I Abandoned the Male Lead Who Cheated with the Villainess - Chapter 198

“Th-then…”

Was he perhaps misunderstanding something? There was something hot and sticky lodged in her throat, and it seemed to be making it difficult for her to speak properly. She wasn’t sure if it was the sobs she hadn’t been able to swallow or something else entirely.

As she felt that uncomfortable sensation, Ivonne slowly turned her head. Herix was there.

“……”

His calm expression was the same as always. That calm expression. A blank face. The kind of indifference unique to someone who never looks back. It was etched on Herix’s face.

Ivonne finally realized.

That was a face that didn’t understand the wrongs.

The man who had lived like a beast clearly didn’t understand human morality.

A chill ran down her spine. According to Isaac, Herix had inflicted endless sorrow on Ivonne with his own hands, only to then ask her to embrace him.

He didn’t know the wrong, he had no morality, no guilt, or… perhaps… he hadn’t even considered it.

“No, no. That’s impossible. It can’t be. No.”

Her words were abruptly cut off. It was hard even to speak a complete sentence. Ivonne demanded an explanation from Herix.

“No.”

But why did the end of her sentence not rise in a question?

“No.”

Why was she so certain?

“Say it’s not true.”

Why was she commanding him?

“Do it now!”

Her voice cracked, finally splitting the silence of the graveyard. The crows that had been perched on gravestones or withered branches flapped their wings and flew away in response to her painful cry.

“Do it… ha, hah.”

Her breath came in harsh gasps. Her shoulders trembled. Even though her fists were clenched, they lacked strength. Her knees buckled. It felt like she might collapse right there and kneel before the man who looked down at her.

“……”

He merely exchanged glances with her, not even denying a single word. With every question she asked, the reality of Isaac’s words became more and more undeniable.

Before this hellish man.

“Why… why aren’t you saying anything?”

Her voice still didn’t rise. She already knew. No matter what Herix said, it wouldn’t be the words she wanted to hear, and she knew this too well. If he now denied it after having remained silent all this time, it would be a lie. If he admitted it, it would be irreversible.

“……”

Herix, too, understood this and said nothing. Whether it was cleverness or innocence, she couldn’t tell. However, there was one thing she knew for sure: he had completely deceived her.

She was disgusted.

“Ha… hahaha. Ha…”

And so Ivonne laughed. Her mind was a mess.

It felt as though millions of rough curves were tangled messily inside her brain. There was nothing she could understand.

Blitzen’s sudden death, the already uncertain path ahead, and the overwhelming sadness as though half her body had been torn away—it was all too much for Ivonne. She was so exhausted that she almost wished to close her eyes and fall into an eternal sleep, never to wake up.

The only one who gave her any relief at that moment was Herix. The mere fact that there was someone who understood the same pain, someone who shared the same loneliness, brought her a considerable sense of comfort.

“Haha… ha… ugh, ha… haha.”

Dry laughter broke out in ragged gasps. She felt like she was barely holding on to a breath that was dangerously close to breaking, but it was nothing more than a reed, ready to snap and fall apart at any moment.

This was the mercy of the one who had dragged her into this sticky swamp, a mercy that felt like deception.

“Ah, haha… hhh… ugh…”

She couldn’t even tell if it was laughter, sobbing, or moaning. The sounds spilling from her open mouth resembled the cries of an animal. It seemed like her emotions were too far gone to be expressed in human words. Her sanity was hanging by a thread, flickering on and off. She could feel her reason slipping away.

“I’m going crazy… I think I’m going to lose it, ah…”

The only thought that dominated her mind was this:

‘If that bastard hadn’t been there, I would never have fallen into this swamp.’

She hated him. She hated him terribly. The very thought of his name disgusted her. What word could she possibly use to describe the flood of emotions rising inside her? The sorrow she had reserved solely for Blitzen, who had left her, was now being crushed by something else.

Was this anger? But could anger be this cold? No, maybe it was hot. She wasn’t sure anymore. Her senses of temperature had definitely broken down. Perhaps her brain had melted.

“I hate it…!”

She no longer had the strength to stand as a person.

The one who had once been her salvation, her light, had turned into her downfall, her curse. It all happened so quickly.

She felt a sinking sensation beneath her feet. Dizziness so intense that she felt like she was going to be buried in the deepest part of the abyss, trapped in the muddy, foul-smelling depths.

Ivonne swayed in confusion.

“Ivonne!”

Herix, who had been silent, not knowing what to say, suddenly grabbed her arm urgently. And then it happened.

Slap!

The sharp sound echoed through the now foggy, desolate graveyard.

“…!”

Ivonne could hear Isaac gasp in surprise, but all she did was glare at Herix, whose head had turned.

“Get your hands off me.”

His neck ached as it was pushed back with force. The sharp crack of his skin being struck filled his ears, and the stinging pain from his cheek left him feeling numb.