The General's Wife Wants to Leave
Chapter 80: Blending with the crackling fire

Chapter 80: Blending with the crackling fire

Joanna was speechless at the big man’s nonsense remark, and his current behavior somehow reminded her of Denny, who loved to talk nonsense, accompanied by a grieving expression, when he tried to make Mrs. Powel give what he wanted.

Overall, it was obvious that he would not give the blanket to her.

She tried to think of another way, but she did not want to disturb the rest of Mrs. Powel only to ask for a mattress and blanket as this time had already passed mid-night.

Pondering for a few moments if she should sleep in the same bed as him after what he did to her before, she then heard him sigh before saying, "I won’t do anything to you, Joanna. Come sleep. It is already late. We need to rest after the many mishaps that we faced today. Or else you will be sick because of a lack of sleep that will make you unable to take care of that child again." Canillas tried to lure the stubborn woman by using the little boy that seemed to be adored by her.

Finding her stand still while gripping the knot of her robe with her eyes busy studying him as if doubting his words and calculating her next action, Canillas said, "I am not a rapist, Joanna. Although you are my wife and I have the right to touch you here and there, I will try my best to keep myself from doing the thing without your consent. I will try to respect you as my wife, and you can take my words as a man and as your husband."

Noticing her demeanor was still laced with doubt, Canillas added, "If I don’t care about your consent, I would have had our marriage consummated this morning when we were in the forest, Joanna. Don’t you think that it was the right place for me to assault you if I wanted to? Without the presence of people. Even you would think more than twice about screaming, remembering the unknown visitors who searched for you there."

Joanna stared at him in silence, being pulled by his sounded serious, sensible words, which was completely different from when he spoke in playful remark as before. Aside from that, he also looked serious, with no hint of humor on his face.

And Joanna found him to be right again. If he wanted to do something as a married couple normally do, according to his dreadful demeanor and action in the forest, he would have done that deed there.

"Can I really trust you, Sir Canillas?" Joanna demanded a confirmation, despite her certainty that he was serious based on her observation.

Canillas sighed before answering, "So far, I am not the one who lied in our problematic marital relationship. Don’t you think so, Joanna?" Canillas smirked, causing Joanna to dart her eyes away. It was the second time she was eaten by the label that she created for herself through the mouth of the same person.

Hearing the reassuring words come out of his lips with a serious look displayed on his face, Joanna braved herself to approach the bed and gingerly climbed it up, as she was actually feeling so exhausted, both physically and mentally. Even standing like she was now had consumed the rest of her energy, remembering how mad she had run this morning in the forest. For someone who had never exercised, such an action would have drained vitality.

As Joanna laid down next to her husband, she felt uneasy and restless, although she took the very edge of the bedside. Laying by her side, she had her back facing him, who had never let his eyes go since she walked towards the bed.

Not long after she lied down, she felt a movement behind her back, causing her to grip the blanket in front of her chest as she anticipated what the man who shared a bed with her planned to do.

And she took a quiet sigh of relief when she knew why there was a movement behind her as she heard him ask, "Are you used to sleeping with the light off?"

With her back still facing him, Joanna answered in a low voice, "On. Let the light on."

There was no way she would let the room be dark, although it was her habit to sleep in the presence of light. But to her bewilderment, she still felt movement behind her, and the bed was slightly jolted. As she was alarmed, she turned her head to find out what the man was going to do.

She found him leaning over the table near the bed on his side and blew out the candles. But the room was not dark, as the glow illuminated from the fireplace still engulfed the room.

Noticing her eyes on him, Canillas turned to face her after lying back on the bed. He said, "The room will not be dark even though I blow out the candles. So, you can rest assured. Now, go to sleep." With those words being stated, Canillas turned to face the ceiling before closing his eyes.

With that, Joanna returned to offer him her back.

In the quiet room, the husband and wife slept together for the first time, blending their breathing with the sound of a crackling fire.

---

The sound of birds chirping had gradually become clearer and clearer in Joanna’s ears, following the intensity of her consciousness from her deep slumber.

Joanna slowly opened her eyes to respond to the call of nature to start the day.

Different from the normal situation, she usually found herself adjusting to the brightness in the room every time she opened her eyes from sleeping. However, this time she could open her eyes easily, as the room was still dim, with a very thin trace of sunlight dwelling in the room.

Lucy, who usually came into her room to draw the curtain open, should have known that she was very tired after what happened the day before. Therefore, she did not come to her room as usual. Or Lucy might not be able to wake up earlier because of the same exhaustion hitting her.

Joanna found it funny if the latter occurred, and she giggled at the thought, imagining how panicked she would be if she found herself waking up late.

Looking at the ceiling above her as it was the view she got once she opened her eyes, Joanna, who tried to stretch her body, let out a low groan as she felt her body numb and sore. But, despite the ache, she kept on stretching her body, slowly twisting her waist to the left and right, and she stopped at the last stretching movement.

Joanna blinked her eyes once at the object that met her sight. As the object was still there, she blinked again until her puzzled mind, which was now coming into the intact figure, wandered back to the events of the previous night.

Staring at the man who lay on his side with his head leaning on the hand and his elbow resting on the pillow, Joanna found him offer her a smile, causing the corner of his green eyes, which fell on hers, to crinkle.

How could she forget about this man?

As she blamed herself for letting her guard down, even totally forgetting about another presence in the room, a thought came across her mind.

Joanna abruptly pushed her body from the bed. While sitting on the bed, with her heart beating fast, she closed her eyes as if trying to feel if there was a change in her body and detect if there was a pain feeling, especially in a specific area.