I Will Disappear, Grand Duke | LK Adaptation

4

Jungkook's eyes were cold, and only the edges of his mouth were softly curved. It was an eerie feeling.

"Why did you give me the woman you liked so much? Your Majesty could have her."

The tone was light as he passed by, but a thin ice silence flowed inside the banquet hall. Everyone was looking at Jungkook with bewilderment.

He continued his words, as if he didn't care a bit.

"If Your Majesty wishes, I will step down from this marriage."

His golden eyes reached Lalisa on the other side.

"What do you think?"

Lalisa looked at him with a pale face. Her mind froze blank.

'What is he saying now?'

Her hands, which had quickly lost their warmth, began to tremble. She couldn't make sense of this situation.

She couldn't understand a word he was saying.

"...... Grand Duke, you joke too much."

It was the Empress who broke the stifling silence. She kept a calm expression among the hardened ones.

The emperor, who had a dumbfounded look on his face, finally spoke.

Yeah, that kind of joke doesn't fit the situation. You didn't mean to humiliate me, did you?"

The emperor's lips quivered. He didn't know whether to be angry or just laugh it off.

Jungkook smiled, keeping a single, coquettish look on his face. He didn't look like the man who had thrown the bomb into the middle of a friendly dinner party.

"There's no way I have such impure intentions toward His Majesty. You are mistaken."

Lalisa stared at him blankly. Her heart was beating as if it was about to jump out of her chest, but her mind was still and quiet.

"Your Majesty. In a moment. I would like to speak with you about an international matter..."

Thanks to the Crown Prince's hasty change of subject, the dinner continued in a strange atmosphere.

Occasionally, the Empress managed to talk to Lalisa, who was stunned throughout, and Lalisa gave suitable answers.

However, when the dinner was over and she left the banquet hall, she could not remember what she had said at all.

While moving to return to her designated place, Lalisa touched her cold hands.

Jungkook, who was walking ahead, was talking to the Crown Prince about something.

Her legs faltered and she paused for a moment, her lips clenched and she had a tight grip on the hem of her dress.

All the while, he moved further and further away, never once looking back.

Lalisa held onto the wall and lowered her head. The air was so cold that it stung her lungs.

She looked for a moment at the end of the corridor where Jungkook had disappeared. She was the only one left in the empty hallway.

***

The next day, Lalisa slept through the whole morning.

Occasionally, a maid came to wake her up and offered her food, but she never felt like eating anything.

However, she had to force herself to wake up because the Empress had a tea party in the afternoon.

"Duchess, you're looking very pale. Are you sure you don't want me to call the doctor?"