I Abandoned the Male Lead Who Cheated with the Villainess - Chapter 197

In Ivonne’s eyes, Aiden appeared. The green eyes held one person, but two conflicting emotions were felt by two people.

Herix’s heart plummeted, while Aiden’s soared to paradise.

“Ivonne, please—”

“Nice to meet you.”

Herix hurriedly tried to speak, but Aiden cut him off even faster. It was chilling. Herix unconsciously grabbed his own neck. Though his words had been cut off, why did it feel as if his neck had been severed instead? Was it because of Aiden’s cold, mocking gaze?

“Indeed, I owe a great debt to Count Ulfest when he was alive. I tried to meet with him several times, but he was always so busy. The thought of meeting next time….”

Aiden spoke the lie without a hint of hesitation.

At the mention of being an acquaintance of Blitzen, Ivonne quickly pulled away from Herix’s embrace.

It was inappropriate for a recently widowed woman to be clinging to another man in front of her husband’s grave, regardless of her feelings. She knew that the public would certainly view it as improper, no matter what her emotions might be.

As Ivonne pulled away from him, Herix felt the warmth leave him, as if he were locked back in winter. Left alone, Ivonne hurriedly wiped her tears with her handkerchief and spoke.

“Oh, I’m so sorry… I didn’t mean to… Yes, it’s nice to meet you. What is your name?”

“No, it’s quite alright. I know well how much more lonely and sorrowful you must be, far beyond the grief I feel for my benefactor. Ah, my name is… I imagine you wouldn’t recognize it. I’m Isaac.”

“Oh… I’m sorry, I don’t remember.”

“That’s alright. Count Ulfest wasn’t the kind of person to boast about his small acts of kindness.”

Aiden introduced himself as Isaac and forced a smile. It was clear from his expression that he was indicating how little influence he had in Blitzen’s life while also sharing in the sorrow of the loss of such a good man.

His expression was so natural that for a moment, Herix wondered if Aiden was really an acquaintance who had been grateful to Blitzen.

‘No, that can’t be true.’

Herix shook his head inside. He could feel his disdain for Aiden growing; he was in a situation where he couldn’t bring himself to kill him, and the contempt for that was becoming unbearable.

No one, except the Emperor himself, could look at the heir to the throne with such a gaze.

‘Then why… is he going to lie like that and approach Ivonne?’

Herix’s heart thudded, and the vague answers he had been feeling now became clear.

‘He’s trying to expose what I did.’

And just as Herix had thought, his suspicions were right on target.

“In fact, I am a coroner.”

“A coroner…”

Ivonne, still wiping away her tears, asked in a voice that was barely free of sorrow. Isaac explained, looking slightly embarrassed.

“It’s not a very well-known profession, but I work for the Imperial Medical Division. My job is to examine bodies to determine the cause of death when it’s unknown.”

Historically, nobles often died suddenly without explanation, sometimes even under mysterious circumstances. Isaac said that his job was to investigate these bodies, find the cause of death, and uncover any potential conspiracies behind it.

Since Ivonne, a commoner, wasn’t familiar with the term, she simply nodded as if she understood.

“It’s not an exaggeration to say that I owe this work to Count Ulfest. I’m here to repay the favor.”

“So you…?”

“Yes. I apologize for conducting the examination without permission. But I made sure to avoid any harm to the body as much as possible.”

Isaac politely bowed his head in greeting. If Ivonne had been in a slightly more composed state, she might have reacted with anger at Isaac’s reckless behavior or demanded to know when the autopsy had taken place.

But now, she was a woman left all alone. Just missing her late husband was overwhelming enough. And then, as if to chastise her for not being able to think clearly, a shocking piece of news came crashing down on her.

“I’ve uncovered the cause of death. It’s clearly a homicide. As I mentioned, it is my duty as a coroner to trace the perpetrator’s steps.”

“Oh, yes…”

It was then that Herix hurriedly grabbed Ivonne’s shoulder.

“Ivonne, it’s better if you rest for now. We can talk about this later—”

“Wait a moment.”

Ivonne gripped Herix’s hand tightly and pushed it away. From that sensation, Herix instinctively knew what was about to come from Isaac, or rather, from Aiden, who was pretending to be Isaac.

“Ivonne, just listen to what I have to say—”

“I’ve also identified the killer.”

The hell that those dark green eyes, which were looking directly at her with a mocking gaze, would bring.

“Right here.”

The punishment that awaited him.

“It’s none other than the Crown Prince himself.”

“…What?”

Ivonne couldn’t believe her ears. She kept questioning whether the sound that had penetrated her eardrums was a hallucination. But to her, Isaac spoke again with unwavering eyes.

“The Crown Prince killed your husband, Count Ulfest.”

Although Ivonne did not have particularly keen observational or insight skills into human psychology, she could distinguish a lying gaze.

At least, that’s what she believed. So, it didn’t take long for her to realize that Isaac’s words were true.