While she was immersed in her imaginary world, he was looking at her affectionately. This Lee Lalisa was different from the Lalisa he has seen before. The Lee Lalisa in the past was reserved, polite and well mannered. Her every word was spoken, carries a heavy meaning with it but at the same time, she was very innocent and a bright person. That's why he felt bad for her because after coming to the palace, her happiness has been lost somewhere.
His eyes were gentle and full of love. While he was engaged in looking at her lovingly, on the other hand, Lalisa was scared to hell. From her memories, she knows that the relationship between Lee Lalisa and Jeongguk is not good, like between her and Jungkook. But at least, in that country there is law and she won't be killed if she has ever slapped him. But here, it's like she has committed a major crime.
Right now, the person she was missing the most was Jungkook. Though she loved his power and status more than him, and but she is not the only one. He also never loved her, but at least, he was better than this Emperor. With him, she doesn't have to worry about little things and did whatever she wants to do.
But here in the Palace, the rules are very strict. It's very hard for her to control her actions, she just can't get herself to follow the rules, that she didn't like. She was more like a rule broker rather than a follower. And all the period dramas which were full of drama and conspiracies had created an impression on Lalisa as a horrendous place. She just can't bring herself, to like this palace.
Jeongguk broke her inner turmoil, as he said, gently "Lalisa?"
Lee Lalisa looked at him and replied, "Ah?" she was scared to hell, she thought that he will give her capital punishment so she hurriedly explained herself before he says anything, "Ahm, I am sorry. I wasn't meant to hit you. It's just.. when I woke up, you were so close, so I got scared and mistakenly hit you. It wasn't an intentional injury, so please don't punish me.." she said all this while folding her hands in front of her, in pleading form.
She said all this while looking at him, panic was obvious in her eyes when he didn't respond to her words. She thought, her doom is near. Now she will die for real.
While she was speaking, he was looking at her blankly. He has no words to say. He never saw her speaking in this hasty and crude manner before, even when they had bigger fights she never panicked like this. And now, just because of a small mistake, she was behaving like she has done a huge crime. He doesn't know, whether he should laugh or cry.
Was she that scared of him, that he will get her killed just because of a mistake? Suddenly he felt a pain in his heart. He doesn't know, how to make her understand that he likes her.
He looked at her nervous eyes, which were on the verge of crying. He looked in her eyes and sat on the edge of the bed.
He said, "Why would I kill you? I know you didn't hit me intentionally and it was my mistake that you got startled. So calm down."
He said looking into her eyes and patting her hair.
Lalisa looked at him in confusion and thought, 'Eh, this is not the Jeongguk. Is it? Because according to Lee Lalisa, he was a cold-hearted man but here, he was looking at me those beautiful eyes with gentleness. Oh, wait. Did I just say, beautiful? But on the second thought, why this guy's eyelashes are bigger than me. He didn't get, eye job, does he?'
Wait, that's not the point here. The thing is, why he was behaving, out of the character. Is he trying to test me? She thought to herself. She just arrived in this world and cannot just believe, whatever she sees. She has seen so many period dramas and she knows that in the palace people are more cunning and cruel.
She cannot take action hastily.
So she hesitantly looked at him and didn't say anything.
When he saw her quiet, he felt bad. Does she not believe him? He frowned. He cannot blame her for not believing him, because it was his fault for not treating her well before.
Then he suddenly recalled something and asked: "Did you get checked by the doctor?"
Lalisa shook her head.
He touched her forehead with his palm to check her temperature, but as he stretched his hand, she immediately backed away. She just couldn't get used to his gentleness.
She looked at his hand which was in the air and then at him, she smiled awkwardly. She doesn't want to make him embarrassed but she just backed off unintentionally.
Because she never had someone to take care of her like this, so she was not used to, with all this care and love. Due to the betrayal given by her father to her mother, she was traumatic because of this incident. And can't make herself to believe someone easily. She has created a wall around her, to protect herself, which doesn't let people come near to her easily. That's why she didn't get closed to Jungkook or his family. Because they are too good to be true. She always thought, if she gets too close to them, then it will give her more pain when she will part ways with Jungkook.
She had lived abroad for long and after coming back, her grandfather also passed away. And while she was with Jungkook, they didn't have any husband and wife relationship. So she was not used to, with all this love and care.
Seeing her actions, he also retracted his hand and kept them on his thighs and looked away to reduce the awkwardness. But this was making things more awkward.