The General's Wife Wants to Leave
Chapter 61: Engulfed in the silence

Chapter 61: Engulfed in the silence

"Do you think that she ran in this direction?" came the voice of one of the people who made the General take his wife to hide.

They looked like seeking someone. She? They seemed to be searching for a woman. Were they looking for her? Joanna questioned while having her eyes on the man who was standing very close in front of her.

Joanna knew the answer just by how the General hid with her at the back of a large tree, covering her mouth so that no sound slipped out of her lips. Perhaps, it was for this reason he had covered her mouth before, not releasing her even though she had mercilessly made him groan in pain several times.

But it was a voice that she did not recognize as it did not belong to her attendants. They also looked like not the General’s men as there was no way he acted this way to avoid his people.

So, who were they? Joanna questioned in her mind.

"Do you think Owl will divide us into groups to search for her if he knew her exact direction?" responded the other person whose voice was raspy.

"Sshh! Be quiet! Do you want to make the deer escape because of your voice?" another man in the group retorted in a hushed tone, reprimanding the other two who were busy quarreling with each other with their not secretive voice.

It was then that Canillas released his grip on Joanna’s left hand, which was still holding the dagger, moving down to reach the hilt of his sword. His calm, unwavering eyes never left her eyes even though he heard the sound of the marching footsteps getting closer to their hiding place.

Noticing the tense situation she was facing based on the defensive action of the General, Joanna felt numb as if the blood in her body stopped flowing despite the erratic rhythm of her heartbeat. Were they really looking for her? But why? What for? And who were they?

Before Joanna’s horrified mind made a longer trail of unanswered questions, she held her breath as she saw the General carefully pull out his long, sharp, shining sword from the sheath. That action made her senses back to function and such a dreadful action was taken because the rustling sound of the stepped grass behind them became more vibrant as if they were only seven steps away from them.

Different from how the General approached her direction with a cautious and slow pace, the people behind them had a more free pace, hinting that they did not know about her and the General’s presence which were now close to them. However, she was more panicky as even though they did not know about their presence, they would arrive at the spot where they were now in no time.

Nevertheless, Joanna was somehow feeling not as desperate and anxious as before as she was not alone although her companion was the last person she mentioned in her prayer not long ago.

Gathering her mind to focus on her companion, Joanna could not remove her gaze from the sword that was held by the General.

Watching a man holding a sword was not a new scene for Joanna as she had frequently seen the Barasca knights holding their swords in training sessions when she followed her father to visit the knight’s quarter for monthly inspection. However, finding a man holding a sword that looked sharp and huge at a very close distance from her was definitely a new experience and it made a shiver run down her trembling, sweaty spine.

When she noticed that the General was about to move the sword as the seven steps away were now deducted into about three steps away, she heard a loud raspy voice coming from behind them.

"She was there! Worm has found her trace!"

Upon hearing a startling, loud voice, Joanna wondered if the other person who had reminded them to keep their voices low before would do the same over the loud voice this time. However, she heard no reprimanding words but collective footsteps that were moving away, heading to the other opposite from where she and the General were standing in very close proximity.

Their surroundings drastically changed with the disappearance of those mysterious parties. Dead silence engulfed them.

After making sure that the other party was really far away from them as there was no single trace of sound left behind, Canillas slid his sword back into the sheath that was hung on the belt on his waist.

However, he still did not remove his hand from his wife’s mouth.

Lingering his gaze on the upper part of her face which was not covered with his large palm, Canillas had actually been adsorbed by the look of the woman before him since she stepped out of her hiding place as she tried to stab her pursuer as an act of defending herself.

She was totally healed now and he could finally see her appearance without the coverage of rashes that she had created on her body.

Canillas fixed his gaze at her face, not willing to let go of a sight that had made him curious, even playing them in his imagination, about his wife’s real appearance.

She was indeed a beauty and his perception was not wrong since the first time he landed his eyes on her. Even though his surroundings was lack of light, he could see her features clearly as he had trained to sharpen his vision even in the dim place.

Her long, thick black eyelashes; her big, clear hazel eyes; her straight and refined nose; and... her soft lips underneath the palm of his rough hand.

Canillas then slowly lowered his hand down from his wife’s lips, only to reveal supple, thin, red lips that were slightly parted.

His gaze fixed on those enchanting lips of the beauty before his very eyes. In the dead silent forest, only their breathing was heard at the moment.

Leaning forward with his body slightly bent down, he brought his lips closer to his wife’s lips.