At nightfall, Oraya is escorted from her locked room to the throne room, with Raihn and Cairis leading her through a palace that no longer feels like home. Raihn dismisses Oraya’s suggestion that she is his prisoner and insists that she is his queen. As Oraya walks the halls, she sees how thoroughly the regime has changed: unfamiliar Rishan faces fill the palace, paintings have been torn down, and even Vincent’s likeness has been defaced.

In the throne room, Oraya feels the hatred of the gathered Rishan courtiers, who see her not as weak prey but as a dangerous source of power. While Raihn steps away to speak with Ketura, Oraya studies the wreckage around her, including the smashed Hiaj paintings near the ballroom doors. The destruction makes clear that Raihn’s victory has not simply changed rulers; it has violently remade the kingdom’s symbols and loyalties.

Septimus approaches Oraya alone and turns their exchange into a political and personal challenge. Oraya accuses him of helping slaughter a kingdom, but Septimus argues that both humans and Bloodborn have been used as disposable pieces in Nyaxia’s games. When Oraya presses him about his bargain with Raihn, Septimus reveals that he never expected Raihn to kill her after saving her; instead, he trusted that Raihn’s attachment to Oraya would make Septimus’s larger gamble pay off. He also tries to align himself with Oraya by suggesting that both of them know what it means to fight against time.

After Septimus leaves, Raihn takes Oraya into the ballroom, where the burning city of Sivrinaj glows beyond the windows. Beneath his usual flippancy, Raihn admits the terrifying truth: now they must somehow build a kingdom out of ruin, surrounded by enemies and betrayal. Oraya recognizes that she and Raihn are bound together by fear, love, hatred, and a rare mutual understanding. When Raihn asks if she is going to kill him, echoing an earlier moment between them, Oraya places a hand on his chest and answers, "Not tonight," choosing temporary alliance over immediate revenge.