The General's Wife Wants to Leave
Chapter 96: Courtship

Chapter 96: Courtship

For a soldier, wearing the same attire for weeks was not a questionable habit. It was a common practice, as they had no time to think of cleanliness if their lives were on the line. But it was indeed a stark contrast for a noble lady like his wife.

And his worry was slightly lifted when his wife took the cloak from his hands. When she was about to put the cloak on, she was confused about where to put the bouquet of wildflowers that was given to her by the little boy she adored.

"Give it to me. Let me keep it for you," Canillas suggested.

It would be difficult for her to hold the bouquet, even though it was not large in size, when she needed to hold on to something to steady herself on the horseback later. And once Joanna gave the flower to him, he put it inside the pocket of his black coat.

When she was putting the cloak on, he was somehow feeling warmth swarmed in his heart. It was the first time he shared his belongings with his wife.

However, he could not completely feel warmth, and what made him uncomfortable was the condition of the cloak, which was not a sight to behold when it was worn by her.

If only he offered her a high-quality cloak which was clean and fragrant, Canillas sighed inwardly.

But not long later, his discomfort disappeared, taken over by a low laugh that suddenly burst out of him when he saw Joanna buried in his giant cloak. It was indeed way too big for her slender figure, even though she was taller compared to her maid, and the hem of the cloak did not sweep the ground as much as that of her maid.

Meanwhile, Joanna, who tried to adjust the cloak so that it would look tidier, glared at him with her lips pursed into a thin line when she heard him laugh at her.

"Do you need help?" Canillas asked when he found her having difficulty adjusting the heavy, thick cloak that made her slightly stagger backward, but she soon found her balance.

He could just help her fix the cloak she wore, but he tried to refrain from directly placing his hands on her body without asking for her permission. If asking likely resulted in rejection, it did not need to be questioned what the result would be if he did that without asking her permission to do so.

There were times Canillas pondered if his relationship with the lady before him was not a marital relationship but a courtship one where he had to be careful in every action in order to win a solicitation of favors for marriage.

"No, it is fine," Joanna said, turning down the offer. "It is fine like this. What is needed is just to cover my figure, isn’t it?" Joanna added to the reason, to which Canillas smiled and gave a nod of understanding.

"Let’s go now," Canillas demanded after she finished adjusting the cloak.

Standing near Thunder with his left hand holding the rein, Canillas extended his other hand for Joanna to take.

He saw Joanna contemplate taking his hand, as she only looked down at it with her lower lips bitten. To respond to the action, which was not new to him, he said, "Can you mount Thunder yourself? If you can, then go ahead." Canillas dared the strong-willed woman and wanted to see how strong her determination was.

Watching how tall the horse was, Joanna, who had never mounted a horse, knew that it was impossible to do that herself. But she would give it a try. It was better to try than to give up right away without any effort. Joanna decided.

She walked closer to approach the stallion, which stood majestically as if ready to give the young Madam of von Rodega a ride. She then gingerly placed her hands on the saddle that sat on the back of Thunder, but soon removed it with a gasp when Thunder made a movement.

"It’s okay. He is a good boy. Keep going," Canillas reassured with a smile, stroking Thunder’s mane.

Slowly approaching Thunder again, Joanna, who was confused about where to put her hands on the saddle for her to hold to be able to mount Thunder, finally placed her left hand to hold the horn cap and the right hand to lay across the saddle for support before placing her left foot in the stirrup.

With the support she had thought to be fixed, Joanna tried to hop and swing her right leg over the horse. However, the tall horse, accompanied by the inexperienced Joanna in mounting the horse, made her unable to do the thing that she thought to be a piece of cake.

Aside from that, the heavy cloak that belonged to the General that she wore limited her movement.

Even after her right foot on the ground hopped several times with grunting sounds slipping out of her lips, she still made no progress as it was still landing on the ground.

When she thought to give it another try, she gasped, her breath hitched, when suddenly her waist was grabbed and she was lifted from the ground. And in a blink of the eyes, she could now see the sky more clearly as it felt closer to her reach.

Joanna blinked several times. The breath that was caught in her throat flowed again, but at a quick pace, in sync with her pounding heart, as a result of the sudden movement and her current position, which was a few feet above the ground.

As she was currently on top of the horse, Joanna sat stiffly with her hand holding the horn cap as tightly as possible, as if it were her last salvation.

She directed her eyes to look ahead and prevented making any movement, as it felt that she would fall if she made even a slight movement.

A few seconds later, her stiff, straight back, which felt cold because of the cold sweat of nervousness, suddenly felt warm. And it was caused by none other than the presence of someone behind her, and she did not need to turn her head to find out who the person was.