The General's Wife Wants to Leave-Chapter 32: The racing heartbeat under the palm

Joanna was now alone in her room.

Hearing the footsteps of the General getting further away, Joanna took a deep sigh. Her trembling hands moved up to touch her chest, feeling the racing beat of her heart pulsating under her palm.

There was an indescribable feeling inside her when she heard what he had just said to her. She tried to remind herself to not be swayed by every word coming from him. She knew why she reminded herself of that. With the passing of time, she could feel the seriousness and the weight in every word he spoke. Those were not empty words.

Laying her head on the two pillows that were stacked behind her back, Joanna looked at the white ceiling above her while trying to digest what had been said by the man who was not willing to annul their marriage.

Why was he so adamant about maintaining their marriage? That question had been circling in Joanna’s mind since she noticed the strong objection stated by the man.

In the dream, they were also a married couple, husband and wife. But based on the fragments that she saw in that dream, her love was a one-sided one, as he did not seem to love her. It might be like what he just said that he would take the marriage seriously and treat his wife with responsibility.

So, it meant that although there was no love that would be involved in their marriage, the marriage was not a plaything after all.

But he abandoned her in the dream. She was even alone on the verge of her death. Was he a different person from the man in that dream? The same question reappeared in her mind.

Joanna was aware that those questions were impossible to answer at the moment as, during their interaction so far, she had not found anything that could relate him to the man in the dream. The anticipation that she had built inside her to face unpleasant treatment either in words or behavior from the man was nothing to be seen.

She also did not perceive any sign that he was acting, pretending to care for her as she thought before. Or was she too oblivious of that? Joanna doubted her own observation.

But his gaze, his expression, his gesture, and his words looked normal and ... tender.

Joanna pondered about that until realization soared from inside her, causing her to lift her head from the pillow. People did tend to change and so did he. There was no fragment of their first meeting that she saw in the dream. He might have been tender and kind to Joanna in their first meeting, like how they met now, but he changed afterward.

With that thought in her mind, Joanna became certain that she could not be swayed by anything coming from him. She would find another way to make him agree to nullify their marriage, and once that happened, she would ask him to have an audience with King Ordoba de Montella.

Recalling his suggestion before, for her to request the marriage annulment to King Ordoba herself, Joanna could only take a sigh inwardly. If the King agreed to that request easily, she would have been free from him by now. She would not have consumed such a potion to hurt herself. Aside from that, she would not have got her energy squeezed and her head spinning in argumentation with him.

As her father had told her before, the King of Terra would only grant her wish if the General agreed to fulfill her wish. Joanna let out a deep, heavy sigh. She did not expect that it was going to be far more difficult than she thought.

Drowning in her own reverie, Joanna was jolted when she heard a knock on the other side of the door. But before she could give a response, the door was pushed open and she saw the General peek through the crack of the slightly open door as if to check what she was doing in the room.

When Canillas found that everything in the room was normal and nothing to worry about, he opened the door wider and entered the room, not alone but with a companion. After closing the door behind him, Canillas walked across the room toward the bed, where Joanna was still occupied, with his companion following behind him.

Joanna knitted her brows, as if showing her displeasure and silent protest, when she noticed that the General had brought a man that was not her acquaintance or relative to enter her room, a lady’s room. From his appearance, she could tell the tall, blonde-haired man was a soldier or a knight although he had a leaner figure compared to the General.

But what was the General doing? Why did he let another man into her room? Joanna complained in her mind.

Noticing the displeased look written clearly on the expression of his wife, Canillas approached her on the bed and said, "This is Fabio Dunn, my man-at-arms. He is also von Rodega’s family doctor and I took him here to check on your condition. Didn’t I say that I would find a way to cure you?"

Upon hearing the unexpected, shocking information conveyed by the General, Joanna, who was trying hard to hide her panic and nervousness, shook her head immediately. "No need to do that, Sir Canillas. I have already had de Lara’s family doctor examine my health," Joanna blurted out anything that she could rack in her head as a reason, turning down the General’s perilous offer.

How could he have a doctor with him? Joanna never once thought that unbelievable possibility would exist.

It would be bad if the doctor that was brought by the General found out the real cause behind her current condition. Her heart was beating abruptly, as if it was going to jump out of her chest. Even her trembling hands refused to obey to calm, as if they reminded her that it was not time to calm.