I Faked a Pregnancy, but My Husband Returned - Chapter 76

Ekian flinched slightly.

It was true that when he first encountered Judith after that night, he had impulsively thought, ‘I don’t know. I just hope Judith forgets about it since she was drunk.’

He didn’t want to go through an awkward rejection or an uncomfortable atmosphere.

But after that, the only thing left in him was disappointment—so much so that he had completely forgotten his initial thoughts.

“I just pretended not to know.”

Judith narrowed her eyes and replied, “Then why are you scolding me for pretending not to know, too?”

Come to think of it, his reasoning sounded a bit weak.

“I was just doing what you wanted, reading the situation and acting accordingly,” Judith added with a slight reproach in her voice.

From her perspective, it made sense. But from Ekian’s, logically speaking, since ‘Master’ was a persona that would eventually disappear, burying that incident had been the rational choice.

Yet, as always, whenever he stood before Judith, rationality seemed to fly out the window.

‘Ah.’

Ekian realized something again.

‘Judith is rational, and that’s why I feel hurt.’

His heart and mind were at odds, his emotions fluctuating uncontrollably, leaving him confused and frustrated. Meanwhile, Judith remained calm and consistent.

That difference in their emotional responses seemed to highlight the gap between them.

“Why do you always just go along with what others want?”

“Huh?”

“You must have had your own feelings, too. Why, after everything that happened, did you just act according to what I wanted?”

“Ah…”

“I kept telling myself to forget it, but my emotions kept rebelling against that decision. I was a mess, restless and frustrated. But for you, was it such a trivial thing that you could simply go along with what I wanted without any hesitation?”

Judith sighed deeply, lowering her gaze. “It wasn’t trivial… It’s just… that’s how I’ve always lived.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was an invisible daughter to my parents, a competent teacher to my students’ parents, and a diligent employee at the Mayus Ducal House. Acting on my own desires has never been easy for me.”

Ekian was momentarily speechless.

Come to think of it, Judith had always been like that.

She can adapt to anything. She can adjust to anything. She can accept anything…

She was bright, cheerful, and lively, so it was easy to forget her nature at times. She had clear desires, handled things proactively, and spoke her mind when necessary. But at her core, she was someone who could let go and walk away at any time.

“Judith, you…”

The bathroom was still filled with warmth and the faint scent of Judith.

“You’re like a child playing happily with a toy, but the moment someone says, ‘Let go of that,’ you immediately drop it and walk away without ever looking back.”

He murmured as if he were drunk.

“…Don’t do that.”

Ekian slowly lowered her leg. Then, he reached out and supported her waist, still wrapped tightly in the towel. Inevitably, their bodies ended up pressed together.

“At least, don’t do that to me. If you want something, say you want it. If you want to play more, say you want to play more. At the very least, turn back once and look at me.”

“Master, you’re speaking too cryptically.”

“What did you really want to do?”

Ekian’s voice was not demanding but filled with genuine curiosity.

“Tell me. After the kiss, what did you actually want to do when you saw me the next day?”

“……”

“Don’t try to guess what I wanted. Tell me what you wanted.”

Judith blinked her green eyes slowly as she rested in his arms.

He could feel everything—the pounding of her heart, the redness creeping up her ears, and the warmth of her body, damp from the water. Ekian felt dizzy, as if all the blood in his body was rushing at once, rendering him unable to think straight.

Judith hesitated for a moment before speaking, “Then… If I say it… will you listen?”

“Anything.”

Ekian answered without hesitation.

“I wish you would just act like a child in front of me.”

“……”

“Because I’ll give you everything you want.”

A thin layer of tears welled up in Judith’s eyes. She took a slow, deep breath and spoke, “Honestly, I wished you wouldn’t pretend not to know.”

Ekian’s heart dropped with a heavy thud.

“I wanted to talk to you. Of course, right now, I am legally Ekian Mayus’s wife, but I will eventually get divorced. It wasn’t a real marriage to begin with… I just wanted to ask if that night was truly a mistake. Because it’s not something I can ask anyone else.”

“It was never a mistake. I can say with absolute certainty—you have no reason to feel guilty.”

“And if that’s true…”

Judith’s breath hitched, and then, with a voice barely above a whisper, she mumbled, “I wanted to try it once more. When I’m not drunk.”

Ekian felt like he had been struck over the head.

“That night felt… really good. I wanted to know if it was just because of the alcohol or if it was something else. And also…”

With a voice so soft it seemed to disappear, she whispered, “Actually, I like you.”

This must be what it feels like when reality becomes surreal. Judith raised her hand and brushed it against his mask.

“I don’t know anything about you, but still, I do.”

Ekian was at a loss for words.

Judith quickly continued, “I don’t want to hear your answer. Not right now. But if you really meant what you said about giving me everything I want…”

Her hand, which had been touching his mask, slipped down to loosen his cravat. Then, she blindfolded herself with it.

Just like that night he had replayed in his mind over and over again.

“Can we do it once more? Not as a way to ease pain, but just… like that night.”

Blindfolded, she reached up and removed his mask. Ekian didn’t resist her touch. He hadn’t then, either.

Watching her trembling breath and the way her chest rose and fell made him feel as if he were going insane.

His voice was low as he spoke, “May I correct something from that night?”

“Something to correct?”

“Kissing doesn’t actually ease pain. That night… it wasn’t that the pain disappeared.”

“Huh? Really?”

“In fact, kissing you only made it worse. It was painful.”

Judith’s lips parted slightly in surprise. Ekian swiftly lifted her into his arms.

“And yet, I liked it.”

With her still in his embrace, he carried her out of the bathroom and into a small room, laying her down hastily on the bed.

Then, he pressed his lips over hers without hesitation. The heat between them was urgent yet tender, their bodies melding together in a deep and consuming kiss.

Just when Judith’s breath turned ragged, he finally pulled away and whispered against her lips, “That night, I didn’t kiss you to ease my pain.”

Judith, arms wrapped around his neck, asked softly, “Then… are you in pain right now?”

“…Terribly.”

“Then today…”

The towel wrapped around her slipped away.

“I hope you can feel comfortable.”

Ekian’s arms, which had been bracing against her shoulders, tensed as veins stood out along his forearm.

“I want to have you, and I want to keep playing with you.” Judith took a deep breath and whispered quietly, “I thought you were mine alone, but at the garden party today, it felt like you belonged to all the other women. You seemed like a man who could charm anyone, and I realized that the version of you I know is only a small part of who you truly are… And yet, among all of them, I felt like the most insignificant one.”

“That’s not true. The only person I saw there was you.”

“I’ve never said anything like this before, but… I wanted to have more pieces of you that no one else knows.”

Judith confessed in a calm voice before taking a deep breath and asking carefully, “Is this what it means to be selfish?”

“…Yes.”

There was an unmistakable tenderness in his voice before Ekian captured her lips once more.

Along with the towel, the rest of their clothes began to slip onto the floor, one piece at a time.