Night had deepened, carrying chills to the bones as the air got colder, implying that the fall had taken the reign over the warst season of the year.
Facing the wall, Joanna had focused her eyes on the golden fla that swirled and twirled in the fireplace, giving shine to the darkness. Not once did she turn over from her laying position since she managed to lay on the bed, dramatically freeing herself from the cage that was so stubborn to trap her in.
Slipping under the blanket that covered her body up to the lower half of her face, Joanna placed her palm on her chest, where her heart had not cald down since she braved herself to initiate the conversation with the man whose words contained honey that were too sweet to bear to her might.
And her heart was beating more rampantly, drumming in her chest, when the aning of number eight, which beca the favorite number of the man, was delivered, reaching her ears and seeping into her heart.
Eight for eternity. Joanna closed her eyes as she recalled the aning of that number while holding back from breathing out a sigh that would only make it evident that she was not asleep yet.
’I chose the lady on that number because I wanted to have an eternal relationship with her, as my wife, until my breath was nowhere to be found.’
Joanna recalled the man’s words, and she could feel her heart pulsate more vividly under her palm, which made her worried that the sound of her heartbeat would be heard in the stillness of the dim room.
Opening her eyes to stare back at the dancing fla, Joanna was certain now—more certain than she had ever before—that the man held the aning of the marriage more deeply than she had ever thought. It also brought the realization of why he was adamant about maintaining their marriage, preventing her from leaving him, and accepting her no matter how cold and disrespectful she had treated him.
Even the rashes that appeared on her body did not make him disgusted. Instead, he sat close to her side, staring straight into her eyes as if he were ready to embrace her despite her horrid condition, ready to ease her pain.
And now she knew, as clearly as the brilliant blue sky. All of his actions and behavior towards her were solely because he had planned to have an eternal relationship with the woman whom he had chosen as his wife from the beginning. Therefore, he would accept his wife regardless of the treatnt she inflicted on him.
Marriage annulnt was never listed on his agenda if he would make the aning of number eight that he favored be implented in his life.
That realization made Joanna confused about whether she should laugh out loud or cry like a river at what she had done so far in order to make him agree to annul their marriage. She had acted like an insane woman who desperately wanted to escape from him, trying hard to avoid him and endlessly thinking about the plan to get rid of him.
She even, without any doubt, hurt her own body to create painful rashes in her body. She also avoided him by hiding in the Powel Orphanage, which made her end up in this room with him, asking him to guard her from the Tres that she unexpectedly encountered in the mountain.
It was also clear now, especially after she lost her chance to end their marriage and even reconciled through the tea she made for him, that what he would do was to actualize his eternal marriage with her.
It was sohow making Joanna feel uncomfortable, but she also could not calm her pounding heart.
He had also pushed her to answer his demand about becoming his real wife, because of which he did not let her go, keeping on trapping her in the cage he created for her.
If she had not given an answer, which was asking him to give her ti for that, after she kept her lips shut, not giving any answer to his demand, she would probably have still sat in the sa position with the stubborn, sweet-speaking man.
Joanna had also made up her mind that she would refrain from initiating any conversation with him because she had co to the realization that she could not beat him in terms of being calm when she had to face-to-face with him. She could not bear to hold his intense gaze, which had never failed to be directed at her every ti they faced each other.
More than that, she could not handle the sweet, flattering words with which he attacked her, which caused her to lose her composure.
Joanna admitted that she was too weak in front of him, not even able to pretend to be indifferent before him. She even had lost her confidence if she could act calmly in the future, showing him that everything he said was nothing to her and would not have any impact on her, less making her heart fluttered.
If she stayed with her humble version, not showing too much confidence to initiate the conversation with him and keeping his suggestion to talk to each other to resolve any issue between them inside her, she would not have a debt to give him an answer about becoming his real wife, and she was sure that he would remind her about that anyti soon.
"Are you asleep, Joanna?"
Joanna’s heart skipped a beat at the deep voice that suddenly appeared, blended with the sound of the crackling fire in the still room, pulling her from her focus on the swirling fla.
Was he going to ask about the answer from her, collecting the debt this soon?
Joanna sohow sensed that her only companion in the room, who was sleeping next to her, was not asleep yet and was staring at her back. Hence, she tried her best not to show that she was still awake, as she really could not handle any flattery coming from him, especially when her heart and her mind were still in mayhem at the mont.
"Dear Mister Cal."
Joanna heard him keep speaking to her, although she did not respond to him, unmoving from her sleeping position, as she wanted to tell him that she was sleeping.
"Would you be like Mrs. Cal if I happened to be like Mister Cal?"
Joanna frowned at the sudden question he gave her. Out of nowhere, he asked about the story that had made her cry and caused her eyes to be swollen the next day.
It made Joanna recall the mont when he insisted on borrowing the book from her in the morning before they departed for Cresca. He reasoned that he wanted to read to fill the ti during the long journey to the capital.
She had offered him another book to read, as she did not want him to tease her for his amusent if he happened to know what kind of story had put her in a ss that night. But he said that he would read the other books she offered him after he read Dear Mister Cal.
When she still refused to give the book to him, he said that it was the only book that he really wanted to read, and he would not read the other books before he read the book he wanted to read.
He also told her not to bla him if he found other activities to entertain him during the journey, and he was grateful because he had her accompany him so that he would not feel bored.
Joanna understood exactly what he implied with those statents. Poking her for his amusent was the activity he would do during the journey if she did not lend him the book.
He did not say it clearly, but it was enough information to be grasped, as they had interacted for quite so ti now. She also knew how severe the mischievous side of that cunning man could be.
Therefore, after hearing what he said to her, she really wanted to ride in the separate carriage. It was better to accompany her father, as her father would never disturb her during the trip. But unfortunately, her father did not allow her to.
Hence, she gave him the book that he wanted to read.
Fortunately, she had not received any teases or questions from him regarding the book until this mont. But it was not a teasing question. From the tone of his inquiry, Joanna could tell that he was not on his mischievous side at the mont.
If she could rember well, it was like the tone that she heard when he ca to her room when she was crying because of the sa book that he currently questioned her about.
It made Joanna wonder why he suddenly asked her about that. Alongside that wondernt, Joanna also realized that the man behind her back could stir her feelings, either by his playful, serious, or lancholic side.
Joanna took a deep, inward sigh at the man, who seed to be on his lancholic side at the mont.
anwhile, the lancholic man fixed his gaze on the back of the head of his quiet wife, which was not hidden under the blanket like her other body parts.
He knew that she had not slept yet, and it was not hard for him to know that she was still awake.
Aside from her body, which seed to be rigid, not like the calm and relaxed version of her when they shared a bed in the Powel Orphanage, just by listening to the rhythm of her breath, which was not steady, it was enough for Canillas to tell that his wife was not drowning in slumber yet.
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