I Abandoned the Male Lead Who Cheated with the Villainess - Chapter 123
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.
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“Ugh…!”
It was Herix who lunged at Blitzen and grabbed his throat. He showed no intention of listening to Blitzen’s words at all. The blood vessels in his eyes had burst, and the area beneath his eyes was a deep, purplish red.
What once appeared bored and indifferent now glimmered with an unbearable mix of disgust and rage. His eyes had transformed into fierce, beast-like slits, shining like a predator’s.
“Huh, kugh…!”
Blitzen struggled to breathe as he felt Herix’s grip tightening around his throat. For a brief moment, he thought Herix’s pupils resembled those of a fox, elongated and sharp.
“Kuh, ugh…”
Blitzen fought desperately to escape the crushing grip of Herix’s hands, which felt capable of breaking bones, but it was futile. Was Herix even human? His strength was overwhelming. Blitzen’s blunt nails couldn’t leave a single mark on Herix’s wrist.
Help me, the silent cry echoed in his mind, dispersing into a pitiful whimper from his wide-open mouth. Yet, no one intervened as Herix mounted him, choking the life out of him. The six knights, the fifteen attendants, and even Johann, known as the second madman, were all watching Blitzen’s impending death without intervening.
‘Ah, I’m going to die here.’
It was a feeling he instinctively recognized. Death was closing in. As he lay awake at night, reflecting on his day, Blitzen’s life flashed rapidly before his eyes.
Someone once said that the life flashing before one’s eyes before death is the brain’s last desperate struggle to find a way to survive. If a way to survive comes to mind, one lives; if not, one simply closes their eyes. Unfortunately for Blitzen, he was the latter.
….
His eyes rolled back, and a dirty foam bubbled at his lips. With his neck twisted, the sound of breaking vertebrae was imminent. But then, at that moment…
“…No.”
A voice emerged, sharp and grating, as if someone were scratching a chalkboard.
“This cannot happen…”
What followed sounded like rusted metal clashing. Drip, drip, drip… Thick, cold droplets fell from Herix’s grip on Blitzen’s throat. In that moment, even amidst Blitzen’s dying struggle, the crowd, which had been silent, collectively gasped for air.
Herix was crying.
“I’m going to be punished again… you’ll hate me… if I kill him… ah, please…”
He was sobbing deeply, blood seeping from his bitten lips, staining his white teeth red. He looked like a wounded beast that had pathetically failed its hunt.
Despite his overwhelming sorrow, Herix slowly released his grip. He hadn’t finished off Blitzen.
The many people who had just gasped in shock now followed suit, horrified. They had all believed without a doubt that Herix would kill Blitzen in one swift motion. The most surprised of them was, of course, Johann.
‘It’s just like how Ivonne disappeared because of Count Ulfest… Why isn’t he even killing that Count Ulfest?’
No, saying he wasn’t killing him didn’t quite fit. If gazes were blades and those purple eyes were weapons, Blitzen would have died thousands of times over by now.
Now that he thought about it, Herix had made strange statements both when he choked the attendants and now, as he spared Blitzen despite his overwhelming rage.
‘He said not to kill them, or he would be punished… what does that even mean?’
Johann quickly got up unsteadily from his seat and brought a glass of water to Herix, who was throwing himself onto the couch. As he gestured, the attendants discreetly moved the unconscious Blitzen to the couch.
Herix looked down at Blitzen with disdain, his eyes cast down as if he was swallowing flames that burned his insides in order to quell the rising urge to kill.
Thus, Johann formulated a plausible hypothesis.
‘He’s not choosing to spare him… but maybe he can’t kill him?’
Johann soon hurriedly rejected his own hypothesis.
‘No, that can’t be right. The one who suppressed the rebellion in the Osbloom Kingdom is the Crown Prince.’
So why was Herix not even killing Blitzen? He was the one responsible for Ivonne’s disappearance, the very one who had tormented her while Herix was temporarily absent. There were ample reasons for Herix to harbor murderous intent toward Blitzen.
‘There are so many strange things going on.’
Though it had been eight years since Johann had served Herix, he found himself questioning whether the man he was serving was truly the same person. Recently, Herix’s behavior had become so unfamiliar that it raised doubts. But what difference would it make to keep doubting and wondering alone?
Herix took a breath that bubbled up from deep within his throat, holding back his anger as he called out, “Johann.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Bring me the brooch that Ivonne gave me.”
“Understood.”
Johann’s role was to support and assist Herix. He resolved not to get distracted by unnecessary matters that would prevent him from completing his tasks and to focus on what he could do.
‘Right. Once Ivonne returns, everything will be alright. All of it.’
So, he had to find Ivonne as soon as possible. Johann thought positively as he quickly made his way toward Herix’s chamber.
But what was this unsettling feeling that clung to him, growing heavier with every step? It felt as if a dark, long shadow was looming behind him, sending chills down his spine. Johann suppressed the urge to look back, not wanting to confront whatever it was, and quickened his pace instead.
In the quiet palace, the sound of the man’s footsteps echoed as he rushed forward, trying hard to ignore the anxiety that predicted an uncertain future.
