gustave léandre has always aspired to do something big with his life , quickly learning that building & tinkering were talents that he could master with ease. skills like these could help make people's lives easier , but in order to make that dream a reality , he would need proper schooling at a respected university. that , unfortunately , would not be an easy feat. the léandre family was not one born of wealth , though they had enough to live comfortably , which was a victory in itself. university was only a possibility for one of the léandre children , & in the end it was gustave's younger sister emma who would move forward on her education , as she had a desire to study politics & make changes her own way.
gustave would rent a small apartment in paris & commit himself to working full time while saving up money to earn an apprenticeship or send himself to university in the future. he would find himself a job as a gardener for the dessendre mansion , where he would be responsible for up - keeping their gardens in addition to smaller tasks that would be given as needed. everyone knew of the dessendre family & their talents concerning art & painting , but never did gustave imagine he'd be so close to see it for himself.
as time went on , gustave would come to grow close with some of the dessendres , enjoying his tenure at the mansion while tinkering & coming up with inventions in his own spare time. for a moment , things seemed very normal & easy as he worked & settled in his new life , even residing with the idea that he may just work for the dessendres permanently. unfortunately , it would not end well in his favor.
on his way home from a particularly late shift , gustave would be accosted by a thief just a block away from his home , demanding that he empty his pockets. having had a prototype for an invention in his possession , gustave took the opportunity to test it out & use it on his attacker. it was a convertible pocket knife that became a much larger blade when needed , & it did well to threaten the thief away , but he didn't account for a second assailant right behind him. the second attacker would tackle & eventually take gustave's weapon from him , slashing off his left arm in the struggle. from sheer panic , the two attackers would run & leave gustave in the middle of the street , where he would die from his wounds painfully & slowly.
no one can be sure what the dessendre's family reaction was to their gardener's death , as there was no official word following the news. surely they must have been shocked by the suddenness of his passing , but he was only an employee of theirs ━━ his loss couldn’t have affected them that much.
notes ﹕ this verse takes place in the ❛ real world ❜ aka outside of the canvas. it also takes place before the dessendre fire. gustave is very similar to his painted counterpart , though he has no metal arm & is often seen wearing glasses.














