his wife Victoria, and their daughter and Albert's betrothed Eugénie; and the Crown Prosecutor of Paris Gérard de Villefort, his current wife Héloïse, and his first wife's daughter Valentine. Albert later meets the Count's alien princess companion Haydée and the Marquis Andrea Cavalcanti, a flamboyant nobleman who quickly replaces Albert as Eugénie's fiancee through the Count's influence. During the course of the story, the Count is revealed to be Edmund Dantes, a former sailor and Mercedes's first love. Twenty years before, he was falsely implicated in a murder by his assumed friends Danglars and Fernand—Danglars due to his hatred of Edmund's honesty, and Fernand to win Mercedes's hand. Edmund is then imprisoned in the Château d'If by Villefort, who sought to protect himself due to being part of an associated political conspiracy. With the aid of a demonic being called Gankutsuou that was lurking in the d'If, Edmund escaped and refashioned himself as the Count, committing himself to revenge against those who wronged him and orchestrating Albert's kidnapping to ingratiate himself with Parisian society. The Count's revenge against his enemies spans multiple fronts. With Danglars, the Count manipulates events to ruin him, then later confronts him when he tries to escape his creditors; after revealing his identity, the Count leaves Danglars adrift in space. This event is compounded by the exposing of Andrea as a fraud and murderer, having been set up by the Count as royalty as part of his revenge. Albert helps Eugénie escape Paris, with the two admitting their love for each other. With Villefort, the Count first arranges for Héloïse to poison Valentine, of whom she is jealous. Valentine is saved and removed to Marseilles by her soldier lover Maximilien Morrel with Franz's help. The Count then arranges for Héloïse to poison herself, driving her insane. Villefort attacks the Count and is put on trial. Andrea appears and reveals himself as the illegitimate son of Villefort and Victoria, then poisons Villefort as revenge for his abandonment. The poison drives Villefort insane just after the Count reveals his motives. Alongside these events, the Count ruins Fernand's name with help from Haydée, whose family was framed and murdered by Fernand as allies of the Eastern Empire, and who was sold into slavery. Albert challenges the Count to a duel for his family's honor, but Franz takes his place and is killed; in the process, Franz inflicts a fatal