After returning from the Savior Committee, just as Christina had finished attending a tea party.
She immediately approached him with concern, asking: "How did it go?"
"We were about to send someone to arrest Balas, but before dispatching anyone, Robespierre sent an oral message to Dan Dong about the matter, and Dan Dong furiously stormed over and had a big quarrel with Robespierre," Anning explained helplessly about the recent incident to his wife.
Christina, wide-eyed, exclaimed, "Could it really be ? Were the actions meant to prevent their fallout actually the cause of it?"
"No, I forcefully intervened and smoothed things over for them, at least temporarily averting such a situation," Anning paused, then recalling the issue of the family crest, he asked Christina, "What do you think about designing our family crest with a knight attacking a windmill?"
Christina was even more shocked: "Don Quixote? Why? Why use Don Quixote as our crest?"
Anning replied, "Because I am attacking a gigantic enemy that exists only in my imagination."
Anning thought with self-mockery: Perhaps I am not really a transmigrator, just fantasizing about a nonexistent world.
Not knowing any ’real history’ at all, everything seems to be an illusion, and just influenced a little by external forces, I might become purely a person of this era.
It seems I’m also affected by this kind of thought.
Christina looked tenderly at Anning: "No matter what you are fighting, I’ll be by your side."
Anning silently embraced Christina.
For some reason, at this moment, the tune of "Lonely Brave" suddenly resonated in Anning’s mind.
Isn’t he himself a Lonely Brave, battling a huge enemy in secrecy that even his wife cannot openly acknowledge?
Thinking this, Anning tightened his arms.
Due to the tight embrace, Christina who couldn’t catch her breath murmured: "Andy, I need to breathe..."
Anning took the opportunity to kiss her, further depriving her of air.
After a moment, he released his fiancée and lightly wiped his mouth.
Christina gasped for air, complaining as she breathed heavily, "I’m wearing a new corset today that’s particularly tight. You almost made me faint just now!"
Anning jested, "Who asked you to have such exaggerated pectoral muscles. If you were like Napoleon’s sister, there definitely wouldn’t be a problem."
Pauline, who was eating cake at the moment, suddenly sneezed enormously, blowing the cream off the cake across the table onto Napoleon’s face.
Napoleon jumped in surprise, "Wow! That sneeze was quite bold, fitting for my sister."
After sharing these romantic words, Anning felt much better.
It seems that doting more on his fiancée helps mitigate mental exhaustion.
However, Christina was still stuck on the previous topic: "But what exactly are you fighting against? Using Don Quixote as the emblem of a French national hero might provoke all sorts of unnecessary speculation, and it also doesn’t align with heraldry."
Anning: "I was just saying, forget about it. Did you go to the tea party?"
Christina shrugged: "I went. By the way, I heard an interesting piece of news. Maraisson Castle canceled the scheduled salon and tea party today."
"And today a lady went to deliver a message inviting Madame Boarne, but received no response whatsoever."
Anning frowned: "Josephine—I mean Madame Boarne—perhaps she has already heard some rumors?"
Christina: "It doesn’t seem like she heard the rumors just this morning, for the gardener I hired at Maraisson Castle didn’t see her today. Maybe she went out last night in search of Paul Balas."
Anning: "It’s possible."
At that moment, Anning felt a flicker of hope: perhaps Balas would misjudge the situation and flee, which would save a lot of trouble.
Josephine Boarne met with her lover, Paul Balas.
Balas looked surprised at his old flame: "Why are you here?"
Then he immediately became alert: "Is something wrong in Paris?"
Josephine: "Did you receive my letter? I had Charles send it out yesterday, he should have arrived by today."
Balas frowned, although in this era most men wouldn’t have issues with their lovers having another paramour, Paul Balas was not fond of such arrangements.
But he didn’t dwell too much on this issue and instead shook his head gravely: "No, I haven’t received any letter nor seen Lieutenant Charles."
Josephine: "Damn, my premonition came true, it must have been intercepted."
Balas: "Maybe he opened the letter, saw its contents, and then decided to switch sides."
"He wouldn’t do that, it must have been intercepted," said Josephine, not wanting to linger on this issue, and continued the conversation. "In the letter, I mentioned that sooner or later Dan Dong and Robespierre will part ways, and I also mentioned Frost’s fiancée’s poor information gathering skills amongst some other trivial matters. Who do you think is most likely to have intercepted the letter?"
Balas, looking somber: "That could be too many, I have plenty of enemies in Paris. Who intercepted it isn’t important; what’s important is our response."
Josephine: "Right, let’s just run away now. I still have relatives in Austria, let’s go to Austria..."
"No!" Balas flatly refused, "Once we flee, I can never return to France again, unless the Bourbons are restored. What’s important now is to find someone who can protect me."
Balas paced back and forth, muttering: "Go to Frost? He could protect me, certainly, but he doesn’t like political strife, unless I can prove that I am militarily capable, otherwise he wouldn’t protect me, never!"
Josephine suggested: "What about trying Dan Dong? Dan Dong might be able to lend a hand! He has grown tired of the endless bloodshed, gradually becoming the leader among those in Parliament advocating an end to the Reign of Terror."
Balas shook his head: "Dan Dong is most likely to help me, but he lacks power and might not be able to protect me. No, no, making the right choice is very important now. I need to find someone upright and unswayed by emotions to uphold justice."
Josephine, guessing what Balas was about to say, continuously shook her head: "No! You’re mad! That man sends fifty people to the guillotine every day!"
But Balas firmly said: "Do you have a copy of the letter? Or can you roughly replicate its contents?
"I want to go before Robespierre myself, tell him the content of the letter personally, convince him that the letter is not that important! Only then can we prevent further exacerbation of the situation!"