72 Babies

For the longest time, I mentally chastised Al for not wanting to involve himself in his family's problems for the sake of the plot. Now I felt guilty about my double standards. If he was anyone else I would have agreed that he should cut ties with them and live his own life happily.

That was the problem with slapping on labels like "protagonist." I had held him to a higher standard without thinking of him as a real person with feelings. Things were different now; he was a real person to me. One that I cared about and wanted to be happy.

Since disregarding the plot and trying to think of this as just another place I landed in that was not a novel and had no set future I went back and forth about whether it would be in our best interests to stay or go. There was still treason to contend with. Maybe Franz would just let us leave once he became king and we wouldn't have to worry about it.