I Faked a Pregnancy, but My Husband Returned - Chapter 124

“A… woman?”

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

Upon hearing Anne’s report, even without any further description, Judith could guess who the woman was.

Elizabeth Ailan—or rather, now Elizabeth Dale.

Her biological mother, who had never once come looking for her until now.

Even back when Ekian had been leading the Grey Information Guild and said he could look into her mother for her, she had refused.

Because she too had been ignored all her life.

And now that woman had come?

‘How dare she?’

That was her first thought.

‘And Ron Dale tried to kill me. Does she know that? Or does she not?’

With a confused heart, she placed a hand on her belly.

She wanted to stay calm for the baby’s sake, but it wasn’t easy.

She couldn’t begin to guess why Elizabeth had appeared in the Grand Duchy.

“S-she said she just wanted to check whether her daughter was in the Grand Duke’s manor or not. She begged very pitifully, saying it was her long-lost daughter from childhood…”

“What?”

“But after being turned away a few times, she hasn’t come back lately. Though it’s certain she’s still in the territory.”

It made even less sense. If she was searching for her daughter separated in childhood, it seemed likely that she meant Judith.

But Ekian was the one who had strictly forbidden her from entering the Grand Duke’s manor.

Which meant Ekian had figured all of this out and was taking precautions on his own.

‘Understanding my mother is hard. Then let’s follow Ekian’s line of thinking.’

Ekian had essentially confined her to the Grand Duke’s manor, not allowing her to go anywhere.

He had let rumors spread that the future Grand Duchess was living in the manor, yet had not formally announced her as such.

‘He wanted to hide me. Because he knew my mother would try something. But she’s just a commoner now. What could she possibly do to someone who’s about to become a Grand Duchess… wait a minute.’

It wasn’t only violence and disruption that could be called harm.

“She begged very pitifully…”

Even that kind of act could be harmful to Judith.

If she blatantly asked something of Judith, who was about to become Grand Duchess…

‘Ekian knew all of this.’

Judith took a deep breath.

‘He knew my mother would cause a problem like this.’

Then how long had he planned to keep her locked away?

Her heart began to pound.

It was about her, yet she hadn’t known.

Ekian had once again tried to resolve everything on his own while keeping her in the dark.

‘I don’t want to be clueless like a fool anymore.’

Ekian returns tomorrow.

And tomorrow, he will surely check the trap he set for Elizabeth.

Judith couldn’t even guess what that trap was.

Narrowing her eyes, she whispered carefully to Anne, who had come for her next lesson.

“Anne.”

“Yes, teacher!”

“Could I ask you for one more favor?”

***

“I’ll really pay you back.”

In a city near Arten, Elizabeth blinked her big round eyes.

“Truly, I can repay you somehow.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

“Just because you’re an old woman who can’t do anything doesn’t mean I’ll let go of money I’m owed. I hope you understand that.”

“Naturally.”

She nodded firmly and signed the paperwork agreeing to the debt.

The man was a loan shark, and Elizabeth had just borrowed a large sum from him.

“Don’t worry. Didn’t I say I own a store?”

“Some little rural shop… anyway, your situation is pitiful, so I’ll allow it.”

“I’ll repay it soon.”

Despite the loan shark’s menacing face, Elizabeth showed no intimidation and borrowed a large sum.

It was an amount a commoner might not be able to repay even with a lifetime of hard work, but to Elizabeth, it felt like pocket change.

Because to the imperial family, it truly was pocket change.

She intended to deal with a member of the imperial family, so it felt only natural to her that this kind of money was negligible.

Taking the money, she headed straight for the Arten territory.

Due to the frequent barbarian invasions, Arten was considered high-risk, and so loan sharks avoided it. That’s why she had to come this far, but the place she intended to spend the money was always Arten.

To be precise, it was the Grey Information Guild in Arten.

‘Whether that “Miss Yuth” in the Grand Duke’s manor is Judith or not—and if not, then where Judith is!’

Even if she learned just one of the two, it would be a jackpot for Elizabeth’s life.

And though the Grey Information Guild demanded an enormous sum, they had confidently claimed that they would provide accurate information in exchange for payment.

***

Elizabeth roamed the territory, gathering information on the ‘Miss Yuth’ residing in the Grand Duke’s manor.

Yuth was a well-known figure, so she managed to collect a lot of stories.

Red hair and green eyes, somewhat plain but potentially beautiful with some effort, arrived in the Grand Duchy while pregnant, and currently serving as a temporary teacher.

‘That certainly matches Judith’s characteristics quite well.’

But there were still vague inconsistencies that kept her from being fully convinced.

‘But she supposedly came from abroad? Didn’t she just get divorced in the capital? The timeline doesn’t match.’

On top of that, she was said to be pregnant—but Ron had definitely said she miscarried before the divorce. Either way, too many things didn’t line up for it to be Judith.

‘Did the Grand Duke get another woman pregnant and then leave Judith?

If that were the case, the Grand Duke had quite the taste.

To impregnate another woman before marriage—another woman with red hair and green eyes, no less. He looked decent enough, but his preferences were certainly strange.

At any rate, it had to be one of two possibilities.

If the woman in the Grand Duke’s manor was Judith, then she was going to become the Grand Duchess.

If not, then divorced Judith was nothing more than a thorn in the Grand Duke’s side.

‘Either way, it’s a win for me.’

She had only learned of the Emperor’s death upon arriving in Arten. That meant her only viable target now was the Grand Duke.

‘But I need to be certain.’

Even if the Arten territory was known to be relatively kind to outsiders, she was still a stranger here.

She couldn’t possibly uncover information unknown even to the locals on her own.

So she followed the advice she’d been given upon entering the territory and visited the Grey Information Guild.

The branch, newly opened from the capital, proved to be truly remarkable.

“Hmm, Elizabeth Dale? Isn’t it Elizabeth Ailan?”

At her first visit, they identified her immediately by name alone.

“So you fled to the countryside and gave up your inheritance. That was possible since your child inherited all the debt… And you were involved with Ron Dale even before your marriage, right?”

That they knew even the details of her past life as a mere baron’s wife!

They even had more information.

“You’ve been in touch with some high-profile individuals lately, huh? Because of your daughter, right? Your husband already failed miserably, after all.”

Elizabeth had no choice but to fully acknowledge the Grey Information Guild’s capabilities then and there.

There was no way a guild like this wouldn’t know whether the hidden woman in the Grand Duke’s manor was Judith or not.

Sure enough, in response to Elizabeth’s question, they chuckled and replied:

“The future Grand Duchess in the Grand Duke’s manor? Of course we know who she is. But we can’t say. From here on, it’s information you’ll have to pay for.”

It seemed the Grey Information Guild had already grasped her intent.

Because they followed up immediately with this:

“You want to know if the woman in the Grand Duke’s manor, the one carrying the Grand Duke’s child, is Judith Mayus, right?”

“Th-that’s right. So… can you tell me that?”

“Of course. We already know.”

Elizabeth swallowed hard.