Sabine woke in a sunlit room of Matteo's palazzo, briefly disoriented by memories of prior hiding places before recognizing the late-afternoon light. She shut the curtains, explored the luxurious room, and discovered a concealed cabinet filled with fine dresses, selecting an indigo ensemble and a jeweled comb before venturing into the hall.

Sensing a mortal presence, Sabine followed the sounds of painting and found Alessandro, Matteo's human companion, working in a studio. Alessandro recognized her approach and revealed that Matteo's original name was Mateusz from Staropolska, a name he uses to tease him. He noticed Sabine wearing his late sister's clothing and resumed painting, having already begun a portrait of Sabine from memory.

As Alessandro adjusted the portrait with Sabine present, she tested his composure by asking if he could stop her from killing him. He answered without bravado and confessed he had no fear of death or of her, explaining he loved life but refused Matteo's offers to turn him, believing mortality gives life beauty and that he needs sunlight for his art. Matteo arrived, bantered with Alessandro, and expressed approval that Sabine had stayed.

Without ceremony, Matteo led Sabine outside despite the lingering sun, pushing her into a gondola under a thin canopy. He explained the purpose: to be seen so she would be accepted as local, reducing suspicion when bodies are found. As they toured crowded canals on the first night of Carnevale, Sabine suffered from the light while Matteo maintained composure, saying age had taught him his limits.

Matteo described how vampires age from within over centuries, losing compassion, fear, and love until hunger and violence remain, and warned that such decay leads to reckless death. This stirred Sabine’s memories of Hector and Renata’s end. As the sun set and Sabine’s discomfort eased, Matteo argued that hunger is bottomless and cannot be sated by any amount of blood.

Fixing on Sabine’s penchant for killing, Matteo insisted she must master her hunger or be mastered by it. When the gondola returned to the palazzo at dusk, he offered to teach her restraint and enthrallment, promising the process could even be pleasurable.