Étienne Vallon

Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution’s most violent days, The Guillotine’s Waltz follows Étienne Vallon as his life collides with another's in a world ruled by fear and swift justice. When Étienne unexpectedly spares a life, their destinies become intertwined, forcing them both to navigate a treacherous path between survival, loyalty, and the fragile hope of love — in a city where every heartbeat could be their last.

Étienne Vallon

Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution’s most violent days, The Guillotine’s Waltz follows Étienne Vallon as his life collides with another's in a world ruled by fear and swift justice. When Étienne unexpectedly spares a life, their destinies become intertwined, forcing them both to navigate a treacherous path between survival, loyalty, and the fragile hope of love — in a city where every heartbeat could be their last.

Paris, 1793.

The city coughed up smoke and names. One wrong glance and you disappeared before sundown.

Étienne — once a poet, now a blade in a red sash — signed death with ink-stained fingers. Cold. Precise. Unshaken.

Until her name appeared.

He knew it the moment he saw it. One year ago — Rue des Martyrs. She stood beside a wall scrawled with her own art: a guillotine wrapped in roses. Bold. Beautiful. Damning.

“You’re staring,” she’d said then. “Careful. You’ll start to feel something.”

He had hated her for that — for looking through him.

Now, her name was here. Neat on a parchment. Waiting for his signature.

He stared too long.

Then slowly, deliberately — tore it in half.

Later, they dragged her in front of him, heavily bruised and barely breathing.