I Faked a Pregnancy, but My Husband Returned - Chapter 139

“Did you think I wouldn’t know what that boy’s real motive was?”

Isabella crossed her arms and sighed.

“The real reason he scheduled the wedding for today.”

“Was there such a reason?”

Judith genuinely had no thoughts about the wedding. She hadn’t had the mental space to think about it. So she had simply assumed Ekian had chosen a suitable date quickly.

But according to Isabella, it had been the kind of schedule where, ‘if the nobles and imperial family hurriedly wrapped up their business and prepared gifts, they could just barely make it in time.’

“He must’ve been scared.”

Isabella chuckled softly.

“Of letting other people interfere in the two of you again.”

Judith quietly looked at Isabella. Her expression was strange—part smile, part exasperation, and perhaps even a touch of pity.

But one thing was certain. She was thinking of Ekian right now.

“If you think about it, that boy’s life has always been ruined by others interfering. He was supposed to live a glorious life as the beloved Young Duke, but then the court physician stepped in and said, ‘This isn’t really your life.’ And just when he found stability with the woman he loved, his family interfered and forced a divorce.”

Judith had never thought about it that way. She believed she loved Ekian, but she hadn’t taken the time to examine his life in such detail. She had been too busy preparing for the future.

“So he didn’t want another variable in something so important. That’s how he is. He’s always been the kind of boy who never repeats the same mistake and prefers to control the situation himself.”

Judith looked at Isabella and smiled faintly, gently stroking her belly.

Isabella was seeing the past in Ekian. She was interpreting everything through the life of the son she had raised and watched over.

Judith realized for the first time that this was a parent’s love. And that it was the very same emotion she and Ekian would one day have for the child in her womb.

The effort to understand everything about this child, one immature moment at a time.

“Ben said the same. That he’s acting exactly like he did as a child. So let’s not grumble and just let it go.”

Isabella’s feelings were undoubtedly shared by Ben.

Indeed, Ekian had always admired and followed Ben. He had said more than once that he wanted to be a father like him.

In front of them, Judith suddenly felt like a child herself again—even while carrying a child in her womb.

“I’m really glad to have you and Father here with us.”

Judith finally said.

“It’s such a comfort to have good adults watching over us like this…”

“If it weren’t for you, we’d already be in our graves.”

Isabella waved her hand dismissively, her voice anything but sentimental.

“And aren’t you two adults as well? Don’t say things like that. You each have your own family now, so live your own lives. And don’t forget—Ben and I are still raising kids too.”

When Isabella said the words ‘raising kids,’ she rubbed her forehead like she was utterly exhausted. Seeing that, Judith burst out laughing.

***

Isabella told Judith, ‘Go get some rest now.’ She said she would go inspect the nursery and the wet nurse’s room.

“Aren’t you exhausted today? Leave the guest hosting to Ekian and go rest.”

Normally, both the bride and groom would stay in the banquet hall. But since Judith was pregnant, everyone would understand.

Instead, Ekian would have to stay until the end of the banquet to attend to the guests. That couldn’t be helped.

‘…I’ll tell Ekian it’s a boy when he comes in tonight.’

Judith thought as she returned to her room.

‘There’s no helping it now.’

She had already changed into comfortable clothes, so she couldn’t exactly return to the hall. And truthfully, just as Isabella had said, she was a bit tired.

Of course, she could pass him a note or something. But she didn’t want to share the news of the baby’s gender that way. She wanted to look into his eyes and say it directly.

It was then.

“Judith?”

In the corridor, Judith ran into Ben. He was looking around with one servant.

“Father? I thought you were enjoying the banquet?”

Judith hurried over to Ben. But even as she said that, she knew full well that Ben wasn’t the type to ‘enjoy a banquet.’

Because of his naturally blunt and distant demeanor, Ben didn’t mingle well with people. At first, Judith had found him difficult to approach and was often flustered around him.

However, during her time at the Mayus ducal estate, when Ekian wasn’t around, Judith always had family meals with him. Almost every evening, she dined with Ben, Karl, and Isabella.

‘Now that I think about it, even after Ekian returned, the four of us still had meals together… since Ekian was always busy.’

Naturally, she grew closer to Ben than to most others.

Though she still couldn’t treat him as freely as Karl or Isabella did, she knew Ben was far kinder than he appeared.

Isabella had even whispered to her, ‘Tsk, that man might not show it, but he thinks of you all the time.’

“Ah, I’m glad I ran into you,” Ben said with a faint smile.

He then asked, “Judith, do you know where Ekian’s personal study is?”

“Pardon?”

“I’m sure he told me it’s in the east wing on the fourth floor, but it’s hard to find. Even the servants don’t seem to know.”

“Ah, that’s possible.”

Judith blinked and answered.

“Come to think of it, he never actually called it a ‘study’ to the staff. People here don’t really have the concept of a ‘personal study.’ They just distinguish between the library and the office.”

Aquitaine was a territory far from the capital. So even for a noble household, differences in layout, room usage, and culture were to be expected.

Ekian probably couldn’t guide Ben himself because he had to attend to the guests. And knowing Ben’s personality, he must’ve said, ‘I’ll find it myself,’ and wandered off.

“I’ll take you there. But may I ask why you need the personal study…?”

“Ah, I was thinking of looking into some documents about Ekian’s birth mother.”

“What?”

If it was about Ekian’s birth mother, then that meant the Last Priestess.

After reuniting with Judith, Ekian had finally resolved his misunderstandings about his birth mother. And seeing Judith pregnant seemed to have stirred his curiosity about the woman who had carried him for nine months. So he had begun collecting documents about the Last Priestess from all over the Empire.

Of course, he had only gathered the materials so far—he hadn’t yet had the time to read or analyze them. The wedding preparations alone had been overwhelming.

Since it wasn’t urgent, he had planned to go through them slowly with Judith. All the materials were kept in his personal study.

But why was Ben looking into her now? Besides, most of the documents hadn’t even been organized yet, and many were written in foreign languages that hadn’t been translated.

Ben said awkwardly, “Well… I wanted to decide the child’s middle name. That’s something I’d like to choose myself…”

Judith’s eyes widened. They hadn’t even thought about a middle name yet.

In the Empire, it was customary for parents to choose the child’s first name, while the middle name was often given by one of the grandparents. Since the child would take the paternal surname, the maternal grandparents often named the child after a distinguished figure from their family line.

“I want to consider not just the imperial, Mayus, and Ailan family lines, but also the lineage of Ekian’s birth mother, the Last Priestess.”

From those words, Judith could feel Ben’s sincerity—he wanted to give the best possible middle name.

Even with the Mayus and imperial lineages already full of remarkable figures, Ben was determined to check every ancestral line connected to the child by blood.

He wasn’t just acknowledging the humble Ailan barony, but even planned to consult documents from a destroyed foreign country…

“…Father.”

Judith placed her hand on her belly, and tears welled up in her eyes.