The following afternoon.
The crowd gathered outside the Bois de Boulogne was smaller than Anning had imagined.
As soon as he got off the carriage, he looked around, only to see few people.
Following him out of the carriage, Vanni asked, "What are you looking at?"
"I thought there would be more spectators..."
Vanni: "The trouser-wearing folk are at work at this time. Only idle nobles with nothing better to do would come to watch."
Anning smirked. He had already spotted the parasols set up by noble gentlemen in the distance, where several dolled-up ladies were sitting underneath them, chatting.
Vanni: "Those over there are Reginald's supporters; they've come to see how the son of a leatherworker meets his end."
Anning: "He has supporters?"
"Plenty of them. It's just that our Miss is solely focused on becoming the modern Joan of Arc, so she doesn't give him the time of day. In the eyes of other noble ladies, he's the brave White Knight who's won three duels. His popularity rivals that of famous poets."
While Vanni spoke, another carriage arrived, carrying three beautiful noble ladies.
The clothing of these noble ladies didn't quite match Anning's impression of 18th-century noblewomen; it was more akin to the Lolita style of later times.
One distinct characteristic was that the noble ladies of this era did not wear long dresses. Their skirts generally reached the knee, revealing their lower legs, which were clad in white stockings.
Thus, in this era, one could distinguish the common folk from the wealthy simply by looking at their stockings.
Wealthy men wore stockings showing their lower legs beneath knickerbockers; wealthy women wore mid-length skirts also showing legs with stockings, whereas common men wore long trousers, and women wore long skirts.
Vanni: "Which noble lady are you looking at?"
"Ah? I wasn't looking at anyone in particular; I was observing their clothes," Anning replied.
"I see. But isn't Mr. Mirabeau waving at you? Shouldn't you at least acknowledge him?"
Only then did Anning notice Mirabeau had just got out of his carriage nearby and was waving in his direction.
Anning quickly waved back and the portly Sir hurried over, saying to Anning, "Mr. Frost, I heard you are fighting on behalf of Miss Christina?"
"Who did you hear that from?" Anning frowned. "It's not like that. I challenged him because Reginald insulted me."
Anning paused, then added, "He insulted the entire common class!"
This made the reason for Anning's duel seem more noble.
Mirabeau looked around: "But it seems the common class isn't particularly interested in this duel; the audience is all nobles. If you die in this duel, they won't feel the slightest gratitude. On the contrary, they will praise Reginald's glorious deed since he has already won four duels..."
While Mirabeau was speaking, another carriage stopped nearby, and Sir Mabuli got out.
"Sir Mabuli!" Mirabeau immediately went to shake hands.
Mabuli snorted: "Mr. Mirabeau, there are no salacious affairs of the Queen here."
"Oh, I might call this gathering inspiration. What I see today could be used to write about two gentlemen vying for the Queen's affection."
Anning realized that Mabuli did not particularly respect Mirabeau, as now Mirabeau was merely a writer employed by the Duke to pen sultry tales about the Queen.
Thinking it through, it was quite poignant: a writer of the Queen's erotic stories becoming one of the leaders of the National Assembly and later being interred in the Panthéon for a time.
This fully illustrates that a person's fate depends not only on individual struggle but also on the course of history.
At that moment, Sais also arrived.
Sais: "Good afternoon, Mr. Frost. I've brought an arms dealer who will be responsible for inspecting your weapons later. Additionally, if you need to be provided with weapons, he will supply you with regulation-appropriate ones."
The arms dealer stepped forward and produced a sword: "You might want to give this a try. Despite its unassuming appearance, I assure you of its sharpness."
Anning took the sword and drew it with force.
The blade was polished to a shine, reflecting the afternoon sun.
"Very good, I'll use this sword. Thank you very much."
The arms dealer bowed to Anning.
Just then, three carriages approached from the distance, the leading carriage bearing a noble crest on its door.
Vanni whispered in Anning's ear, "Your opponent has arrived; that's the crest of Marquis Li Xia'er."
As her words fell, Reginald swung open the carriage door and jumped out, followed by a few lovely Noble ladies from the same carriage.
Anning was stunned, "I thought this Reginald was a suitor of Christina."
Mirabeau laughed and said, "Of course he is, but no one ever stipulated that he cannot accept the kindness of other ladies while pursuing the Duke's daughter."
Anning understood; this was the so-called Poseidon.
He watched as Reginald kissed the hands of several ladies before handing them over to a servant and turned to walk towards them with a middle-aged gentleman who had alighted from another carriage.
"Sir Sais, this is Earl Kory, my second," introduced Reginald to the middle-aged man, "He has witnessed me achieving honor three times."
Anning had assumed that Reginald's second would also be a celebrity who would emerge during the Great Revolution, but it turned out to be someone Anning was completely unfamiliar with.
It seems that encountering Mabuli and Sais consecutively yesterday was just a coincidence; he wouldn't continue to meet historical figures one after another.
After all, Paris is so large, with a population of around one million residents at present—it's not that easy to run into someone.
Anning: "Everyone is here now; can we start?"
Reginald: "It seems someone can't wait to rush towards their death."
Sais: "Mr. Reginald, please hand your weapon over to this weapon dealer for inspection."
Reginald drew his Sword and handed it to the weapon dealer.
As the weapon dealer was checking the weapon, Reginald haughtily looked at Anning, "Honestly, killing a commoner who has never received any swordsmanship training is utterly devoid of honor."
Anning: "In that case, you can request to fight unarmed against me with a sword. Surely that will allow you to win full of honor."
Reginald was rendered speechless by Anning's tactic.
Having learned swordfighting, he should know that a sharpened blade is no joke, and to fight against sword with bare hands is exceptionally difficult.
Anning had seen a video from a self-defense expert on how to deal with knife-wielding assailants, and the advice in that video was "run, then call the police."
While Reginald was silent, Anning continued to mock, "What's the matter? You don't even have the guts for that; it seems the honor you hold dear isn't worth much after all."
Reginald, grinding his teeth, squeezed out a few words: "You just wait! I'll use my sword to shred that despicable mouth of yours!"
Anning: "Is that so? I'm all prepared to bite onto your sword's blade with my teeth!"
Mirabeau: "Hahaha... sorry."
Anning didn't expect that he'd actually hit Mirabeau's funny bone; Mirabeau's laugh made the atmosphere turn weird.
Everyone was awkwardly rooted to the spot.
Luckily, the weapon dealer spoke up at that moment, "I've inspected it; the sword is fine, very sharp, it's a good blade."
After saying this, the weapon dealer handed the sword back to Reginald, who then looked at Sais, "Then we can almost begin now, right, Priest?"
Sais was about to reply when the sound of horse hooves approached.
This time the carriage carried the crest of the Duke of Orleans.
People respectfully turned their eyes toward the carriage.
After all, the Revolution had not yet erupted, and as a great Noble in the line of succession to the throne of France, the Duke still held significant status.
The carriage stopped not far from everyone, and the doors opened to reveal two Maids who, after arranging a step in front of the carriage door, were followed by Christina de Tolleson as she gracefully descended from the carriage.
She too was dressed in a Lolita dress; the biggest difference between her dress and the Lolita styles of later generations was the low-cut neckline.
Anning couldn't help but be astounded at the exaggeration of the cleavage within.
On his escape journey, Anning had touched Kroetz to confirm his gender and didn't recall it being so exaggerated!
Reginald immediately approached, trying to take Christina's hand, but the girl avoided him.
Then Christina turned to Anning and immediately burst into laughter, "Andy! I came to cheer you on!"
With this, Anning instantly became the center of attention.
Mirabeau whistled rudely, apparently having already concocted a novella-length story of the two travellers on their journey home in his mind.