The Shadow of Great Britain

Since then, Mr. Dubris' life has been relatively peaceful; perhaps being far from the political struggles at the core of the judiciary allows his life to reflect more of its value.

But living in the city of Paris, political strife is not something you can easily distance yourself from just because you want to.

In 1830, the wildfire of the July Revolution was ignited.

The newly ascendant Orleans faction, much like how the Royalists once purged the Bonaparte faction, began to purge the old members from the Royalist era.

Though many Royalists managed to preserve themselves through the disturbances by using the 'wearing out the iron shoes' tactic from the new High Chancellor and Minister of Justice, as we mentioned before, Mr. Dubris was not one to go knocking on doors proactively.

So it was no exception that, even though the Orleans faction couldn't catch a slip on Dubris to remove him directly from office, they deftly utilized a series of personnel adjustments to return Mr. Dubris to his position as an assistant prosecutor.

Does Dubris harbor resentment for such ups and downs?

Though Mr. Dubris is known for not contending or competing, even so, it is impossible for him to harbor no complaints at all.

Politically, he was uninterested in the Bonaparte Party, the Royalists, the republicans, and the Orleans Party, but he had already been labeled a Royalist, and a die-hard one at that.

Because no matter how the High Chancellor and Minister of Justice of the Orleans faction hinted or demonstrated their 'generosity', or even if Dubris simply visited them once, they could overlook his earlier 'disrespectful acts.' Yet, Dubris showed no intention of yielding to them.

Even though Mr. Dubris might never have intended to be disrespectful to his superiors, at least in the eyes of his superiors, that's what they believed he thought.

If Dubris didn't understand such simple matters, how would he have become a judge in Paris?

Conversely, Dubris was equally perplexed and indignant, wondering how those who couldn't even recite the legal codes fluently became the High Chancellor and Minister of Justice in France.

Dubris never considered himself an extremist, but someone like him has been rendered so extreme by this society.

Since he stamped that forged document of the Royalist identity, his life has been completely disrupted.

He lay in bed tossing and turning, unable to sleep for nights, and in the hollow room at night, only by holding his wife's portrait could bring his heart a trace of peace.

This was the first time since he took office at the court that he committed an act of favoritism and perversion of the law. Yet, the first time he was unlawfully partial, it ended up being tied to the King's life.

To be honest, he was a bit scared at first. Sometimes he even found himself contemplating whether he should step with his left leg or right leg first when ascending the guillotine, and whether he should place his neck more forward or backward to avoid troubling the executioner.

But as time passed, the inertia of life helped him calm down, and since then, the Royalists hadn't contacted him.

Dubris continued to go to work in the morning, eat a bowl of vegetable soup and two eggs at a small restaurant outside the court during lunch, and in the evening, bring case files home to study thoroughly in preparation for the next day's work.

Yet, just as he returned to his old routine, his life was disrupted again by two unexpected visitors.

Dubris had noticed Arthur and Louis the moment they stepped into the small courtyard; their attire stood out drastically in Foiss Street, where people wearing such clothes usually have no reason to come. This place had neither the fine wine they liked nor the pretty cars and women, the last ball held on Foiss Street dated back a century.

Who were they?

They were Paris police detectives!

Dubris concluded this almost instantly.

As a judge, no one understood the vile nature of Paris Police better than he did.

Their public duty is to combat crime, but when there's no crime, they are keen on creating it. They inherently believed that treating criminals like a cat plays with a mouse is their right, and simultaneously, a way to relieve stress.

They loved driving suspects to despair, for it was an easy way to extract confessions and promotion chips from their mouths.

The longer Dubris observed, the stronger his sentiments grew.

Anger, panic, sorrow, a mix of complex emotions intertwined within him, but ultimately, the noble courage of self-sacrifice took over his heart.

He decided to confront these two rogues head-on; instead of sitting and wallowing, it was better to take the initiative.

Perhaps, the title of Court Prosecutor could scare away these two vultures that feed on carrion.

Dubris met the drowsy eyes of the 'Paris thug' with a stern look: "The two of you come here for the court case, isn't it?"

"The court case?"

Arthur stretched lazily; since getting Thiers' assurance, his mood was notably relaxed.

Though he didn't know exactly what the French government was plotting, it was obvious they didn't want to treat this assassination case as a simple assassination. In other words, they indeed needed a culprit arrested, but whether that culprit was genuinely the assassin didn't matter.

After a careful look over Mr. Dubris' face and internally confirming with the information left by the Royalists a few days prior, Arthur politely removed his hat and asked, "Mr. Edlaro Dubliss?"

Upon hearing his name spoken, Dubris reeled back half a step from fright but quickly steadied himself, vaguely asking, "So you really are here for the court case?"

"Hmm... you could say that." Arthur lit his pipe: "A friend told me that you could stamp false identification documents. At present, I have a few friends who need this problem solved, could you lend a hand?"

At these words, Dubris' eyes grew icy instantly.

His forgery case had indeed been exposed!

However, this guy hadn't arrested me first but was deliberately flaunting his knowledge of the case...

Momentarily processing these thoughts, Dubris quickly concluded: "Are you soliciting a bribe from me? Didn't your superiors tell you that Edlaro Dubliss never engages in such acts? You may take me away now, but you cannot repeatedly insult me on a personal level. I dared to commit such an act, I have long prepared myself for death, there's no need to toy with these disgraceful tactics on me!"

Louis, watching the sudden argument break out, was deeply shocked, believing it was some secret code between British spies.

Arthur was also stunned for a moment but, after a bit of pondering, quickly realized Dubris had seemingly misunderstood.

But he couldn't blame him, carrying such a huge case, anyone would naturally be jumpy.

Arthur explained: "I think you may have misunderstood; I'm not acting on behalf of the government."

Dubris snorted; for a moment, he seemed to be possessed by Dandong or Robespierre, delivering a rousing speech: "I am also not working for the government, but for the citizens of France! Go tell your boss Jusco that such tactics may work on others, but his schemes need not try on me. If he wishes to play tricks, he should have sent that devious devil Victor, not you two young lads."

Arthur, seeing Dubris' demeanor, scratched his head helplessly: "Mr. Victor? He was recently fired by the Great Paris Police Hall."

"Of course, I know!" Dubris slapped the railing in anger: "Because I handled that case on the Champs-Elysees! Does he still wish to fool me right under my nose?"