40.
Judith’s heart sank. She blinked, gathering her composure, and said,
“I’m sorry. I was just about to sleep. I’ve been out since dawn, so I’m a bit exhausted…”
Since the Master had already revealed himself, she truly had no choice. Yet, to her surprise, she wasn’t particularly angry at his unannounced arrival.
“If it isn’t urgent, could we talk tomorrow?”
Judith spoke softly. Outside, she could hear Hyude’s voice, thick with regret.
“Ah, yes.”
Hyude’s footsteps faded away. As Judith exhaled a quiet sigh of relief, the Master shrugged, looking entirely nonchalant.
Suppressing the tension that remained, she whispered sharply,
“Have you lost your mind?”
The Master stepped slowly from behind the bookshelf, sat down in front of her, and said,
“It is certainly possible. I admit it.”
“You admit it so easily that I have nothing left to say. Wait—I said I was going to sleep, so I have to turn off the light to keep up appearances.”
Judith stood up and clicked the lamp off. Watching her in the dimming light, the Master smirked.
“Ahem. To interrupt the very important task of choosing a dress. Hyude Lamis—no, Hyude Shoden is truly rude.”
It was a shameless thing to say. Judith couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh.
“Who do you think is being the real nuisance right now?”
“I’m rude by nature.”
“Hmm, I don’t recall you ever being this pushy before.”
Judith giggled in disbelief. The Master folded his arms, his tone shifting.
“I’ve decided to be a bit more rebellious from now on.”
“Pardon? Did you suddenly hit puberty or something?”
“I found out today that I was thoroughly abandoned by my birth mother.”
“Hmm?”
“I already knew she didn’t like me because I was an unwanted child, but I didn’t know she would go to such delicate, painstaking lengths to ruin me.”
Because he had left out the context, Judith was baffled. Yet, she instinctively felt that if she pried, he wouldn’t answer.
With a tone that sounded more incredulous than wounded, the Master muttered,
“I suppose it’s my own fault for expecting anything at all, just because she’s the one who gave birth to me.”
“That’s true. You shouldn’t have expected anything.”
“Aren’t you affirming that a little too easily?”
“It’s just that I don’t like seeing you get hurt, Master. Don’t expect anything from now on.”
Judith sighed, her voice softening.
“I’ve been disappointed by my own mother, so I understand. If you demand love unconditionally just because someone gave birth to you… in the end, you’re the one who suffers.”
The Master flinched. In the silver moonlight, Judith reached out and carefully patted his shoulder.
“I don’t know the full details, but either way, don’t pay any mind to what your mother says. You have to take the initiative and find your own happiness.”
“Even when that mother’s words have such a massive influence?”
“Even so. If I were you, the more I felt a sense of rebellion against her, the more I would pursue my own happiness just to spite her.”
Judith clenched her fist, as if encouraging him, and smiled.
“I told you, didn’t I? My mother abandoned me, but I will never abandon my own child. I am absolutely going to build a beautiful family. So, Master, don’t get caught up in those words. Go find your own happiness.”
The Master gave no reply. He simply watched her quietly from behind his mask.
The atmosphere grew heavy and awkward. Feeling a shift in the air, Judith busied herself by flipping through the catalogue.
“Since you’re here, do you want to help me pick a dress?”
She opened the catalogue, though her heart wasn’t truly in it.
“I was thinking of wearing something red, but… I’m wondering if I should go with brown to match Hyude’s hair color…”
She had gladly accepted Hyude’s request for an escort. In the first place, she didn’t think of him as a romantic interest—to her, he was just a good friend. Although Hyude intended to express his feelings, Judith didn’t even imagine their relationship would drift in that direction. She assumed he was simply trying to repay her for helping him find his biological parents.
“Brown is truly the worst choice. It won’t suit you at all, Judith.”
The Master expressed his immediate distaste. Frowning at the catalogue, he clicked his tongue.
“And why is it so revealing…”
“Coming from you, who covers yourself from head to toe, I suppose it might seem that way.”
Judith brushed off his complaints with a lively tone.
“Anyway, since I’m a pregnant woman, a design like this is better than the ones at the back, don’t you think?”
At the mention of being pregnant, the Master’s fingers, which had been tapping the table, stopped cold. Judith tilted her head, peering at his mask.
“Why? Are you perhaps thinking it’s pitiful that I have to attend the Imperial Banquet without a husband?”
“I… well, it’s not that you’re actually pregnant… but the optics aren’t great.”
“Why would I be pitiful? If we’re talking about optics at the banquet, Young Duke Ekian Mayous is far worse off.”
“Pardon?”
“Think of how much he’ll be insulted as a piece of trash. What do you think everyone will whisper when they see a pregnant woman arriving without a husband?”
Judith shrugged and smiled. The Master, however, did not smile back. He took a steadying breath and spoke seriously.
“Judith.”
“Yes?”
“What do you think would happen… if Ekian Mayous were to return?”
Judith’s expression didn’t waver. She answered nonchalantly.
“That won’t happen.”
“No, it’s possible.”
“I told you, it won’t. It’s a sad thing to say, but in my opinion, Ekian Mayous is likely no longer of this world.”
“What? No, what on earth…”
“It’s the truth.”
Because she genuinely believed it, she declared it without a shred of hesitation. She couldn’t speak of the original novel or the power of the Last Priestess, so she explained it as logically as she could.
“If Ekian Mayous were alive, wouldn’t he be trash in the literal sense?”
In the original story, even when the Duke and Duchess were poisoned and Karl struggled to hold the house together, Ekian never appeared. If he were alive and capable of acting, he was effectively a monster.
“Because of this poisoning incident, Mother and Father could have died, and Karl could have suffered through absolute hell. Can you call someone human if they could just sit by and watch that happen?”
“No, that’s a fallacy. They were only *nearly* poisoned—the situation didn’t fully come to pass. And if Ekian Mayous is alive, he is likely watching over his family from the shadows.”
“Then that makes him even more of a wretch.”
Bart had committed suicide in the underground prison, and with him, the direct link to the Emperor had vanished. One couldn’t confront the Imperial Family without clear proof, so the matter had been buried.
“If he watched the aftermath of an assassination attempt on his own parents, shouldn’t he have come forward? It was an incident where the Emperor openly targeted the Mayous Ducal House.”
Judith’s eyes flashed with resolve.
“His family is being threatened by the Emperor, and he stays quiet? Isn’t that cowardly? It won’t end with just this one time. The Young Duke Mayous has the ability—shouldn’t he be a source of strength for his father? Right now, the Duke and Duchess have no room to stand up to the Imperial Family because of his disappearance.”
“W-well, but there might be unavoidable circumstances…”
“Circumstances, my foot. If he hides until the end in a situation like this, he’s a coward who ran away because he was afraid of the Emperor.”
Judith gritted her teeth, as if the very thought of him was appalling.
“Honestly, if he’s alive, it’s a certainty that he’s a complete bastard.”
Ow , that must’ve hurt