The General's Wife Wants to Leave-Chapter 185: Not a novel sight to behold

Joanna was utterly astounded that, in fact, it was not only her who heard all the discourteous conversation, which put her and her husband as the ultimate subjects.

It had never crossed her mind that, instead of having his focus on her father and his acquaintances, who seemed eager to have him engaged in their conversation, as if they did not want to lose an opportunity to get to know him well, he, her husband, was actually with her all that time.

That only meant that he heard all the talk that was brought up to disrespect him.

Joanna was not sure what his exact thoughts or feelings were because of that. Did he ignore them, like his suggestion for how they should face any comments that were addressed to them? Or did he finally realize how annoying the woman that he had chosen as his wife was, which caused him to become the object of insult?

Instead of respect, what he got was an insult that was spoken with a lot of contempt and hostility. Did he now regret maintaining their marriage? Joanna questioned that in her fraught mind.

She wanted to find the answer through his facial expression, and that made her want to be like him at the moment, who could read through one’s visage precisely without any difficulty.

However, Joanna could only find a smile on his face, which was not a novel sight to behold for her, with his hand patting hers that was on his arm. And she recognized that gesture very well. She understood that, undoubtedly, from the way he stared at her with his smiling eyes.

Nonetheless, with all that she was seeing from the man standing dashingly very close to her side, Joanna did not feel reassured at all at the moment. Instead, his tender gaze and warm smile only gave a prick to her heart, not comfort.

Although those gestures told her that he was fine with all that they had heard and there was nothing to worry about, she had an urge to ask him the questions that made her heart restless, as it would probably be hard to stop the rumor from spreading broader, which would cause his reputation to be tarnished more.

Was he really fine with that? Didn’t he feel tired of comforting her? Didn’t he want to blame her due to the fact that his name was tarnished because of her?

Wasn’t it better to pour out his true emotions, telling her that he had enough of her misbehavior and actions?

It was not too late if he changed his mind about their marriage. She would be responsible, taking all the blame with her. So he did not have to worry, as the reputation of General Canillas von Rodega would remain the same as it was before he married her.

Joanna was about to ask Canillas those questions and tell him all she had in mind. But when she just opened her lips to voice what had disturbed her mind, the bell to announce the arrival of the King rang, which also meant that the banquet would begin in no time.

Later. If she could not talk about that with him now, then she would do that later. She had to ask him, telling him everything, because she needed to know his true feelings.

A decision had to be made before they walked further on their marriage path and, most importantly, before she stepped back into the place where she had that dream, which put them in this complex situation.

There was no need to hold on to principles toward marriage and the favor of a certain number if there was turmoil in one’s feelings. It was on Joanna’s agenda to do later because she did not want him to regret it later, which would then do something that would hurt her.

Or if he would not hurt her because she was dear to him, like he just declared, Joanna did not want him to suppress the upset inside him, as it would give her or his life no peace.

Living together with those unpeaceful feelings for the rest of their lives was not the thing that Joanna wanted. People tended to change. She still believed that.

For now, everything looked good. Every word sounded sweet. Every action was flattering. But would it last the same forever?

She really did not want to be like Joanna in the dream. She did not want the thing that she avoided to come true. The dream had to be a mere dream, not a vision. Hence, a decision had to be made before it was too late.

If the decision had been made for them to separate, she was ready to take all the blame because she was the one who caused all of the rumors to grow and she was the one who had offended Clara de Lorn.

It was Joanna’s determination.

Nonetheless, it was a relief that the banquet finally began. They did not need to hear all the words that were not proper to be heard any longer, as the sound of the bell had made the hall fall silent.

Following that, all the attention of the guests now shifted, including the gossipers behind her back, as most of them were preparing their names to be called out to enter the main hall.

About fifteen seconds after the bell rang, the grand door of the main hall was pushed open from the inside by a royal servant.

Inside the biggest room of the great hall, where a high ceiling and large fire place could be found, tapestries, banners, and some other cosmetic features filled the room as decoration, and those were more splendid compared to what could be seen outside the main hall.

Seating was ordered in an angular U-shape with the head table, which was positioned in the middle of the U, raised on a platform across the top of the room. It was called a dais. This was where the highest-ranking members of the banquet, King Ordoba de Montella and his family, including the birthday Crown Prince, were seated.

At the other end, far across from the dais, was a musician’s gallery. It was the place where musicians would play their musical instruments to entertain the guests as well as make the atmosphere brighter and livelier.

Chandeliers with several parts, like branches for holding multiple candles, hang from the ceiling, setting the room ablaze.