I Became a Slave to the Man I Abandoned Novel (Completed) - Chapter 152

Khalid looked at Feltion, but he couldn’t bring himself to mock him. If Feltion hadn’t made such foolish choices, perhaps Khalid himself would never have known the truth.

Khalid offered no verbal reply, merely twisting his wrist to deflect Feltion’s attack.

Clang!

As the sword slid along the blade, Feltion’s body swayed. Khalid drove his knee into Feltion’s solar plexus as he stumbled forward.

“Ugh…!” Feltion clenched his teeth to suppress a groan. Khalid spun, grabbed his hair, and stomped hard on his calf as Feltion half-knelt.

Snap, crunch. The sound of bone breaking echoed.

Feltion’s scream tore through the air.

Khalid bit his lip hard and stomped on his broken leg again. After confirming it was completely shattered, Khalid placed the dagger beneath Feltion’s chin.

Feltion squeezed his eyes shut. But even as he waited with closed eyes, he felt no pain, only the cold touch of the blade.

Feltion opened his eyes and looked at Khalid. Khalid was staring down at him with a cold gaze. The two men exchanged glances, saying nothing.

They had once been comrades who could trust each other with their backs. When had they fallen so far? It was impossible to say who had been more foolish. Feltion felt he understood why Khalid wasn’t killing him immediately.

“Did you… call him?”

“…”

“Ha, haha. You’re trying so hard. It’s almost pathetic, truly.” Feltion suddenly twisted his shoulder. The blade lightly bit into his neck. A thin stream of blood trickled down. And in that instant—

Bang!

“Your Majesty!”

“What are you doing, Duke!”

The Emperor’s knights burst in. But Duke Khalid Via’s blade was poised at the Emperor’s throat.

They could only stand there, stunned, swords drawn, unable to approach recklessly.

Khalid tightened his grip on Feltion’s hair, forcing his chin higher. Then he pressed the blade even closer beneath his throat. The Emperor’s chief eunuch cried out in terror.

“Wh-what do you want?!”

Khalid gave no answer. He simply stared silently towards the door, his blade unmoving. Feltion, due to the sharp blade at his neck and his throbbing leg, couldn’t even move his body.

Feltion gave a self-deprecating laugh and said, “I shouldn’t have given him to you that day.”

“I also regret delivering him to you that day.”

The voices between the two men were low, yet loud enough for them to hear each other clearly. Two foolish men. In the end, two men who would be abandoned, holding nothing.

“To show me your face one last time… it almost brings tears to my eyes.”

“No need to be thankful.”

Suddenly, a murmur rippled through the knights blocking the doorway. Hesitantly, they began to step aside, one by one. And through the gap, a man in black appeared.

“Because it’ll be the last time I see you too, anyway.”

Nox Rainerio.

Thud, crunch.

Feltion felt a sudden, sharp pain spread through him. But the pain in his neck was not what mattered to him now. In his final moments, Feltion sought Nox Rainerio’s dark eyes.

You came to see the end of me, who broke and violated you! If you rejoice in my death, that will be proof that I left an indelible wound on you. You must hate me. And so, even if I die, you must suffer and live with the scars I left until you die!

Feltion thought Nox would delight in his death. That he would rejoice in the death of the man who left him with an unforgettable wound. But…

Splat, ugh!

As Khalid’s sword moved to sever Feltion’s neck, all Feltion saw was…

“…”

Nox’s gaze, dry and devoid of any emotion, simply staring at him. Feltion’s insides twisted. And at that exact moment…

Crunch.

A burning pain erupted from his neck. For a moment, he couldn’t breathe. He clutched the floor, gasping.

Even as blood gushed out, Feltion lifted his head to look at Nox. Despite his own impending death, no emotion flickered in Nox’s dark eyes. No ecstasy, no joy, no hatred. None of it.

Feltion felt as if something was tightly constricting his throat. In the end, I was nothing to you.

The realization drove him to madness. Feltion clawed at the floor, reaching out an arm towards Nox.

The screams of the palace attendants and knights filled the air. But they held no importance for Feltion.

Just hate me.

Rejoice in my death.

His bloodshot eyes desperately clung to Nox’s face until the very end.

“It’s all… over now.”

Thud.

With Khalid’s single word, another gush of blood poured out. His neck was more than half-severed, and the carpet was soaked.

Feltion watched Nox Rainerio until the end, through his rapidly dimming vision. He desperately hoped to see even a speck of emotion—hatred, anger—in Nox’s face, in his eyes.

But in the end, he found nothing.

No hatred. No anger.

Nothing.

And so, without grasping even the smallest fragment of emotion, his consciousness faded.

***

Nox Rainerio arrived at the imperial palace, just as Khalid had promised.

“…It sounds a bit chaotic,” Esterion remarked. True to his words, as soon as they disembarked in front of the palace, Nox felt the internal commotion. Court attendants constantly rushed about, and the urgent shouts of someone could be heard.

“When are the keys coming?!”

The palace was in such disarray that Nox’s arrival went unnoticed.

Nox Rainerio saw the stairs leading to the upper floor. For a moment, the shouts faded from his ears. A high-pitched ringing filled his ears, and his heart thumped. A green light flickered in Nox Rainerio’s dark eyes.

Ah, it smelled like blood.

Bang!

From a distance, the sound of a door slamming against a wall echoed. Nox Rainerio followed the sound. Soon, the Emperor’s chief eunuch’s voice was heard. Nox stopped, finding a murmuring crowd of court attendants.

Esterion stepped forward, pushing the attendants aside and clearing a path. Nox began to walk along the path he made. Only then did people notice Nox and cautiously step back. Whispers reached his ears.

“Duke Rainerio has arrived.”

“Duke Rainerio?”

“When did he arrive?”

“Is that important now? We should pray that Duke Rainerio resolves this situation.”

Everyone already knew that Duke Khalid Via was harming the Emperor. Thus, they held a slight hope. If there was anyone who could influence Khalid Via, the man holding a sword to the Emperor, it was surely Nox Rainerio.

Nox slowly walked forward. As the attendants murmured, the knights turned back. And their eyes met his. Nox lightly tilted his chin. His arrogant eyes overwhelmed the knights.

Unconsciously, they lowered their swords slightly and stepped back. As Nox Rainerio stepped forward, people craned their necks, holding onto great anticipation that perhaps this situation could be resolved.

However…

Crunch.

Gasp.

The moment Nox Rainerio’s gaze fell upon him, Khalid Via, holding the dagger in his hand, mercilessly slashed the Emperor’s throat.

“Your Majesty—!” the chief eunuch shrieked. Blood burst forth, drenching the office floor. Khalid Via had, at last, cut the Emperor’s throat. He then completely severed the head and flung it to the floor.

Thud, roll.

The head rolled across the floor, coming to rest at Nox Rainerio’s feet. Nox felt a strange sense of déjà vu, as if he had experienced this situation before.

Ah, yes. The former Crown Prince’s head rolled like this. At that party. So wretchedly. Nox calmly looked down at the head. Then he recalled Feltion’s eyes, wide and staring, as he took his last look at Nox.

Feltion had clearly expected something from him. Nox knew exactly what that expectation was, but naturally, he did not fulfill it. Just as you hold no value to me, your death too holds no value.

Having delivered what Feltion would find most unbearable, Nox lightly nudged the Emperor’s head with his foot. The once gentle brown hair was now soaked in blood.

Beep—.

A ringing sound filled his ears. Nox slowly inhaled. The knights and the chief eunuch stood frozen in place, utterly speechless.

The Emperor was dead.

That meant the absence of command.

Khalid Via stood blankly, having just thrown the headless body of the Emperor to the floor.

No one could understand why he had killed the Emperor. Except for one person. Khalid’s eyes met Nox’s, as if trying to imprint something he would never see again for a long time.

Nox met his blue gaze and offered a faint smile. No, he smiled at him.

“Imperial Knights.” Nox’s low voice called to them. The knights flinched.

“Seize the traitor who assassinated His Imperial Majesty.” There was no mercy at the corners of Nox Rainerio’s lips. “By the command of the last remaining imperial family member.”

At his words, the knights instantly regained their senses. The last imperial family member. Nox Rainerio’s mother, Olga Rainerio, was indeed of imperial blood.

With no imperial siblings or children remaining, the only one who could claim to be of imperial lineage was Nox Rainerio. He was the only one standing there.

“Seize the traitor!” one knight shouted, and the others raised their swords, lunging at Khalid.