The surviving princess {Liskook}

Chapter 5

With the help of the maids, the princess was bathed and returned to her bed, where she remained until sunset. As dinner time approached,

Jungkook carried her to the dining room on the first floor of the mansion. Along the way, the princess almost knocked down a framed painting on the wall, prompting Jungkook to lift her with one arm once again.

Upon entering the dining room, Soo-hyun glanced at them silently, while his mother, ji won, greeted them with a strained smile.

"Sit down."

The meal began in silence but soon turned chaotic when Lisa dipped her hair into her soup and started drawing on the table with it. The royal maids eventually had to take her back to her room.

With only the family and a few servants left, Soo-hyun broke the silence. He struck the table with his fist, then began signaling with his hand:

".Is there a need to keep her alive for long?.."

Eirik's mother, Ji won , responded with a faint smile and continued the hand signals. Despite not having combat experience, she was well-versed in the signals, being the mistress of a military family.

"..If we kill her, the king will kill us all.."

Jungkook simply raised his eyebrows in silence.

The dinner did not take long to finish. Once it was over, the three headed to the Jeon's study. After instructing a servant to stand guard outside the study, the Soo-hyun spoke up,

"She doesn't have her wits about her, nor can she eat properly."

The Lady Jeon Ji won frowned at her husband's crude words, but as usual, she poured him a drink and whispered soothingly,

"I've heard that the child was once normal, but became this way after witnessing people die in the royal palace. It's quite pitiful, isn't it?"

"The ones who are truly pitiful are us, aren't they? She was grinning like an idiot while drawing with her hair in the soup," grumble Soo-hyun as he accepted the drink with a rough voice.

"I discreetly proposed a marriage alliance to the Kwon family, but it was completely rejected."

It was a desperate attempt to salvage the situation after the initial betrothal between Jungkook and Lady Kwon Eunbi had fallen through, but it had not gone well.

Jungkook furrowed his brow and asked, "Does the Kwon family have a daughter suitable for Jimin?"

"There is a seven-year-old daughter of Marquis's cousin (Marquis Eunbi father). I tried to arrange it somehow, but..."

Jungkook's cousin Jimin was twenty-two. A fifteen-year age difference was not particularly shocking in a country where arranged marriages were common. However, kwon had flatly refused.

"This morning, some retainers suggested replacing you with . They said if the kwon Marquis wanted our family's heir, we could simply change the heir."

In the Kingdom of Kim kai, there is a saying: Jeon for external threats, Kwon for internal ones.

It means that the Jeon family guards the borders, while the kwon family, as the head of the central guard, ensures the security of the capital. Together, the two families form the backbone of the kingdom's military might.

In response to the king's tyranny, the two families had conspired, and the betrothal was arranged in secret. They had planned to rebel as soon as the war ended, but now everything was falling apart.

"This deranged woman is putting your position at risk," Soo-hyun said bluntly.

Jungkook calmly asked, "Is Grand Duke Taeil still hesitating?"