I Faked a Pregnancy, but My Husband Returned - Chapter 122

Judith was startled by those words.

“Pardon? Here?”

“Yes. A temporary classroom has been set up.”

She hadn’t even gone to school today.

Yet it seemed Ekian had anticipated her concerns and made arrangements.

“All the classroom materials have been moved, so you may continue teaching at the Grand Duke’s manor.”

“Still, this is a residence, not a school…”

“You did say you were going to reform the educational system.”

Judith’s expression immediately softened at those words.

“That’s true. That’s a good thing… but I still have many of my teaching materials in the staff room.”

“I’ll send someone to retrieve them.”

With those words, Judith became certain.

Ekian wanted her to remain within the Grand Duke’s manor.

Was it that he didn’t want others to see her, or didn’t want her to see others?

Despite how obvious his distaste was, he hadn’t gone so far as to expel Hud, so it probably wasn’t about other men.

Even the Emperor was no longer alive, so there should be no danger left for her. Then why was he trying to confine her like this…?

“Alright.”

Knowing she wouldn’t get an answer even if she asked, Judith meekly nodded.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

The servant looked visibly relieved that Judith, who had seemed like she might argue, had nodded obediently.

She glanced at the servant and asked, “By any chance… would it be right to think that Ekian gave me this room to signal to the territory that I’ll become the Grand Duchess?”

“Ah…”

The servant’s expression immediately turned awkward.

“That… perhaps it would be best to discuss with His Grace upon his return.”

“I see.”

Judith smiled kindly.

“Understood.”

One more thing had become certain. She wasn’t misunderstanding Ekian’s sincerity toward her, but clearly, he had no intention of publicly declaring her as Grand Duchess just yet.

‘Why? What problem is still unresolved?’

She was growing tired of Ekian hiding things from her.

And she no longer wanted to just wait quietly, surrounded by his people, waiting for his commands like before.

And there was one thing he didn’t know.

In this territory, she didn’t lack people of her own.

This was entirely different from the Mayus Duke’s estate, where she had needed permission for everything and had to act alone.

With a soft smile, she said, “I’ll start the lessons tomorrow. Please be sure to inform the students.”

***

A few days later, in a coastal village in Garceia—

“No more credit.”

The grocer spoke coldly to Ron, who was holding Petro in his arms. Ron protested a few times, but the shop owner slammed the door shut.

“Petro, when you become a lord, let’s start by tearing down that store.”

He spat on the ground in frustration.

“Even if you don’t become a lord, you’ll surely end up with at least one vassal family under the Grand Duke.”

Since Elizabeth had left so confidently, Ron was also full of hope.

Having worked long in noble households, he had grown accustomed to that lifestyle, and now found commoner life unbearably shabby.

“Looks like your sister’s finally pulling it off.”

News of the Emperor’s death had not yet reached the Garceia territory.

So Ron was still dreaming up fantasies, waiting for Elizabeth’s grand return.

“His Majesty the Emperor will back us, and if your mother sweet-talks the Grand Duke well enough, we could get even more power, don’t you think?”

Dust had collected on the display shelves of the trinket shop, and overdue payment notices had begun to arrive one by one.

It was inevitable. Since the Emperor’s men had come, they hadn’t done any proper business.

But what did that matter? Soon, they would be living the life of nobility.

He spat again in front of the grocer’s door.

It was then—

“Ron Dale.”

A group of people dressed in black stood before him.

“You’ll need to come with us to Arten.”

Arten? Wasn’t that the place Elizabeth left for, saying it would become the new Grand Duchy?

Ron rolled his eyes, trying to figure out what was going on.

One of the men chuckled at the sight.

Then, contrary to his intimidating appearance, he spoke in a surprisingly gentle tone.

“Nothing will happen to harm you. You’ll be free to choose anything you want there. I swear it before God.”

***

At the entrance of the Arten territory—

“We’ll need to conduct a brief inspection.”

As soon as Elizabeth stepped down from the freight wagon, she was met by a group of guards.

They were inspecting everyone entering Arten.

“His Grace the Grand Duke is currently away leading a campaign against the barbarians, so we’ve been instructed to strictly manage outsiders.”

The procedure to confirm she wasn’t a barbarian wasn’t complicated, but it was time-consuming. Elizabeth had to stand in line and wait endlessly.

‘The Grand Duke isn’t here?’

She had come to meet him, but now that she had a grace period before facing that eerie man, she couldn’t help but feel relieved.

He was certainly a young man so overwhelmingly imposing, it was frightening to see him again.

Elizabeth massaged her aching legs as she waited.

Then she heard chatter from the people in front of her.

“Did you hear? About the new Grand Duchess?”

“Yeah! Good grief, how long has it been since the divorce, and he’s already bringing in another woman?”

Elizabeth’s ears perked up.

They kept chatting and laughing.

“But apparently, she’s a redhead? Could it be the ex-wife?”

“Who knows? Maybe he just has a thing for red hair.”

In the end, Elizabeth couldn’t resist and cut into their conversation.

“Excuse me, could you perhaps tell me more about this Grand Duchess?” she asked sweetly with a gentle smile.

She didn’t forget to add a sorrowful, emotional expression that would make it hard for anyone not to be kind to her.

“For some reason, I feel like I might know her. This is a very urgent and desperate matter for me.”

At that, the chatty group exchanged awkward glances before replying with a grimace.

“That’s all I know.”

“The locals say they don’t know much either. The Grand Duke’s estate is locked down pretty tightly.”

It was a rather disappointing response.

As Elizabeth sighed dejectedly, one of them spoke up.

“If you’re looking for information, how about trying the Grey Information Guild? It’s a famous intelligence guild from the capital, and they just opened a branch in Arten.”

“Information guild?”

“Yes. It’s a bit pricey, but they say there’s nothing they don’t know. If it’s that urgent and important to you, it might be worth a try.”

Elizabeth, too, was well aware of information guilds.

But she had thought most guilds only dealt in local news, so she hadn’t expected to find much in Arten.

However, if it was a branch from the capital, it might very well have information about the Grand Duke and Judith.

After all, she had struggled this whole time due to a lack of information.

“Thanks for the advice.”

Elizabeth smiled and nodded.

“That sounds like a really good idea.”

***

Several days had passed since Ekian left to subjugate the barbarians.

Reports arrived daily that he was winning victory after victory and that he had chased the enemy to their very base in order to completely root them out.

The fact that he had foregone attending his biological father the Emperor’s funeral and immediately set out to defend his territory deeply moved the people.

While Ekian was away, Alteion had ascended the throne in the capital and was crowned Emperor. He promptly declared Arten a Grand Duchy.

Thus, Arten became a Grand Duchy.