The General's Wife Wants to Leave-Chapter 175: Dynamic of relationship

Not yet calmed down from the words that shook her heart, which she was not yet to give her response, another word that surprised her came in sequence, making her react more quickly this time, as if she were awakened for what reasons they left Barasca and had passed a long journey just to be where they were at the moment.

Joanna shook her head before saying, "No. We have to be there because Sir Canillas is invited as an honored guest. If Sir Canillas is absent, it will offend His Majesty the King. The relationship between Archess and Terra will probably be impacted too. So we have to go back there to attend the banquet."

Although she preferred to stay in the tranquil place where they were at the moment, she could not let the person who had painstakingly achieved his own tremendous achievement be impacted because of her incompetency as a woman and wife.

What Joanna was more concerned about was that his achievement was not easily obtained, as she believed that his life had been frequently on the line in order for him to be in his current position. Therefore, she could not let it be impacted and ruined in one night because of a person who had her own problems, had treated him in a not-so-good way, and had doubted him.

Due to the custom that had long existed for a banquet in Terra, the guests had to present at least an hour earlier before the banquet began, as the seats in the banquet that was held in the main great hall of the castle were arranged as per social rank.

While waiting for the banquet to begin, the guests would usually gather and mingle with each other in the front of the main hall before a royal servant called out the names of the guests and showed where they would be seated in the main hall, which was more spacious than the front hall.

"I think we should go back there now, Sir Canillas. The banquet will begin soon." With that having been said in a hurry, Joanna was about to turn around, considering that the sooner they were there, the better. Because being late would affect her family’s reputation.

But before she managed to do so, she froze in her tracks. One action of her husband made her unable to execute what she thought to be urgent at the moment.

The black of the night gave the moon and stars their beauty. The autumn breeze blew gently, becoming music for the dancing silhouettes of the flora of nature.

Blanketed by the nature that gave tranquility to one’s soul, the beat of the heart that echoed in one’s ears blended in with the warmth that radiated from the hold in one’s hand.

"We still have time," Canillas said, clasping Joanna’s hand, which was on top of the white marble railing. His head was propped on his other hand, whose elbow rested on the same railing, as if he wanted to get a clear look at the flustered lady’s face.

Finding Joanna standing like a statue with her gaze falling on their clasped hands, Canillas uttered, "I don’t think the agreement is still valid. Don’t you think so, wife?"

Hearing the question and knowing what the answer should be, Joanna could only stay silent.

From the beginning, she was actually aware that it was a futile agreement to request something that practically would be hard to work, remembering the kind of man she married who was stubborn and persistent in wandering around her, not even willing to grant her wish to end their marriage a long time ago.

She even did not know whether he held her hands or not when she was deep in sleep.

However, even if she chose to be denial, unwilling to admit that the agreement had not worked anymore or not worked to begin with, what was holding hand compared to him holding her in his embrace the whole night, while she did not know what he had done to her at that time?

What she knew was that she did not find any change in her body. There was also no unfamiliar trace she found on her body. It was only her nightgown that went into disarray, but she was sure it was because of the frantic movement she made to escape from his embrace.

Recalling that moment, Joanna remembered how she reminded herself to believe that he did not cross the boundary that he should not cross at that time, and she did not want to doubt it now when that memory surfaced in her mind so that the guilt would not grow even more, especially after what happened a fleeting moment ago.

At the moment, Joanna did not want to wrong the man who had never wronged her. Realizing that it was her who had wronged him all this time, guilt once again washed over Joanna.

Nonetheless, aside from all the memories that surfaced in her mind to consider, how could the agreement be valid if she was the one who first linked her hand to his and did not even show objection when he provided comfort in return?

She had walked hand in hand with him, her husband, until they arrived at the location where she stood face-to-face with him now.

As she still fixed her gaze on their hands and felt how his thumb softly brushed the back of her hand as if trying to soothe her chaotic feelings and mind, Joanna brought her gaze up to the man that she had wronged a lot but never stopped trying to sooth her.

"Aren’t you feeling cold?" Joanna asked instead of giving an answer to the question he asked her.

Without her providing the answer that she found herself hard to say, she was certain that he knew what the answer was, as it was not the first time for them to interact with each other and was not hard for the sharp-witted man like him to read her.

She also had an urge to ask him that because of the air that got colder and the evening breeze that kept blowing even stronger around them, making the hem of her skirt and his tailcoat flutter.

"If I say yes, will my wife give me a hug?"

Staring into the man who was smiling after uttering his typically teasing words to demand an intimate gesture from her, if it were the first time Joanna heard that from him, she would have reacted like she did when he praised or teased her with his honeyed lips.

But this time, instead of being flustered, Joanna was calm, as if she had gotten used to it or perhaps understood the meaning behind it.

Without uttering a word in return, Joanna made a movement to remove the coat that was wrapped around her body with her other hand, which was not in his hold.

However, before she managed to completely remove the coat to give it back to the owner so that the owner would not feel cold, the coat was back to wrap her body with an extra warmth that enveloped her.

"...!" Joanna gasped with her eyes wide open, caught off guard by the sudden, unexpected invasion that warmed her body.

"It is cold. Don’t remove the coat," Canillas muttered near Joanna’s ear, answering Joanna’s surprised reaction. His right hand wrapped around her upper chest, while his other one was around her stomach.

"Sir Canillas..." Joanna called out under her breath when Canillas rested his cheek on her temple.

"If you feel uncomfortable when we are back there later, don’t hesitate to tell me," Canillas demanded, taking no notice of the rigid posture of the lady who was shrinking in his arms. "Thank you for being concerned about me or the future relationship between our homelands. But there is nothing for you to worry about. Everything will be fine even if I don’t attend the banquet," Canillas reassured the rigid Joanna before demanding more.

"So just tell me if you want to leave when you can’t bear it. It is not a burden to me at all. Do you get it, Joanna?" And he smiled when he found his rigid wife responding to him this time with a nod.

Although it was not entirely accurate, he was sure that his absence would not be a personal threat to him or to Archess, where the ties between Archess and Terra could be severed.

Canillas was somehow confident that Terra would think more than thousands of times to poke him or settle the score with Archess, remembering how King Ordoba had most of the time asked to join forces with Archess and rushed to arrange a political marriage between him and one of his people, which made him end up losing his peaceful life because of the lady that was now in his arms.

But now his peaceful life felt like coming back to him when he found his wife staying still in his arms, not pushing him away as she tended to do all this time. All the disappointment that he felt because of her conduct before was evaporated by her allowing him to warm her in his embrace once again.

Another progression was made. One step at a time. Canillas smiled at the realization.

But then, was it a progression of her feelings toward him and their marriage or just guilt because of what she had inflicted on him? The smile disappeared from his face at another realization that suddenly surfaced.

Because he always saw her and the dynamics of their relationship.

However, as warmth was transferred by the lady’s body in his arms, along with the scent that always soothed him, Canillas closed his eyes, brushing aside the thought of whatever the feelings were.

He only wanted to devour the present moment, where all his senses were filled by the presence of the lady that he still called his wife.