Madam Scheller seemed to wake from a nightmare. She rushed over in a few steps and flung open the door, immediately covering her mouth as she choked back sobs.
"...Lucas, it really is you..."
Baron Scheller, standing beside her, saw clearly this time as well.
It really was his son.
Four people followed behind him—two officers in Austrian Gendarmerie uniforms, a well-dressed middle-aged man, and another who looked like his attendant.
One of the Gendarmes looked at Baron Scheller and handed him a document.
"You are Rabo Tobias von Scheller, correct? Your son has been released. Please sign here."
Scheller took the few sheets in disbelief and immediately spotted the words "released without charge." His hands began to tremble violently. This was not parole!
He had actually been released without charge!
He suddenly jolted awake, turned to rummage through his luggage for a quill pen, signed his name, and handed the documents back to the Gendarme. Excitedly, he said, "Thank you so much! You have saved my entire family's lives! Um, as for Lucas's matter, exactly..."
The Gendarme put away the documents and gestured behind him.
"I do not know the specifics either. You may ask this gentleman."
After the Gendarmes left, the tall man beside them took the initiative to smile and bow.
"Baron Scheller, I am Lagardère, a French diplomatic representative."
The following noon.
A black carriage left Vienna and headed west.
Inside the carriage, Baron Scheller watched with a complicated expression as his wife held their son's hand and showered him with questions. His heart brimmed with emotion.
Austria's shameless bureaucrats had thrown Lucas into prison. Even after extorting three thousand Florins from him, they had still sentenced the boy to twenty-five years of hard labor. Yet in the end, it was an important French figure who