Kingfisher strides through the palace toward a guarded door, dragging Renfis, Everlayne, and Saeris along. Saeris considers escaping but decides staying is safer until Saeris understands the quicksilver pathways well enough to reach Hayden. Along the way, Everlayne and Renfis argue that Saeris needs basic guidance about Yvelia, but Kingfisher stops and bluntly warns Saeris that humans are not safe in Yvelia, describing how the Fae were once cursed and used their fangs to drink humans dry.

Everlayne, devastated by Kingfisher’s cruelty and his reveling in the family’s “secrets,” calls him out as her brother and accuses him of being heartless. Kingfisher’s reply implies a long history of isolation and resentment, and Everlayne runs off in tears. Renfis offers to escort Saeris back to the library, but Saeris chooses to follow Kingfisher instead, prioritizing answers that might help Saeris get home. Kingfisher mocks Saeris by calling Saeris “Oshellith,” a short-lived butterfly that dies quickly in the cold.

Kingfisher takes Saeris to a plain, locked door and kicks it in. Inside is not a working forge but a wrecked, frost-slick chamber overrun by vines, broken glass, shattered lab equipment, and rusted tools; it looks like someone trashed it in rage. Kingfisher blames Clements, the royal archivist paid for centuries to study how Alchemists activated quicksilver, and says the place has been fiercely guarded despite being useless.

As Saeris starts salvaging tools and clearing debris, Saeris questions Kingfisher about his chain pendant and why Renfis insisted he wear it. Kingfisher explains that quicksilver pools are dangerous pathways between realms and that quicksilver can push living beings beyond sanity; Saeris connects this to Harron’s screaming breakdown when quicksilver touched his skin. Kingfisher then reveals that Kingfisher once traveled a pathway without his relic, leaving quicksilver “reminders” that blur reality, and that wearing the pendant quiets the noise in his head.

When Saeris asks why Kingfisher saved Saeris in Zilvaren, Kingfisher says Saeris would have died otherwise and confirms the broader stakes: Yvelia is at war, and Madra’s act of stilling the pools cut off Belikon’s supply routes between realms. Because Saeris activated the pool and drew the quicksilver blade—something only an Alchemist should be able to do—Kingfisher couldn’t leave Saeris behind. Kingfisher also admits Saeris is a bargaining chip and that Kingfisher’s true motive is personal freedom, not loyalty to Belikon or the war.

Hours pass in tense silence as they finish clearing the forge by hand. When Renfis returns and sees little progress on actual research, Kingfisher suddenly unleashes oppressive darkness, then snaps it away to reveal the forge magically restored—new glass, cleaned hearth, stocked equipment, and warmth—proving Kingfisher could have done it instantly. Furious at the humiliation and the hypocrisy about “righteous purposes,” Saeris confronts Kingfisher, but Kingfisher only says he wanted to see if Saeris understood hard work before leaving.