I Faked a Pregnancy, but My Husband Returned - Chapter 143

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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A shocking silence filled the room.

After a moment, Karl bit his lower lip and spoke to Judith.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I forgot. You said it was a secret from my brother…”

At that moment, Judith realized something. In the future the Last Shaman had shown her in book form, Karl had become a terrible villain.

Right now he was growing up stably, receiving plenty of love, but if someone so smart and clever had been this oblivious, he would have suffered greatly during his upbringing. It would have been the perfect environment to become twisted into a villain.

“Ahem, ahem!”

Alteon quickly cleared his throat.

“Well then, I should go back to the Empress…”

Then he muttered to himself loud enough for everyone to hear and rushed out of the room like the wind. In any case, being able to flee this situation without reading anyone’s mood was also a privilege that came with being Emperor.

“Ahem.”

Karl, who had narrowly avoided a future of becoming a villain, yawned artificially.

“I’m getting sleepy now… Everyone have a good night.”

The boy spoke clearly with a face that didn’t look sleepy at all, bowed politely, and left the room.

Isabella seemed to snap to her senses and followed after him.

“Karl? Wait a moment. I promised to read you a fairy tale before bed today, didn’t I?”

It was a lie. Karl could read books by himself and had long since graduated from fairy tales, declaring them childish years ago. Isabella was also absolutely not the type to sit by a child’s bedside telling gentle stories.

“Oh my.”

In the stiff atmosphere, Ben suddenly pretended to be flustered.

“Where did I leave off sorting those documents… It would be terrible if a servant organized them on their own while I was away.”

Then he left the room without making eye contact with Ekian until the end. He even thoughtfully closed the door.

Judith had no choice but to remain alone in the room with Ekian, her hand firmly held by his. The atmosphere had settled heavily as if the air itself had weight.

Ekian took a deep breath and asked.

“To summarize, everyone except me knows our child’s gender, is that correct?”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

She quickly said.

“It was a matter of timing. Katrin told me just before I entered as the bride… And during the actual wedding ceremony, we were each busy greeting guests.”

“Judith.”

Ekian frowned and called her name in a low voice.

“Even so, there was plenty of time to tell me. Be honest with me. Don’t hide anything more from me. Do you really think this situation is normal, where the child’s father learns about our child’s gender last among the entire family?”

“B-but honestly, nothing has been normal so far…”

That was also true. Judith said in a dejected voice.

“I couldn’t help it. I was waiting to tell you when we were alone together. With other people, it came out like slip-ups… I really didn’t know things would get this tangled…”

At Judith’s words, Ekian sighed and barely managed to mutter.

“I see, yes…”

Earlier, he had confided to Alteon his worry that ‘Judith seemed to have accepted him because she loved her family.’

It was his own private anguish that he couldn’t tell Judith. The suspicion that he might be ‘the most rational choice.’ Of course, Judith would be a faithful wife to him for life, become a good mother, and an excellent Marquis’s wife, but…

Wasn’t all of that essentially the same as when she was a ‘good tutor’?

But pouring out such doubts wouldn’t change anything. Kind Judith would deny it, and it would only make things awkward between them for no reason.

So he didn’t express it. Rather, he thought it was fortunate if he could hold onto her with ‘all those conditions.’

In any case, if he could bind her to his side, he would have to use even more conditions.

But facing this immediate situation, the vague dark suspicion he had been harboring felt like it had taken concrete form.

There was no problem. She would stay by his side. Wasn’t good-natured Judith already reading his mood?

Nevertheless, the reason his heart burned and he felt like his blood was flowing backward was probably because he was too greedy.

Because unlike Judith, he couldn’t just ‘accept things,’ because it was impossible for him to just go with the flow…

“I understand, Judith.”

Still, Ekian slowly pulled up the corners of his mouth into a smile. Whether his heart was burning black or not, if Judith was by his side as a ‘rational choice for her family,’ it was his position to desperately hold onto even that.

“Due to circumstances, I found out a little late, but it can’t be helped.”

Actually, he didn’t think it couldn’t be helped. There had been countless moments at the banquet hall when Judith could have whispered, ‘I have something to tell you briefly. Our child is a boy.’

It was obvious. He had simply been pushed down in priority. She would have casually pushed it back again and again, thinking ‘I’ll tell Ekian later.’

But even so, it truly couldn’t be helped

. He couldn’t let go of her hand under any circumstances.

Taking a deep breath, Ekian looked at Judith’s belly and said tenderly.

“So you’re a son, our baby. Daddy will think hard about what name to give you.”

Apart from his disappointment, the affection welling up for the child was special. The life form he had only thought of as a small baby finally began to take shape, and he started imagining the future.

“Your first time wielding a sword, your first time riding a horse, your first time playing ball… let’s do it all together with Daddy.”

Judith was quietly watching him. Noticing his somewhat stiff expression that contrasted with his gentle tone, she carefully adjusted their joined hands and intertwined their fingers.

“Ekian, are you disappointed?”

“How could I be.”

Ekian shook his head.

“Mother, Father, Emperor, Empress, Karl, me… I was a whole sixth. How could I be disappointed? Of course I didn’t make it into the top five, but making it into the top ten is quite an honor. I’m not disappointed at all.”

“If you’re not disappointed, then you’re angry.”

“Absolutely not. How could someone like me dare to be angry? This has always been my position, so there’s nothing to be angry about.”

At his sulky words, Judith’s eyes narrowed.

“Ekian, that’s quite a leap. It’s not a logical conclusion.”

“It can’t be helped. In front of the woman you love, worries increase and useless imagination runs wild.”

Where is there a rational and logical person in front of love? Love is when all kinds of imagination rush in at every small gesture and light tone.

When he boldly admitted his leap in logic, Judith sighed deeply and said slowly.

“I’m sorry for not telling you in advance. I just thought you would want the baby in my belly to be a daughter. I was worried you might not manage your expression in front of the guests and become gloomy when you heard it was a son.”

“…What?”

“You could feel down momentarily. You said you didn’t want a son who resembled you.”

That was a reason Ekian had never imagined. Come to think of it, he had said something like that before.

But that was because he had directly killed his own father, and there was no way he wouldn’t truly want a son born between him and Judith.

Honestly, it was such an irrational statement that he wasn’t even upset.

Looking at Ekian’s somewhat shocked face, Judith awkwardly let her shoulders droop.

“Other family members wouldn’t care whether it’s a son or daughter. But you’re the most important person to me. Even small things worry me, so I couldn’t help it. Even if it was something you said without much meaning, I overthink things.”

Ekian couldn’t quite believe that Judith had referred to him as ‘the most important person.’ She muttered with a sigh mixed in.

“It can’t be helped. In front of the man you love, worries increase and useless imagination runs wild.”

As if she already knew exactly what Ekian was thinking, she added with a gentle smile.

“Ekian, I made a decision when I divorced last time. From now on, I won’t marry anyone unless I love them.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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