Epilogue

After being caught, the Phantom Cormorant stayed in the local police department for a few days, until they identified every single art piece in her hideout. Then, she was taken to the court of Paris to later be imprisoned in one of the high security prisons. The whole process took a weirdly small amount of time and was not announced to the public. The finale of her heist spree could be called nothing more than a disappointment, which is no surprise, considering the ones who took charge of her fall were the la Avise family. Sophie made an enemy out of one influential group of people, dooming her infamous rampage to be erased from history with no foreign force, but simply time, quite a humiliating way to be forgotten.

The fire of Prometheus went by quickly. The whole three days of the celebration were accompanied by empty streets in the morning and crowds upon crowds of noisy people in the evening. It seemed like the little town in Northern France had fallen into anarchy, only for the mundane state of order to be restored on the fourth day. However, some were free of labour even after the celebration. Those were Maurice, the scholar at the university of Seine, and Douglas, a hustler with a shady line of work. Together, they were visiting "Monso Rooster" and loudly discussing the events at the castle of Beaumont.

"Quit lying, man, you are not impressing anyone with that!" nervously said Maurice, while his palm was holding up his face. His companion angrily replied, "I am telling you, I was in the castle! With the princess of Liechtenstein!"

"Then how come you never saw us when those sissy nobles tied us up?"

The man did not reply, instead, he emptied a cup of coffee with several gulps and glanced over at Eugene who stood by the counter, "I am telling the truth!"

Eugene sighed and said, "Listen, we all were there, publicly shamed. Yet, you did not even try to help us. If you were truly there, then you are one hell of a shitty friend."

"I was busy!"

"Then, what did you do?" asked Maurice, to which Douglas once again said, "I was busy, ok? I can't tell you, but I was there."

Maurice shook his head, while Eugene sat down and took out a coin to make his usual tricks. There were not many guests at the time before lunch, thus Arnold was not too mad about the noise. He hid himself in the kitchen, leaving Eugene in charge of the cafe.

"I personally do not really care whether you were there or not, but we could use your help at the time."

"How many times should I tell you that I was busy? Occupied, wrapped up in something." His excuses continued, but both Maurice and Eugene already gave up on pressing this stubborn fellow. Instead, Eugene remembered something he witnessed on his way to the University of Seine with Sylvia. "By the way, did you make up with Cossette?"

Douglas did not answer, instead he lowered his head and murmured, "None of your business… Moreover, it was really uncool of you to leave her behind."

"Well, I cant tell you why we did it. It was a noon of opportunities, after all." giggled Maurice and Eugene left a remark, "You sound awfully happy for someone who was at the verge of being expelled."

"All because of you!" said Mauirce, "But I forgive you, because there was one peculiar man who could bring me closer to my dream!"

"Good for you, I heard Lawrence also met a guy from Germany who offered him a good workplace. Perhaps, he will soon move out." said Douglas to which Maurice spitefully replied, "Who would in their right mind even think of going to Germany with their current government? I really hope that Lawrence knows what he is doing."

Douglas giggled at his words, but Maurice remained serious about his concerns. Meanwhile Eugene realized that he and Jessie were the only people to not use an opportunity to fight for a better life. In his case, he was preoccupied with forcing Sylvia to his side. His wish was to get more involved with the la Avise family, but remembering Sophie's tears and Victoria's wicked smile, put him in a position of doubt. After all, he knows three people whose lives were ruined due to their pride.

Soon enough, the source of his choice arrived in the café. Sylvia stood silently near the entry, taking the attention of those little who were present there. She glared at Eugene for a second, but then exited the premise, after which Eugene followed her.

"Let's go on a stroll." she suggested right after his leg stepped outside, he replied, "Arnold will certainly not like it."

"Take it as a lunch break, but if you are scared of your paycheck being cut, I will cover the expenses."

"Awfully kind of you, but what would you like to discuss?"

She left, making Eugene frown. The young man, however, did not consider pros and cons for too long and soon enough caught up to her, and together they walked past quiet streets of the town. Despite changes of fall being more at the nose than ever before with yellow leafs and cool wind, it was a nice change of pace from the boring environment of an empty café.

"You have a nice dress, it really fits the colours of fall." complimented her Eugene. Her dress was red as usual, however laces and frills were coloured orange and even yellow at some parts. She nodded at his words, but immediately changed the topic.

"Now, are you happy to be involved with the la Avise family?"

Her question was like a bolt from the blue, yet Eugene was not really taken aback by it. In the end, it was the exact thing he wondered about while in the café. After a short consideration, he replied.

"To be honest, I am not sure. There is no single redeeming quality about the family I can think of. In the end, even Arnold suffered from their injustice. I am afraid of suffering the same fate."

Sylvia cast her gaze aside, despite that, Eugene continued, "But I am fine to be involved with Sylvia."

She turned to him only to be met with a warm smile. Eugene gently took her hands and finished his line of thought, "I never feel like I am in danger with you. We have banters here and there, but we usually resolve them and move on. Which is natural, considering the la Avise family is not a single entity. You are individuals, who think differently, thus Sylvia for me is nothing like the la Avise family I know of."

Their eyes were locked on each other for a good second. Eugene was smiling, but Sylvia's expression was stern. Only at the end, when she turned away, a slight smirk could be seen crawling up her cheeks. They continued with the stroll, but now with their hands holding each other tight. They walked all the way to the end of the park de la Piquette and stepped into the café to have a lemon rosemary pie for lunch. The sweet poison remained Sylvia's only weakness that Eugene knew about.