I Faked a Pregnancy, but My Husband Returned - Chapter 92

Ron’s plan was very simple. It was to follow Elizabeth’s original plan.

Lure Judith out, kill her, and pin the murder on the House of Mayus—simple as that.

Killing a powerless woman wasn’t difficult. And blaming the House of Mayus wasn’t all that hard either. He could just rush to the nearest tabloid and tearfully give an interview claiming it seemed like the Mayus family had killed Judith.

“My wife has always missed Judith, and she’s been tormented by guilt… Our family has never once forgotten Judith. We didn’t abandon her. Circumstances forced us apart. Judith was in the capital, and we were in the countryside working hard to pay off our debts. Then we belatedly learned she had become the Young Duchess Mayus and came to the capital to see what was going on…”

Ron had already thought out the entire interview.

“When I met her secretly for the last time, Judith seemed terribly anxious. She said it felt like Young Duke Ekian’s feelings had changed, and she was worried the family was trying to get rid of her… I’ll never forget the way her eyes trembled in fear!”

People loved sensational stories, and with the emperor’s influence added in, they would surely take it as fact.

So the most important task was to lure Judith out. He needed to coax her into coming alone to a place with no witnesses.

She wouldn’t come out just because Ron or Elizabeth called her. So Ron had to use the information Elizabeth had given him and put his brain to work.

“If you just leave her with her tutors, she won’t come looking for me. So don’t worry about it. I’m not the one raising her, right?”

Elizabeth had always said that to placate Ron.

“She probably follows her tutors more than me. Especially that classics tutor—what was her name? Baroness Ollan? That woman would teach way longer than scheduled, like she had nothing better to do.”

“The classics tutor?”

“Yeah. I guess the old woman didn’t like being alone. She was a poor hag who lived alone. So in a way, it all worked out for everyone, didn’t it?”

As a child, Judith had certainly relied on her classics tutor.

She was a fallen noblewoman over sixty, and had doted on Judith for her intelligence. Though called a baroness, she had no one to look after her and lived alone. Eventually, her son, who lived in the countryside, had taken her in, ending the employment.

Ron still remembered how young Judith had been deeply saddened by it.

‘If I say Baroness Ollan is on her deathbed and wishes to see Judith one last time, she’ll come out of the estate immediately.’

It wasn’t hard to write a letter pretending to be her son. If he said Baroness Ollan was on the brink of death and longed to see Judith’s face one last time, she would surely rush out.

‘The only problem is the staff from the estate all following her out.’

There was no way the pregnant Young Duchess would go out alone. But Ron had some useful knowledge about young Judith.

‘If I do it like this…’

Ron smirked as he wrote the letter, pretending to be Baroness Ollan’s son.

‘She’ll definitely come out alone. To somewhere secluded.’

***

With Ben and Isabella’s support, the divorce process proceeded quickly. But because Isabella insisted on providing generous alimony, it took some time for Judith to leave the ducal estate.

“I’ll prepare it in cash rather than bonds or checks. Somehow, I don’t think you’d want to use Mayus-issued checks or deposits.”

Isabella figured Judith would be living under an alias for a while and was trying to be considerate.

But of course, they couldn’t just pile on gold coins, so the schedule was delayed while searching for a different currency form that was both portable and easily exchangeable.

“The procedures are all complete, so we can announce the miscarriage at the same time as the divorce.”

Isabella spoke with a determined expression.

“Let’s say you couldn’t bear to stay married to such a man who didn’t even show his face after you miscarried. That’ll be the reason for the divorce.”

It was a divorce where all the fault clearly lay with Ekian. Isabella had worked tirelessly to protect Judith’s honor.

Of course, Karl also agreed, albeit gloomily. “Yes… my brother was just too much of a jerk. It couldn’t be helped.”

Looking into Karl’s tear-filled eyes, Judith thought that if not for the child in her womb, she might have stayed here.

“I raised him wrong. I’m really sorry. I think… I think he’s truly crossed a point of no return now.”

Thinking that, Judith felt that going all the way with the Master that day had been a great decision that left her with no retreat.

“No, Karl.”

Judith met his eyes and said, “I’m sure Young Duke Ekian is doing something very important right now. Something great for the empire and for his family.”

That was something she inferred from her conversation with Melanie.

She had the feeling that Ekian was doing something so dangerous that he couldn’t even tell his family, and even Melanie and Alteion had sealed their lips.

But Ekian was not her concern. He was someone outside her life now. After all, wasn’t it people like him that made it possible for ordinary folks like the Master to live happily and peacefully?

“So don’t think of him that way. He’s no scoundrel or delinquent… He was always kind to me.”

Of course, those words had the opposite effect.

“You’re still so kind, sister-in-law…”

Karl eventually burst into tears.

“Even if he’s doing something amazing, what’s the point if he abandons his family and pretends not to know his own child? That just means he’s lost his mind!”

“Ahaha…”

“I guess I can’t even call you sister-in-law anymore… waah…”

“Just call me Judith.”

Judith gently wiped Karl’s tears and said kindly, “I like that too. Let’s meet often.”

Of course… it would have to be after safely giving birth to her child.

There was still no word from the Master. In the end, Judith decided that after leaving the ducal estate, she would go visit the Grey Information Guild.

Until the divorce was finalized and she left the estate, she didn’t want to go outside if she could help it.

Because she wanted to spend time with the people of House Mayus until the very end.

“Baby.”

Judith whispered as she caressed her belly in her room.

“There are a lot of memories of your dad in this room. We used to have all sorts of conversations here when he came to visit at night.”

Of course, it was another man’s room…

Judith swallowed the words for the sake of her prenatal care.

“That’s why I feel a bit sad leaving this place. But soon, we’ll be in a better place, with more joyful days ahead.”

The times she spent pressed close with him in the secret passage, the time she got drunk and caused a scene, the times they bickered and made up—those memories flashed through her mind like a lantern show.

“But this wasn’t a real home.”

Judith smiled gently.

“I really wanted to have a home of my own. I’m so glad I get to have that with you.”

She had lived in the baron’s mansion until she was seventeen, but it had never felt like her own. The three years she spent in a boarding house didn’t count either. Even the Mayus estate never felt like a place she could confidently call “my home.”

Now, at last, it was time to build her own nest.

Just as Judith was saying her final goodbyes to the family and peacefully awaiting the day of the divorce announcement—

A letter arrived for her.

The sender was Heinz Ollan.