I Faked a Pregnancy, but My Husband Returned - Chapter 173

Alteion was startled.

“What? Judith is pregnant?”

“Yes!”

Melanie nodded with delight.

“Your Majesty already knew too, right? That the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess desperately wanted a second child. Honestly, I kept wondering whether Alex would ever get a sibling, so hearing news like this makes even me emotional and happy.”

“My goodness….”

Alteion also felt somewhat guilty regarding Judith and Ekian’s child.

He hadn’t done anything ‘wrong,’ but he had still been one of the people involved in the scheme that caused the two of them to miss each other.

He’d been treating Alex well, but during this pregnancy, he hoped Judith could spend her days peacefully while doing everything she wanted.

It was the wish of everyone who knew Judith.

Alteion nodded as he said, “Of course you should go personally and congratulate her.”

 At that moment, Livia blinked and interrupted, “I want to go too, Your Majesty!”

Livia smiled brightly as she thought of her cousin Alex, who was only a few months younger than her.

“It’s been a long time since I saw Alex. And didn’t you say I was born there? I want to visit the Grand Duchy often. Uncle and Auntie are both so wonderful too!”

In truth, Livia had visited the Grand Duchy a few times before.

Every time, she played happily with Alex, and Judith and Ekian were kind to her as well.

But she couldn’t visit often, because it wasn’t easy for royalty to leave the Imperial Palace in the first place. On top of that, the Grand Duchy was located in the North, so it was quite far away.

Karl wasn’t royalty, and he was already fairly old, so he could come and go almost as if he were visiting his own home, but Livia was different.

“Your Majestyy, Your Majesty! I want to go toooo, please?”

As Livia pleaded, the Emperor burst into laughter before finally saying, “Then how about the Empress and the Princess go together? It would be nice for mother and daughter to enjoy an outing together after such a long time.”

Melanie and Livia clasped hands and cheered.

Melanie stroked Livia’s cheek, as she’d already started wondering which dresses she should pack, and said, “But I think it would be better to tell Judith right before we arrive, don’t you think? If we inform them in advance that we’re visiting, I feel like the Grand Duchy will become noisy preparing for us. I don’t want to burden a pregnant woman with that.”

“That does seem better. No matter how much you’re going because you want to congratulate her, with Judith’s personality, she definitely won’t just sit still.”

Melanie nodded.

She planned to move quietly, then send a letter about a day before they entered the Grand Duchy.

***

Rose actually wanted to go home.

‘No, actually, I don’t want to go home, but….’

The North was an incredibly fascinating place.

There were regions full of fossils, and there were many caves that felt like treasure chests to Rose. Seeing stalactites and stone pillars she’d only ever read about in books filled her with joy. It was also really fun whenever Alex and Karl followed after her asking all sorts of questions.

Then, on the day she discovered an enormous raw amethyst crystal, Judith had told her this.

‘We’ll register half of it as Miss Rose’s private property, and process the other half as a donation to the Grand Duchy under Miss Rose’s name.’

Considering that discoverers were usually only paid around twenty percent of a mineral’s market value, it was an astonishing condition.

‘We plan to use the donation funds for geological research in the Grand Duchy. Honestly, if it weren’t for Miss Rose, I never would’ve known the Grand Duchy was such a geologically valuable place.’

Rose was so overwhelmed she almost felt dizzy, wondering if a dreamlike land like this could really exist.

Judith was rational and kind, and above all, she was someone who knew how to talk about the future. When Rose expressed that thought honestly, Judith smiled shyly.

‘It’s really interesting. Actually, I… wasn’t such a future-oriented person. I definitely wasn’t optimistic either. If anything, I was closer to someone who simply accepted every misfortune. But at some point, I guess I became used to the happiness the people around me gave me.’

Judith told her that she too had come from an alley like Rose’s, and that she’d spent her days chased by debt while working as a private tutor.

Rose was deeply moved by the people around Judith who loved her wholeheartedly despite such difficult circumstances.

‘So… actually, even His Highness the Grand Duke and Duke Mayus don’t feel scary anymore.’

And the Duchess of Mayus who arrived today as well….

“Judith! Judithhhhhhh!”

From the front gate onward, Isabella shouted Judith’s name at the top of her lungs.

“My child, I brought that ducal estate chef with me! You might want to eat things from back then besides crème brûlée too!”

“…What? Didn’t you say that chef had already retired?” Judith asked blankly in disbelief.

“I offered him a great deal of money and begged him to come with me! You never know, after all. That’s why it took so long.”

Holding Judith’s hands, Isabella continued, “When you were pregnant with Alex, how wonderful it would’ve been if you could’ve stayed comfortably at the ducal estate while eating this chef’s food…. But instead, all I did was help forge divorce papers for you.”

Rose was close enough to hear every word between Isabella and Judith, but she pretended not to notice.

“So I really wanted to bring him somehow. But he’s elderly, and traveling is difficult for him, so we came slowly, which took quite a while.”

In truth, because Isabella’s journey following Ben took so long, Rose also ended up continuing to stay in the Grand Duchy without really meaning to.

Since she was just an academy student without any schedule at the moment, and it was currently a vacation period, she wasn’t even in a position to make excuses like ‘something urgent came up so I need to leave.’

On top of that, Karl insisted on personally escorting her back to the capital no matter what, but with his mother arriving, wouldn’t it look ridiculous if the son immediately left the Grand Duchy together with a friend?

So Rose continued conducting geological surveys in the Grand Duchy. Alex loved it so much that Judith actively encouraged their expeditions.

‘Geology really seems like a wonderful field of study since it uses both the body and the mind! Besides, Rose, for geological research in the Grand Duchy, it might honestly be better to entrust it to you rather than bringing in mediocre scholars.’

Those words had truly been an honor. Anyway, that was why it absolutely wasn’t that she disliked being here.

She simply felt too burdened, and guilty about staying among such high-ranking people….

“Hm, so.”

Isabella’s eyes turned toward Rose, who had been standing there like part of the background.

“You must be Miss Rose Aurora.”

Compared to Ben, Isabella’s presence was far more intimidating. She was undoubtedly a stunning beauty, but the aura she gave off was no joke. Rose barely managed to suppress a hiccup.

“So… you’re the close young lady Karl insisted on bringing all the way to the Grand Duchy with him?”

“Yes. It’s my first time meeting you. My name is Rose Aurora.”

Just as Rose bowed while trembling all over, Judith cheerfully spoke up.

“Mother, you have no idea how wonderful Miss Rose is. She’s kind and clever, and if the child in my belly turns out to be a daughter, I really want to raise her to be like Miss Rose.”

No, why was she comparing someone from a precious bloodline to a commoner like herself?!

Rose staggered, feeling like she was about to faint, when Isabella suddenly exclaimed, “Then she passes. Karl, I guess you did inherit your brother’s eye for women after all.”

At those words, Karl looked utterly dumbfounded. “What? Mother, what in the world are you talking about…. What do you mean she passes?”

“What else would I mean? My next daughter-in-law. If Judith likes her, then I like her too.”

Rose genuinely wanted to faint.