Oraya finds Vincent waiting for her in a rare state of visible rage, bloodied from the aftermath of the attack on the Moon Palace. Vincent insists the Rishan are responsible and says similar attacks have happened elsewhere, turning the disaster into a wider military crisis. When Oraya asks whether the scale of the violence could mean the Rishan have an Heir again, Vincent admits it is possible, and he frames the coming conflict as a chance to destroy the rebels for good. He tells Oraya that once they are bonded, he will need her strength to invade Rishan territory and "liberate" it, then gives her more poison for her blades but no medicine for her wounds.

With the Halfmoon trial approaching, Oraya asks Vincent to help her injured ally Mische withdraw from the Kejari. Vincent rejects the request and responds with ruthless practicality: if Mische cannot fight, Oraya should abandon her or kill her before the trial begins. His answer shocks Oraya not because it is tactically unsound, but because the suggestion now fills her with revulsion, revealing how much she has changed. She hides that reaction and keeps pressing because she also needs her other ally, Raihn.

Oraya then learns that Jesmine is interrogating the prisoners taken after the attack, including Raihn. Vincent argues that Raihn is an obvious suspect and warns Oraya that trust is dangerous in wartime, especially with someone who may later betray her. Oraya insists Raihn did not cause the attack and that she needs him alive for the Halfmoon trial; after she begs Vincent not to break him, Vincent reluctantly agrees. Even so, he ends the conversation as a king rather than a father, warning Oraya to remember that they are surrounded by enemies and that she will need her own cruelty to survive.

Unable to get help from Vincent, Oraya goes alone to Nyaxia's grand temple and climbs to the Ministaer's chambers. She asks whether there is any offering that could persuade Nyaxia to reverse the denied withdrawal of her ally. The Ministaer quickly reveals what he wants when he catches the scent of her blood: he says a blood offering could compensate for the blood Nyaxia would lose by releasing a contestant. Desperate, Oraya offers her own human blood and forces herself to endure his hunger.

After giving blood from the arm already damaged by her Nightfire wound, Oraya returns to her rooms weak, aching, and lightheaded. Raihn has still not been returned, and Mische lies asleep but visibly suffering. Oraya tells herself that keeping Mische alive is the practical choice because Raihn would not be able to compete if Mische died. But as she fades into exhaustion, Oraya admits the deeper truth she can no longer avoid: she would not have been able to kill Mische anyway.