Alaric tried not to make any sudden noise. He gently sat back down on the chair, his fist under his jaw as he waited for whoever was knocking to go away.
"Lord Alaric..." The girl called out again.
'Go away, geez why are you so persistent? You're not paid enough for this.'
[Are you sending your knight away?]
'Shut up.'
An aggressive sigh echoed from the female.
_baam!_
The door burst open and the female walked into the room.
"Lord Alaric!" She called out, turning her gaze to the side to him staring at her with shock written all over his face.
"Oh you're alive." The lady uttered, a look of disappointment playing on her features.
'She just barged into the room...' Alaric looked at the opened door and then back at the woman.
She was dressed in a black tight pants and a belt dancing around her waist. Her blade was scraped to the side of her waist as well, while her top was white with a black jacket complementing it. She also had red long hair and a facial expression as cold as ice.
She was Alaric's bodyguard, Ava Isenberg, a knight in training who was appointed to the Montclair family by the duke.
With his initial shock now clearing, Alaric sighed as he rested his back on the chair again, "Ava, what do you want?".
"That's a weird question to ask me, my Lord... Did all the drinking finally get to you?" Ava titled her head to the side.
'Is she insulting me?' Alaric glared.
"The Baroness would like for you to join her at the table. She has asked that I accompany you, and try my luck." Ava spoke, her expression still calm and collected.
'Oh yeah, they've been trying to get me to eat at the family table for a long time, but this damn character would rather go spend the morning at a pub.'
He sighed yet again, looking at her with his tired gaze, "You don't have to worry about that. And no I'm not going to the pub, you can just bring my food to my room, and tell Mother I'll find time for us to eat together some time in the future... maybe".
_silence~_
"I knew it, the alcohol has gotten to you, hasn't it?"
"Shut up about that already!" Alaric yelled, "I'm just not in the mood okay?"
[Your knight does not believe you, Alaric is a degenerate.]
'Hey!'
"Are you saying you don't need a doctor to check up on you? It's quite weird that you're deciding to stay in your room, not to speak of not going to the pub to waste your life." Ava spoke again, her expression stiff despite her words stabbing him in the chest.
'Argh, she's not going to let this go if I don't do one of the two things she wants.' he looked at her, "Fine, I'll be at the dining table".
"I'll inform her lady."
Ava gave one final glance, reading the man she was supposed to protect before then exiting the room. Her footsteps echoed faintly after she closed the door shut.
Slumping his back completely on the chair with groan, Alaric covered his face with his hands, "Fix this damn pod and send me back already!"
[You could at least try to be a functioning member of society.]
'I'd rather not.'
.....
Alaric was seated on the family table, his food arranged in front of him.
Joining him were the Montclair family, The Baroness, Lady Kika Montclair and the first daughter, Erica Montclair.
Alaric's mother had blonde long hair and a very seductive body. Her tits were huge, and her lips were red and tempting. She was the exact definition of the kind of mother one would love to get down with.
In fact, due to how beautiful she was, the Duke decided to give her the land she was currently in, and that was how she and her husband became Barons.
Erica on the other hand, though she was beautiful, her body lacked in comparison to her mother's.
Alaric looked at the empty chair where his father was supposed to be, but something came up and he wasn't able to make it.
'I guess he's still trying to convince the house of Dergan not to go to war with the Ilinees city. He's quite persistent.' he said to himself as he shoved the spoon filled with rice inside his mouth.
The kingdom of Vardenis was located at the north side of the continent. Having five important families under it, one of them were the two rival families, Duke Arnor, of the house of Dergan ruling the southern region near the kingdom's borders, and Duchess Meren of the house of Lorik, controlling the Forgeino region.
Recently, there have been news of some criminals to the north trying to overthrow one of the noble families due to disputes.
While the house of Dergan pushes the idea of using military forces, Duchess Meren rejected this approach and thinks diplomacy would help.
And since the Montclair family was right under the Duchess commands, and even closer to the northern region, Alaric's father felt he could do something that would stop both houses from going to war by trying to convince Duchess Meren to take a different route.
'A waste of time though... No one in their right mind would listen to a Baron, especially one that was granted the title in the way we were.' Alaric blurted out in his mind, his black silky hair falling over his face as he ate.
"Brother..."
Erica called out, looking up at him with a somewhat nervous expression on her face.
Alaric allowed her attention and shifted his gaze towards her, though not a word left his mouth.
"Yo.. you've been awfully.. quiet, a...are you alright?" She asked, a bead of sweat at the side of her face.
Though Alaric wasn't that surprised she asked. From the moment he sat down on the chair, both his sister and mother have been acting weird. They knew Alaric to be rowdy, he would have scattered at least half of their table before even touching his food.
_Sigh~_
"Can you people...just... Confession... I'm I've gone through self reflection?"