I Faked a Pregnancy, but My Husband Returned - Chapter 123

If only the barbarian problem plaguing Arten could be resolved, the region would soon become a much wealthier territory by leveraging its geographical advantage for foreign trade.

“I don’t like it.”

In an atmosphere filled with hope and anticipation, Hud grumbled.

“I really don’t like it. Instead of staying by Judith’s side, he immediately jumps into these political moves.”

Judith said nothing and simply smiled faintly.

Hud clutched his chest in frustration.

“This is why I can’t leave even after getting rejected!”

“Pardon? What do you mean by that?”

“You give me no hope, but you give it to him!”

“What kind of ridiculous logic is that, Hud? Just think of those rose flowers he trampled that day.”

Curious about the conversation, Castin asked, and Judith gave her a rough translation.

Castin nodded vigorously and jumped in.

<Yeah. Just from the look in his eyes, I thought he was going to crush your neck.>

Meanwhile, class was still in session.

Children and elders came and went from the Grand Duke’s manor as if it were nothing, attending Judith’s lessons. Today’s afternoon class had already ended.

Teaching the children had become a pleasant stimulus for Judith, who otherwise had little to do, and she enjoyed it.

In fact, having classes at the manor with no need to commute had made it even more convenient.

Of course, the security was extremely tight.

They no longer accepted new students, and even the existing ones had their identities reverified one by one.

Seeing this, Judith realized clearly that something was going on.

Just then—

“Wait a minute! I have a question!”

Judith, who had been talking with Hud and Castin, quickly turned her head.

It was Anne’s voice.

“I really do have a question! Teacher always answered me kindly before!”

Judith sprang to her feet and opened the door. Anne was holding a book and arguing with the butler.

“You can ask tomorrow. There’s class then, so why bother the teacher now?”

“Just one quick answer and I’ll go. I can’t finish my homework without it.”

Anne was glaring stubbornly. Judith came out of the room and said, “I’ll help her. Anne’s a smart girl, and I’ve often answered her questions like this before.”

“But still…”

“Anne, shall we go to the classroom?”

“Yes!”

Anne gave the butler a cheeky grin and clung to Judith’s side.

Judith took only Anne with her and entered an empty room—not with Hud or Castin. It was the usual classroom.

As soon as the classroom door slammed shut, Anne jumped up.

“Teacher! I found out!”

“Thank you, Anne.”

In truth, Anne had come late just for Judith.

Claiming she had a question was a code.

It was a signal for when she had found out what Judith asked her to investigate and needed to meet alone.

“I didn’t do it all myself—my dad helped too. Hehe.”

The freckled girl proudly puffed out her chest.

“Thank you, really.”

“Well, it’s for the future Grand Duchess, after all.”

Judith gave a wry smile.

Since she entered the Grand Duke’s manor, rumors had naturally begun to spread throughout the duchy.

That the baby’s father was the Grand Duke, and that once the barbarian campaign ended, he would make her the Grand Duchess.

Since the woman who used to be their ‘Teacher Yuth’ had been brought into the manor and even had a glittering classroom built for her, it was only natural for such rumors to spread.

She was already being treated like a Grand Duchess.

‘There just hasn’t been an official announcement…’

So even the students now seemed to think of her as the future Grand Duchess.

And they had started looking at Hud with very pitiful eyes.

Judith was having a hard time pretending she didn’t notice all of this.

What she had asked Anne was quite simple. If someone came to the manor and got turned away, she wanted to know.

‘Ekian’s preventing me from leaving the manor. He doesn’t want me to meet someone. But who? If it was really important, wouldn’t they have come to the manor?’

That’s why she made the request.

To be honest, she suspected it might be Ron Dale.

He had tried to harm her once. It was frightening to think he might try again.

Anne took a deep breath and lowered her voice. “There was a woman who kept asking to come into the Grand Duke’s manor but kept getting turned away.”

“A… woman?”

“Yes. A middle-aged woman with light brown hair and green eyes, they said.”

It was then.

The outside suddenly grew noisy, and the excited voices of the staff could be heard.

“His Grace the Grand Duke has completely cleared out the barbarian stronghold!”

Anne and Judith forgot their conversation and widened their eyes. It was news arriving exactly one week later.

“They say he’s set to depart immediately after finishing up, so he’ll arrive tomorrow!”

Subjugating the barbarians was troublesome, but not difficult.

Though they had hidden well using the terrain to their advantage, they were ultimately a disorganized rabble.

A letter arrived addressed to Ekian, who had pursued them to the last man and eradicated them completely.

It was sent by a subordinate who had remained in Arten.

Inside were updates about Ron Dale, Elizabeth Dale, and Judith.

“Everything is proceeding exactly as you instructed.”

“I see.”

Ekian gave only a passing glance to the report on Ron and Elizabeth, but reread Judith’s uneventful daily routine several times over.

It said she was staying quietly in the Grand Duke’s manor, teaching only the approved students and never going out.

He had given the order to stop her if she tried to go out, but it seemed she hadn’t even made the request.

Come to think of it, she had hardly ever gone out even at the Duke’s estate.

Even though she wasn’t forced to stay in, she always sought Isabella’s permission before going anywhere.

That was because she had never considered that space her own.

‘It’s the same at the Grand Duke’s manor. Since she doesn’t see it as hers, she moves only within the boundaries permitted by the staff, like one of them.’

Even though he had hoped she wouldn’t go out, the thought made his chest feel tight.

If it was the Judith he knew, no matter if he was the child’s father, she wouldn’t return to him just for that reason.

‘What if she says, I don’t want to live with you, but since the child’s opinion matters too, I’ll ask them later—whether they want to live with their father.’

That meant he couldn’t live with her until the child was old enough to say, ‘I want to live with Dad,’—at least until age two.

And the fact that Hud hadn’t left the manor was also getting on his nerves.

He had even given the order that medical staff were free to return, implying they should go.

But what if the child said, ‘I don’t want to live with Dad, I want to live with Hud’?

After waiting patiently for two whole years, if that was the kind of sentence the child came up with… just imagining it was horrifying.

And if the child took after Judith’s personality, it wouldn’t be surprising if they made him wait two years and then stabbed him in the back.

Nothing was ever easy when it came to Judith.

Honestly, even though she had entered the Grand Duke’s manor quietly, she might very well disappear the moment he returned, saying, ‘Well then, I’m leaving now. Thanks for the barbarian campaign.’

She was truly a difficult woman. Ekian let out a deep sigh.

Then he grabbed the reins of his horse again and said, “We depart immediately. There will be no rest stops until we reach the manor.”

***

The Grand Duke’s manor was busy. No, the entire Grand Duchy was in a flurry.

“Seriously, isn’t His Grace insane? He cleared all that in just a week, and now he’s coming back in less than two days?”

“They say he’s arriving tomorrow evening… that means he’s riding almost nonstop!”

“We should prepare a welcome ceremony or something, but there’s no time to prepare anything!”

The residents all wore dazed expressions.

They couldn’t believe he had resolved a longstanding danger that had plagued the territory since their ancestors’ time in such a short period.

And in the middle of it all, Judith was standing there blankly.