Regressed Villainous Omega Dreams of Running Away chapter 42

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“But how, how is this even possible…?”

Just then, Robert’s murmuring voice was heard from outside.

Feeling curious, Joel put a finger to his lips and hissed, “Shh!” at Benjamin, who was approaching while muttering, “Joel, His Highness told you absolutely not to look outside…”

Joel slightly opened the tent entrance and checked the situation outside.

In the middle of the messed-up campsite, corpses believed to be the attackers were laid out side by side near the bonfire.

And next to them, the Crown Prince was holding a serious meeting with the knights.

Robert continued his report in a tone that clearly showed his bewilderment.

“Your Highness, this man suffered a terrible illness when he was young and became unable to walk, living as a cripple for the rest of his life. Look, aren’t his legs particularly thin compared to the average adult male’s legs? This is a sign of not having walked for a long time.”

“If he suffered a terrible illness in the past that prevented him from walking, isn’t there a possibility that medical science has advanced and the illness was cured?”

“As a doctor, I can guarantee that the disease this man suffered from is not curable. Sir Abe, are you certain this man was walking around?”

“Yes, I saw it clearly with my own eyes. This man was even the one who led the attack. He was at the very front of the attacking group, shouting, ‘That man is the Crown Prince!’ and charging at Your Highness.”

Robert was acting as if he knew the identity of the attacker.

Curious, Joel moved his face closer to the gap in the tent.

Just then, the moonlight brightened.

Confirming the face of the cripple pointed out by Robert among the corpses, Joel’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Uncle Lame Tom…?”

‘Did I see wrong?’

Startled, he rubbed his eyes and looked again, but it was clearly the face of Lame Tom.

“Why, Joel? Is he someone you know?”

Benjamin, who had followed him, whispered the question, but the frozen Joel couldn’t even nod his head.

He was in that much shock.

Uncle Lame Tom was the person who ran the only general store in Baron Bennet’s estate.

He liked children and often gave dried fruit or cookies for free to the snot-nosed village kids.

Joel, too, had frequently received snacks from him, so he remembered his face clearly.

“That person walked? But, how…”

Joel murmured to himself blankly.

The sight of him watching the children play happily with envious eyes was still vivid in his mind.

His ability to walk was shocking, but even more surprising was that he had led this attack.

Uncle Lame Tom was a generous man who always went around laughing heartily.

It was impossible that a man who always shared snacks with children and sometimes forgave the debts of neighbors in need would attempt murder.

Thinking he needed to confirm with his own eyes if it really was Uncle Lame Tom, Joel immediately rushed out of the tent.

Benjamin, who had been ordered by the Crown Prince to keep a good hold on Joel, had no time to stop him.

“Joel!”

Benjamin, who came out of the tent after Joel, called out Joel’s name loudly.

Joel, who instinctively looked back, suddenly made eye contact with an attacker who had been hiding behind the tent, holding a pitchfork.

It was impossible to tell if their eyes truly met since the attacker was wearing a mask—but Joel felt that he had made eye contact with him.

The attacker’s body froze in panic for a moment after making eye contact with Joel, then he screamed, “…Aargh!” and charged forward, raising the pitchfork.

The tip of the pitchfork was aimed at Benjamin, and the moment he realized this, time began to flow very slowly for Joel.

In the next moment, Joel chose to push Benjamin and fall down together.

It was a reflexive action that sprang out without any time to think otherwise.

The reason he instinctively tried to protect Benjamin was that he thought the Crown Prince would rather have him get hurt than Benjamin.

Joel carried such a deep-seated inferiority complex toward Benjamin, and even after the Crown Prince began to treat him well, he could never shake the thought that Benjamin, not himself, was the true partner for the Crown Prince.

The fact that Benjamin held no feelings for the Crown Prince only occurred to him after pushing Benjamin.

And the very last thought that came to him was the fact that there was another life inside his belly.

‘Ah, why am I so stupid!’

Joel thought indignantly in the slow-flowing time.

Fortunately, he avoided the tip of the pitchfork, but a sharp, protruding stone began to approach rapidly.

Before he could turn his body to avoid it, a strong impact was felt on his head, and just before his eyelids closed, Joel heard the Crown Prince’s voice screaming, “Joel!” He wanted to answer that he was okay, but unfortunately, after that, it was darkness.

The Crown Prince, seeing the fallen Joel, immediately sprang up and ran towards him.

Completely losing his reason, he seemed unable to even perceive the attacker standing his ground in front of Joel.

The assailant once again screamed and tried to swing the pitchfork at the Crown Prince, but fortunately, Felix, Benjamin’s escort knight, quickly subdued him just before he could bring the raised pitchfork down.

“Joel, dear God…”

The Crown Prince picked up Joel with trembling hands.

Judging by the way his head flopped weakly, Joel seemed to have already lost consciousness.

Bright red blood was gushing from his forehead, where he had struck the stone.

Seeing the unconscious Joel, the Crown Prince felt a pain as if his heart had stopped.

‘…If I am only given one more chance, then I will certainly…’

In that moment, a voice flashed through the Crown Prince’s mind.

That regretful and sad voice was clearly his own.

But he couldn’t understand its meaning.

Just as he frowned and tried to figure out what it meant and why such a memory would surface at this moment, a severe headache overtook him.

Clutching his temples with his hand, the Crown Prince let out a groan, “Ugh…”

Robert, who had rushed over, quickly took Joel from the Crown Prince’s arms and laid him on the ground.

The Crown Prince, who was suffering from a severe headache, could not stop Joel’s warmth from leaving his embrace.

“Y-Your Highness. Are you alright?”

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it. Cough, first check Joel’s condition…”

The Crown Prince, unable to even open his eyes properly due to the severe headache, did not look well either, but Robert, knowing that Joel was pregnant, followed the Crown Prince’s order and began to examine Joel’s condition first.

While Robert was sprinkling styptic powder on Joel’s wound, Knight Commander Abe approached the Crown Prince and submitted his report.

“Your Highness, the repairs on the carriage Lord Benjamin rode in have just been completed. However, since we had no proper tools or matching parts, we had to roughly connect things, and I believe it can only manage a short distance. What should we do?”

Following the attack, the horses were safe, but all three carriages the Crown Prince’s party had been traveling in were damaged, and only Benjamin’s carriage, which had the least damage, was barely repaired.

The Crown Prince, who had managed to calm his headache, urgently questioned Robert.

“First, Robert, what is Joel’s condition?”

“In the current situation, I cannot guarantee Lord Joel’s safety. The most urgent bleeding has been stopped, but the blood loss is already too severe… We must go to a place with medical facilities immediately.”

Not only Joel, who was severely injured, but also the safety of the baby in his belly could not be guaranteed.

They needed to quickly move to a place equipped with medicine and medical facilities for more certain treatment. Robert continued impatiently.

“Your Highness, it seems impossible to reach Count Grey’s castle by carriage, so I will take Lord Joel to Baron Bennet’s estate for now. What would Your Highness think of going to Count Grey’s castle to bring back additional troops?”

The suggestion Robert made was realistically the best option, but the Crown Prince immediately shook his head, saying, “I cannot do that.”

He pointed to one of the 4th Knights and commanded:

“Cedric, you go to Count Grey’s castle as quickly as possible and request support with additional troops. The rest of us will go to Baron Bennet’s estate.”

“Your Highness!”

Knight Commander Abe immediately protested the Crown Prince’s outrageous command.

Robert had confirmed that all the attackers were Baron Bennet’s tenants, and now there was no guarantee that Baron Bennet’s estate would be safe.

No matter how urgent Joel’s condition was, they could not lead the Crown Prince to such a dangerous place.

Including Benjamin’s escort, there were only five armed knights, and the Crown Prince himself was completely unarmed.

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