Paris had a legendary family of professional executioners—the Charles Sanson family—with more than two hundred years of execution history spanning seven generations. Most notable was the experience of the fifth-generation Charles-Henri during the French Revolution. This famous "Monsieur de Paris" had dreamed of becoming a doctor as a child. Unfortunately, he had been born into a family of executioners, a curse that seemed to hang over both him and his family.
He had no choice but to inherit his father's profession and become a professional executioner. He became a prisoner of fate, slaughtering countless people instead of healing the sick and saving the dying. When Louis XVI was executed, Charles-Henri carried it out. When Danton was executed, Charles-Henri carried it out. When Robespierre was executed, it was still Charles-Henri who carried it out.
Paris was submerged in a sea of blood. By day, he worked at the guillotine, killing people; by night, he played the piano, searching for a brief moment of reason and clarity.
He desperately searched everywhere for humanity and the acknowledgment of others. It was the love of a woman that gave him something solid to rely on.
Bessières and Virginie had met during this period. At the time, he was still a captain in Louis XVI's Constitutional Guard. One day, while on duty, he saw Virginie being harassed by two men, and out of a sense of duty, he escorted her home.
Bessières began following Napoleon in 1796 and served as commander of his guard. What followed was one campaign after another, until he finally gained some leisure and stability after the Battle of Marengo in 1800. Then he encountered Virginie at the opera house.
At first, he did not recognize her. The young soldier had only just arrived in the City of Flowers, and everything