The General's Wife Wants to Leave
Chapter 113: Old acquaintance

Chapter 113: Old acquaintance

The measurement process for Canillas’ suit ran for about an hour.

In Canillas’ mind, it would have been shorter if there were no enthusiastic conversation that was built between his wife and Mr. Simone. To be precise, it was the older man who was enthusiastic to share the update about his just-married daughter, who seemed to have an old acquaintance with his wife.

During the process, Canillas only took part in the measurement of his body. The other parts, including material selection, he had trusted to the young madam of von Rodega, his wife, and he heard her simply say that everything should be made like how her father and her brother made the suits.

When it was time for the payment, his wife took part as well. She prevented him from paying the suit, as she said that it was a gift for him from her father. To show his respect to his father-in-law, Canillas, of course, had no choice but to obey.

After finishing all the suit-making requirements, Mr. Simone said that the suit would be sent to the de Lara mansion by Thursday, before the sun reached its peak in the sky.

Since the trip to the capital took at least one day and a half, the Duke’s entourage had to leave Barasca by afternoon, so they would be expected to arrive in the capital by Friday night if no unprecedented events occurred. Because the birthday banquet was held on Saturday night, there would be time for them to rest after the long trip.

Being led only by Gretta to the gate of the building as Joanna prevented Mr. Simone from sending them out due to his condition, Joanna conveyed her thank you to Gretta for accompanying them and told her to go back inside and help Mr. Simone with the suit making, as Mr. Simone told her that he would work on the suit right away.

Gretta followed her suggestion and offered both of the guests a polite bow before heading back inside the shop to proceed with the order after locking the gate.

Soon, with her husband, who had diligently trailed behind her since Mr. Simone finished measuring his body for the suit, Joanna walked toward where the de Lara carriage was parked, which was in the park located four buildings away from Mr. Simone’s shop.

Hence, Joanna and her husband had to walk there, as it was not allowed to park the carriage at the front building if it took quite a long time as it was the bustling road where many carriages were passing around.

"Lady Joanna!"

Joanna, who had made a walk up to the second building from Mr. Simone’s shop, turned her head in the direction of the road with a frown to see who had called her with a loud voice out of nowhere.

Surprised at what met her eyes, Joanna halted abruptly in her tracks when the person who just called her stepped out of the lavish carriage.

Before she could react more to what she found out, her eyes widened when she was suddenly hugged by the person who called her.

"I never thought I would see you again here in Barasca." The person said this while hugging the bewildered Joanna, who still had her eyes widening at the sudden encounter.

Pulling away from the hug to hold Joanna’s hands, the person said, "I thought I had a problem with my eyes when I saw you from the carriage. But then I was relieved that I still had good sight after I saw who the person was who walked with you, Lady Joanna."

With that being said, the person then shifted to look up at the man who walked with Joanna and stood behind her. "It is an honor for me to meet you in person, General von Rodega." The person greeted Canillas with a coy, sweet smile while offering a bow.

Instead of saying anything, returning a bow with his stony face was the only thing Canillas did as a response to the foreign person for him.

As for Canillas, when someone whom he first met suddenly introduced themselves to him, it was what he tended to do, as he did not bother to reply to the greeting by someone he did not know at all. However, it would be an exception if the foreign person was introduced to him by someone whom he knew well, like his wife.

Hence, he then drifted his gaze at Joanna, who stayed still with a blank expression on her stunned face, which made him doubt if the person before them who made a sudden appearance was her acquaintance.

"My lady." The coachman of the lavish carriage belonged to the person called.

At the call, the person had her forehead creased as she saw that behind her carriage there were two carriages demanding a way as her lavish carriage blocked one side of the road.

As if not bothering with the carriages in queue behind her carriage, she turned her head back to face Joanna and said, "Since we haven’t seen each other for quite a while, what if we have a brief conversation in the park, Lady Joanna?" The person asked Joanna. High expectations painted on her bright face.

"I believe we have one or two words to talk about, as we used to do every time we met at tea parties. Don’t you think so, Lady Joanna?" She seemed to convince Joanna, who, in her eyes, was about to decline her request.

Meanwhile, upon hearing the request offered to her, Joanna contemplated.

Looking at the number of carriages added behind the lavish carriage, along with the sound of the bell ringing, telling the front carriage to move away, as if finding a reason to grant the request, Joanna replied, "Sure, Lady Clara. Let’s do that." Joanna wore a small smile on her face.

In contrast, the other lady showed a radiant smile on her round lips once her request was granted. But a couple of seconds later, the smile disappeared. Her face weighed with concern.

"But what about General von Rodega? Will he be fine with this idea?" Lady Clara asked Joanna, glancing at the prominent General, who was masked with an icy demeanor. She was concerned about that, as he had not replied to her friendly greeting before.

At the worried-sounding question, Joanna smiled. "Please do not worry about that, Lady Clara. General von Rodega is a very kind person, and he will be fine with that," Joanna replied without any hesitation, not even asking the General who had his brows furrowed as he looked at the back of her head.

At the response she heard, the bright smile returned to the other lady’s radiant face, and she sharply nodded her head in understanding and relief. She then linked her arm with Joanna and pulled her in the direction of her lavish carriage. But Joanna held her steps, preventing her from making any steps forward.

"I prefer to walk to go to the park, Lady Clara," Joanna said with a smile, turning down the offer to be in someone else’s carriage.

After giving Joanna a look with her eyes subtly narrowed, as if being surprised at the rejection to ease the journey by the riding carriage, Lady Clara schooled her expression and ordered her coachman to go to the park, which was not too far from their current position. Then, the two ladies walked together to the park, where they would have a brief conversation after not seeing each other for quite a long time.

Meanwhile, on his way to the park, the only man among the ladies fixed his eyes, which were filled with a glint full of wonderment on the back of the woman in a light green dress who walked side by side with the woman she called Lady Clara, who cheerfully clung to her arm.

"I think we can have a seat here. What do you think, Lady Joanna?" Lady Clara asked once they arrived in the park, where their carriages had been waiting for them, after taking around a three-minute walk.

Looking around at the park, where a wide variety of flowers, including blooming purple flowers of asters, rested on several beds among summer cypress and trees that turned in color, indicating the change of season had approached, Joanna landed her gaze on the table, which stood among two benches made of mahogany.

The position of the seats that were chosen by Lady Clara was acceptable to Joanna’s preference, as they were shaded under a willow tree. Although the air was colder to some degree compared to the other days since she stepped out of the mansion this morning, the sun still cast a strong ray of light on the land.

Joanna nodded her head in agreement. "It is good to have a seat here, Lady Clara," Joanna replied, and she took a seat on one of the benches.

As she had taken a seat, she saw Lady Clara still standing across from her, not taking her seat, although she had stood before the other bench.

"Please have a seat, General von Rodega."

Joanna heard Lady Clara politely offer the General a seat.