watch you waste all your potential in a barony of all places."

Ava maintained a calm look.

"You don’t have to worry about that. I made the decision myself, and I don’t regret a thing," she responded.

"Quite the stubborn girl you are..."

"That, I did learn from Lord Alaric."

"Haha, he is stubborn too, I know that. Never lets go when he wants something. Which makes me wonder, how would he feel if he found out his knight betrayed him to be with a count?"

His words flowed into Ava’s ear; for some reason, she knew to get away from him as soon as possible.

The moment she tried to take a step, Velmo grabbed her by the waist and placed his lips on hers.

Timing was just right; Alaric had just opened the door to meet Ava and Velmo kissing in the hallway.

Baam!

Ava acted instantly, driving the bottom of her blade into Velmo’s gut, which left him stumbling back and laughing.

"Alaric, I thought you went to the town square. When did you return?" Velmo uttered, his eyes etched with mischief.

Alaric was still stunned by what he had just witnessed.

Part of him didn’t want to believe it.

It was Ava; he knew her more than he knew anyone else.

He needed the slightest bit of doubt he could find.

Thus, he used his mind-reading skill.

(No, no no no, I hope he didn’t see us kissing!)

Ava panicked internally while covering her mouth with a shocked look.

This left Alaric shattered. It did happen. Ava and Velmo did kiss.

"Lord Alaric! It’s not wha—"

Before she could speak, Alaric raised both his hands and spoke while walking away—

"Do not mind me. Carry on, you lovebirds, you."

"Wait, it’s not..."

"Don’t follow me." Alaric’s voice changed the moment he noticed Ava was trying to move closer.

With that, he walked away.

Ava stood there, unable to tell what she needed to do next.

Looking at Velmo, who had already had his fun and was now walking away, Ava fought the urge to cut him down and make him explain to Alaric.

But there was no way she would do that and not face some kind of penalty.

She sighed.

"I’m sure it’s no big deal. Lord Alaric wouldn’t care who I hang out with, right...?" she looked up at the ceiling. "Yes, he wouldn’t."

...

The next day.

The carriage was ready to head out.

All the girls were seated inside, remaining Hina and Alaric, who were still speaking to the count.

Erica, positioned near Ava, noticed the sad look on her face.

"Ava?" she called out.

"Yes, my lady?"

"Are you alright?"

"I am. Why?"

"You seem down for some reason, and I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but my brother has been ignoring you all day. Did you do something to him?" Erica asked.

Ava flinched, sweating as she averted her gaze. "I don’t think I did. You... know how Lord Alaric can be."

"I do know how he can be..." Erica placed her finger on her cheek. "Which is why I’m shocked. My brother isn’t the type to ignore someone; he gets even."

Erica pointing it out made Ava think for a while.

It was true.

Both new and old Alaric didn’t seem like the type to just keep malice.

Ava, fed up, gave out a sigh before lowering her head. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

After a few minutes, Alaric and Hina arrived inside the carriage, both seated on the same chair, with Ava and Erica opposite.

To manage the space inside the carriage, Alaric made Laura and Aurora transform into their pet forms and stay on his lap.

The journey began as the wheels of the carriage started to move.

Alaric looked outside the window, completely ignoring the tense vibe everyone was giving.

"Lord Alaric, we did not pack food, so if you’d like, we could stop at a nearby market to get something for you to eat," Ava said.

Yet, she was met with no response from Alaric.

This made Erica and Hina look at one another for a while, unable to tell what to do.

"Brother..." Erica voiced out.

"Yes?" Alaric looked at her.

"I... don’t know if I should talk, b-but, are you upset about something?"

Alaric smiled. "Of course not."

"Oh... oh, alright." Erica kept quiet, not knowing what to say afterward.

"That reminds me, Hina, how many workers can we gather presently?" Alaric asked.

"Right now? I can’t say. Not a lot of people in the barony will wish to work since you haven’t paid them their salaries," Hina replied.

"Then we’ll settle that first."

"And since the warehouse was destroyed, we can use that as a cover-up for the people, letting them know that delayed their salaries. Is that good?"

Alaric smiled. "Seems you’re becoming smart. Good. We’ll do just that."

"L-Lord Alaric..." Ava chimed in, "I’m sure the knights will be willing to help too."

Alaric grunted.

"Ava." He looked at her, his eyes carrying little to no warmth. "Whatever I do should not concern you anymore. Don’t worry about that. Hina will handle it. You just focus on anything other than me."

Erica covered her mouth; not in a million years did she expect her brother to say that to Ava.

Sad, Ava looked to the ground. "As you wish, Lord Alaric," she replied. "I guess he really is angry." She gripped her fingers, her eyes bubbling up.

Alaric turned his gaze back outside. "What am I doing?"