The General's Wife Wants to Leave
Chapter 100: Reflection in the mirror

Chapter 100: Reflection in the mirror

"Do you want me to be labeled as a husband who pretends to be kind to his wife?" Canillas commented, raising one of his brows. "Many eyes have seen me carry this trunk. What will they think of me if you ask one of them to help you carry this to your room?" He continued to express his concern, which was surely not his actual concern.

"Did you tell me a lie, Sir Canillas?" Joanna retorted, staring at him with a frown. "Didn’t you say that you don’t care what others say about you?"

Canillas shrugged his shoulders before replying, "I didn’t lie. I don’t care what people say about me or about me choosing you as my wife. But not if I’m labeled as a husband who pretends to be kind and attentive to his wife while in reality..." Canillas took a pause, lingering his gaze on Joanna’s face, before resuming to say, "I believe you know what kind of husband I am to you."

Watching her husband mask his face with a forlorn look while breathing a heavy sigh, which she knew to be pretentious grief, as if joining in his role playing, Joanna said, "I will tell them that I ask you to rest. Don’t worry about that." She simply wanted to cut off his effort to invade her territory.

"But it will make me look weak. Where should I put my face if the public judges me for being weak after getting married? They will say that the vitality of General von Rodega decreased a lot when he married Lady Joanna de Lara. That’s why he has no strength to carry the heavy trunk and chooses to sleep instead." Canillas continued his reasoning over nothing important, slipping out a sigh with a dispirited look.

"Although I don’t care what people say about me, being belittled because of my strength is hard for me to accept, especially when people pity you for having a weak husband." Canillas let out another heavy sigh.

"I am fine with them imagining our bedroom affair, but what if Valthian heard about me getting weak and then planned to make another version of the invasion?" He added when he saw the woman who wanted to draw a line between them not shaken, not even bothering to spare him a look with her flushing cheeks, as she might have been busy badmouthing him in her mind.

Joanna, who had held herself back from taking her dagger upon hearing continuous shameless remarks relayed by the cunning, shameless man before her, finally let out a deep sigh of resignation. She turned around, resuming walking toward her room, as she was no longer able to bear the remarks from the man who put a grin of victory on his face.

With the victory he gained, Canillas carried the trunk and walked behind the undoubtedly furious lady with a delightful pace.

Once Canillas entered Joanna’s room, he placed her trunk on the carpeted floor but did not step out of the room afterward. And it made Joanna, who was standing by the open doorway, waiting for him to leave immediately, knit her brows to find the General stepping deeper before the curtained window.

Drawing the curtain open, Canillas stood in front of the now-uncurtained window, showered with the rays of sun that seeped through the window. The previously dark room turned into a bright one.

He then spoke with his back to her. "Your father said that you treasure Alenna Garden a lot." Turning his body around, he looked at Joanna while saying, "Would you mind being my companion to stroll around the garden? Not today, as I know you must be tired. But I want you to walk with me there before we leave for Archess, Joanna."

Upon hearing his request, Joanna’s brows furrowed. "Didn’t you and my father stroll around the garden when you just arrived at this mansion?" Joanna asked.

She heard from Bianca that he had strolled around the garden with her father as a companion in a very peaceful atmosphere around them on the day when he made a sudden appearance in her home.

"Yes, you are right. But walking with my father-in-law is absolutely not the same as having a chance to walk with my stubborn wife." Canillas grinned. "And I want to walk with my wife in the garden that has become a treasure for her," Canillas reasoned.

"Besides, there are some parts of the garden that I haven’t stepped into yet, as that day I was informed that the young lady was ready to receive the guest in her room." A faint smile appeared on his face as he recalled the day when he was surprised to hear how she addressed him from the butler.

Noticing that Joanna averted her eyes away as if his words had an impact on her, Canillas said, "And I won’t leave this room before you agree on my request."

"Then I will sleep in another room," Joanna replied in a low voice after letting the room fill with a brief silence. Her eyes were not on his.

With a chuckle slipping out of his lips, Canillas muttered, "You are free to do that, Joanna. But I would like you to know that this bright and warm room really suits my taste." He directed his eyes to look around the room, which was bathed in warm sunlight.

"If you are willing to give up this room to me, I will be thankful. Don’t you know how much I want to know about the woman I married?" Canillas uttered while making a slow-paced walk around the room with his hands clasped behind him.

"Now, I am glad I have that chance. I can learn your taste about attire by checking them in this wardrobe." Canillas placed his hand on the surface of the closed door of the wardrobe, which was positioned about four steps away from the position where his wife was standing with a glare dagger at him.

But Canillas seemed to enjoy that, as he kept on winding up while strolling around the room. "I can also get insight into the materials that you chose for your bedsheet, blanket, and..."

"Alright! Alright! Let’s walk in Alenna Garden together after today." Joanna cut off the words of the shameless, cunning man before her. "So, can you please get back to your room, Sir Canillas? I am tired and really need to take some rest."

There was no way she would let him learn about what she liked and disliked. Imagining him rummaging her wardrobe to know her taste was something embarrassing she did not want to happen. She would not let him know about her more than he did now, especially for him to learn about the inner part of her attire. Hence, Joanna could not give up her room to him.

Smiling over his other victory, Canillas walked across the room toward his furious wife. Taking the bouquet of wildflowers that he had put on the lid of the trunk when he carried it to her room, Canillas reached out his hand to hand the bouquet over to her. He stood there until she took the bouquet from his hand with a flicker of glare at him.

As the bouquet of tortured wildflowers was in her hand, Canillas leaned over close to her sulking face. "Glad to hear my wife agree to walk together with me in Alenna Garden." He smiled, although her angry gaze was not fixed on him. "Then, I will see you at the dinner, my dear wife." With that being said, Canillas offered her angry wife a slight bow before leaving the bright and warm room at a light pace.

Once the General stepped out of her room, only when he had just made two steps from the doorway did Joanna close and lock the door of her room.

Leaning her back against the closed door, Joanna sighed. It was really difficult to make her plan work to distance herself from him.

She was determined to make her plan work this time, but what she had was still the opposite. He still managed to step into her room when she had tried hard to make him not to by trying to carry the heavy trunk herself.

She had fixed her plan to draw a line between them about an hour ago, but she ended up agreeing to his request to stroll in Alenna Garden with him.

A heavy sigh slipped out of Joanna’s lips again. At this rate, if this continued with him lingering around her, there would be no space for her to find another way to end her marriage with him.

Joanna was in a big dilemma. She could not help but admit that she felt weak in front of him. She had not won from him even once. She even humiliated herself.

She felt like she was transparent in his eyes. He knew her well, knew what she had in mind, and knew how to ruin all of her plans. He was always one step ahead of her.

Walking across her room, Joanna carefully placed the bouquet of wildflowers, which consisted of a smaller amount of blue and white small petal flowers, on the dressing table.

As she stood in front of the dressing table, she took off her gloves while her mind was occupied with the plans she had to make to free herself from that cunning man, but she felt frustrated when she had not found any in her hazy mind.

A sigh escaped her lips when the glove of one hand that she managed to take off fell on the floor.

Bending down, she took the glove that lay on the floor, and she became stiff, freezing in her bending position, when she met her reflection in the mirror.

Standing upright hastily, Joanna pulled up the neckline of her dress with her heart thumping frantically in her chest. Now she knew what attractive and seductive the man referred to.