The General's Wife Wants to Leave-Chapter 132: A man is a man

The receptionist of the inn, who was familiar with the habitual request of the Duke of Barasca, who was frequently staying in due to his duty as a duke, which required him to visit the capital quite often as per the invitation of the King and also monthly meetings, soon took two keys to two rooms each for the Duke and her daughter.

When she saw a man, whom she had never seen before, standing near the daughter of the Duke, the receptionist, who was a lady in her thirties, took one more key. But before she was able to hand it over to the man, the man refused it.

"No need. I will sleep in the same room with my wife," said Canillas indifferently, without any hint of hesitation, causing the receptionist to nod her head several times after a momentary silence of surprise as she finally met the famous General of Archess who had married the young lady de Lara.

She then put the key back into the drawer of key storage.

Meanwhile, Joanna, who heard the straightforward remark of her so-called husband to the receptionist of the inn, could only strengthen herself to keep facing forward despite her embarrassment. To become the wife of the brazen, straightforward, cunning man, she should have a steel-like face to survive in life. It was Joanna’s thought.

As usual, every time they visited the inn, before resting in their assigned room, Joanna and her father would have dinner together in the inn’s restaurant after they did some essential business in the powder room.

Entering the restaurant, which was crowded with so many men and women adorned in fancy dresses and suits that one did not need to question what class of society they belonged to, Duke John led his daughter and son-in-law to one vacant table, where a servant would then approach them to list the order.

"Now! Now! Look who we have here! The shining de Lara!" A raspy voice came from behind Joanna and the General, who walked side by side behind the Duke.

Turning around, Joanna offered a slight bow to the middle-aged man, who was adorned in a tailcoat and held a cane in his hand, once she noticed who he was and after taking a step backward to grow more distance from the man.

"Good evening, Viscount Henderson," Joanna simply greeted the gray-haired man with a gray beard around his mouth.

"Good evening, my lady. As always, you never appear less beautiful. You even look... more blooming now." The middle-aged man returned Joanna’s greeting with a broad smile that looked terrifying in Joanna’s eyes while his eyes kept on scanning her from top to bottom and back to top again after lingering longer on her chest.

The corners of his eyes wrinkled as he smiled.

When the suddenly appearing man took a step forward and wanted to take Joanna’s hand, as he seemed to want to complete the greeting with a kiss on the back of her hand, Duke John de Lara stepped forward and took the man’s hand for a handshake instead.

"It’s been a long time, Bruce," Duke John greeted. As if wanting to finish their encounter with the Viscount named Bruce Henderson as soon as possible, he said, "Let me introduce you to my son-in-law. General Canillas von Rodega."

Duke John then ended the handshake with the alcohol-smelled man and turned to look proudly at Canillas, who had a stony yet icy expression on his face, as his gaze directed at the gray-haired man.

Canillas then came closer to face the man, whom his father-in-law introduced to him, completely blocking his eyes from scanning his wife disgustingly as he stood towering over him, as the older man’s height only reached his chest.

However, since the older man, who was higher in social status compared to him, did not initiate the handshake as he let his hands rest on the palm grip of the cane he held, Canillas only offered him a slight bow, not bothering to introduce himself through his mouth.

"So, this is the great General von Rodega, who is very lucky to have such a beautiful, elegant Lady Joanna de Lara as wife." The older man wore a sinister smile on his face, looking up at the tall, well-built, young General who had stolen the attention of the entire Terra, even having a noble, delicate young lady as wife.

"I would say it is both luck and a blessing to have Lady Joanna von Rodega as my wife," Canillas replied to the arrogant older man with a smirk. He did not miss underlining the right address for his wife, who was now a von Rodega.

It was not hard for Canillas to sense what kind of person the older man in front of him was, whose disgusting eyes never stopped eyeing his wife, who was more suitable to be regarded as his daughter. It made him itch to pull out his disgusting eyes so that they would not be used for the wrong purpose anymore.

Canillas stared down straight at the older man, who also looked up as if challenging him with a sinister smile that spread across his arrogant face. Nevertheless, the staring contest ended faster than Canillas expected.

As the staring contest seemed too hard to behold, the older man laughed before drifting his reddened, teary eyes away and blinking several times, attempting to cool down his burning eyes.

About five seconds after calming down his burning eyes, the older man shifted his still-reddened eyes to look back at the young General. Smiling, he nodded his head before saying,

"I agree with you that you are such a lucky and blessed man. That’s why we met here. Then let me introduce you to my daughter, who is more captivating than your wife, Lady Joanna von Rodega." Viscount Henderson suddenly changed the topic absurdly, making Canillas knit his brows at the absurd topic the seemingly drunk man brought up.

"She is not as plain as your wife." The previous praise the older man sang for the beautiful, elegant Lady Joanna de Lara was no longer heard. "I am so sure that you will like my daughter and be interested in taking her as a mistress." A beaming smile was plastered on Viscount Henderson’s wrinkly, beaming face before he added,

"I am not greedy enough to ask you to take my daughter as your wife. Divorcing while you are still in the newlywed phase is not good. But you can think about that later. For now, just take my daughter as your mistress, so you won’t regret anything in life."

Absurdity got louder and louder in the air. Not only Canillas but also Duke de Lara wondered what they were doing, wasting time talking with the drunkard, insane old man.

"Having a wife and a mistress. Don’t you think it is wonderful to have such a colorful life?" The Viscount spoke more with a grin when he saw that the General only kept his mouth shut while having his eyes look sharply at him with furrowing brows.

"You can offer her to someone else. I will never divorce my wife and am not interested in taking any mistresses," Canillas responded sternly, turning around as he wanted to end the imbecilic conversation with a drunkard, insane man.

"Erna! Lauren! Come here!" The sudden, loud voice of what seemed to be drunk Viscount Henderson beat the noises of people chatting and laughing as well as the sound of clattering utensils, causing all eyes who were in the restaurant to now be on them.

The loud voice also made Canillas and the Duke, who had turned around, ready to leave the man, who seemed to be intoxicated with alcohol, turn back to face him.

Not long later, two young ladies who were around Joanna’s age walked in their direction.

Knowing what the insane man was going to do, as he noticed the approaching women, Canillas quickly held Joanna’s hand, who had stood, shielding herself from the drunkard, womanizer old man behind her father and her husband while listening to his absurdity.

"Sorry to hold your hand, wife. Your husband really needs you to save him now," Canillas whispered in Joanna’s ear, remembering their hilarious agreement where he had to ask for her permission to hold her hand, including when they were in public.

And he was relieved that his wife did not object or create any arguments to make the situation more complicated this time. In his mind, showing their affection was the only quick method to get rid of any women-related issues that made him feel more tired compared to when he had to fight his enemies on the battlefield.

"Let me introduce you to my beautiful daughters. Erna and Lauren." Viscount Henderson introduced two young women while his eyes glanced at the sign of affection that was exhibited by the couple before him.

But he kept introducing his two daughters. No matter how great and warm affection between a young couple was performed in front of him, a man was only a man—a living being that was like a beast.

They would never be able to decline any savory, mouth-watering meat that was served before their eyes. It was Viscount Henderson’s thought, based on what he, as a man, had experienced in life.

Meanwhile, Joanna, who was startled when her hand was suddenly held by her husband, as her attention was centered on the daughters of Viscount Henderson at that moment, did not make any objection. She knew why he did that, as he wanted to show their affection, showing them that there was no room for any mistresses in their marriage.

When the word mistress was spoken by the womanizer Viscount, who suddenly came out of nowhere to disturb them, Joanna could not help but be affected.

The General said that he would only marry once. But what about taking mistresses to warm his bed, as she was not willing to fulfill her duty as his wife?

He just said that he was not interested in taking any mistresses. Was he serious and able to hold on to any man’s desire for a long time? Would he be like her father, who had never taken any woman to his bed even after her mother passed away?

Joanna pondered while looking at the two women in front of her. The first one was petite in stature and looked timid like a scaredy cat, while the other one was taller and more voluptuous, looking more self-contented with red-tinted lips that never stopped smiling seductively.