The General's Wife Wants to Leave-Chapter 202: An important person

"No, Joanna." Joanna shifted her gaze from the Duke to Canillas, who responded to her. "I have thought about that. We don’t know about the urgency of the meeting and how long it would take, so it is better for you and Your Grace to go back home first," Canillas suggested, deciding that it was better for his wife and his father-in-law to return home first so they could rest early, as the meeting was only asking for his presence, not them—his new family.

Turning her head to look at her father after hearing the suggestion coming from her husband, Joanna asked for his opinion, and the reply came in a fleeting second later, as if it did not need to take too much time for the Duke to decide over that matter.

"I think we can wait for Sir Canillas here. In the meantime, father can talk with Baron Clemente," Duke John responded, bringing his gaze toward a certain direction, which was followed by Joanna, only for her to find an elder man standing near the grand door that was now fully open with two other elderly.

Finding whom the person her father referred to, Joanna remembered that they were a group of people whom her father introduced her husband to when they were waiting for the banquet to be started in the front hall when behind them came the demeaning words that made her restless relentlessly.

"So you may take your time in the meeting with His Majesty, Sir Canillas." The Duke shifted the conversation from Joanna to Canillas. A kind smile that the Duke always showed every time he talked to Canillas was there again, displayed on his face, and this time it was offered to assure him not to be worried about making both him and his daughter wait for him.

For Duke John de Lara, there was no need to take a lot of time to decide over a matter regarding a person who had shown his genuine care for his daughter. Finding out that his son-in-law, the husband of his daughter, was the person that his King favored a lot, Duke John could not contain pride in his chest. And the pride swelled in his chest more when he introduced the General to his colleagues, who were eager to know more about him.

Nonetheless, the Duke could not deny the fact that not all of his colleagues had the same sentiment as those who were eager to get acquainted with the person who had contributed a lot in defending their land so that they could live peacefully until now.

Most of them seemed not to care about that inevitable fact. Most of them even felt grateful that their daughters were not selected as the General’s wives. They even pitied him for having his sole daughter get married by the General—a commoner and a ruthless soldier that came from another nation. Some even mocked him, saying that the reputable old generation like de Lara had a lowly person as part of their family.

However, regarding the fact that he, himself, had no power to dodge, the Duke was aware that he could not let himself be absorbed by the root that made most of the Terran have a view over this matter. And now, the Duke was relieved that what he wished for was answered.

The youngest General of Archess that was not completely welcomed in Terra was the person that the King of Terra clearly saw as an important person. He was even granted a piece of land that was counted to be utterly rare to be given to even a Terran as a special gift in the birthday banquet of the King and also the Crown Prince. And this fact was more than enough to speak volumes about how important this person was for Terra.

If one looked more objectively over this matter, his son-in-law deserved to be rewarded with a gift whose value made all the eyes wide open and mouths agape. No one should close their eyes, pretending not to know that Terra had not yet equipped with a well-established military system. If Terra did, Terra would not desperately ask to join military forces with Archess, even binding him into a political marriage with his daughter.

Some complained that if the King or Crown Prince wanted to gift the General, they should have done that in a separate event, not when the yearly national event was held. As for them, the current event was an event to gift the talented Terrans, who were specially invited to the banquet.

Each year, during the birthday banquet of the King or Crown Prince, the people who were invited were not only the aristocracy but also a few people from several sectors who were seen to have high achievement in relation to what they had given to Terra throughout the year. Hence, Terran soldiers, like Captain Marvin Zilberman and Admiral Leon Vich, were present there as part of the guests. And the gift was given as a form of appreciation and also to motivate them to compete to give the best to Terra.

Nevertheless, in spite of all of that, to be rewarded or not, he undoubtedly cared for Joanna, and it was what mattered the most for the Duke as the father of a daughter that he adored wholeheartedly.

Social status, of course, became a concern for him, whose family held a noble blood flowed through their veins. Moreover, there was no history recorded for de Lara to marry a commoner. But if it was Joanna’s fate to be the wife of a commoner, what could he do to fight such an inevitable scenario of fate in one’s life?

As long as Joanna could have a blissful marital life with the General—a condition of marriage that could not be met entirely in the marriage of the same holder of high society—it was more than enough for the Duke.

And what made the Duke grateful more to have the General as Joanna’s husband despite all the judgment he faced was that tonight he could witness Joanna, whom he knew had never made any performance in front of public eyes, including dance with any gentleman during all the social events she attended, dancing fluently with her husband.

It made the Duke come to the realization that her marriage with the General indeed had her personality changed quite significantly in a positive way, just as he previously grasped when he found Joanna surprisingly voiced her thoughts to Viscount Henderson a few days ago.

Aside from that, another realization had let him be assured. Before tonight, he was not sure if Joanna had her mind changed about her marriage. But tonight the Duke was somehow sure that Joanna had accepted her marriage and also the General as her husband, as from across the table where he sat during the banquet, he witnessed with his own eyes how Joanna and the General kept on talking and smiling to each other. The icy wall that stood between them seemed to have melted.

Watching such a warm interaction made the restlessness that had lingered in his heart and mind when he thought that Joanna would have an unhappy marriage as she was still keeping her intention for a marriage annulment because she could not accept her marriage and the General disappeared. He could once again breathe in relief for another new progression he found.

And that finding alone would become strong proof for the inaccuracy of all the rumor about him asking for an audience with the King regarding the marriage annulment of Joanna that was also asked by his colleagues, but he had confidently claimed that as a baseless rumor, despite the fact that he believed only him, Joanna, and her husband who knew about that sensitive matter.

A relief had also washed over him when he found Joanna was fine, even though she was not seated with him like they were seated in the banquet before she was married. He was seated separately from his now-married daughter, but again, Duke John was grateful for noticing that the General could comfort Joanna as if he were aware of Joanna’s condition.

Therefore, finding out with his own eyes how gentle and warm his son-in-law was to Joanna, there was no doubt for the Duke to wait for the General until he finished meeting the King.