I Faked a Pregnancy, but My Husband Returned - Chapter 175

That afternoon.

Rose ended up having to meet the Empress and the Princess.

The young Imperial Princess Livia became excited the moment she saw Rose.

“Woooow, pretty big sister!”

Then she bounced up and down as she asked, “Are you Big Brother Karl’s girlfriend?”

By now, Karl was sick of that question, so he let out a sigh and answered vaguely, “I’m not sure yet, Your Imperial Highness.”

Rose was quite surprised by Karl’s behavior, because the Karl she’d always thought was incredibly arrogant was actually very polite toward the Empress and the Princess.

It couldn’t be helped in a society built on status.

Still, Karl whispered this to Rose behind their backs, “I only act like that in front of them. Just think of them comfortably.”

The boy found Livia, who was only a few months apart in age from Alex, somewhat bothersome. Unlike Alex, Livia didn’t particularly strike Karl as intelligent, and she kept begging him to play house with dolls.

“That’s just how life is, right?”

In the end, Rose burst into laughter inwardly. Because it was exactly the kind of thing she’d never dared to think herself.

Karl answered reliably, “Anyway, let’s leave three days from now. I’m coming back again around the time they can figure out the baby’s gender anyway. I’m really curious what Coral will be.”

He continue after thinking it over, “If it’s a girl… ha, that’d seriously be a huge problem.”

Rose asked while studying Karl’s face, “Why? Does everyone want a boy?”

Karl answered seriously, “That’s not it. If the child resembles Sister-in-law even a little… I wonder if she’ll even be able to make friends. Brother probably won’t let boys come anywhere near her. He’s secretly the obsessive type. He might not even let her attend social events at all.”

Rose shook her head as she spoke, “My goodness. Then you should give him some advice!”

“I plan to. Wouldn’t it be better to just send her to a convent?”

“What?”

“If it’s a daughter who resembles Sister-in-law, there’s no way I could hand her over to anyone. Honestly, even Brother feels too good for her.”

Rose stared blankly at Karl and blinked.

And she hoped the child would be a boy.

She’d already seen how much Ekian doted on Alex, so if it were a daughter….

Then she looked at Karl and thought,

‘When Her Imperial Highness asked earlier if I was his girlfriend, why did he say he wasn’t sure yet?’

Her ears suddenly burned hot.

The feelings that had originally screamed ‘Absolutely not!’ started wavering again.

Somehow… it really seemed like nobody cared about the difference in status.

She rolled her eyes once before asking, “By the way, Karl. I heard Lady Judith came from a baron family with nothing, but are you saying none of you ever thought she wasn’t good enough to become the Duke of Mayus’s daughter-in-law?”

Karl answered arrogantly, “Yeah. Only mediocre families care about things like that. People with real power like us don’t care about that crap. No matter what kind of family your spouse comes from, it won’t damage us anyway.”

If she hadn’t come to the Grand Duchy, she never would’ve believed those words.

But now she could.

Because she’d seen it with her own eyes.

Because she’d felt with her heart just how much these people cherished others simply for who they were and embraced them as family.

“I see….”

Rose nodded blankly.

***

“Congratulations so, so, so much!”

Melanie carefully pulled Judith into an embrace.

“I know this was a baby you truly wanted. That’s why I just couldn’t resist rushing over. His Majesty the Emperor really wanted to come too, but he’s just far too busy. I told him I’d congratulate you twice as much on behalf of our family too.”

Judith smiled brightly and nodded.

She dearly loved Isabella and Ben as well, but with Melanie, there was a special kind of closeness only she could feel with her.

Maybe because they were from the same generation, but somehow it felt like having an older sister.

Melanie was someone who had cherished and worried about her from the very beginning.

So it also felt like having a close friend her own age to share pregnancy, childbirth, and raising children with.

Since Judith had somehow gone her whole life without female friends, Melanie was another precious person to her.

“Since it’s your second time, doesn’t it feel a little easier mentally? But at the same time, since you know how painful it’ll be, it’s scary too…. Ugh, but anyway, just thinking about meeting a new baby makes you so happy too, right? Right?”

Judith nodded. “Yes. I’m really excited to see what kind of child this one will be too. Honestly, I was so happy raising Alex that just thinking about seeing a newborn again makes my heart race.”

“Exactly. Even when the second baby cries nonstop, they just seem endlessly adorable. With the first child, you worry so much instead.”

Melanie skillfully guided the conversation along. Then she shrugged once.

“Thinking about meeting another baby makes me want a third child too…. Lately, it feels like Livia’s grown so much already, and somehow that makes me sad.”

“Oh my, are you thinking about a third child too?”

“Actually, while giving birth in the Grand Duchy, I told myself, ‘This is my last childbirth,’ but after hearing about your pregnancy, now I want to raise another newborn too. Raising Livia and Alex together was so fun.”

That was true.

Since Livia and Alex weren’t far apart in age, even though they couldn’t meet often, they still happily kept in touch while sharing updates about the children’s development.

Suddenly, Judith realized just how many good people she had around her.

Unlike during her pregnancy with Alex, when she couldn’t tell anyone she was pregnant, this second pregnancy, where everyone congratulated her like this, truly felt like a blessing.

Melanie said with sparkling eyes, “Make sure to tell me once you know the baby’s gender. Livia says she wants a younger sister…. She says it’s fine if it’s a younger brother because there’s already Alex. Honestly, though, mentally speaking, Alex seems way more mature.”

Then she muttered seriously, “But if that daughter ends up looking too much like Judith, I think that’d be a huge problem. Sigh, would Lord Ekian even let her get married? I still feel like Lord Ekian’s terrifying expression from when you disappeared could show up in my nightmares…. Don’t ask for details. It’s bad for prenatal education.”

Judith replied teasingly, “But do you know something? Even though nobody says it to Ekian directly, everyone’s thinking the same thing….”

“That’s understandable.”

Even at Judith’s joke, Melanie didn’t laugh.

“If that daughter ever ran away from home, the Empire would… never mind. As the Empress, that thought alone is distressing enough, so let’s stop imagining things there.”

Melanie shook her head and shrugged. Watching her, Judith suddenly realized something.

Truly, from the moment she became pregnant with Coral until now, she hadn’t thought about her biological mother even once.

When she was pregnant with Alex, she’d thought about her biological mother often.

Mother carried me for nine months too. Since it was the child of a man she didn’t love, did she hate me the whole time? Did she spend a long time wondering if she should get rid of me? Once I was born, did she hate me even more….

In truth, none of those thoughts had been positive.

But now that she was pregnant with her second child, those thoughts didn’t come to her at all. Because there were already so many people around her who loved her more than enough. Receiving their attention alone filled each day to the brim, and even just feeling grateful and happy left her with too little time.

‘Coral.’

Judith smiled softly and thought to herself.

‘You really are such a free child.’

‘Freedom’ wasn’t anything grand.

It simply meant being free from Judith’s past.

‘Even if you turn out to be a daughter, I won’t need to desperately erase my own childhood from you.’

It felt like she wouldn’t need to project her own lacking childhood onto the child.

And the baby was a girl.