In Paris in 1724, Addie walks through Montmartre with Remy Laurent, a bright, laughing young man who happily plays along with her disguise and calls her “Thomas” in public. On the steps of Sacré Coeur, they share food and talk, and Addie studies how human and warm Remy feels compared to Luc.

When Remy asks Addie’s real name, Addie cannot say it because of the curse, so Addie chooses “Anna.” Remy presses to know who Addie is, and Addie attempts to tell the truth of her strange existence, but when the words fail to land, Addie reshapes the story into something believable: a girl who fled a small life to be free.

The conversation turns to whether a life matters without leaving a mark. Remy argues that many unseen hands matter—printers, ink-makers, paper-makers—though only the name on the cover gets credit, and Addie feels the weight of that idea even as Remy misunderstands the deeper source of Addie’s pain.

Remy insists on walking Addie home because the dark is unsafe, and Addie, not ready for the night to end, insists on walking Remy home instead. At Remy’s lodging house, they go to his room, where Remy’s careful tenderness replaces Addie’s expectation of duty; Addie feels desire without dread, and they have sex marked by consent and attention, letting Remy overwrite years of bad memories.

After sleeping, Addie wakes to the familiar cruelty of morning: Remy’s warmth vanishes as he forgets her and treats her like a stranger. Trying to be kind, Remy presses coins into Addie’s hand as payment, and Addie leaves, devastated; wanting a token of the night, Addie takes Remy’s Voltaire booklet from the floor as she goes.