The General's Wife Wants to Leave-Chapter 38: Like a different person

When Canillas was about to touch the book that he left on the table, he heard the stubborn woman speak in a low and soft voice that sounded weak.

"I will take the antidote. But can you please leave this room before that, Sir Canillas?" Joanna asked the man who put his focus on the book in his hand.

It was really useless to force that stubborn man to agree to dissolve their marriage in this way. His words to her before were indeed not a joke. The disadvantage would be for her if she died because of this silly cause, as she would leave her father and brother just because of her selfishness and fear over a dream.

Aside from that, if she happened to die, her tombstone would be engraved as the General’s wife. Then, it would be a total loss for her. Therefore, it was better to prepare another arrow and practice shooting in the meantime so that she could shoot right at the target when the time arrived.

She just needed to be patient and plan well. She also hoped that her plan would be a success next time, not a total failure like this time.

She was now well aware that her opponent was not an ordinary person but a prominent general of Archess whose tactical skills and thorough calculation had brought him to victory after victory.

On the other hand, she was only an ordinary woman who spent her time mostly gardening in the herbal garden. No enemy she had to face. No scheme she had to think about and create as her life was so peaceful before the marriage decree fell upon her and the nightmare came to her sleep that day.

However, if she thought more about their occasions, it seemed that luck was on the General’s side. Who ever thought that he would be here with a doctor with him, causing her plan to be revealed and be ruined in the blink of an eye.

Joanna took a quiet sigh about her current loss and bad luck before hearing the response from the man that she wanted to defeat.

"No, I will stay here to make sure you get the antidote as you said," replied Canillas, without bothering to look at the stubborn wife of his as his eyes were on the book that he was holding.

Just after he had finished speaking, he heard his wife let out a heavy sigh of resignation. It was soon followed by a rustling sound on the bed which made him turn his head as he wanted to see what was done by his stubborn wife.

Leaning leisurely against the back of the chair with his hands holding the book and resting on the table, he watched his wife move her body to climb down the bed with a lot of effort while letting out a grunt.

As she sat on the edge of the bed with her back, where her long, disheveled black hair rested, facing him, Canillas could see that she closed her eyes as if enduring the pain in her body.

About five seconds later, he saw her make an attempt to stand up but to no avail as her body swayed on her feet.

Before falling down, Canillas had got up from the chair and dashed towards her, grabbing her arms from the front to prevent her from collapsing but only to cause her to cry out in pain. After helping his wife sit on the edge of the bed, he soon released his hold on her arms.

Placing his hands on either side of her legs on the bedside, Canillas squatted and looked up to see her face, only to find tears in the corner of her eyes. She seemed to be in a lot of pain as she sat while hugging her arms that had been grabbed by him before. Canillas blamed himself for that.

But, he was sure that he had not used a lot of strength when holding her arms before. Then, it was likely caused by the fever and the rashes on her body which made her muscles tense up and her body ache.

Canillas turned worried. He said, "I am sorry, Joanna. I didn’t mean to hurt you. Just tell me where the antidote is, and I will get it for you."

Canillas did not want to waste any more seconds to prattle around. He knew that she had made a move to get the antidote but she was too weak to even lift her finger.

Looking at the young lady in such a condition, he was now on the border of anger and worry. Anger because of her audacity and insanity about putting herself in harm like this, and worry because of her condition that seemed to be worse than he thought.

She was burning up with a fever and he would not have known about that if he had not touched her arms a few seconds ago.

"It is in the box under this bed," answered Joanna weakly, with shortness of breath. "But before that..." Joanna paused, contemplating whether to continue her words or not.

"What is it? Tell me," Canillas demanded, as if sensing that she was about to ask for something. Hopefully not that absurd thing again, Canillas sincerely wished.

After waiting for a few seconds, he heard her speak, "C-could you please pour me some water, Sir Canillas?" Joanna pointed at the tray of a jug of water and a glass that was placed on top of the drawer near her bed with her head slightly lowered, glancing at him.

It was reachable as the position of the drawer was close to her. But she did not have enough strength in her body. She did not even have the strength to stand on her feet, especially to lift the heavy jug and pour water into the glass.

Therefore, she had to be shameless to ask the General’s hand for help despite her unwillingness. She had to push aside her ego as she was very thirsty. Aside from that, she also needed to drink in order to make the antidote she would soon take flow smoothly inside her body, together with the water she drank.

Hearing an unexpected request that was completely different from what she had stubbornly asked so far as she suddenly asked for his help over a simple thing, Canillas was stupefied before warmth surged up inside his heart.

He lowered his head to hide his smile before standing up to pour the water on the glass as requested by his now-shy-looking wife.

Instead of poking her for fun, he did as she asked for without voicing any words, as he also did not want her to be awakened and back to acting cold to him.

Looking at how she behaved before, he felt like he had seen a different person. It was the first time, after their long and tough argumentation, she offered him a soft, shy look. There was no coldness that he had seen until he saw her back a few moments ago.

Offering a glass of water to Joanna, he saw her take the glass with her trembling hands. He wanted to help her hold the glass but he knew that she might object to it. Hence, he placed his hand under the glass, readying to grab it if it might slip from her hands.

As she finished drinking, Canillas took the glass and placed it back on the tray.

Without wasting any seconds, Canillas went back to the squat position and slipped his hand into the gap between the bed and the floor. After some movement of searching, his hand touched a box and he soon pulled it out from under the bed.