The General's Wife Wants to Leave-Chapter 277: Fervent ripple

"Are you sure you came to find me for this?" Canillas asked for clarification.

He really hoped that Joanna might only be teasing him, and he would be fine with that, as he would regard that as an amusing dynamic in their growing relationship in this lifetime—a dynamic that he failed to grow in their previous life.

However, seeing Joanna calmly nod her head in a serene expression that remained the same no matter how many times he blinked his eyes, it was then that realization melted his frozen mind. He was not blind to not be able to see a clear sign that Joanna was not teasing him.

An amusing dynamic in their relationship had not yet come.

Amidst where they were at the moment, Canillas was not sure how he should react.

He was in immense joy, feeling relieved to find the route of their journey in this present time seemed to be different from the past. It implied that their life could be different this time. Everything that happened in the past was gone.

He was also happy because Joanna seemed to be more open to him this time. She admitted his presence and was willing to involve him as part of her life.

Her trust in him seemed to grow bit by bit. However, the words ’I need your help’ indeed struck him too.

She had never asked for help before, but once it was demanded, his mind froze.

"Joanna, you know I..." Canillas paused, a heavy sigh escaping his lips. "How can I go there alone with your brother? We are not that well acquainted to do something together. More importantly, how can I help him do something that I am not familiar with and capable of?" Canillas voiced his objection, thinking it to be impossible for a soon-to-be doctor to get along with a ruthless soldier, alongside the fact that they were not familiar with each other.

"You won’t be alone with my brother. Valerie volunteered to help him." As Joanna said that, Canillas again shifted his gaze from looking ahead back to meet her eyes. He caught a flickering change of emotions in there. "I believe you can adapt to any peculiar situation very well, Sir Canillas. You are very capable of that. You know that well too, right?" Joanna did not stop from convincing Canillas, and she did not bluff. She meant every word to him.

"Just think of using this moment as a chance to get acquainted with my brother," Joanna added. Noticing Canillas to be silent with his eyes locked onto hers, Joanna continued to say, "Didn’t you just say that my brother is a good brother of mine?" She smiled, reminding him of what he said to show his support for her brother more than a minute ago.

"My brother is a good person. He may be cheeky at some point, as I told you before. But he is indeed a good person," Joanna spoke more when Canillas still did not budge. "And you don’t need to worry. If he did something that you don’t like, just tell me. I will settle an account with him."

Looking at her attempt to convince him by displaying a determined look on her beautiful face, Canillas could not help but let out a chuckle. "Are you trying to set me as a third wheel between your brother and that lady?"

"No." Joanna shook her head immediately. "My brother has no special relationship with her, so the term ’third wheel’ is absolutely not right."

Sensing a trace of contempt in the way she spoke, Canillas asked, "Do you really want me to do this even though there is that lady who is kind enough to volunteer to help your brother?"

Joanna nodded her head before replying without any hesitation with, "Yes."

"If I decline?"

Joanna was first silent for a moment at Canillas’ inquiry, looking into his green eyes, where she found her reflection there. "I don’t want my brother to get close to her," she gave an honest answer. Gloominess laced her low voice.

"Why?" Canillas still interrogated Joanna, his eyes roaming her face. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Joanna drifted her eyes away, breaking from Canillas’ questioning eyes. She kept her lips shut before uttering, "Put me down. You will get tired if you keep holding me like this." She also considered that he was tired, as he had just stood with her in his arms for many minutes now.

"Why, Joanna?" But it seemed that his good shape was indeed not just a display, as he chased an answer from her instead of fulfilling her request.

The voice that was carried by the serene afternoon breeze was so gentle and caressing yet strong enough to pull Joanna to gradually place her eyes back on the pair of eyes that she knew were waiting for her to meet them.

As she met Canillas’ tender gaze, Joanna pursed her lips before deciding to remark, "I would say a sister wants the best for her brother." Joanna smiled faintly, letting Canillas deduce the answer she had given.

Finding Canillas not saying anything but still tenderly having his eyes fall on her face, a small smile played on Joanna’s lips. "I am weird, right?"

Smiling faintly, Canillas shook his head. "Is it because of that nightmare?" he then asked after a fleeting moment of silence.

Stunned, Joanna’s lips gaped, and her eyes quivered before she lowered them, as if trying to hide the surge of emotions that rippled inside her.

"Is it the thing that you need to verify?" Canillas asked again despite her silence. His voice was still low and soft in Joanna’s ears, as if he used that gentle voice to soothe her nerves, calming her agitated soul.

Looking up into Canillas’ eyes, Joanna, who was still stunned upon hearing his consecutive hitting questions, slowly nodded her head.

There was nothing she could keep hidden from a sharp-witted person like him. It was still not hard for him to read her, Joanna thought in her mind. And he indeed observed her, just like what she asked him to do in her way to bargain with him last night.

At that realization, Joanna felt her heart moved by the fact that Canillas listened to and remembered every word she said to him. And he did not think of her as insane and weird because he knew that she had reasons for her every action.

Smiling, Canillas resumed his steps, moving forward across the wood.

No words he uttered in return. He was just quiet, looking straight ahead of them, only for him to know that his mind was actually clouded with everything that he heard from her.

And Joanna did not know that. What she knew was that Canillas was willing to lend her his hand. As if being pulled by something that moved in her heart, Joanna leaned in, placing her chin on Canillas’ shoulder and bringing her arms to embrace him more tenderly, letting her body be closer to him without any gap remaining.

"Thank you," Joanna whispered close to Canillas’ ear, and he responded to it by rubbing his cheek against hers, burying all the storm of thoughts that fervently rippled inside him while telling himself that everything would be fine.

Joanna would never leave him. Sorrow and despair would not separate him from his wife this time.