The General's Wife Wants to Leave-Chapter 26: The lady behind the door

Upon hearing the news that his wife had finally been able to be met, Canillas could not hide the relief that gradually crept up in his heart. As he would see his wife in person in a short time, he found his heart pounding in excitement in his chest.

He could not believe in himself that he was that eager to see the woman who was unfamiliar to him. It should have been triggered by the peaking curiosity, thought Canillas to himself.

The peaking curiosity that made him think if he knew where the lady’s room was, he wouldn’t have taken a slow pace following his father-in-law who was currently walking next to him. Instead, he would have just made a dash toward her room.

Canillas walked side by side with his father-in-law, who escorted him to the room of his wife, without delivering any words, as if each of them was drowned in their own thought. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

As time passed at a rate that was different from each of the two men’s perspectives, they finally arrived in front of the lady’s bedroom. Once they stood in front of the closed door, behind which the lady wished for no one to enter her room at the moment, the intensity of the beating of Canillas’ heart had increased to the point he felt suffocated.

Not only that, different from the excitement he felt a few moments ago, a part of him was currently feeling hesitant to make an appearance before the lady behind the door. He did not know why he suddenly felt uneasy. But another part of him was stubborn, refusing to back down, restraining his legs from running away instead.

However, the stubborn part of him that Canillas would listen at the moment. He did not want to go away, even though he was not sure why some part of him wanted him to disappear.

He wanted to meet the woman, who made him willing to take a far distance just to see her and get her back, despite knowing that she had left his living place, probably for good.

Canillas was awakened from his trance when he felt someone give a gentle tap on his shoulder. He turned his head to look at the older man who placed his hand on his shoulder and had a kind smile crossing his face that was offered to him.

"My daughter, Joanna, is inside this room. You may see her as you wish, Sir Canillas." It was the only word uttered in a low voice by the Duke before taking a step back and making his way towards the direction they had just passed through, leaving Canillas alone in front of the room of the woman that he wanted to see.

Canillas stood there until the footsteps of the Duke stopped echoing in the air around him.

Dwelling in the dead silence for a hazy moment, he took a deep breath before placing his palm on the knob of the door, turning it and pushing the door open.

A warm breeze coming from inside the room welcomed him once the door was opened. He halted in his tracks as the breeze was carrying a scent, the now familiar soothing scent that wafted on him when he was in the drawing room of the de Lara mansion.

The sunlight that seeped through the crack of the opened door soon followed to greet him. It was getting brighter as the door opened wider until his eyes fell on the figure sitting in the middle of the bed.

For a moment, he stood frozen, forgetting everything around him, as the focus of his entire self was solely on the woman whom he had longed to see.

He could not see the woman’s features clearly as the bed was covered with white-laced drapes, but he could tell that the woman did not spare him a look, as she had her gaze away from him, towards anything beyond the window that might be more interesting than him, her husband.

Was she not curious about what her husband looked like, as how he was curious about her? Or was she too shy to look at him? Canillas wondered in his haywire mind.

However, just catching this sight of the woman was able to make his body tense involuntarily, causing him to hold his breath. His grip on the doorknob was also subconsciously tightened.

Trying to push the indescribable feelings aside, Canillas made an initial movement after an unknown time of being like a statue. He closed the door behind him and made his way across the room, taking step after step until the clearer sight of his wife met his eyes.

Reaching the side of the bed, he stood there for a while with his gaze fixed on the woman who was not far from his reach at the moment.

His wife was finally here, before his very eyes, at an approachable distance.

Grabbing the drapes of the bed as he was about to draw it open so that it would not hinder him from having the view of his wife clearly, he halted by the voice that he heard for the first time in his life.

"Don’t." The voice sounded so soft, making his heart unknowingly flutter. "Or you will regret it later." It was the next word uttered by the woman when he ignored her previous words as he chose to resume his conduct by drawing the drapes of the bed open.

Gripping the hem of the drapes while looking down at the woman whose gaze was still directed away from him, Canillas frowned. Why hadn’t she looked at him?

He somehow felt uncomfortable with the behavior of the woman sitting before his eyes. He did not like the way she did not spare him a look. He also did not like the way she ignored him. But he also felt intrigued, curiosity growing strongly in him at why she acted this way.

And why did she warn him? What would make him regret it?

Ignoring the demand of his wife, with slow and deliberate movements, Canillas drew open one side of the drapes and tied it to a bedpost of the bed.

As there was no more barrier between him and his wife, his gaze kept lingering on her face for what seemed to be like an eternity.

"Then please enlighten me with what kind of regret will fall upon me," Canillas gave a reply after being silent for an indefinite moment, and from her side profile, he noticed that she flinched but gave him no response in words.

He finally met his wife in person and she was right before his eyes at this moment. However, he did not feel as happy as he had anticipated so far, as the woman still did not move to look at him. Her eyes were not directed at him and she seemed to ignore him. But why?

Trying to ease the turbulence of disappointment that he felt, Canillas calmly took a seat on the side of the bed.

With his wife just an arm’s length away from him, he studied her figure in silence. Taking in details as much as he could, he tried to familiarise himself with the woman who had become his wife, disregarding the way she ignored him.

Showered by the afternoon sun that seeped through the window, he could see a warm glow cast on her face.

"Is it painful... Joanna?" Canillas asked Joanna in a worried voice. And he once again noticed her body tensed at his inquiry.

Why was she always tense every time he spoke? Was it because of his voice? Was his voice not to her liking? Canillas frowned at another wonderment in his mind.

Or was it because of the way he mentioned her name? Did the lady not like the way he called her name without addressing the title? But it was normal for a husband to call the first name of his wife without a title before her name, wasn’t it?

Should he address her as Lady Joanna? But no. He would not call her like that, especially when there were only two of them, as he wanted to narrow, even remove the distance between them as they were husband and wife.

Besides, there was an indecipherable feeling that surged up inside of him when he professed the name of his wife from his lips for the first time, directly to her who was currently very close to him. And it was not negative feelings. How could it be negative feelings if it made his heart thump frantically?

Or was she tense because he asked about her condition? Questioned Canillas again in his mind.

Canillas was actually taken by surprise for a fleeting moment when he found the appearance of his wife, whose body was covered with rashes, and it seemed to be the same rashes that were told by his mother. The reason that made her leave his mansion, even packing all of her stuff to move out of there.

Was it the regret that she warned before? Did she think that he would regret seeing her in this kind of condition? Canillas wanted to know if his guess was right.