Reincarnated as the Baron's son: My Infinite Card Upgrade System-Chapter 94: Typhoid? Really?

"You had a sickness? What kind of sickness are we talking about that would make you ignore my summons for weeks?" Maren asked, clearly not buying into the story Alaric was telling her.

Carrying a robotic look, Alaric responded, "It’s a very dangerous disease called Typhoid. Very deadly if not treated immediately. I didn’t want to die, so I took my time to heal properly."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, your ladyship." Alaric slightly bowed his head.

Ava, who was kneeling beside him, couldn’t help but feel impressed at how quickly Alaric lied. It was also a second sense for him.

"If I may ask, what exactly are the symptoms of this sickness?" Maren asked, still carrying the same expression. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

’Why the hell is she asking me about that?!’ Alaric panicked.

[It was about time the lies caught up to you.]

’Oh, shut up.’

Raising his head while sweating slightly, Alaric threw yet another lie.

"Uhn, symptoms... Your body starts overheating, and then you start to feel dizzy sometimes. Having to use the toilet a lot, headaches, uhm... what else..."

Ava pleaded internally for Alaric to stop talking. If she could padlock his mouth, she would.

But something strange happened while Alaric was listing out the symptoms.

Maren seemed to be getting more surprised as he spoke, as if she was remembering something.

Without uttering a word, she stood up and began to move closer to Alaric.

Ava was startled, so much so that she raised her head and was about to stand to her feet to stop the Duchess’s advance.

But to her surprise, Duchess Maren didn’t look angry or disgusted. Instead, she had a look that pleaded for answers.

"Alaric." She called out with a soft voice. "This sickness you speak of, what did you call it again?"

"Typhoid?"

"So that is what it is called," Maren sighed. "And you say you healed yourself of this illness?"

"Yeah."

"I see." Maren took a second to gather her thoughts.

Alaric, on the other hand, knelt there, wondering what could be going through the Duchess’s mind.

Well, there was the chance she didn’t believe the lies he gave her, and if that was the case, he already planned on adding another creative lie.

The lie was never-ending, a unique talent he had learned since his former world.

Maren placed one hand on her waist, her white hair already dancing behind her.

"Come with me, son of Rashin. There is something I wish to show you."

At first, Alaric assumed she bought everything he had told her and wanted to finally take him to the main reason why she called him.

Or so he thought.

To his surprise, Maren had led him toward one of the rooms in the castle, one where a man, known to be the head of the knights and the only diamond rank in the entire Forgeino region apart from Ava, lay.

’What am I doing here?’ Alaric thought to himself, his face not hiding how disappointed and pissed off he was.

Maren stood in front of the bed, watching as the knight slept painfully, his entire body burning up while sweating profusely.

Ava was standing at the entrance. Normally, she wasn’t supposed to even be there. Then again, Maren knew who she was—she had raised her at a young age. As such, she didn’t exactly care that she tagged along.

"This is the leader of the army I led. Just like Ava, who attained the diamond rank, he also did the same," Maren began. "A few days ago, he suddenly fell ill. The exact symptoms you mentioned were the same that befell him. We had the best doctors and healers in the kingdom treat him, and all failed, claiming to be oblivious to what he suffered from."

Alaric gulped down his saliva.

He could already tell where this was leading. The chances of Maren asking him to heal the knight—since he himself told her he healed from the same symptoms—were high.

Now, that would not be an issue if Alaric had indeed fallen for the same sickness.

It was a blatant lie. He never fell ill. Other than the parasite, nothing else had happened to him. Adding that to the fact he was no doctor, there was nothing Alaric could do in this situation.

Looking to the side, he made eye contact with Ava.

(Yooo! Ava, help me out here!)

His eyes said it without him having to utter anything.

Ava returned a different look.

(You lie too much. This is what you get, dummy.)

Alaric felt her glare stab him in the chest, his eyes almost watering.

Suddenly, Maren turned around to look at him, and then she asked, "You healed from the same illness. Would it be too much to ask if you healed him for me? I promise to compensate you with any amount you wish for."

’Compensate?’

Alaric’s initial worry faded at the mention of money.

Though he already had an unlimited amount of funds to begin with, his thoughts never wandered toward the monetary aspect.

Instead, if he could ask her for anything, why not use it when she wanted to make him work?

"Alaric, build a bridge for me."

"I’d like to use my request and decline."

It sounded good. Too good. In fact, it was genius.

Without giving it any more thought, he moved forward and placed his hand on the Duchess’s shoulder.

"You want him healed? He is healed already. You don’t have to worry about it."

Ava could have sworn her soul left her body. ’Why are you touching the Duchess like she’s your buddy?! You can get killed.’

Maren was indeed surprised that such a weak man had the guts to touch her so carelessly.

"Can I count on you to do that?" she asked, ignoring Alaric’s hand.

"Sure, sure, I have it covered," Alaric replied.

"Very well, I shall excuse you."

With that, Maren walked out of the room.

Ava felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her chest as she tried to catch her breath.

"Lord Alaric, do you truly have a way to heal that man? You made up the sickness, remember?" she uttered.

Slowly turning around, Alaric pointed at her. "Who said anything about healing him? Come, choke him to death. We’ll just lie and say he didn’t make it."