The General's Wife Wants to Leave-Chapter 143: Eight

Joanna’s wondering gaze fixated on the face of the man, whom a few moments ago was in a statue-like state, which caused her to worry about his wellbeing.

It was the second time, on the same day, she was made to worry about the same person, whereas the first time she was worried about him keeping a smile on his face, which made them end up having a prolonged conversation after she initiated asking about his wellbeing.

But now, as Joanna found him smiling with his heart content at her, another question appeared in her mind.

What made him take a long time to give her that answer if he was now smiling as if it were a simple answer that was not needed to ponder too long?

Did he lie to her, hiding the true answer that was hard to tell her? What if he actually chose her because she was a de Lara? And if it was true, what did he expect from de Lara?

"Are you telling me the truth, Sir Canillas?" Joanna asked, trying to find out if he did not have ulterior motives that would hurt her family, as it was something that she could not accept no matter how persistent he was to maintain their marriage. And that thought would not have appeared on her mind if he did not behave as he did before.

Canillas was stunned at her inquiry, but he did not remove the smile from his face. Not even in the slightest did he show the agitated feeling inside him, as if he were good at hiding behind the facade.

"Can you tell me why you doubted my answer, my dear wife?" Canillas asked, lacing the turmoil in his heart with a playful remark. "Or do you want to tell me the answer that you wanted to hear from me? If so, tell me that, and if I please with that, I will speak it louder as an answer that suits your needs." Canillas responded more, raising one of his brows to playfully challenge Joanna to voice out what she suspected about him.

Fidgeting with her fingers that were on her lap, Joanna contemplated asking him what she suspected. Joanna opened her lips before closing them again as she stared at the eyes that were staring back at hers.

"Was it because I am de Lara?" Joanna asked, choosing to ease her curiosity rather than regret it later because she did not want to ask a question that might be offensive to one party if her suspicion was not right.

Smiling, Canillas shook his head after a fleeting second of hearing her suspicions about him. "I didn’t know about de Lara or any aristocrat in Terra or what benefits I got from them. So no, I chose you as my wife, not because you are de Lara." Canillas gave a decisive answer, not bothering to beat around the bush.

Benefiting from aristocrats was never on his agenda, as he could get his own glory if he wanted to.

Feeling relief at the answer that sounded convincing in her ears, Joanna subconsciously formed a smile on her lips and was captured by Canillas.

"Do you want to know why I make number eight my favorite?" In a low, soft voice, Canillas asked Joanna, who seemed not to be aware that she wore a smile on her lips due to the relief that swarmed in her heart that he did not have ulterior motives towards her family.

She could just doubt him, but deep inside her heart, she sensed that he told her the truth, not like the trace of doubt she still had over the answer about number eight.

Joanna was silent at the question given to her. Did she need to know about that? Joanna wondered in her mind.

Did it matter? Joanna added another question in her mind.

But then, despite her silence, the manly, deep voice filled the silence that was left by her as she still sealed her lips by pondering over the decision to answer his inquiry.

"Eternity."

And Joanna was pulled from her wandering thoughts by that single word. The smile of relief that was plastered on her face gradually faded away.

What she could do was stare at the man who whispered that word to her.

Holding each other’s gazes, Canillas said, "The double everlasting loop of number eight represents eternity. And 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."

Canillas knew that he had lied to Joanna. His answer was a lie. What he told her as an answer to the question that he was actually aware would be asked of him one day by her was not the truth behind why he chose her, the cold yet warm-hearted lady, as his wife.

He also lied to her about number eight, which became his favorite number. If that were his favorite number, who sat before him would not have been the enigmatic woman who had robbed him of his peacefulness since he saw her name on that parchment and pronounced every syllable of her name through his breath.

It would have been someone else who probably would not have been challenging to conquer, making him cross the border between the two kingdoms in order to meet her, running madly through the deep forest to protect her from the threat that peeked at her, and having restless nights because she left him alone in an empty room without feeling any burden, not even guilt.

Perhaps he would not have seen the figure of a beautiful woman standing beautifully among the wildflowers when the sun showered its warm light on her delicate figure and the mountain breeze danced in rhythm with her long, shining hair.

Perhaps that lady might not have two pairs of captivating eyes on her delicate face, whose smile had made him lose a beat of his heart, like how he felt a fleeting moment ago when he saw the beautiful smile on her face.

But he did not lie to tell her the truth about the meaning of that number eight.

Eternity.

He wanted to believe what the saying said about the meaning of that number.

There was no regret in him choosing her as his wife, although he had to face torture to tame her heart, shake her ground, and ruin her wall.

The uneasy feelings that rippled through his entire being since he stared at that name, which grew the curiosity about the woman who dared cause havoc inside him yet also told him not to choose her as his wife as those feelings might be a sign for him to stay away from her, were still there.

But he had overcome those unsettled feelings that whispered inside him to keep his distance from her, and he had no regrets about that.

"Because I like number eight, that’s why you are here now with me, my dear wife Joanna von Rodega."

He wanted to live as her husband, and he wanted her to live as his wife, for eternity, until his breath no longer existed in this realm.