Looking down at her fidgeting fingers on her lap, Joanna caught sight of a sun-kissed muscular arm, which was exposed as the sleeves were folded up to the elbow, on each side of her seat, and a thigh in black trousers on each side of her thighs, which were wrapped in her nightgown.
Joanna sighed inwardly at their position at the mont, where she could only sit, trying to shrink away so that she would not touch the cage that caged her.
What other intimate gesture did he want to create this ti? Joanna let out a quiet sigh.
Due to their proximity, she could sll the fragrance of the soap emitted on his body, which was similar to what one could sll on her body. Another quiet sigh slipped out of Joanna’s lips at how confident he was in using her soap to bathe without asking her first.
It was the first ti they used the sa bathroom. When they were in the Powel Orphanage, he used the bathroom that was available in the knight quarter, and she did not offer him to use the sa bathroom as hers, as her agenda was only to get rid of him and she did not want to act friendly to him.
After a montary silence, Joanna brought her gaze back to the man, who looked more wild as he had his hair let loose, not tied as it usually appeared when he was outside the bedroom. And it was the third ti Joanna found him in this appearance, as it was the third ti they shared a bed together. And his eyes were still on hers as he waited for her answer.
"Would you behave like this if soone else beca your wife, Sir Canillas?" Joanna asked in a low and soft voice.
She had kept this question for quite so ti now, and she felt that it was ti to ask him that, as he was the one who urged her to do so and she wanted to know what she was to him.
Canillas took a few seconds of silence at the question he heard, which ca as a response to the demand he made for her to be his real wife. Staring at Joanna while trying to push aside the anticipation to have the answer from her, which might not co anyti soon as he expected, he then said,
"My wife is you, not soone else." The sa soft tone of voice ca out of his lips.
"Just imagine if soone else beca your wife. Would you treat her like you have treated and behave like you have behaved to so far?" Another inquiry was made by Joanna, as she refused to receive answers that were not clear enough to satisfy her curiosity.
"Are you happy with the way I treat you and how I behave toward you?" Canillas asked instead of answering Joanna’s question.
Joanna let out a sigh at the response that was not answering her question.
Slightly drawing her body backward as the man before her kept on leaning over, as if attempting to diminish any space between them, Joanna said, "Please answer my question, Sir Canillas. It is not fair to answer a question with a question." Joanna furrowed her brows, showing disapproval as it was not the first ti he responded to her question with a question.
Canillas chuckled at her complaint, as she seed to forget that instead of giving an answer to his inquiry about her becoming his real wife, she also gave him a question to respond to, which caused his anticipation to dim a few seconds ago. But he felt glad that she now seed not to be hesitant to talk more openly to him.
And if, to beco a husband, he had to yield to her, then he would. Hence, Canillas did not poke her at that matter and chose to give her the answer she demanded.
Closing his eyes as if imagining as per her request, Canillas opened his eyes after three seconds to et hers and said, "I am imagining, and soone else that is appearing in my imagination is you. Then, yes, I will do to that soone else what I have done to you."
Joanna sighed, not satisfied with Canillas’ answer. It was hard to get a serious answer from him, Joanna thought to herself. But she could not stop her heart from thumping erratically in her chest at the answer she heard.
It made her wonder how many won had been conquered by the flattery coming out of him. Was it because of this kind of sweet nothings that Joanna, in her dream, seed to fall head over heels for him? Joanna wondered.
But Joanna still refused to let him slip away easily. She would not let him beco the only one who pestered her and made her flustered. Hence, she questioned, "Let’s imagine if Clara de Lorn was the lady that you chose as a wife. Would you be behaving like you have done to ?"
Canillas humd, tilting his head as he pondered for a mont, not because he was thinking over his answer but because of the eagerness of the lady before him to pursue his answer over the sa topic.
"Your question sounded like I would treat every woman on this earth as my wife, Joanna. But I am not a man who regards every woman on this earth as my wife, and I can’t treat all of them like I treat you, my dear wife." Canillas gave his answer, showing no sign of playfulness. "And I can’t imagine soone else as my wife, as it is the sa as cheating on you. Have you ever thought about that?" Canillas stated his stance, slightly furrowing his brows, implying that he would not cooperate with a conditional clause that involved won.
For a mont, Joanna was lost for words at the quick-witted response she heard, which was beyond her expectations. Not once did she ever think to get such a mind-blowing answer that took away her ability to express a word.
She could only stare into his eyes, which had never left hers, before her ability to speak returned as another question slipped out of her lips.
"Is it because of the royal decree that you have been eager to maintain this marriage?"
It was also a question that had twirled in Joanna’s mind lately. She had always thought that the way he persistently maintained their marriage was because he valued their marriage highly, just like she stated when she defended him from the impudent Viscount. But doubt had already appeared in her mind before she made that confident-sounding remark..
Would the way one valued a marriage make one eager to maintain one’s marriage, even though one’s wife had acted cold and was not willing to have children?
Joanna suddenly doubted if it was possible. But it would be possible if one maintained one’s marriage because it was a marriage by royal decree.
The General could not allow their marriage to end, as he did not want to lose the trust that was given by both the King of Archess and Terra.
Marriage failure would be like showing his incompetency against sothing that had been trusted and bestowed upon him. He might not want it to happen, as he had been well and widely known as a hero who had never faced any failure, and because of that, he could be in the position where he had achieved.
As for being afraid of the union between Terra and Archess being broken, it would not be a matter as the union would never break if the King offered him another Terran lady to substitute her position as his wife.
Therefore, Joanna wanted to hear the answer directly from him.
"Yes," Canillas answered, and Joanna’s heart sohow sank at the answer she heard.
"Because of the royal decree, I can et you and have you as my wife. And because you are my wife, I maintain this marriage." Canillas’ breath brushed against Joanna’s lips as he spoke in a low voice.
Never once did he break his gaze on her softened ones, and Joanna’s heart was floating again in the continuity of Canillas’ answer.
For Joanna, maintaining a marriage because it was a principle was more reassuring than using a marriage as an indicator of achievent to show prestige in life.
Then, should she feel joy with the answer she heard that sounded like heart-warming chords in her ears?
"Why did you choose as your wife?"
One last question. She wanted to know the answer to this one last question—to know if she could feel joy in her heart.
"As my father told , the King gave you more than ten nas of Terran ladies for you to select. I don’t know about other ladies, but we just t. So I believe that you hadn’t seen before you chose as your wife. Then, why , Sir Canillas?"
It was the last question that Joanna had written in the list of the questions that had twirled in her mind. The main question that had co up in her mind since she received the marriage decree that had changed her status as a woman.
Never once did she think that she would be the one who would be selected as part of the decree. Hence, even after the news that the King wanted to arrange a political marriage between his people and the prominent General of Archess reached her ears, she did not once feel disturbed. She kept on running her daily routines cheerfully, as brightly as the sun shone on a bright day.
She even spent her ti in Alenna Garden, playing with Tummy and Bunny, which were the rabbits Bianca gave her as a coming-of-age gift. But they were given to Bianca’s niece when they left for Archess, as Bianca said it would be hard to nurture them through a long journey.
There were so many Terran ladies who were more qualified to be the General’s wife, and she was aware of the qualities she had as a woman.
Joanna believed that her value as a woman was upgraded because she was the sole daughter of the Duke of Barasca. Other than that, she did not know what others could see in her.
Was it because of that reason that the General selected her as his wife? But then, she was not the only one who bore the title of the Duke’s daughter, as there were a few others that were included in the list the King provided to the General.
Then, for what reasons did he select her as his wife? Joanna wanted to know.
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