I Faked a Pregnancy, but My Husband Returned - Chapter 109

“Still, there are so many children who want to learn. I wish someone would build a proper school…”

Judith, looking pouty, went on and on about the education system here. Hud stared blankly at her face.

He didn’t know the exact dates, but he had heard she got divorced, and also that she had gone somewhere.

Even the Crown Prince’s people had once come to him and questioned, “Where is Judith?”

He had no idea why the Crown Prince was looking for her, but since she had helped the Crown Princess in the past, he assumed it was something related to that.

In truth, he had been genuinely worried that night, wondering if Judith had been hurt. At the same time, he was a bit pleased to hear that someone had guessed she might come to him after disappearing.

But to meet again like this, as if by fate—while Hud was quietly taking deep breaths to calm the flutter in his heart…

“Teacher! I finished reading!”

The staff room door slid open, and Anne walked in.

“I read up to the part you told me to!”

Judith smiled brightly. “Did you? But weren’t you the only one who finished? I don’t think James or Simon have caught up yet. Want to wait for them?”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

Instead of leaving, Anne walked in with little steps and sat snugly beside Judith. Then she stared at Hud.

In the girl’s eyes were curiosity and wariness toward the stranger.

“Teacher.”

“Yes?”

“You said that guy is your friend?”

“He’s not ‘that guy.’ He even taught science earlier, so you should call him Teacher.”

“Are you two very close?”

“Well, I guess you could say that?”

“Then…”

Anne glanced at Hud’s face, then asked as if she were a runner-up speaking to the winner, “Is he going to be your baby’s godfather?”

Baby?

A real… baby?

But there had been a fake baby once before too, hadn’t there? Was this another one of those situations?

As Hud gave a bewildered look, Judith chuckled. “That’s how it turned out, Hud.”

“…Excuse me?”

“Even being a doctor, I guess it’s not something you can tell just by looking? I really am pregnant.”

“Uh…”

Hud’s eyes wavered.

“B-but you’re divorced…”

“Anne.”

Judith looked at Anne kindly.

“Could you step out for a bit? I have something to talk about with an old friend.”

“Okay.”

Anne hopped down from her chair. Realizing now that Hud wasn’t the reason her dad didn’t become the baby’s godfather, the suspicion had left her eyes.

“See you later, Teachers!”

And with that, Anne strolled out after dropping a bombshell.

Thud—the staff room door closed, leaving only Hud and Judith inside.

Judith smiled awkwardly. “Well… that’s how it is. So I had no choice but to get divorced. I couldn’t stay in the Mayus ducal house while carrying someone else’s child.”

Hud’s mouth dropped open. “W-wait… are you saying the child isn’t Ekian Mayus’s?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Judith bowed her head slightly, embarrassed.

“I’m truly sorry to say it, but… I didn’t expect things to turn out this way either. I was told it would be difficult to get pregnant.”

Hud struggled to gather his hazy thoughts and asked, “Th-then… Then who is the father? Is he here with you?”

Judith looked around and murmured, “Well… I don’t know where he is… so for now, I’m just waiting.”

“What?”

Hud was baffled.

He couldn’t hide his expression, but barely managed to keep his composure as he asked, “What’s his name? I’ll find him, even if I have to search the entire Soden Marquisate…”

“I don’t know his name.”

“Then at least what he looks like. Any distinctive features…”

“Well, I don’t know that either.”

“Judith, are you lying to me?”

“I’m not. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it’s all true.”

Judith let out a sigh-laced chuckle and continued, “And you really don’t have to go looking for him.”

“What? Why not?”

“Well… he might not want the child. I never expected to get pregnant. If the child’s father doesn’t come looking for us, I’ll just go on living without him.”

“Whaaat?”

Hud stared at her in disbelief, his jaw practically dropping.

It was clear she’d gotten involved with some crazy man who had done something terribly wrong. The scenario forming in Hud’s imagination was so awful, he couldn’t even bring himself to ask further.

Yet, even in that moment, her words—“if he doesn’t look for us, I’ll just live on without him”—felt so unmistakably Judith.

The kind of person who seemed ready to drop everything and walk away without regret.

And she really had left the ducal house, departed the capital, and now wore the plain cotton dresses of commoners.

“Anyway, that’s how things are.”

Judith smiled brightly.

“I’m really glad we met again. Oh, by the way, can you tell me any news from the capital? I’ve been so out of touch lately… What’s going on with His Majesty’s disappearance?”

“Ah, well, I don’t really know much myself. I came straight from the Soden Marquisate, so I probably know as little as you do.”

Hud, still trying to recover from his shock, answered her that way.

He also chose not to mention that the Crown Prince had sent people to search for her. He figured there was no need to startle her.

After all, for a pregnant woman, emotional stability was the most important thing. And if she didn’t even know who the father was, then no matter how cheerful she seemed, her emotional state couldn’t be good.

“Judith.”

Hud smiled warmly and said, “I’m going to stay here a while. I’m not in any hurry… and teaching the kids, though it’s new to me, is actually kind of fun. It feels meaningful.”

“Really? I’m glad to hear that.”

Hud was surprised to find that his feelings toward her hadn’t changed.

Maybe in his imagination, she hadn’t gone off with another man—maybe she was just a poor woman who’d been through something terrible.

He didn’t know the details, but it felt unthinkable to leave someone who’d been through so much all alone.

With her short hair, oversized glasses, and modest clothing, she somehow stirred his heart more than ever.

Earlier in the classroom, he had kept sneaking glances at her as she confidently and kindly taught the children. The feelings he thought had long since faded were suddenly reignited.

She may be pregnant now, but perhaps things were better than when she had still belonged to someone else.

Even if the Marquis and Marchioness of Soden opposed it—if Judith was willing, he felt like he could give up everything and live a simple life here with her.

And if a child who resembled Judith was born, he could raise them like his own.

He had always sincerely cared for his adoptive younger siblings, so he wasn’t hung up on blood ties.

In fact, sometimes his siblings, with whom he had grown up, felt more like family than the Marquis and Marchioness who had given birth to him.

“Judith, where are you staying?”

If he stayed by her side while she was physically and emotionally vulnerable from the pregnancy, maybe one day she’d come to see him as more than just a friend.

Of all people, he knew best that she had always seen him only as a good friend.

“I’d like to stay nearby too, to get used to the territory.”

“I’d love that!”

Judith clapped her hands and laughed.

“There’s a spare room in the house we’re using. I’ll talk to Castin about it! She’s a doctor too, so I think she’ll be happy. And since you’re both kind, I’m sure you’ll get along quickly.”

And that very evening, Judith, Hud, and Castin began living together under one roof.

Thus began their humble life in the territory.