Evie returns home after being dropped off by The Villain a safe distance from her house, with Becky frowning in the back seat. Evie's younger sister Lyssa rushes to greet her, visibly shaken from a difficult night alone. Lyssa explains that their father couldn't get out of bed and she was unable to latch the front door, leaving the house unlocked all night. Evie comforts her sister with humor, and the two share a warm, lighthearted moment together on the floor.

Evie then checks on her father, Griffin Sage, who lies pale and weak in bed. He appears to have deteriorated significantly, looking far older than just a day ago. Evie gives him his medicine, tends to him with a damp rag, and watches him fall back to sleep, feeling guilty for not having been there. His condition underscores the urgency of finding a cure for the Mystic Illness.

After retreating to her bedroom, Evie notices a gold envelope on her desk addressed to "Evangelina" with the cryptic note "I thought this would be of interest" signed with a crossed-out line and "You know who I am." She discovers her window has been unlatched and slightly opened, indicating someone broke in. Lyssa confirms the envelope was not there that morning. Inside, Evie finds an invitation telling her to come to Briar's Peak that night for a formal celebration hosted by "the core healer," promising a cure. The invitation permits only one person.

Evie suspects the spy left the invitation, troubled that a dangerous stranger entered her family's home. However, hearing her father groan in pain across the hall, she decides to go. She pulls out a special dress she had bought as an indulgence—a white gown that shimmers with rainbow colors in the light. She pins her hair with her mother's butterfly pins and, after some hesitation, applies her mother's rouge, a keepsake from her last birthday before her mother left. Looking in the mirror, Evie feels a sense of who she was always meant to be, but also acknowledges the danger she may be walking into.