The morning after the guvre attack, the storm clears—its magic spent now that the male and female guvre are reunited. Evie examines herself in a borrowed magicked dress from Tatianna that adjusts to fit perfectly. Tatianna inspects Evie's injured hands, which still bear acid burns from the guvre's venomous breath. Some areas are so badly damaged they will require multiple healing sessions. Evie refuses bandages, worried that The Villain might notice and question her capability. She has barely slept due to the pain.

As the two women talk, Evie asks Tatianna what it's like living at the manor with Trystan. Tatianna deflects, saying she rarely sees him outside work. Evie teases her about Clare, but Tatianna shuts the topic down, saying Clare ended things between them. Evie presses Tatianna for information about Trystan's past, appealing to their friendship and the many secrets Tatianna already knows about Evie.

Tatianna relents and reveals she grew up near the three Maverine siblings—Trystan, Clare, and Malcolm. She shares a formative memory from her tenth birthday, when her rare core healing magic had just manifested. Her mother threw an open-invitation party, and hundreds of strangers dragged ten-year-old Tatianna around demanding she heal them, ignoring her as a person. She didn't even get a piece of her own cake. Clare and Malcolm stayed behind to celebrate privately, but Tatianna still felt heavy-hearted.

Then Trystan arrived unexpectedly, having baked a cake himself—a skill taught to him by Edwin, the ogre who ran the village bakery and was Trystan's closest companion growing up. Trystan sang off-key for the birthday candles and told Tatianna that "the opinions of others are ever-changing" and to never care too much about the world's perception of her. The next day, he acted as though it never happened, refusing any acknowledgment of his kindness.

Inspired by Trystan's words, Tatianna decided she would choose how people saw her—leading her to adopt her signature pink accessories, starting with a pink bow she bought the next day. When Evie asks about Clare, Tatianna says only that Clare never forgave Trystan for the events that turned him into The Villain, while Tatianna did. That fundamental disagreement eventually ended Clare and Tatianna's relationship.