The surviving princess {Liskook}

Chapter 27

“Look at this, look,” Gella clucked her tongue in disapproval as she saw the hickey marks Jungkook had left last night.

“I’ve known the young master for years, and I never expected him to act like this. He’s always been so proper,” Gella said, her tone shifting between respect and disdain.

As Lisa played with her hair in the bathtub, Gella pounded her chest in frustration. “He never even talked to women. We in the knight’s brigade weren’t even seen as women to him. While other knights fooled around with girls at taverns, he’d lock himself in his room with maps.”

“……”

“To see him acting this way now, it just shows that all men, whether they’re lowly like my father or noble like the young master, are the same. It’s like their conscience is all tied to their lower half,” she sighed deeply.

She continued, “I always thought my brother Tully had it the worst, but you, young madam, have it worse. Just look at your body. What is this…?”

When Gella spoke again, her voice was filled with anger. “And who does this to a precious royalty? It’s outrageous. This is a person’s body!”

Lisa rested her chin on her knees and quietly agreed. Exactly.

“It looks like old wounds were reopened and festered badly. It must have been so painful. In Jeons, even a blacksmith’s daughter wouldn’t be treated like this. Whoever did this will surely face divine punishment.”

Gella’s eyes were filled with sympathy, but Lisa felt sorry for Gella instead. She pitied Gella’s naive belief that God would stand with the good and punish the wicked.

A few days passed. During lunch, Lisa suddenly spoke up.

“I want to go outside.”

Surprised by her request, Jungkook paused with his fork mid-air. Lisa quickly explained her reasons.

“From the stories Gella reads to me, it sounds like there are a lot of people living along the streets.”

“Do you want to visit the slums?” he asked.

“No, I want to see the shops. They sound like they’re just buildings lined up without gardens.”

"That’s true for the shopping district,” he said, contemplating for a moment. As he helped clean up the table after their meal, he added, “Then, dear, would you like to take a carriage ride around the city? You can see the sights through the curtains.”

“Yes,” Lisa answered, her face lighting up with excitement. Jungkook, watching her, gently cupped her cheek and pressed his lips to hers.

Even though it was still daylight, Lisa had grown used to such contact and didn’t mind. She just smiled brightly, thrilled about going out.

Jungkook, suppressing something within himself, frowned slightly before letting go and saying, “It will take some time to prepare for the outing, so please wait.”

A while later, Jungkook returned, lifting Lisa in his arms as he left the bedroom. A servant must have informed the household of their outing because Ji won and her maids followed them to the front of the mansion.

Ignoring the worried looks from the line of servants, Jungkook put Lisa, who was pretending to be asleep, into the carriage first.

“She might get anxious if she wakes up in an unfamiliar place,” Ji won  said.

“She’ll be fine with me," Jungkook assured.

“Still, take Gella with you. It’s better to have two people looking after her than one,” his mother insisted.