I Faked a Pregnancy, but My Husband Returned - Chapter 67

Ekian sighed and rubbed his forehead. Everything kept spiraling out of control, leaving him with no time to catch his breath.

He no longer had the confidence to share a room with Judith as if nothing had happened. But Karl had already made a fuss over just one night away, so he couldn’t keep making excuses to stay out. In the end, he could only use the one excuse no one in the Mayus Ducal House could argue against—the Crown Prince.

And so, after leaving with the justification of “His Highness the Crown Prince summoned me, so I had no choice,” he exited the estate.

‘Ha…’

That evening, Ekian hesitated for a long time in the secret passage.

‘…How am I supposed to face her?’

But avoiding her wasn’t an option. Anais was plotting something, and he couldn’t just sit back and do nothing. In the end, he took a deep breath and opened the door.

To be honest, Ekian wasn’t sure of his own feelings.

Judith had been drunk and acted on impulse when she kissed him. The one she liked was Hud.

It was hard to believe she had any feelings for him. After all, he had always worn a mask in front of her and had never even let her hear his real voice.

If he were in her position, would he be able to like someone he knew nothing about? Wouldn’t there have to be something to draw her in first?

‘She’s a responsible woman. She probably just felt guilty for making me take the drug and wanted to help somehow.’

But even knowing that, he hadn’t been able to stop her when she leaned in. He had no regrets.

The way she clumsily moved, unsure of what to do, had excited him far too much, making him completely lose his sense of restraint.

From an objective standpoint, he was nothing short of a scoundrel. He had kissed her without even revealing his true identity. And yet, even if he were to go back in time with all his current memories, he knew he wouldn’t be able to stop himself. It wasn’t something he could control.

‘Did she forget?’

There was a chance she had been so drunk that she didn’t remember. That would make things easier for him.

He let out a sigh, knocked on the bookshelf, and entered the room through the secret passage.

“Ah.”

Judith greeted him with her usual composed demeanor.

“You’re here, Master.”

Her green eyes met his with a warm gaze. Ekian was relieved that his mask hid his expression—he was certain he wouldn’t have been able to keep a neutral face otherwise.

At the same time, he made up his mind.

‘I’ll pretend nothing happened.’

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t handle this situation any other way.

‘Just act as if nothing happened.’

If Judith were to say, ‘I’m sorry, Master. The truth is, I like Hud… I acted on impulse out of responsibility. Can we pretend it never happened?’ he wasn’t sure he could agree without hesitation.

For now, as the Master of the Grey Information Guild, he still had business to attend to with Judith—specifically regarding Anais.

He couldn’t afford to lose his composure and make things awkward. He had to continue playing his role as her reliable business partner.

Ekian answered as dryly as possible, “Yes. We need to finish discussing yesterday’s matters.”

Judith glanced at him briefly before smiling slightly. “I was thinking the same. Anais is moving quickly.”

Whether she had chosen to go along with his act or had genuinely forgotten, she made no mention of what had happened. Instead, she handed him an invitation—one bearing the crest of House Anitas.

Ekian already had a rough idea of what this garden party was about. Anais had hinted at it when she spoke to him.

“I have two choices, don’t I?”

Judith smiled as she spoke.

“Option one: avoid it. Option two: face it head-on. Honestly, I wanted to quietly choose the first option and wait until I could divorce in peace.”

“…But?”

“This afternoon, I received another letter. Apparently, Her Highness the Crown Princess will also be attending.”

Ekian felt another wave of dizziness wash over him. Melanie was coming too?

Melanie was a strong and respectable woman, but it was still surprising that she would attend such an event. She was the Crown Princess—she could easily decline an invitation to something as trivial as a garden party. Moreover, her relationship with Anais wasn’t particularly good.

“But Her Highness the Crown Princess must need help as well.”

Judith’s eyes sparkled as she spoke.

“She must be looking for a trustworthy and skilled physician.”

“Hmm?”

Come to think of it, it had been Judith who originally warned Alteion about the danger he faced. It made sense that she would be interested in this matter.

“A skilled physician…”

“Of course, Hud.”

Judith spoke cheerfully.

“Hud said that if I ever needed a favor, he would always grant it at least once. So, I think we could secretly ask him to examine His Highness the Crown Prince. Not only would confidentiality be guaranteed, but as far as I know, his skills are extraordinary—he might even be able to help with the antidote.”

“Ah, Hud Soden…”

The moment Judith’s lips formed that name, Ekian felt a strong sense of repulsion. Completely unaware, Judith continued speaking.

“If you think about it, this is a great opportunity. It’s a chance to meet without suspicion. Besides, we already know about Anais’s schemes and are prepared to counter them.”

Ekian had already heard about Anais’s plan firsthand.

At the garden party, Ekian was supposed to appear as Anais’s surprise guest. Of course, he would be wearing a mask, acting as the influential leader of a well-known information guild.

“There, you should exchange a few words with Judith. People need to believe you’re close.”

“Well, that much is true.”

“Then, at some point, call her over behind the large tree in the garden, saying you have something to discuss. If you’ve been business partners for a long time, that wouldn’t be suspicious, right? From there, I’ll handle the rest.”

“Hmm.”

“The garden party is just the beginning. When a major scandal eventually breaks out, this will serve as the trigger that makes people remember. That’s the goal—it won’t be anything significant, and Judith won’t have any reason to be suspicious. You just need to find a small excuse—like brushing off a leaf from her dress—to create subtle closeness.”

Ekian relayed this plan to Judith, and she clapped her hands together with a bright smile.

“Then it’s simple. I just have to pretend not to know you while we’re there, right?”

“Or, there’s another option—I could simply not attend.”

Ekian smirked. That had been his original plan.

“I could just claim something urgent came up and not show up.”

That would be the easiest way to ruin Anais’s plan. After all, Anais had arranged this event to act as if she was reconciling with Judith in front of everyone. If Judith didn’t attend, Anais would have to pretend to be friendly with her in front of a crowd with no actual reconciliation happening.

“No, you should come. As long as we don’t sneak off somewhere alone together, there won’t be a problem, right?” Judith spoke with a relaxed expression.

“That’s true, but…”

Judith took a sip of tea she had prepared and continue firmly, “Besides, it’s not like I have no weapons of my own.”

“Hmm? Weapons?”

“Of course. Didn’t I mention that I was once close with Anais as a child? I know quite a bit about her, too.”

Judith grinned mischievously. Ekian immediately sensed that she knew something he didn’t. And at that moment, he thought it wouldn’t be so bad to witness whatever it was she had planned.

“If she intends to humiliate me at the party, it might be fun to turn the tables on her a little.”

“I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Ekian nodded leisurely.

Truthfully, he wasn’t keen on exposing Judith to someone as vile as Anais. But when he thought about it, all of the time he had spent with Judith so far had turned into rather enjoyable memories.

Every single moment.

“I wonder what kind of secret you’re keeping.”

“Ah, it’s nothing too serious.”

Judith laughed shyly.

“Remember how I told you Anais used to have a crush on Young Duke Ekian Mayus?”

That was the moment when Ekian’s pleasant mood suddenly took a turn for the worse.

“It’s a story related to that.”