The General's Wife Wants to Leave
Chapter 88: You will be fine

Chapter 88: You will be fine

Joanna stood, freezing in place, when she saw the General gesture at her to not make a move with his hand raised and his palm face outward, while the index finger of his other hand was placed on his lips.

Feeling anxious, Joanna could only follow his silent order, although she had an urge to ask about what was going on.

"Why are you still sitting there? Come here. Don’t be stubborn."

Listening to his words, Joanna was confused. He made it clear through the signal he sent to her that she should not move or speak. Why did he ask her that? Joanna tilted her head slightly to the side in wonderment, her forehead creased.

But Joanna did not respond to the General, as she saw him still place his forefinger on his lips. And she grew more anxious when the General, whose face looked serious and daunting, climbed down the bed and rushed in her direction with a cautious, long stride, as if not wanting to create any sound through his steps.

Such a sudden, daunting action made Joanna want to dash somewhere else to avoid him, but she did not do that as she knew that it was not an action to attack her, but there was something unexpected that was happening.

"Respond to me at the volume you used to talk to me before." And Joanna could grasp the current situation after receiving the message that he whispered in her ear once he stood by her side.

Looking up at him, whose expression was less daunting and more serene than before, as if he tried to comfort her, Joanna blinked several times. Taking a deep breath, Joanna opened her quivering lips to do what he demanded.

"But I am not sleepy yet. You can go to sleep first if you want..."

As Joanna kept on talking in response to him, with a prolonged monologue that she thought would be suitable and sensible for lengthening her speech, Canillas stepped toward the wall beside the closed window, which was covered with a thick dark brown curtain, in a cautious movement, not even producing sound with every step he took.

Watching the General plant his ear on the wall, Joanna could sense what was actually making him suddenly act this way. There might be an uninvited party outside the room in which the window was built to face the open backyard of the orphanage building. Since her room was located on the first floor, as the second floor was provided for the rooms of the kids, it was possible and easier for them to eye the room.

At that probability, Joanna’s heart pounded rapidly against her chest. Was that the unknown group of people who searched for her in the forest? Joanna wondered while keeping on blabbering anything that she found to be appropriate to bring forward.

And the answer to the silent questions seemed to be a positive one as she saw the General head back to the table near the bed to strap the sheath of dagger on both of his calves before grabbing his sword that he placed under the pillow on the bed of his side.

"Don’t talk nonsense. Come here now, or I will carry you by force. I give you one minute to decide." Canillas made his way to his wife’s side once the nonsense words to reply to the nonsense words of his wife had been said.

"Take your dagger with you, and stay in this room. I will go outside, but I won’t be far away. Lock the door and the window after I leave, and don’t open any of them if it is not for me. Do you get it, Joanna?" Canillas whispered, staring straight at her frightened, wavering hazel eyes.

Finding her nodding vigorously, which made a few strands of her hair slide to her cheeks, Canillas offered a smile and whispered, "If strangers come in by force, don’t hesitate to kick, hit, and stab them. Make sure to do it harder than you did to me." A wide grin formed on his lips. Different from the usual mischievous expression he showed her, it was not intended to tease her for his amusement this time but to ease her nerves.

A warm smile spread across his face, replacing the grin, when he saw her nod more vigorously despite her anxiety, as if she wanted to tell him that the strangers would regret it if they disturbed her.

"You will be fine. I won’t allow them to step into this room. So, worry not, Joanna," Canillas assured in a whisper with a smile, looking at her face for a few moments and making his way to the closed window after receiving a nod of agreement from her.

Once he stood in front of the window, in a speedy movement, Canillas drew open the curtain and pushed open the window in one hard push, which resulted in a muffled sound of groaning pain from outside the window.

With the window open, Canillas jumped out of the window. "Close it now!" With the command delivered, Joanna made a dash to close the window.

When she was about to pull the window closed and lock it, she caught a glimpse of a person lying on the ground and being straddled by the General. Ignoring it, she proceeded with what she had to do.

Once she drew the curtain close, she perceived a quite clear sound of something being punched. However, instead of standing still to capture the upcoming sound, Joanna strode towards her trunk and took the dagger that she kept between her folded clothes.

With the dagger in her hand, Joanna moved to lock the door, and she stood, leaning against the wall next to the doorframe.

She was ready to run if strangers entered the room by force, either through the window or the door.

If they forcibly came from the window, she would just storm out of the room through the door, which was close to where she was standing at the moment.

If the stranger came into the room by the door, she would just hit them, as they might not notice she stood behind the open door. Once they were impacted by the hit, she would leave the room and shout for help as loud as she could.

It was what she could plan at the moment, despite her anxiety and fear, which grew uncontrollably.

With the plan settled, Joanna’s mind drifted to the uninvited guests who were being handled by the General.

Who were they? What did they want from her? Why were they so persistent in trying to catch her? Joanna wondered in her mind while waiting for the return of her so-called husband.

At such a daunting moment, a sliver of relief washed over her that she did not make a reckless decision and push aside her anxiety to be in the same room as him.

A thought then came to her mind. If she acted on her stubbornness and the General was not persistent in persuading her to stay in the same room as him, what would have happened to her?

She would have been somewhere with strangers, and something unwanted might have happened to her. A shiver crawled down her spine at the dreadful possibility.

She did not forget about their presence in the forest, which made her, Lucy, and the General’s men almost lose their lives. She also wanted to ask about them to the General.

However, after he assured her in the forest, when her curiosity about them peaked, she had not had the chance to ask him about them, and he also did not bring up the topic as they were busy dealing with other matters that might then occupy their minds.

However, under this threatening circumstance, she would not delay anymore and had to know who they were, and she would ask the General after he returned.

But when would he return? Was he fine?

As time ticked by, Joanna, who felt tired of standing as she could not let her guard down and was in a standby position if a sudden attack came, crouched down before slumping on the floor.

It had been quite some time now that outside the room was quiet. Where was he? He said that he would not go far from the room. Joanna became more anxious. Her hands, which were holding the dagger, trembled more.

When her thoughts wandered about the possibility of the General’s condition, Joanna was startled, turning alert when the sound of a knock on the other side of the door took away the silence in the room.

The first knock was heard, but Joanna stayed still, not moving to open the door, which was very close to where she sat. The response she gave was that her heart palpitated more erratically while trying to lull her shaking body with her head turning to look in the direction of the door beside her.

A second knock came afterward, and Joanna pushed her body up from the floor, but to only stand still, not moving to unlock the door. Instead, she tightened the grip on the dagger, whose length was about five inches.

The third knock appeared not long after, and this time it was accompanied by a slight movement of the door handle. Joanna pointed her dagger forward with her trembling hands.