I Abandoned the Male Lead Who Cheated with the Villainess - Chapter 192

But at this very moment, that monster inside him had nearly died. Winter had passed. With just one calm word from Ivonne, the frozen, stiffened winter deep within him, which had settled like ice, melted away completely.

She had driven winter out. The change was so obvious that Ivonne couldn’t help but feel a little tingly in her palm.

‘This is a bit… embarrassing.’

It was visibly clear that her words had become a beacon of hope for someone else’s life. It was embarrassing, but at the same time, a sense of pride welled up in her chest. She realized that giving someone hope also meant finding hope for herself. She felt truly, vividly alive.

— …

Herix, almost unconsciously, took a breath and placed his hand over his chest. His posture was reverent, almost like a knight swearing loyalty to his king, or a priest devoting his heart to the divine.

‘The leash… she said she’d put it on me. She said I was needed.’

Herix was told he was useful. Every word he had longed to hear, Ivonne had given to him. She was the one who recognized his existence, one that everyone else had deemed worthless.

‘Can I live? Is it okay for me to live like this?’

The question that had echoed in his mind at every moment was finally answered. It was the one thing he had wanted to hear, just once: to live, to not die.

Ivonne’s words, telling him that he was needed, carried an immense meaning for him.

The wish that no one had known he had prayed to God for, Ivonne had granted. The wish that God might not have answered, Ivonne had. How could he not become her follower now?

To Herix, Ivonne was truly his spring.

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

His head felt numb. When he came to his senses, he realized his head was under the cold, rushing water of the sink.

“Phew…”

He turned off the faucet and lifted his head. Cold water dripped down his wet hair, soaking into his collar and shirt. The icy water running down his spine was so cold it sent a tingling shock through him. After shaking out his wet hair, Herix immediately reached for a towel and buried his face in the dry fabric.

Thump, thump, thump—his heart seemed to be pounding in his ears. No, it felt like his entire face had turned into a heartbeat. Every time he thought of Ivonne, the woman who had found him before he had become a rotten apple, the woman who had made him feel needed when he thought he was nothing but a useless beast, his heart raced like this.

‘It’s so loud…’

He hadn’t imagined the sound of his organs moving to stay alive would feel like noise. After wiping his chin and neck with the towel, Herix lifted his head.

A nobleman marrying a commoner. Yes, just recently, this would have been unimaginable to Herix.

How dare he defy his master, Arnold, who held the leash over him?

But now, things are different.

‘My master…’

The person who came to mind as he closed his eyes in silence.

— We meet again, Your Highness. Though, I must admit, it was an accident I orchestrated.

Even after Herix returned to the imperial palace, this person continued to visit, never forgetting him, observing his condition under the guise of a chance encounter.

— The leash is very long. You can go anywhere. It doesn’t hurt. But don’t worry, I’ll hold it firmly, so whenever you need, you can follow the long string back.

His master was Ivonne.

So, it was only natural for him to react noticeably to the worries Ivonne shared as she exhaled a lazy breath.

— I just want to be with the one I love, but it’s difficult.

The one I love.

Johann didn’t know about this.

Thump, thump, thump—Herix’s hand, still gripping the towel, pressed against his chest. Even through the thick fabric, he could feel the pounding rhythm.

“The one I love…”

— Ivonne.

Herix had now become someone who could recognize his emotions without needing to learn them.

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

Ivonne had married.

And once again, it was because of Herix. That damn Herix was blocking Aiden’s path. He was interfering once more.

“…Ha.”

Isaac couldn’t help but be astonished. He had planned to take a short nap, but it felt as if he had actually slept for ten years.

Ivonne, Novnie’s words echoed in his mind.

— I call this ‘fast-forward.’

Time is different for humans and gods. Now that Isaac had become a god, he knew he shouldn’t think like a human anymore. It had been his mistake. And that wasn’t the only mistake he had made.

‘I should have brainwashed Ivonne, not Blitzen. No, I should have brainwashed both of them.’

He had brainwashed Blitzen and, while it had made him exhausted, he had endured. He should have taken measures with Ivonne as well. If that power didn’t get absorbed by Novnie, it would have been a relief, but still, he should have tried.

‘Where should I start? Is there anything I can do?’

What should he do? His mind went blank. Meanwhile, Ivonne was happily enjoying her honeymoon with Blitzen, living a life he wasn’t a part of. Watching her with another man was unbearable.

It was then that he remembered the moment when Herix had killed Aiden.

Now, Isaac understood why Herix killed his ‘brother’ Aiden. Arnold had turned Herix into a fox and used that weakness to order him to kill Aiden. Therefore, Aiden’s enemy wasn’t Herix, but Arnold.

But what difference did it make?

Herix had killed Aiden, even knowing he was his ‘brother.’ And so, Aiden had disappeared from the world, and Isaac had emerged in his place. The fact that Herix had killed Aiden remained unchanged.