How to Extend a Marriage Contract 「Liskook」

Chapter 2

Oh my God! Does a human need to be that handsome? Are you not a monster?

Her head was dizzy because of the beating of her heart. Lisa prayed that the thick foundation would cover her flushed cheeks.

She swallowed her saliva and walked slowly toward him. It was fortunate that she wore a dress with a particularly rich skirt today. Otherwise, she would have been caught walking with her left foot and left hand, and her right foot and right hand forward at the same time.

"Jungkook Wade."

"Lisa Lampard."

After a short greeting, the two sat down. Lisa looked only at the teacup in front of her eyes. She could feel his gaze following her face.

She didn't think it would be so nervous to see someone staring at her. She couldn't even breathe properly. The brief silence felt like dozens of hours to Lisa.

Fortunately, Jungkook soon opened his mouth.

"I will be straight to the point."

"Straight to the... yes...."

Lisa, blankly repeating his words as they came out of his mouth, saw Jungkook's eyebrows twitch and came to her senses.

"I was told you didn't want to get married. But since the Count is old, he needs a son-in-law to take over the title right now, right?"

What was the irony when rumors were distorted in many parts but come closer to the truth. Lisa forced a smile and nodded her head.

"As the son of Duke Wade, I have a lot of fortune."

"Ah yes...."

Lampard wasn't terribly rich, but they weren't lacking. If he was trying to seduce her with money, he chose the incorrect method. On the other hand, if Jungkook had taken his shirt off here, Lisa might have knelt down in front of him right away and begged him to marry her.

But Lisa seemed to have misunderstood him.

"However, I can only inherit the property if I marry the woman my mother gave me permission to do."

"Oh my goodness...."

Oh dear.... Lisa had genuine sympathy for Jungkook. Perhaps she herself would have felt a great sense of betrayal if her father had put such a condition on her. Of course she wouldn't have married any man, though.

"You are the one."

But Jungkook was a man who could.

"Yes? Me? Why did your mother...?"

"My mother was the principal of your school. She said that you were an excellent student during your school days."

"Excellent... um..., yes...."

Lisa frowned involuntarily. Did she work so hard in school? She played hard, but.... her grades weren't that good.... She didn't think she had ever done anything so great that the principal wanted to have her as her daughter-in-law. She brooded over her school days.

She then quickly turn her attention to that low voice which captured her heart.

"I need you and you need a decent husband."

Why did she feel so heated by hearing him say that he needed her? Lisa slightly moved her lips and nodded slowly.

But what Jungkook and Lisa did wasn't a real marriage.

"A marriage contract?"

"Yes."

The period was 3 years. Until Lisa could hold her title alone.

In the Woburn Kingdom, women could not inherit titles. It was a measure taken by the first royal family to reduce the excessive number of titles due to the long war. However, over the past several hundred years, several laws had been established to circumvent this.

A wife may assume the title of her husband if the husband is missing or dead and the brother is not present, if the husband is deported, or if she divorces the husband who succeeded through marriage.

However, this law has conditions. It is limited to couples who have been married for 3 years or more.

"It'll be exactly three years after we file our marriage certificate. In the meantime, we just have to pretend to be husband and wife."

Lisa agreed on the spot. In fact, Count Lampard was ill. Lisa only noticed after the butler informed her that her father was pretending to be healthy so as not to cause her worries. Her father's life was short-lived.

Her own life was important too, but before her father's death, she wanted to have a plausible man who her father would deem worthy of being his successor.

Besides, he says they will get a divorce in 3 years, right? Until then, I can find someone I really love!

Lisa's predictions were almost correct. Jungkook was at least friendly in front of others and never touched her. And Count Lampard died less than a month after Lisa and Jungkook's wedding, like a man who lived with the sole purpose of seeing his daughter's wedding.

However, it was unexpectedly Jungkook who took care of Lisa, who repeatedly cried and fainted for several days. Maybe it was because he was conscious of other people's eyes. Or did he have some sympathy?

Whatever the case, it ended up being a bad thing for Lisa. Because Lisa, who was not immune to men, made her fall in love with a man who was only her husband in name.

~

3 years passed in a flash. Lisa had only been able to sneak a peek on Jungkook all this time. The cheerful lady came and disappeared, leaving only a shy lady. People thought it was because she was grieving over the loss of her father, but that was only half the reason. Lisa was suffering from a love fever for the first time in her life.

The end of the marriage contract was approaching. Now when Jungkook comes back, he'll ask for a divorce... I will be alone....

"Ha...."

Her chief maid and butler comforted Lisa as she sighed deeply.

"My lady, don't worry. I saw the parade on the boulevard a while ago, and the Count did not appear to have been injured."

"Yes, as he wrote in the letter, it must be a very minor injury."

"That's right...."

She heard that Jungkook suffered minor injuries. But Lisa wasn't too concerned either. Because she, too, had seen Jungkook marching majestically on his horse. Her only concern was the divorce.

But she had to laugh now, because nobody knew about it. Lisa tried to smile with difficulty.

She heard the sound of horseshoes in the distance. Two big horses and two small horses. Lisa swallowed her saliva as she saw a man coming close to her and dismounting from his horse.

His dark hair, which had completely covered his eyebrows, had grown to poke his eyes. His black eyes were filled with Lisa before anyone else.

When their eyes met, Jungkook looked at Lisa with a direct gaze, unlike his usual self. Was it because she put in more effort to get ready today, but it made sense that it was strange that she put in effort considering the relationship between the two.

In her embarrassment, Lisa avoided his eyes first.

"You arrived safely...."

"Yes, fortunately."