What made Steed fortunate was that Bonnet had never publicly declared his separation from the Republican Party.
Steed guessed that Schneider hoped Bonnet would continue to lie dormant within the Republican Party until the critical moment when the Little Daily would suddenly change its tone, exposing some remarks against Shire, thus throwing Shire into chaos.
Since Bonnet had made no moves, Steed pretended not to know and was happy to see him continue to "play the fool."
As for Layom, Steed secretly went to the Saint-Étienne Armory under the arrangement of security captain Klein.
When Steed suddenly appeared in Layom's office and took control of the entire staff, Layom realized that the plan had been exposed.
"Father!" Layom's face instantly lost its color, and he stood up from his desk in panic.
Klein placed a chair in front of Layom and Steed slowly approached, sitting down and squeezing out a few words from between his teeth: "What conditions did Schneider offer you?"
