In Paris, Addie rents a room with a man and manipulates him into pouring drugged wine. She has learned to work around the curse’s limits: she cannot directly harm someone, but she can set a trap so the man’s own actions complete it. When the laudanum takes effect, the man collapses, and Addie pushes him off the bed so she can sleep alone.

Lying awake, Addie reflects on the past year under the curse: she cannot die, age, or leave any lasting mark, and people forget her as soon as she is out of sight. Time has become a chain of isolated moments, yet she has kept track of the date and realizes it has been exactly one year since she fled her wedding and made her bargain for freedom and time.

She examines her dwindling supply of laudanum and considers using it herself for a night of peace. Before she can, a familiar voice fills the room, criticizing her and revealing the presence of the darkness from the woods—her green-eyed stranger—who finally answers after a year of her pleading.

Addie attacks him in fury, accusing him of abandoning her and demanding to know why he cursed her this way. He coldly insists he merely granted her wish, listing the “gifts” of the bargain—endless time, unbroken body, and a life with no one to answer to—while blaming her for imprecise words and carelessness.

He reminds Addie of the exact promise that sealed the deal: she offered him her soul when she was “done” with her life, giving him reason to make her existence unbearable so she will surrender sooner. He urges her to give him her soul now, promising an end to her misery, but admits she would become nothing. Addie refuses, clinging to defiance, and the darkness vanishes after warning that she will give in eventually.