The General's Wife Wants to Leave-Chapter 57: If it was fate

Slightly glancing at the men standing behind her, over her shoulder, Joanna questioned their competency in her mind.

Could the General’s men be relied on in these circumstances, to be a good navigator if they happened to get lost?

However, she doubted asking them if they were a good navigator. She was afraid if she told them that she did not know anything about the part of the forest that they would get into and asked them to guide her there, they might force her to go back to the orphanage as they thought that it was not safe there, considering how persistent they were to fulfill the command of the General.

But if she chose to step back and went back to the orphanage empty-handedly, what would happen to that child?

If she found nothing after she stepped inside that deeper part of the forest, it might be when she could accept the fact about fate. But if she stepped back while the herb was growing healthily there, it was of course not the fate she wanted to accept. More importantly, she did not want to be haunted by any guilt and regret for the rest of her life, like Joanna in the dream when she was unable to save her son.

At least, she had done something. Joanna had made up her mind.

Striding towards the deeper part of the forest, Lucy and the General’s men could only trail behind the young lady while Lucy kept an eye out for the herb that she might find based on the description that was explained to her.

The deeper she went into the forest, the darker yet more fragrant it became. The woody incense and the composting, organic smell rose up in the air. Huge roots that were spread-eagled on the ground told them to be more careful at every step they took. The foliage that became thicker and lusher formed an arch above their heads, blocking the sunlight from penetrating freely into the land.

Although Joanna went to the forest in the morning, she could not avoid the eerie atmosphere created by the dense woods that looked like a lurking black shadow surrounding them. As the sunlight could not easily breach the thick canopy of the trees above them, their surroundings became humid and cold, enough to cause a shiver to run down her whole body.

Fortunately, Joanna was wearing a thick, long-sleeved dress that was enough to cover her body from the cold. It was intentional as she was currently in the mountains where the temperature in the morning was lower than the plains.

"Do you know where we are heading to, Madam?" It was Fabio who suddenly broke the eerie silence in the forest with his low, cautious voice.

He seemed to notice the confused look of the young lady in front of him as the way she took every step was not as resolute as before.

She would tend to take one step toward a certain direction, but before she could take another step she halted and turned to the other direction. It was enough hint to tell Fabio that the lady was not familiar with the area where they currently were.

And his guess was proven to be right when he, who stood behind the young lady, saw her shake her head after being silent for a moment, as if considering something.

"Don’t you think it is better to leave if you are not sure about our surroundings, Madam?" Fabio asked while looking at the area around them as thoroughly as he could, as if trying to detect the source of the odds that he had felt since he stepped into this part of the forest.

Since then, his hand had never left the hilt of his sword, and so did Luca.

"No. I have to find the herb that I need, Sir Fabio. I can’t delay it. Otherwise, a child will lose his life," answered Joanna, inserting a strong reason, without stopping her steps while carefully observing the plants that grew around her.

Joanna was determined that she would not let them ruin her effort to help Liam and she would rebel if they forced her to leave the forest before she was certain that the herb that she wanted was nowhere to be found. Besides, she had told them what the herb was for and she hoped they would understand that she was not wandering around the forest to play.

They might find her annoyingly stubborn, but she did not care about what others thought about her conduct at the moment, as she was more concerned about the regret and guilty feeling when she was not able to help the little boy.

She really did not want to experience broken, painful feelings like Joanna felt in the dream. She really wanted to avoid that torturing feeling that would haunt her for the rest of her life.

On the other hand, Fabio was unable to do anything to the answer given by the young lady who kept walking ahead of him, especially when she was concerned about someone’s life. He was just able to follow her while not letting his guard down as he was indeed feeling some eyes watching over them since they stepped across the darker part of the forest.

"Ah! It is there! I found it!" Joanna suddenly shouted, completely breaking the eerie silence in the woods, which startled the three people who were walking behind her.

Before they could react more, the young lady had already run to the left where, heading straight off that side, there was a group of plants with purple flowers that grew among bushes.

When they were about to make their way toward their mistress’ direction, who was already out of their reach, they took an immediate halt, not continuing their way toward her.

Joanna made a sudden halt in her tracks at the odd sound of commotion behind her. Turning around, her eyes opened wider than they ever did, as if they almost popped out of their sockets.

Was it fate that laid out one’s life?