After the first trial, Oraya realizes her injuries are worse than she thought. Her thigh wound keeps bleeding, and she suspects the arrow or demon claws may have been cursed or poisoned. Because Vincent's potion can only heal one major injury, Oraya uses it on the cut in her side to prevent infection, but she is still weak and desperate to see Vincent for more medicine.

While hiding in the greenhouse before dawn, Oraya is interrupted by Raihn. She is in no condition to fight, but she still arms herself and orders him to leave. Raihn ignores her hostility, studies her reactions, and eventually reveals that he brought her a healing potion. As he talks, Oraya recognizes that he is deliberately provoking and testing her while also accurately reading how close she is to collapse.

Raihn then asks who Oraya plans to ally with for the Halfmoon trial and proposes that she join him and Mische. Oraya immediately distrusts the offer and forces him to give honest reasons. Under pressure, Raihn admits several motives: the stronger contestants he likes are already taken, he is curious about Vincent's human ward, he suspects proximity to Oraya could bring advantages connected to Vincent, and, most bluntly, she would be easy to kill once the trial is over.

Even so, Raihn promises that no harm will come to Oraya before then and warns that, as a wounded human, she is prey in the Moon Palace. He tells her that her blood scent is spreading and that she may bleed to death or be hunted if she does not accept help. Oraya considers the strategic value of using Raihn while learning how to kill him later, but she refuses to commit and orders him out. Raihn leaves with the potion, telling her where to find him if she changes her mind.