The morning after the storm, Paedyn lies awake but refuses to speak until Kai pushes her. Both are shaken by the journal’s revelations, and Kai admits that everything he believed about the Ordinaries, the Healers, and his father is collapsing. Feeling guilty for the violence he carried out under false beliefs, Kai says he wants to uncover the truth for himself, even if that means interrogating every Healer.

Kai then decides he will tell Kitt and show him the journal, because his brother deserves to know what their father may have done. Paedyn questions whether the truth will change anything, especially since Kitt seems to be unraveling under the crown. Kai resists that idea and insists Kitt will recover, revealing both his loyalty to his brother and his fear that Kitt is becoming someone he no longer recognizes.

As they pack up and leave their shelter, the conversation shifts into familiar teasing and flirtation. Paedyn tells Kai to stop charming her, but the banter quickly exposes the deeper conflict between them: Paedyn is still chained to Kai and being taken back to Ilya, while Kai insists he is doing it out of duty rather than choice. When Paedyn argues that she was never diseased and that the king deserved to die, Kai and Paedyn clash over blame, freedom, and what has been ruined.

The argument turns painfully honest when Kai admits that Paedyn is no longer just a mission or an enemy to him but a need. Paedyn tries to retreat from that confession, but before either of them can resolve the moment, Kai hears a twig snap nearby. Acting on instinct, Kai shields Paedyn and covers her mouth, but he is too late to avoid the attack. A sharp pain strikes Kai’s shoulder, confirming that bandits have found them.