The General's Wife Wants to Leave
Chapter 85: Food on his plate

Chapter 85: Food on his plate

When Joanna arrived in Liam’s room, she found him sitting on the side of the bed, and he was being fed congee by Mrs. Powel.

Finding Lady Joanna coming into the room, Liam offered her a bow, and Joanna, who made her way toward the bed, where both the older lady and the little boy were sitting, smiled at Liam and patted his head before joining with them to sit on the bed.

"What are you going to say to Lady Joanna, Liam?" Mrs. Powel asked the little boy after returning a smile to the smile that the young lady offered her.

"I thank you, Lady Joanna, for taking care of me when I was sick," said Liam in a small voice with his head lowered.

Joanna smiled, patting his little back. "You are very welcome, Liam, and I am very glad to see you have healed now," she replied.

Finding the little boy still with his head lowered, Joanna stood from the bed to crouch down in front of the shy, quiet boy, causing the hem of her dress to spread on the floor. Looking up at the boy, who glanced down at her with a quizzical look through his innocent blue eyes as if wondering why the young lady suddenly appeared before him, Joanna smiled and said,

"Don’t ever eat any peculiar wild item, especially mushrooms, when you stroll in the forest next time. It may look appealing on the outside, but it can be killing on the inside. Do you understand, Liam?" Joanna warned Liam in a soft gesture, raising her index finger in front of Liam’s face as a sign of reminder.

At the warning given by the young lady, Liam gave an obedient nod with his eyes shyly glancing at her, to which Joanna brushed his platinum hair, and a warm smile was formed on her lips.

She did not know when she would be able to visit the Powel Orphanage again, as her mission had not been accomplished yet and her safety was still questionable regarding the incident that she encountered in the forest. Therefore, she tried to help Mrs. Powel minimize the same occurrence, which was food poisoning, from happening again.

If it could not be avoided and repeated, even though the cautionary advice had been delivered, as children’s curiosity and interest in something that was found to be attractive in their eyes sometimes were uncontrollable, she had asked one of the Barasca knights to plant the purple-flowered herbal plants that she had dramatically obtained from the forest in the backyard of the building.

She hoped it could grow well, although they had been forcedly pulled out of the soil and had stayed outside the soil for quite some time before it was planted the previous day. The other plan she had was to send the same herbal plants from Alenna Garden immediately after she arrived at her home.

Meanwhile, in a room where the other patient was recuperating after he suffered from bitten wounds that were caused by the wolves, Canillas was gathered with all of his men-at-arms. He informed them that he would go back to the de Lara mansion the next day, and he suggested that Luca and Fabio stay longer in the Powel Orphanage if Luca was unable to go down the mountain due to his wounds.

However, Luca told them that he would follow them back to the city as he had recovered enough once he had a full day of rest today.

Suffering from minor to serious wounds was an uncommon occasion for warriors. However, as they had chosen to live a hard and rough life, they had trained to bear the pain and kept on moving their bodies even though the wounds were not completely healed. It was also the same case for Luca, who could not whine and became spoiled, although he was severely injured.

After getting confirmation from Luca, the topic of conversation changed, and the room was filled with laughter and jokes typical of men and warriors when they happened to gather together to talk about a jovial topic. Nevertheless, only one warrior did not have interest in joining them as he immersed himself in the more interesting view presented outside the window.

Joanna fulfilled her words to play with the kids, and she was now playing with them in the backyard of the orphanage building after she spent some time in Liam’s room with Mrs. Powel.

Different from the loud laughter reverberated in the room filled with men, the outside laughter sounded more merrily as there were kids who were giggling when they were avoiding the blindfolded person who tried to catch them, and there were kids who were screaming before letting out another laughter when they were caught by the blindfolded person.

However, Canillas’ eyes were not directed at those children but solely towards one person who was beautifully laughing and running together with the children as she avoided the blindfolded kid who tried to catch her.

Having his temple leaned against the glass window, he hugged his bent knees close to his chest as he sat on the windowsill, which seemed to be his preference to sit as he could see the view beyond the window.

It was the first time for Canillas to see his wife smiling and laughing without any barrier, and he could see her deep dimples showcased on her rosy cheeks. The waist-length black hair that was simply braided was swaying behind her slender back as she ran together with the kids while lifting the front of her light green dress.

Canillas thought that was how she looked when she ran away from the chase of the wolves in the forest, but of course without a broad smile on her face. He smiled at the thought.

Staring at the mesmerizing beauty beyond the window, not only did he feel bliss swarming in his heart but also grief at the fact that she had not spared him that kind of beautiful smile yet. What had been served on his plate by her was cold and sour food. But as long as that food was served personally by her, he would gladly receive it, as adapting to something that was not common was one of his capabilities.

He wanted to see her smile and laugh with him too, but he knew that it was impossible for the time being. It then made him think about how long she would serve him that kind of food. When would she serve him a more palatable food?

The next question then appeared. How could he make her willing to smile or laugh with him wholeheartedly? Could he receive that heart-warming expression from her?

He was somehow feeling impatient, but once again, he knew that he should wait, no matter how long it would take.

"He didn’t look like that yesterday," came a voice behind the man, who had mixed emotions inside him. "Instead of smiling like a fool, he looked like someone who was going to pass out yesterday." A chuckle subsequently followed after the words filled the room.

"Maybe that is the feeling when you become a married man. Fluctuated emotions, like what has been said by Paul every time he came to us to talk about his life with his wife." A response was heard and somehow sounded serious, with no chuckle following suit.

"When are we going back to Archess, Cane?" The serious man who responded to Fabio asked Canillas.

"Soon, Ben. Let her have some more time with her family, as it will be hard to visit them once she lives in Archess," Canillas answered. "Luca needs more time to recover as well," he added, his gaze still fixed in the same direction.

"Are you sure it will be good to delay our return to Archess with the Tres out there?" Ben, who was one of Canillas’ men-at-arms and also his friend, asked. "Didn’t you say that they were targeting your wife?"

"She will be fine. Just don’t let our guard down," Canillas responded briefly after a brief silence.

Inwardly, he was actually restless and worried. He was aware that the longer they stayed in Terra, the more possibility there was for them to fix their plan to capture his wife if they did not switch their target.

However, knowing how much she loved her family and her homeland made him want her to spend more time with them, so when the time to leave them arrived, it would be a little bit more bearable.

Canillas wondered if the Terran security officers could find and catch them all any time soon before they became more rampant and approached his wife or other women. Nevertheless, if they happened to be smarter than the Terran officers, which would make them unable to be caught in the near future, Canillas hoped they would change their target.

It might sound selfish, but he could not let the soothing smile that belonged to him disappear from his sight.