The chapter is told entirely from Trystan's (The Villain's) perspective on the day after Evie quit. From the moment he receives his morning cauldron brew—without any of Evie's customary touches like cream, sugar, or milk-foam faces—Trystan's day spirals into chaos. He angrily rejects the brew from his terrified assistant Stuart, and Kingsley the frog holds up a sign calling him a "Blockhead."

By afternoon, a fire breaks out in the south corridor when two fire pixies have a disagreement. No one can locate the hidden irrigation hoses that Evie had installed throughout the manor during her first month of employment. Trystan flashes back to the day she showed him the rubber hose system, remembering how she mapped out all thirty devices and tried to give him a tour. He had dismissed the tour, telling her he'd simply ask her if there was ever a fire. When she asked what he'd do if she wasn't there, he replied, "You'll always be here, Sage." The memory causes him visible emotional distress, and he retreats to the damaged parapet, where moisture on his face—tears he refuses to acknowledge—slides down his cheek.

Ms. Erring interrupts to report that the finance team cannot read the appraiser's handwriting on crates of jewels intercepted from a Roselia shipment bound for King Benedict. Trystan realizes the entire heist was Evie's plan—she had proposed that Malevolent Guards infiltrate the Roselia escort by wearing their uniforms and picking off the real knights one by one. He had signed off on it, and it succeeded brilliantly. Ms. Erring explains that Evie was the only person who could decipher the appraiser's handwriting, underscoring how indispensable she was.

Trystan begins to accept that his office is an "ill-functioning disaster" without Evie, and that his righteous anger from the morning was actually a rationalization of his regret. He resolves that he must go to her. Before Ms. Erring leaves, she pointedly remarks that they are quicker to repair some things—like the parapet—than others. When Trystan asks if she wants Evie back, Erring says she doesn't, but adds, "I think she deserves to." The honest words hit Trystan hard. He acknowledges to himself that he needs to fix the situation, but doubts his own ability, believing he is better at destroying things than repairing them.