Kitt sits at his desk with a small box hidden beneath stained parchment, using it to avoid dwelling on a decision that Calum encouraged and that he partly justified through his father’s lessons about kingship. When a masked Imperial reports in, Kitt immediately asks whether there has been any sign of Kai, Kai’s men, or Paedyn. After hearing that no one has been found, Kitt orders the search to continue at the edge of the city.

Once the Imperial leaves, Kitt’s anxiety turns into suspicion. Because Kai has been gone for more than two weeks, Kitt begins to fear that Kai never intended to return Paedyn and may have run away with her instead. This fear exposes Kitt’s insecurity about ruling after his father’s death, especially because Kai always succeeded for Kitt’s father, while Kitt still feels overshadowed and inadequate by comparison.

Kitt then reflects on the court’s view of him and on his own grief. He knows the kingdom thinks he has become unstable after finding his father murdered, yet he resents grieving a man who valued power over his sons and never gave him approval. At the same time, Kitt misses the life he had before the crown, including his former closeness with Kai and memories of how the brothers leaned on each other after Ava.

His thoughts return to the hidden box and to the possibility that his recent decision might ease the burden of kingship. Trying to move forward, Kitt takes out a clean sheet of parchment and writes a letter to his dead father, treating it as a way to confront the grief he believes his father does not deserve.

After that, Kitt writes another letter to Paedyn, as he often does. His fixation on her becomes unmistakable as he keeps returning to the same thought: she should be back by now. He presses hard enough to smudge ink and tear the paper, then adds the damaged page to the growing pile, ending the chapter with his worry, jealousy, and obsession unresolved.