The General's Wife Wants to Leave
Chapter 104: Role as a wife

Chapter 104: Role as a wife

The Duke believed that his son-in-law, who came far away from the neighboring kingdom, would not bring proper attire for a banquet, as he came not to attend a grand event but to visit and take his wife back to the place where he lived.

The Duke was actually worried when he received the royal invitation letter. The King seemed to have haste to celebrate the birthday of the Crown Prince for the General to attend, but he did not think about how the General would adorn himself if there were only very limited time to prepare the suit.

If the General’s body size were not taller and bigger than his, he would not have worried, as he could just give him one of his suits to wear. Even Phillip, his son, was not as tall and big as the General.

Meanwhile, Canillas, who was listening to the conversation between father and daughter, who in his eyes shared similar traits in their facial features except for the dimples that only appeared on the daughter, just sat leisurely, not joining in their conversation or giving his opinion about the matter that was talked about.

There was not even a slight worry expressed in his demeanor, in contrast to the concern of the Duke for his attire.

It would be presumptuous not to attend the royal invitation that was addressed to him, and he was well aware of that. Thus, he would surely attend, even though he had to wear casual attire. So, there was no matter at all.

If he became the center of attention because of how he adorned himself, the one who should be blamed was the King himself for inviting him to the hasty banquet, even though it was reasoned to make him an honored guest.

What most mattered for him was how his enigmatic wife responded to this matter. Hence, he just fixed his gaze on the older man’s daughter, a beautiful young lady across from him, and he waited for what her response would be.

He wondered how she would play her role as his wife in this matter. Would she care for him or not? Canillas was eager to know.

A few seconds had passed, and he still found her silent, not giving a response to her father’s inquiry, having her hazel eyes downcast with her delicate fingertips rubbing the rim of the glass of wine instead. The shadow of her long, thick eyelashes flickered on her cheeks.

Canillas kept staring at the beautiful lady, who was deep in thought, as if calculating the decision she would make. Not long after, a faint smile bloomed on his face when he heard her response.

"With this urgency, for the gentleman suit, I think we can invite Mr. Simone to measure the suit for Sir Canillas, Father. I think he is the right tailor who can make a suit for Sir Canillas to wear at this urgent moment. We can ask him to make it ready in two days," Joanna responded to the inquiry that was given by her father, who seemed to have concern for the General.

Upon the opinion conveyed by Joanna, who had been silent quite longer than necessary, the Duke nodded his head. "Yes, you are right. Mr. Simone is the most suitable tailor to make a suit for Sir Canillas. But we can’t invite him to make measurements this time. He got into an accident a month ago and has a broken leg." The Duke informed Joanna about the condition of Mr. Simone, who was one of the most famous tailors in Barasca.

He happened to know the condition of the famous tailor, as many of his colleagues had complained and shifted their requests for a suit to another tailor lately because of his condition.

"He is not completely recovered yet and cannot make even a short trip out of his shop, but he can accept tailoring requests, although they are limited in number. The things we can do are change the tailor to be invited for a measurement or take Sir Canillas to his tailor shop tomorrow. But if we fix on him, there is no doubt that the suit will be finished on time with not disappointing quality," Duke de Lara stated his opinion.

Duke John de Lara knew that no tailor in Barasca would reject the order that was made by him, particularly if they would be paid handsomely. However, he preferred to fix the tailoring request on Mr. Simone, as he was the tailor whose ancestor had made suits for de Lara for generations.

Aside from that, the quality of the suits that were made by the Simones lineage was not to be questioned. They were also known to be punctual, able to work in a short time, but, of course, it could only be done for more than one day. If Joanna went there, there would be no doubt that he would not reject the request, although he had to make the suit ready within two days.

After contemplating for a few seconds, Joanna decided. "Then, I will take Sir Canillas to Mr. Simone’s shop tomorrow, Father," Joanna answered without looking at the smiling-eyed man.

---

Back in the bedroom, adorned in her nightgown, Joanna rummaged her wardrobe before she went to sleep, calling for the night. She was seeking the unworn dress that she told her father she would wear to the banquet.

There were two wardrobes in Joanna’s room. One wardrobe was for dresses that she wore daily and for simple occasions outside of her home that did not need fancy, eye-catching dresses. The other wardrobe, which was smaller in size, was for any social gathering events, including banquets, balls, and tea parties.

Shifting dress by dress that was neatly hung in line in the long wardrobe, Joanna’s hands stopped moving when her hand touched a soft peach-colored dress, a dress for a grand event that she had never worn before.

She remembered very well that it was the dress that she requested to make for a ball that was hosted by Baroness Kellen to celebrate the coming of age of her older daughter, Lady Leticia, and the dress was made by Madam Grenada, one of the seamstresses in Barasca, in the beginning of the winter of last year.

However, the dress, which was supposed to be worn two weeks after it was made, was never worn as she decided not to attend the ball and chose to stay in her room the whole day, as in the same month, which was the first month of this year, she was faced with an inevitable royal decree to be a general’s bride, to have her status changed into a wife.

As the dress she would wear was found, Joanna took it from the wardrobe. However, her movement was halted as, when the dress was taken off the hanger, her eyes caught sight of a peculiar object on the bottom of the wardrobe.

Taking a moment to stare down at the peculiar object with a lot of questions in her mind, Joanna moved to place the dress on her bed, which was two steps away across the wardrobe. She planned to wear it to check if it was still fit with her body as it was made about eight and a half months ago. But before that, she would do what was her priority at the moment, which was quenching her curiosity.

Joanna walked back in front of the opened wardrobe. Crouching down, she took the peculiar object that had caught her interest, which was a white box with a light blue ribbon on the lid. It was peculiar for her, as she was sure that it did not belong to her. She had never seen that before, and she would remember if it was hers.

Still positioning herself, crouching in front of the wardrobe, Joanna placed the box on the floor. She took another moment to take a look at it before deciding to reveal what box that was. She lifted the lid, only to have her sight meet a rolled letter that was tied with the same light blue ribbon laying on the top of the books.

Joanna’s lips turned upward as a soft smile formed across her face. She stared down at the contents of the box, as now she definitely knew who gave it to her to be hers.