After a few moments of silence, as Joanna seemed to be drowned in the melancholy of the dream, the call of Bianca pulled her back to the shore of reality.
"Milady," Bianca called in a low voice, and sounded worried.
Joanna slowly moved her gaze from the window toward the senior maid who was standing not too far away from the side of her bed. The senior maid was waiting for her response to the message that she had relayed about the General who wanted to see her immediately.
Casting her eyes down to see her hands that were not covered by the sleeves of the white nightgown that she wore, Joanna could see the rashes had appeared as she expected.
The smooth porcelain skin had now turned reddish with raised bumps. She could also feel it appear on her face as she felt the skin of her face stretched and uncomfortable due to inflammation.
The reaction to the potion that she took this time was faster than before, reaching the results that she had reckoned to occur in less than an hour, which was shorter by half than the predicted time. And it was the result of the higher amount of the potion that she took this time.
The precautionary action that she chose to take seemed to be the right decision. Otherwise, a weapon that she had planned to use to get rid of the person she wanted to avoid in this lifetime would malfunction.
However, the decision that she chose to make was not without impact, as the fever in her body went up higher than before. Her breath was also affected as it was more difficult to take compared to when she took the potion for the first time.
Fortunately, it was in the range that she could endure although she did not know if her condition would be worse or how long she could survive the torturing effect.
She just needed to make the General agree to nullify their marriage, leave this mansion, and not come back again. She would make sure to finish it today as she did not want to see him anymore on the next days.
As for her, to allow him to see her today was not a simple decision to make as she did not have any choice but to let him see her poor condition.
Then, after he left, she would take the antidote that she had prepared in the wooden box under her bed.
Turning her head to where Bianca was standing, Joanna said, "Please tell Father that I am ready to receive the guest, Bianca." Before Bianca turned around to leave the room, after she gave a nod of understanding, Joanna added, "And please pass the words as I said." And it made Bianca a bit taken aback but she uttered nothing, only offering another nod.
When Bianca left her room with the door closed shut, Joanna remained silent as her gaze landed on the blue sky outside the window once again, immersing in the thought of what would happen later.
Would she be able to be successful? Joanna wondered as anxiety grew inside her entire self.
Not long after, the silence that was settled over the room was shattered by the sounds of footsteps that were echoing through the afternoon air.
As the sounds of the footsteps coming closer towards her room, Joanna did not even slightly bother to turn her head to the direction of the door as she kept staring outside the window.
She did not even make a slight shift from her position when she heard the door slowly pushed open.
However, despite the hard efforts to keep her steady composure, Joanna failed to calm the whirlwind of emotions inside her that caused her heart to beat erratically.
The room was still engulfed in complete silence even after the guest opened the door of her room as the guest seemed to stand still at the doorway, making Joanna wish for him to change his mind, turn around and step out of her room.
However, her wish was shattered once again as she heard the door close and the footsteps coming to approach her in a slow fluid movement.
With each step taken by the guest towards her, Joanna felt her body fluttering with fear and anxiety. No matter how she tried to be calm, she felt her nerves become more tense, as if being stuffed with dreadful terror.
Against the rising tension, if it were not because of the inflammation that was currently occurring in her body, she would have gripped the blanket under her trembling fingers as tight as possible until her knuckles turned white, and she might have not stopped until her nails pierced her palms.
Therefore, to hide her unsettling emotions that were clearly depicted through her trembling fingers, she just slightly clasped them above the blanket, trying to manipulate her mind that her tremor was caused by the fever that she was experiencing at the moment.
She could hide her hands under the blanket but she refrained from doing that as she wanted to show the General the current state of her body.
According to her point of view, the side effects of the potion in the form of rashes that grew on her body looked very unappealing, obviously not a sight for the eyes. Even her mother-in-law found it hideous, which made her mother-in-law support her decision to leave Archess immediately, without any slightest doubt and prolonged argumentation.
She hoped the General would have the same perception, to think that she was a sickly woman with a distasteful body, which would then make him despise her and agree to annul their marriage when she brought up that topic later.
Were men eager to have healthy wives with beautiful and perfect appearances? He would not be an exception. Her current condition would only make him think that she was not the kind of right wife for the great General Canillas von Rodega.
This notion was quite successful as it could help her calm her mind and loosen her emotional strain, although it was not that significant.
Joanna closed her eyes shut and took a single deep breath before releasing it again, when from the corner of her eyes she noticed the man, who was not even the last person she wanted to see in this lifetime, had finally reached her bed.