The General's Wife Wants to Leave-Chapter 27: Something amiss in the air

A deep voice resonated in her room. A voice belonged to an unfamiliar man that she heard for the first time in her life. But to her bewilderment, the voice made a shiver run down her spine.

She did not like this kind of voice as it made her uneasy. She was never like this before. She was fine every time she heard the voice of someone she met for the first time. But this time was different.

There was a peculiar feeling that urged her to ask him to stop speaking, to stop questioning her anything, not even mentioning her name with his voice.

But how could a frail woman like her ask a formidable general to close his mouth shut?

Since it was impossible, then she just needed to bear this situation for the time being, as she would never see him again by the end of the day. With that thought, Joanna calmed her nerves, trying to face anything that came from the man who was now sitting on the same bed as her.

She also knew that she could not just keep sealing her lips, not responding to his inquiry. Otherwise, he might keep waiting the whole day until she responded to him.

After a long, obstinate silence, as Joanna found it hard to open her lips to voice even a word due to her chaotic nerves, she finally managed to control her emotions.

"It is very painful that makes me not want to go back to Archess," Joanna answered in a soft and low voice, without sparing the General a look.

However, it was not for long. With the emotions that she managed to control, Joanna slowly turned her head, braving herself to face the man. But her emotions went disarray once again when she met a pair of green eyes that stared straight at hers.

It made her forget what she wanted to say to send the man out of her room, to make him disappear from her life immediately.

Time was ticking by. A second turned into seconds. A minute turned into minutes.

In the dead-silent room, the two people faced each other. No words were spoken. No movement was made. No eyes even blinked for once.

But before it lasted into hours, the woman was pulled back to her senses.

Blinking her eyes several times, Joanna tried to compose herself, regaining control over her emotions that were shattered after the hard effort she exerted to organise them before. But she refused to turn away, still directing her eyes at him.

The man, who sat not too far from her with his eyes still staring straight at hers, was the same as the man that she saw in the dream.

Joanna’s eyes slightly quivered at the thought. Her heart pounded heavily, but it was not a happy feeling. She felt suffocated by looking at his face. She felt uncomfortable being close to him.

He was just an arm’s length away from her as he took a seat casually beside her despite the rashes on her body. He did not even ask her permission before doing that. He did not even knock on the door before entering her room. He acted as if he had known her for a long time and the rashes on her body were nothing for him.

She did not like this kind of reaction. It was the reaction that she did not want to happen. She wanted him to avoid her, leaving her.

A good-looking young man with finely chiseled features, tanned skin which exhibited how much the intensity of the sun he had encountered, and dark brown hair that was tied behind his neck was still having his eyes on her. She could feel that his proximity was unnerving and the frigidity in his gaze was unyielding, giving a sense of intimidation.

It did not need to be doubted that he deserved to be called a great general that was unbeatable on the battlefield. Such a hero who was not only able to conquer his enemies but also able to make many women kneel before him, ready to give him everything, to get his love, or to be his lover, like Joanna in the dream.

But it was indeed an exception for Joanna in real life as she would not be like those women and she was willing to get rid of him.

Despite the intimidating aura emitted by the man, Joanna tried her best not to avoid his gaze. As she tried to calm her hands from shaking obviously due to the nervousness, with a steady gaze fixed on him, Joanna summoned the courage to pose a daring request.

"I don’t know what the main reason for Sir Canillas to be here. If the main purpose of Sir Canillas von Rodega coming far away to Terra is to take me back to Archess, then please kindly change that purpose because I really don’t want to go back there." She noticed the General furrow his brows, but she was adamant to continue on revealing her main request,

"And if the reason for taking me back to Archess is because I am Sir Canillas’ wife, then please kindly annul our marriage."

The final statement was stated without any slight hesitation, with a soft yet cold voice, causing Canillas’ pupils to shrink.

A wedge of sunlight sliced through the drapes of the bed, separating the two people who were still staring at each other.

The woman before him had stunningly beautiful hazel eyes, the rare color of eyes that was hard to define with the same perception. It was also how his description would be different from others. But at this moment, he found those beautiful big eyes had an oddly clear glow, like those of a frightened young animal under attack, yet she dared to expose herself to a seemingly hungry wild beast.

He lowered his gaze slowly and took in the appearance of the woman seated in front of him, a beautiful lady with a cold expression.

It had never appeared in his mind that the woman who had become his wife for about half a year but he was just able to meet in person would demand a marriage annulment at their first meeting as a married couple. A topic of separation that seemed to be easily brought up by a weak and timid-looking young lady had irked him, making him upset.

It might be a prank that was played by the woman before him to punish him for being absent since they were bound in a marriage. But he was not that oblivious to fail to differentiate between playfulness and seriousness. Even the atmosphere around them told him that she was being serious.

It seemed that she had long had this absurd intention in her mind. He now knew why she did not leave any single trace of her belongings in his living place.

But apart from feeling anger and disappointment, he oddly found this woman intriguing. How could she easily demand a marriage annulment from him just because she did not want to go back to Archess?

However, Canillas was indeed not a simple man that could be easily deceived by simple words. He believed that there were other reasons that might be more sensible which made this woman dare bring up the topic of the marriage annulment.

"Marriage annulment...," Canillas hummed. "What a surprising joke has been prepared by my dear wife to welcome me. I sincerely thank you for that, Joanna." Canillas offered her a bow and smiled before adding another sarcastic remark, "Do you still have another present for me?" Canillas lightly inquired, despite knowing that she was not playing a joke.

Blinking her eyes several times, with her lips slightly parted, Joanna was taken aback by his unexpected response. Did she look like she was playing a joke? Was she not serious enough? Joanna wondered in her mind.

"I apologize if I made it not clear enough but I am not playing a joke, Sir Canillas. I am serious with my request for a marriage annulment," Joanna stated, trying to show her more serious demeanor this time.

Canillas looked at her in silence for a fleeting second before nodding his head. "So, you are not playing a joke," Canillas repeated her statement in a hum. He then added, "Then, please convince me why I should annul our marriage, dear wife."

Canillas grinned while moving backwards to make himself sit leisurely with his back leaning against the bedpost where the drape he had just drawn open was tied. With his hands folded in front of his chest and one leg crossed over the other, he fixed his gaze on Joanna.

Joanna was once again made puzzled at the reaction that he expressed. Why did he show that kind of expression? She did not detect any anger that she had expected to be expressed by him once she brought up this sensitive request.

On the contrary, she found him responding to her request like it was nothing serious, as if what she brought up was only a trivial matter.

He even looked like teasing her as he was looking at her with a mischievous grin formed across his face.

Joanna felt her head spinning as she smelt something amiss in the air.