I Faked a Pregnancy, but My Husband Returned - Chapter 147

All eyes turned. Without much hesitation, Judith picked the card at the very end.

The fortune-teller’s expression grew more complicated upon seeing the card she drew.

“You will take someone else’s place and end up the target of much jealousy and envy.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

At those words, Judith’s face grew even more indifferent.

Jealousy and envy were for people who had something worth envying. Judith had nothing of the sort.

The Ailan barony was humble, and though she was clever, it wasn’t anything to boast about. She was pretty, but not to the level of turning heads across the nation.

Besides, Judith wasn’t the kind of person to take someone else’s place. If there were such a position that would provoke envy and jealousy, she’d be even less likely to covet it.

“So someone attending this very banquet will desperately frame you later, leading to a major incident.”

At those words, Anais, waiting behind, muttered with a grimace, “Instead of a romantic reading that your future husband is here at this banquet, it’s a warning that your future enemy is here? Creepy.”

Of course, Judith wasn’t particularly creeped out.

She had already stopped believing in the fortune-telling.

Come to think of it, divorce didn’t seem likely for her either. Her parents had a bad relationship, but they never divorced, simply living their own lives. Most noble couples were like that, and Judith had no desire to break such conventions and pursue some bold lifestyle.

The other possibility seemed more plausible.

For example…

“Didn’t I say I didn’t bring the fortune-teller here just to say nice things for fun?”

Perhaps Garnet’s boast about inviting a “great fortune-teller” meant someone who would say bad things to someone.

Normally, if a fortune-teller says only good things at such an event, people trust them less. Observers would think, ‘They just recycle mildly good fortunes.’

But if someone receives a bad fortune, the fortune-teller is seen as someone who doesn’t sugarcoat and tells it like it is… and people trust the good fortunes they themselves receive even more.

It must’ve been Garnet’s doing, Judith concluded.

‘Anais did act a little annoying earlier…’

Still, if Garnet had instructed the fortune-teller to give a bad reading, it was likely that Anais would make a scene. Judith, being more reserved, was better suited to calmly accept an unfavorable fortune.

Garnet and Judith did occasionally hang out, but they weren’t exactly close friends.

“I see.”

Judith responded nonchalantly, having grasped the situation.

“If I’m going to take someone else’s place, I’d prefer it be something grand enough to turn my life upside down, not something trivial.”

Then Anais shouted from behind, “How can you say that so casually? You’d be falsely accused and everything!”

“Well, I’m the one who took someone else’s place.”

Judith shrugged.

“If I did wrong to someone, then someone else can do wrong to me. Isn’t that better than just being a victim? Of course, for the greater good, that’s not ideal…”

“Ugh, you’re seriously weird.”

As Anais grumbled and crossed her arms, the fortune-teller spoke slowly again.

“…And I see signs of pregnancy, divorce, and travel all together.”

That was basically a curse. For a noble to get divorced while pregnant and move far away—what kind of tragic fate was that?

But Judith was already letting the fortune go in one ear and out the other, so she replied with a light hum as if joking.

“Is that so? Then I guess I’ll live a cozy life with that child.”

“No, that’s not it. Looking at your child fortune, you’ll have one son and one daughter.”

Anais’s jaw dropped. “So you’ll remarry! Then you’ll raise children with different fathers!”

At that, the fortune-teller turned his gaze to Anais standing behind Judith.

“Next, young lady?”

“Y-yes?”

“Please, have a seat.”

Judith’s turn seemed to be over. She got up without hesitation, but Anais faltered.

“Um… so… um.”

Now that Judith had received a bad fortune in front of everyone, Anais seemed afraid that her own reading might also be negative.

“Just a moment. Wait. Just a moment. I’ll sit, I’ll sit.”

Flustered and hesitating, Anais finally sat down, unable to hide her nervousness, tapping her feet anxiously.

Judith stood up quietly and slipped out of the line.

“Let me see your hand.”

“Ah, um.”

“I said, your hand?”

“J-just a moment!”

“If you’re not going to do it, leave. There’s a long line.”

“I-I will! I will! Just… I need a moment to prepare myself…”

She wanted to get her fortune told, but she was afraid of hearing something bad. As Anais stalled and wasted time, Judith quietly blended into the crowd and slipped away.

People’s eyes kept following Judith.

‘Ugh, this is uncomfortable.’

She didn’t mind the bad fortune, but it was the sympathetic gazes fixed on her every move that bothered her. Since Anais hadn’t taken her seat yet, even more attention was drawn to Judith.

‘Of all things, I’m the only one wearing an owl mask… If I had known, I would’ve picked a lion mask too. Or maybe not? Were there any girls with lion masks? If not, I should’ve dressed like a man.’

Grumbling internally, Judith walked off toward a quieter area.

Before long, she came across a secluded garden where a few fountains trickled out weak streams of water.

It didn’t seem like a restricted area, but it wasn’t particularly well-decorated either. Judith sat near the most scenic fountain, deciding to rest for a moment.

“Hmm.”

The terrible fortune she’d received was already fading from her mind. She just didn’t want to return to the crowd.

If she did, all eyes would follow her again with thoughts like, ‘That owl mask girl got the worst reading!’ Some young ladies would definitely hear, ‘That’s Judith,’ and come to gossip.

It was all just exhausting.

“I want to go home.”

Judith muttered without realizing it. But she couldn’t go home.

“Judith, you said you’d stay at the banquet until late tonight, right?”

“Ah, not that late…”

“Have fun and stay out late.”

Her mother hadn’t even asked which banquet she was attending. She hadn’t bought Judith a mask either.

What mattered to her mother was that Judith wasn’t at the mansion. Her father, of course, wouldn’t be home, and the few servants would all be sent out.

At the mansion, only her mother and the favored servant would be left.

“Better one of our own than some troublesome outsider.”

After her father’s casual remark to the butler became known, her mother began vacating the mansion whenever Judith had plans to go out. Her mother had realized it didn’t matter, as long as things stayed “within the household.”

“Is Judith really my daughter? Who knows, maybe not…”

Perhaps her father’s coldness stemmed from that doubt. At the very least, a dubious daughter born of a wife he didn’t love was less interesting to him than gambling.

“Home… I want to go home.”

Even though she didn’t dare enter that “home,” Judith kept muttering.

Yet she didn’t move an inch, just stared at the weak streams rising and falling pitifully from the fountain.

It was then—

“Oh, there’s a place like this?”

“Are we allowed in here?”

“Did we take the wrong turn?”

A group of lion masks entered the garden with the fountain.