My Husband Caught Me Having an Affair - Chapter 153

To be honest, it was only a matter of time. If we kept living like this, it would be stranger not to end up pregnant.

Just thinking about what had happened the night before made my face heat up uncontrollably. I shook my head back and forth alone in the carriage.

A short while later, the carriage arrived at the orphanage.

As I got off with the help of the coachman, Audrey, who had arrived earlier, quickly came up to me.

“Camille!”

“Oh, Audrey.”

“I was so worried. Are you feeling better now?”

Audrey said as she grabbed my hands. She really did look terribly worried.

“Yes, of course. As you can see, I’m perfectly fine now.”

I smiled brightly and spread my arms wide.

“I’m so relieved you’re safe. When I first heard what happened, I was absolutely terrified…”

Audrey trailed off with furrowed brows. She must’ve been talking about the day I went missing.

I only found out later, but it seemed Ethan had issued a massive search order, throwing everything into chaos.

Just then, a small shadow peeked out from behind Audrey.

It was Elodie.

“Duchess.”

“Oh, Elodie.”

I approached Elodie, bent down, and met her eye level.

“Did you come out to greet me?”

“…Y-yes,” Elodie replied in a shy, tiny voice.

“Elodie’s been waiting out here for quite a while. Apparently, she heard from the head nun this morning that the Duchess would be visiting today.”

Audrey explained from the side.

“Really? Thank you, sweetheart. Have you been doing well?” I said as I gently patted Elodie’s head.

She nodded eagerly, then cautiously looked up at me and asked, “But… Duchess, are you really okay? Were you scared?”

“Yes, I’m perfectly fine. I wasn’t scared at all. Because I knew the Duke would come to rescue me.”

At my words, Elodie’s eyes sparkled. “That’s so cool. Just like a storybook.”

“Isn’t it? I wasn’t captured by an evil dragon, but the Duke really did look like a knight from a fairy tale.”

I smiled as I said it, and Elodie shyly smiled back.

‘Ah, seeing Elodie again after so long really soothes the soul…’

If possible, I wanted to spend the whole day just playing with her. But of course, that wasn’t an option.

I went on to follow my usual schedule with Audrey.

While I was sitting with the orphanage children, reading a book to them with the youngest on my lap, something unexpected happened.

I absentmindedly brushed my hair to the side, and one of the kids suddenly pointed near my ear and asked loudly,

“Huh? What’s this?”

“Hmm? What is it?”

I gently touched the spot the child was pointing at. Audrey peeked over and said, “It looks like a bug bite.”

“Huh? I don’t remember getting bit… Ah.”

It dawned on me a beat too late. It had to be one of the kiss marks Ethan had left.

Because there were already so many reddish marks all over me, I’d only been wearing high-necked dresses lately. Today was no exception.

‘I thought it was just my neck and shoulders… I didn’t even think to check behind my ear.’

I tried to act natural, but I couldn’t stop my face from turning red.

That’s when Audrey quickly stepped in.

“Oh, looks like the Duchess got a mosquito bite. Peter, remember when you got one? It got all itchy and red, right?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“It was super itchy.”

“I got bit five times on my leg once!”

The other kids chimed in one after another.

Honestly, there shouldn’t have been mosquitoes in this chilly weather, but I just smiled and nodded silently.

Later, after I had finished all my duties for the day and was leaving the orphanage, Audrey kept sneaking glances at me.

Then she finally asked, “Um, Camille. By any chance… how are things with the Duke lately?”

“What? What do you mean…?”

I trailed off mid-sentence.

‘…Wait. Is this about that kiss mark?’

I felt my face heat up again. I never imagined Audrey would bring something like that up so directly.

Given her personality, I’d assumed she’d politely pretend not to notice.

But her expression looked oddly serious. It didn’t seem like she was teasing or being nosy.

‘Hold on… now that I think about it…’

Audrey still believed that Ethan and I were on bad terms.

“My husband has long thought I’m unfit to be the Duchess of Dumont. And we’ve been married for five years now without any news of an heir…”

The day I first went to see Audrey, I had told her exactly that. That if things kept going like this, Ethan might divorce me, so I needed her help.

‘I see. No wonder she was concerned.’

Audrey must’ve hesitated to bring up such a sensitive issue. But in the end, she must’ve decided to ask out of genuine worry for me.

I replied with a shy smile, “We’re doing really well. It’s a bit embarrassing to say it out loud, but…”

Audrey’s expression brightened. “Really? That’s such a relief.”

“Yes. Oh, and thanks for helping me out earlier. You handled that perfectly—it helped me smooth things over.”

“Oh, it was nothing. But still, mosquitoes in early winter…? Afterward, I thought it was a pretty ridiculous excuse. Thankfully, it was just in front of kids…”

Audrey sighed, and we both laughed out loud.

“Anyway, that’s great news. You’ll probably have an heir soon too, right? Then you won’t have to worry about anything anymore.”

Audrey spoke as if she were proud, like it was her own good fortune.

The moment I heard those words, my chest sank.

An heir. Right.

If Ethan and I had a child, naturally, he would want to pass the dukedom on to them.

‘…Then what about Elodie?’

After I first brought up adopting Elodie to Ethan, things had become hectic, and I hadn’t had time to think about her since.

Back then, I hadn’t made up my mind whether I would leave the ducal estate or stay.

In the original story, Ethan swore never to remarry after divorcing Camille. That’s why, when others questioned who would be his heir, he impulsively decided to adopt Elodie.

But now, everything had changed—because of me.

Originally, Elodie was meant to be adopted by Ethan and become the next Duchess of Dumont. But now, that future was incredibly unlikely.

If I were to say now, ‘Let’s adopt Elodie and make her the heir,’ there’s no way Ethan would agree. Frankly, he might think I’d lost my mind.

Even just adoption on its own—I wasn’t confident Ethan would accept. He had already seemed quite skeptical when I brought it up before.

‘…What should I do?’

My chest felt tight, like it was caving in.

At this rate, I would be taking away both Elodie’s family and her future.

There was no need to say it—there was an enormous gap between the heir to a duke and a common orphan.

Given how grim and uncertain the latter’s future was, it wasn’t something that could be brushed off as ‘not intentional.’

“Camille? Are you okay?”

Audrey’s voice jolted me out of my thoughts.

“Ah… no, I’m fine. Nothing’s wrong.”

“…Are you sure?”

Audrey asked, clearly worried.

“If something’s on your mind, please feel free to tell me. Even if I can’t help much, just talking about it might ease your burden.”

“No, really, I’m fine. I was just spacing out for a moment.”

I smiled brightly as I spoke. Audrey still looked unconvinced, but she nodded silently.

“Or maybe you could talk to the priest? Since you’re here anyway, why not go to confession—it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Ah, then… maybe I will.”

“Yes, please do.”

I had already planned to go to the confessional to wait for Gabriel.

Audrey’s suggestion gave me a perfect excuse, so I accepted it. But I still felt uneasy seeing the concern on her face.

“Really, I’m not hiding anything. It’s not that I can’t tell you but can confess it to a priest instead—absolutely not. Please believe me.”

I took Audrey’s hand and spoke firmly.

Audrey’s eyes widened in surprise, then she smiled softly.

“All right. Thank you.”

I parted ways with Audrey and headed for the church.

My heart was troubled over Elodie, but I decided to put it aside for now.

There was no point worrying about it yet. I had to focus on the matter at hand.

‘Nothing’s decided yet. There has to be a way.’

With that thought, I stepped into the confessional booth.