The General's Wife Wants to Leave-Chapter 217: Sunk in the abyss

"Sir Canillas," Joanna called out to him, but he did not stop, not even turn to see her. He kept walking away, further and further.

Before the distance stretched further to make his figure visible as a small dot, Joanna walked forward, quickening her pace so that she could catch up to him.

"Sir Canillas," Joanna called out once again. Her breath quickened. Her heart raced. But still, he ignored her.

Joanna called out again and again, chasing after him further and further until she was out of breath. Yet the answer she got was emptiness that soon met her eyes.

The figure disappeared from her sight.

"Ann. Wake up, Ann. Wake up."

Joanna heard a familiar voice calling out her name.

"Ann. Wake up."

She heard that again, and her shoulders were now shaken.

Gasping, Joanna’s eyes flew open. She breathed heavily. Her chest heaved up and down.

With her breath quickening and her heart thumping violently, Joanna scanned her surroundings only to find the sight of her father, who called out her name and was sitting next to her.

"Father," Joanna muttered under her breath.

"Father is here," responded the Duke in a worried tone, yet relief flashed his countenance to finally see Joanna open her eyes after the frantic movement was made by her just now, who looked as if she was dreaded by a nightmare that made her out of breath.

He clasped Joanna’s hand, patting the back of her hand as if trying to soothe her tenseness.

Finding her father smile reassuringly at her, Joanna, who was still in a daze state, was back to bring her eyes to scan her surroundings.

As her consciousness was gradually gathered, Joanna was stunned as she found herself now lying on the soft and warm bed in her room, in the de Lara mansion in the capital, with a warm glow cast from candles and a fireplace blanketing her surroundings.

"How could I be here, Father?" It was Joanna’s first question to ask because what she remembered vividly was that she was in a desperate situation in which she was filled with fear that she could not make herself home ever again.

But now she was not in the cold, dimly lit, eerie corridors.

There were no evil people who had hurt her, as only her father was with her at the moment. There were also no sound people shouting, fighting, or yelling that made her nerves restless.

Everything felt so peaceful. Calmness slowly seeped inside Joanna’s entire being, eliminating all the tenseness that she felt when she first opened her eyes.

Her breath gradually turned steady. Her heartbeat found its normal rhythm.

"Are you fine, Father? Did you get hurt somewhere?" Another question was asked, as when she regained more consciousness, supported by the calmness that occupied her, all that she had experienced that night was back one by one into the whole picture in her memory.

And she remembered the main reason that caused her to be in that terrifying situation.

"Father is absolutely fine. Nothing to worry about," the Duke replied, still trying to soothe Joanna’s nerves by giving a soft pat on the back of her hand that was in his. "You shall not worry about anything, Ann. Just focus to recuperate. You are safe now," he conveyed more reassuring words to calm Joanna as her facial expression clearly showed a complete restlessness.

"And Sir Canillas brought you here," Duke John uttered, answering Joanna’s first inquiry while recalling what happened the previous night when he was beyond shocked to find the condition of both his daughter and son-in-law.

He was waiting for Joanna last night. Although he looked like he was talking with his colleagues, his mind was wandering over Joanna, who took longer time in the powder room. However, he did not put that into much concern, as sometimes ladies needed more time than usual to do what they needed to do in that room.

The worry also did not linger too long, as later, he thought that Joanna might have gone with her husband, who was supposed to have a meeting with the King, but suddenly and surprisingly came back to find him, asking about Joanna’s whereabouts as he had forgotten to tell her something.

Probably after that, the General brought her to give him company for the meeting with the King.

Although it was regarded as presumptuous to have Joanna accompany him to the meeting to which she was not invited, the Duke thought that perhaps his son-in-law, who was the favored person of the King, could make the King convinced about any reason he had for that.

Nonetheless, who ever thought that a big mishap happened when suddenly the General emerged in a hurry with Joanna lying motionlessly in his arms.

Blood could be seen smeared on his as well as Joanna’s disheveled look.

All the guests who were still there, not going back to their residences, and witnessed that horrible scene were in a daze before some of them quickly back to their senses, murmuring and screaming over the scene before their eyes, while some of them stayed in their freezing state, unable to show any other reaction, as if they were struck by the bolt of lightning.

Ignoring all the panicky and hysterical onlookers, his son-in-law dashed to find him, telling him in an urgent that they had to leave the castle soon. Soon, they rushed out of the great hall, running toward where their carriage had been waiting.

The Duke was worried—utterly worried. But he could not ask anything, although he wondered over what was going on.

He had suggested for Joanna to be treated in the castle so that his brother-in-law, the royal doctor Mitchelsen, could examine her condition as early as possible. However, the General strongly refused his idea, asking for him to assign someone to call for a doctor to examine Joanna in the de Lara mansion.

Hence, he pointed to one of the Barasca knights who came to the castle to escort him and his family to invite his brother-in-law to come to his mansion as quickly as he could manage.