Even if the Dawn Abandons You - Chapter 3

The execution took place in the middle of the night, and Anais had booked a train ticket to depart at dawn. She considered it the only stroke of luck on this day of execution, where nothing made sense from beginning to end.

After the execution was completed and the deaths of all members of the royal family were confirmed, Anais helplessly watched as Charlotte returned home. She couldn’t have anticipated being in this situation after already packing up all her belongings.

It was a sad but inevitable decision to sell the townhouse in Seine, where the four of them had once lived, and then the three of them after their father’s passing. Anais Belmartier had no intention of returning to Seine. She felt like a person caught in the midst of the Bathbourg civil war, on the verge of self-destruction, but she had no other choice. No matter how much she denied it, the thought that maybe she did hope for it had constantly gnawed at her brain.

The train station at dawn was far from quiet. Among the old nobles who primarily sought to avoid the withdrawal of the revolutionary army, those with some financial surplus chose to exile themselves abroad, often departing at dawn to reach the border area.

And most of the aristocrats who had enough resources were familiar with Anais’s face. Anais tightly pressed her turquoise cloche hat over her head, hoping to go unnoticed. She wished to leave quietly without attracting any attention, just as she wished others would do the same for her.

But then, someone approached her as she stood near the third-class platform, her large suitcase loaded onto a cart.

“Can I help you carry your luggage to first class, Mademoiselle?”

“Oh, no, it’s okay.”

“Why? Afraid a lowly commoner would carry it and run away… Uh?”

While among the aristocrats there might be someone who recognized Anais’s face, it was a rare occurrence among common people for someone not to know her face, even if it was a slight exaggeration. She was a young revolutionary who had lost her brother to Prince Henri’s deceit and her father to Prince Henri’s mistaken shot. An angel of gatherings, she tirelessly tended to the wounded wherever protests erupted. From the podium or the front row of rallies, she waved the flag and shouted for freedom.

“B-Bellmar…?”

As the man spoke, he made eye contact with Anais and gasped for breath, unsure of what to do. Anais tried to guess whether he mistook her for an aristocrat seeking exile or whether it was surprising to encounter her in a place like this, but she quickly gave up. What did either of those possibilities matter? Instead, she awkwardly smiled and raised her gloved index finger to her lips.

The man seemed to regain his senses, closing his mouth and nodding as if he understood. Whatever Anais intended with her gesture, he was grateful that the name Bellemartier didn’t resonate in this moderately crowded train station.

Anais huffed and dragged her luggage into the empty third-class carriage, without the assistance of the bewildered man. Since most of the old nobility traveled in first class, ironically, the third class was relatively quiet. The sparsely seated passengers showed little interest in one another as they departed the capital, as if they were fleeing at dawn. The train departed swiftly. After staying up all night for the execution of the imperial family, Anais was forced to compensate for the lack of sleep in the peaceful third-class cabin.

Anais fell asleep and began to dream.

It was a dream from a distant memory, a boy holding a white flower and offering her a white handkerchief, just like that flower.

? ? ?

There was a hand that handed me a handkerchief as if it was natural to cry.

On the day when everyone used to say that my tears would ruin everything.

? ? ?

Caught off guard by the unexpected encounter with Leonard, Anais quickly turned away and avoided eye contact. Although the sound of gunshots still echoed through the city, at least he was out of sight. Unbeknownst to her, tears streamed down her cheeks, a tangled mix of astonishment, fear, and guilt.

It was definitely him.

Why was he here?

It made no sense. Anais had heard that the civil war had escalated rapidly in the past few days after news spread of the royal family’s execution by the revolutionary army. It was said that the imperialists, driven by anger and vengeance after losing their purpose, began launching fierce attacks. But Leonard was here.

Not at Basbourg Fortress, but on this battlefield.

Was he evacuating injured civilians?

His hands, stained with the blood of the wounded, trembled before clenching tightly around his chest. Anais remained frozen in place until a hand reached out from behind and grabbed Leonard’s shoulder.

“Miss Anais! What are you doing all by yourself?!”

The hand belonged to Philippe Ardinand, a short-cropped blond man. An Eastern warlord and businessman who provided significant military support to the Leang Revolutionary Army. He claimed not to be a revolutionary or anything else, but he now stood alongside Major Celine Chatelet on the government forces’ front lines in the civil war. Like Anais, he wasn’t a trained soldier, but he was a renowned warlord, known for his strength on the battlefield.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Ardinand. I heard people moaning from over there.”

“That’s why there are doctors here! When we first met, you promised not to set foot on the battlefield!”

Anais couldn’t bear to witness the citizens of the city being shot and stabbed to death by fragments of bombs, so she intervened and prevented him from jumping into the battlefield. And Philip, who had been at her side, managed to persuade Anais to promise that she would also stay away from the battlefield on the day they first met. She understood. While Philip pretended that he didn’t want their encounter tainted by witnessing such horrors, everyone present knew that there was more to it. And Philip, being aware of the truth, admitted that he had no desire to go anywhere near the battlefield.

Finally finding Anais, who had suddenly disappeared, Philippe gasped for breath, a comical expression on his face that would make his men burst into laughter. Despite his shortness of breath, he scolded Anais in every way possible. This place was far more dangerous than a regular battlefield. Anais shouldn’t be naive, thinking that the enemy soldiers or his inexperienced followers would respect the rules of war and spare civilian doctors. She had to take care of herself.

“I met Mr. Ardinand again safely, so it’s alright. My head… it’s throbbing. Just a little peace and quiet…”

“Oh, I’m sorry. It surprised me when the person who was by my side suddenly disappeared.”

His apology was as swift and precise as his previous nagging.

“So, where did you safely treat those lucky injured people you met after leaving me behind?”

Philippe, who had suddenly calmed down, glanced towards the direction Anais had rushed from and asked with a teasing grin. In that moment, Anais found herself instinctively wondering if Philippe Ardinand knew Leonard’s face. Could it be that Leonard had followed her?

She couldn’t allow that.

“Yes… Yes, fortunately, the injuries weren’t severe, so they were able to stand on their own.”

Anais clenched her teeth and averted her gaze, lying to the person who genuinely cared about her only moments ago. She reasoned that since there were patients who needed to be moved, Leonard must have gone ahead to ensure their safety. That’s why, before Leonard moved the patients and potentially followed them all the way here without fear… She had to leave before Philippe recognized him. Anais quickly reached her conclusion and put it into action.

“Ah, Mr. Ardinand, I… I haven’t been in a place like this in a while, and I’m feeling a bit disoriented. Could you lead me to the rear?”

“I’m glad you said that. Let’s go right away.”

Though her mind was in turmoil, Anais forced herself to maintain her composure as Philippe and his men escorted her. She fought the urge to look back as they left the battlefield.

She couldn’t believe it.

Beyond her disbelief at Leonard’s presence, she couldn’t fathom the scene before her.

She knew that those who shouldn’t die were perishing. She knew it would be horrific. Edmund, the sole revolutionary army member who had visited Basbourg, had told her that despite the radical nature of the civil war, it paled in comparison to the wars and struggles they had endured. Anais had argued that as doctors, their immediate concern should be the lives of innocent people, regardless of the scale of the conflict. She even asked, “Aren’t we comrades before we are doctors?”

Initially, Anais had been led to believe that the fight was under control and approaching its end. But this living hell was something else entirely.

During dinner that evening, Anais inquired with Philippe about the smallest and poorest village in Basbourg.

Upon hearing her question, Anais Bellemartier made the decision to settle in Dunang, disregarding Philippe Ardinand’s attempts to dissuade her.