The General's Wife Wants to Leave-Chapter 182: If the ’her’ was actually her

Back in the middle of the crowds, Joanna was plastering a graceful smile on her face as she was now not only accompanied by her husband, General von Rodega, but also her father, who introduced the General to his acquaintances.

The banquet that was supposed to begin about nine minutes ago rarely had to be postponed because of some discreet issue. Hence, Joanna, who was previously relieved that she would not have to spend more time mingling with other guests because her arrival at the main hall was reckoned to be close to the time of the banquet to begin, had to swallow disappointment.

Thus, at the moment, despite the disappointment and restlessness that seethed inside her, her face contained a smile to show that she was with every sugary word and comment that was spoken by the elderly, especially for her husband, who responded to them with his stony face.

Nonetheless, in fact, her sense of hearing was not with them, as it was completely adsorbed by the conversation that was taken not far behind her.

"I really saw them walk toward the west wing. You also saw them, didn’t you?" came a murmur that belonged to a lady’s voice.

From her voice and the way she spoke, Joanna guessed that she was still young, not quite graceful enough to be guessed as an elder lady who tended to bring her speeches with poise and dignity. freeωebnovēl.c૦m

"Poor her. She had no choice but to serve him. He really didn’t know how to control himself. To do such a thing at such a place and time, she must feel tortured," came a comment as a response to the first-speaking lady.

Compared to the previous one, the voice weighed with sympathy for ’her’, who was brought up as the subject of their gossip. However, if the ’her’ was actually her, it did not make Joanna happy to hear such a sympathetic expression. She felt mortified instead.

It was not a surprise for others to notice where she headed with her husband, as she could sense vividly how their eyes pierced her back when they walked past them all. However, to make them have such inappropriate thoughts, it was something else for Joanna.

However, she could not complain, as she also had the same accusation against the man who brought her to get a breather there.

It was the timing that was not right, and it would not have happened if her husband did not have concern for her, his distressed wife. Joanna sighed inwardly, as it was because of her that they currently became the subject of the gossip that seemed to be fun to talk about.

But should she accept the comments that came next from them? Joanna narrowed her eyes at the next words she heard from the ladies behind her.

"My brother told me that soldiers mostly have uncontrollable desires. Not to mention that her appearance is not disappointing, especially for such a lowly man. Who can throw away a chance to... you know, when he has the chance that normally can’t be owned by a low-class? The good thing for him is that he is one of the favored people, so he can have a noble lady as his wife." Joanna perceived that the coming voice belonged to a lady who was not the first or second one. This time, the voice was heavily laced with contempt.

"Poor her. It must be hard for her to serve such a man. She must be tired. Look how skinny and pale she looks now." Hearing what seemed to be the second lady speaking, which seemed to sympathize with her a lot from the tone of her voice, Joanna wondered if she really looked skinny and pale as she commented.

It made her remember the comment of the man next to her, who was now speaking with one of her father’s acquaintances, that she needed to drink more milk because her body needed more fat. Joanna blushed at the surfacing memory.

But did she still look pale after Bianca helped her apply some make-up to her face? Joanna wondered, wishing there was a mirror for her to have a look at her appearance at the moment.

If she did look pale, perhaps the makeup should be applied more next time. However, it did not take more than a second for Joanna to have a second thought that she preferred not to.

For her, no matter how others perceive her appearance to be pale or plain, she would not apply thick make-up to her face, as she felt content and comfortable with how she applied soft make-up to her face all this time.

Before she finished thinking about how her appearance and make-up should be, another comment seeped into her ears, causing her to wonder why they were so eager to talk about her and her husband.

Did they have nothing else to talk about? And why did they have to talk about that not too far behind her back, as if it were meant for her to hear? Joanna felt it was ridiculous, as she had never found the gossipers gossiping very close to the people who became the material of their gossip.

However, despite her eagerness to suggest they stop talking about her and her husband, Joanna could not do that. It was simply because until now none of them mentioned her name and her husband, although it was not hard for her to guess that whom they were talking about was her and her husband, just from how they mentioned a soldier and lowly man who married a noble lady, which was impossible if he was not a favored person of His Majesty that they concealed.

Hence, Joanna could only stay still, holding back from reprimanding them so that they stopped talking about her and her husband. As a result, she had no other option but to listen to them continue the gossip, as she was also curious what else they would talk about now.

"My brother said soldiers are mostly dirty and stinky because they seldom bathe. Can you imagine how tortured she must feel when she has to serve him?" came the sinister response that she believed was spoken from the third person, which ended with a tch. She remembered all their voices now.

No sympathy Joanna could detect from the way she spoke, which was a stark contrast to the second-speaking lady. And this discourteous comment made Joanna’s eyes narrow more.