I Will Disappear, Grand Duke | LK Adaptation

27

"...Ah.."

Surprised by her unexpected action, Lalisa's eyes widened.

She took a step back and tried to pull her hand away, but Jungkook grabbed her hand again.

He clasped her hand and looked down at Lalisa. Then, silently, they started walking again. Lalisa looked at him as he walked a little ahead of her, and dropped her gaze with their linked hands. Even in the cold air, his hand was warm all by itself.

As she felt the warmth from him, Lalisa suddenly remembered what he said to her.

'Didn't you tell me that you liked me?'

"Then don't ask me why and just stay by my side.'

Perhaps this man had been taken for granted.

She had always been a blind and passive wife to him. She was a foolish woman who loved him desperately, no matter how much it hurts.

She must have been such a woman to him.

Maybe this marriage didn't become necessary for him, but he was stubborn after she told him she wanted to divorce.

That was probably why he tried to lock her up in an obsessive way that she had never seen before.

Lalisa's face became determined. If that was the case, she could pretend to love him blindly like she used to.

It wouldn't be difficult to act like that, since the thought of him still shone faintly in a corner of her mind.

'Even at this point...'

Lalisa's lips tightened in self-mockery, and she approached him with her expression tightly held.

As they walked side by side, Jungkook looked at Lalisa again.

In that state, Lalisa grasped his hand tightly.

Jungkook's eyes shimmered faintly in the moonlight. Lalisa looked up at him like that and lifted her lips faintly.

As if she wished this time would last forever, like that.

***

Since then, Lalisa remained faithful and never left Jungkook's side.

As before, she spoke to him meaninglessly and made an effort to spend time with him.

Still, Jungkook still seemed unwilling to remove the knights around her.

The knights were ostensibly there to protect her, and she had no reason to ask him to remove them.

As a result, she couldn't help but feel impatient.

After a few vague days of this, Lalisa suddenly received an invitation from the Imperial Palace. The event was to gather the noblewomen together as the due date of the Crown Princess was approaching. Since Lalisa was also a member of the imperial family, it became inevitable that she would have to go to the capital.

'I don't want to go.'

Lalisa let out a small sigh as she was tended by the maids.

If she goes to the capital, she'll have to meet someone she doesn't want to see.

Marchioness Elody. Because she had never fallen into such a position.

However, since she had told Jungkook that she would not divorce him, she had to fulfill her duty as the Grand Duchess first. And so, as she finished her preparations and descended the central staircase, the knights who were assigned to escort her bowed their heads.