I Faked a Pregnancy, but My Husband Returned - Chapter 107

Ekian declared, as if speaking to himself.

“I will find her.”

At those words, everyone cleared their throats with a quiet cough.

When someone appears too utterly devastated, it’s hard to find the right words to say.

At some point, the person’s grief surpasses what others can comprehend, and even the standards for what’s appropriate to say become blurred.

That was exactly the case with Ekian and Judith’s disappearance, and so no one could bring themselves to say anything.

Ekian also seemed not to expect comfort from anyone, paying no mind to the awkward atmosphere around him.

His anxiety could only be eased by bringing Judith right before his eyes and holding her tightly in his arms.

“Karl, see you soon.”

Even so, he didn’t forget to give the teary-eyed Karl a firm hug.

“You’ll always be my little brother.”

Karl, sniffling, hugged Ekian tightly and asked, “Then what about my niece or nephew? I don’t get it at all…”

His tone was genuinely curious, born of honest confusion.

“Um, well…”

Even Ekian, radiating an air of sorrow strong enough to cut steel with a glance, faltered at the child’s question and averted his gaze.

In the end, all he could offer was a clumsy reply.

“Uh… it’s an adult matter. Sorry. Don’t try to understand it too deeply.”

He wanted to explain it properly, but things were far too tangled to untangle.

Still, as he picked Karl up in his arms with a soft smile, he made one promise.

“But I’ll bring back your sister-in-law and your niece or nephew soon.”

“You’re not going to threaten or lock her up or anything weird, right? You kinda look like you might… You look a little scary.”

“No.”

After Ekian put Karl down, Alteion stepped forward.

“Ekian, since you’re going anyway, try to do your best. You’re bringing Judith there as the Grand Duchess, and she deserves a warm welcome. How well you do will affect how your Grand Duchess is treated. It’s not easy to be accepted by people you’re meeting for the first time.”

Alteion had no choice but to offer words like these to calm Ekian. Honestly, he was so nervous he had to choose his words carefully, but it seemed like only appeals involving Judith would get through.

“The child Judith is carrying… will grow up to be the heir to the territory. You need to settle in well. Surely you don’t want your Grand Duchess and your child to feel estranged from the people.”

Alteion’s concern was completely reasonable.

In fact, Ekian himself knew how hard it would be to become the leader of a strange new land. He had to be prepared to struggle for at least the first few years.

“For Judith to be warmly accepted by the people without any sense of discomfort, your role will be important, especially in the beginning… Someone has to adapt first, after all.”

Alteion repeated his advice with a worried look.

***

Arten Territory.

“Teacher! Teacher!”

An excited voice called out from outside Judith’s door. It was a bright afternoon, and though she had been dozing in her room, she yawned and opened the door.

A freckled thirteen-year-old girl stood there, her hair let down and a bright smile on her face.

“I have a question! About Act 3 in Come, My Wave!“

“Really? Come in first.”

But it wasn’t just one child at the door. As soon as she opened it wide, several children and a few elderly people rushed in together.

“I have a question too!”

“I came to listen as well…”

Judith smiled bashfully at the awkward-faced elders coming in with the children.

When she first arrived in Arten territory disguised as Castin’s assistant, she could never have imagined this.

She had only planned to quietly help Castin with her work and listen for news from the Empire.

But everything changed the day she helped a sick child lying in bed understand the book she was reading.

“Hmm, this spelling is… hmm…”

“Isn’t this ancient language rather than Imperial? Why don’t you try interpreting it that way?”

“Ancient language? I only know the basics, but then could this part be…”

She had only explained something she had glimpsed over someone’s shoulder once. The problem was that Judith had originally worked for three years as a visiting tutor in the Imperial capital—teaching a full schedule daily.

To her, it had just been a bit of help, but to the child, it had been an eye-opening lesson, like a whole new world.

After that, a few children started shyly visiting Castin’s makeshift clinic.

By the third day, there were more children coming to hear Judith’s lectures than patients coming to see Castin.

Contrary to the peddler’s fuss, there were fewer patients than expected. Apart from some people who had suffered minor bruises during the evacuation, there were no serious injuries.

<I feel like I just came on a sightseeing trip to the Empire. I was prepared for hardship, but still.>

Seeing it in person, Castin felt a little sheepish, thinking she hadn’t needed to come at all. Then she gently made a suggestion to Judith.

<We’re not short on hands at all, so how about teaching somewhere else? Don’t you think we’re getting in each other’s way?>

<That’s true, haha…>

In the end, Judith had no choice but to take the children outside in a group. Then the girl who had first asked her a question spoke up smartly.

“Would you like to come to our school? We don’t have any high school teachers anymore…”

The girl’s name was Anne. Hearing her lively suggestion, Judith tilted her head and asked in return.

Unlike in the capital, where hiring visiting or private tutors was the norm, this region had long lacked enough teachers, so they had been running a school.

“But in such a large territory… you don’t have any high school teachers?”

“Yes. They said our territory taxed the teachers too much, so they all left.”

Judith could only follow the children, dumbfounded.

As it turned out, Arten was a fairly rich and livable territory, but the educational level was extremely low.

According to the people, the former lord of the land had been against the residents studying.

To fight the barbarians, even children were expected to undergo military training instead of spending time learning—that was the policy of the territory.

The reduced number of teachers was likely a deliberate result of that lord’s intentions.

‘No, this isn’t right… But to go as far as blocking the children from studying. Could this be a policy of intentional ignorance?’

The fact that the former lord had sided with the Emperor was already unappealing, but visiting the territory had only deepened Judith’s resentment.

In any case, Judith ended up at the only high school in Arten, answering the children’s questions.

But what happened next was even more surprising.

“Um, teacher… this old man has a question too. Could you spare a moment?”

“I’m really sorry to bother you, teacher, but it’s been my lifelong dream to read this book…”

Even the elders began seeking her out with sheepish faces.

“I heard she was a famous teacher from the capital? Supposedly, there’s nothing she doesn’t know…”

Nothing spread faster in the territory than rumors passed among children. In no time, Judith had become a brilliant intellectual from the kingdom.

“Teacher! In Act 3 here, does the ‘bluebird’ mean a child? I was so curious I couldn’t sleep last night!”

“You shouldn’t miss sleep over something like that,” Judith replied with a gentle smile.

She continued, “But there are more people than I thought. Should we go to an empty classroom at the school and talk?”

There weren’t that many children coming to Judith with questions in the first place.

But the rumor that she was a super-smart adult who could answer anything was spreading with incredible speed.