I Abandoned the Male Lead Who Cheated with the Villainess - Chapter 195

Even the young Ivonne had grown into someone strikingly similar to Novnie. Perhaps it was some effect of Novnie’s soul.

‘I wish I were… human too.’

No, this was a thought that wasn’t worth having. If he had been human, then Novnie would never have become Ivonne.

Isaac shook his head vigorously, shaking off his thoughts.

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

It was a cool day for early summer. However, the atmosphere of the world felt gloomy, as thick dark clouds continued to drift across the sky.

It would have been better if it had rained heavily and cleared up, but oddly, the clouds refused to dissipate and filled the sky like an unshakable, lingering sadness.

On this day, the Ulfest family held a funeral. It was the funeral of Blitzen, the young Count who had passed away at the age of twenty-three. As always with aristocratic funerals, gossip followed.

But today, the voices of whispers were unusually loud.

“Poison… was it?”

“Really? I heard he was stabbed by some sort of sharp implement.”

“Wait, wasn’t it a fall from a horse?”

“I heard someone pushed him down the stairs.”

“No, the butler says he was strangled.”

“No, no. My maid’s cousin is the head maid at the Count’s household, and she said he died with his face pressed into a pillow.”

The mourners, despite their black attire, their faces blushed as they enthusiastically chatted. From start to finish, the topic of conversation was Blitzen’s cause of death.

This discussion continued even after Blitzen’s body was transferred to the Ulfest family tomb. For the time being, it was clear that there would be much speculation in the high society of the Sortenic Empire about Blitzen’s death.

“I heard the Countess fainted.”

“That’s understandable. Her position in the family was quite precarious, wasn’t it?”

“Of course. She’s a commoner, after all. There’s no way the Count’s family would have accepted her.”

“Oh my, what will happen to the Countess now? She’s technically the Madam, so will she become the head of the Ulfest family?”

“Well, even if she does, who would truly follow a commoner-born Countess with genuine loyalty?”

“The family will likely meet soon, and it’ll pass to a branch member.”

There was also significant interest in Ivonne, the first commoner-born C

ountess in the Sortenic Empire. However, much of the focus was not on admiration but mockery.

After the people in black passed by, their faces devoid of grief, a man appeared from beneath the dense, leafy trees.

It was Isaac. His olive-green eyes looked down at the ground before slowly turning and resting on the spot where Blitzen had just been buried.

Everyone had left, and the area was now empty, only the silhouettes of two people stood.

“Ugh… Haa…”

“…”

A woman was silently sobbing while pressing a handkerchief to her mouth, and a man standing beside her, solemnly keeping silent.

It was Ivonne and Herix.

Ivonne’s face, hidden behind a black veil, was pale.

The words of the nobles about her fainting weren’t entirely false. Moreover, seeing her hand tremble as she clutched the handkerchief showed that she had little strength left in her body.

“Lean on me… just a little longer. That way… I can stay here, even just a little longer.”

Herix didn’t miss the opportunity to speak. Ivonne, overwhelmed by his gentle voice and kindness in comforting Blitzen’s loss, broke into tears again.

“Ah, Your Highness…”

Ivonne finally collapsed, and Herix quickly held her waist, pulling her into his arms. His large frame enveloped her completely.

Ivonne cried into his chest, and Herix absorbed the damp sadness with his entire body. If possible, he wanted to shield her tears from the world and allowed her to cry freely, to grieve without restraint.

It seemed that his feelings had been conveyed, as Ivonne gripped his collar instead of the handkerchief and wept without holding back. Finally, the grave, once filled only with heated arguments and mockery, began to resonate with the sound it truly deserved.

Watching this, Isaac clenched his fist tightly. His knuckles were as taut as the tendons in his hand, and blood vessels appeared in the whites of his eyes.

The hand that held Ivonne’s shoulder should have been his. He should have felt the delicate weight of her slender arm, not the pain of his own nails digging into his palm. The thought made his teeth grind.

Aiden had become a god, but it was clear he had no talent for prophecy. Perhaps this was where his artificial godhood became evident.

Aiden was wrong again. Even after Blitzen’s death, Ivonne didn’t hate Herix. It was hard to believe, but it wasn’t entirely without reason.

‘Does Ivonne not know that Herix killed Blitzen?’

Yes, as the nobles said, there were many differing opinions on how Blitzen died. Even the doctor who performed the autopsy had differing views.

The horizontal mark on his neck indicated strangulation, but the poison had also eaten through his esophagus, and there was a long foreign object lodged in the back of his neck, so it was understandable.

‘But the one who killed Blitzen was definitely Herix. Yes, Ivonne probably doesn’t know Herix is the killer. If she knew it was him… she would hate him.’