The chapter shifts to Trystan's (The Villain's) perspective, beginning earlier in the day. He rides through the western side of Hickory Forest toward one of his hidden safe houses—underground hideouts where he stores stolen shipments intercepted from neighboring kingdoms that were meant to aid King Benedict. A spy's urgent missive informed him that another safe house had been compromised, and he arrives to find Valiant Guards attacking his people. One of his longest-standing guards lies dead with a dagger in his back.

Trystan unleashes his magic, a gray mist that reveals each enemy's weakest point in glowing color. He systematically kills the remaining Valiant Guards, the act of killing feeding his power and making him stronger. In the aftermath, he counts four of his own guards dead—three men and one woman—and struggles with guilt he considers useless. His head guard, Keeley, reports that nothing was taken but one knight escaped to relay a message, meaning they must relocate everything. Trystan orders the cargo moved to a more secure location and instructs that the dead be brought back to the manor for burial, silently vowing vengeance for anyone who has suffered in his name.

Trystan reflects on the mystery of how the safe houses keep being found, since only his magically bound guards, Kingsley, and Sage know the locations. He wonders who the traitor could be. As he rides south back to the manor, he feels a strange tingling sensation on the back of his neck, hinting at the danger unfolding there.

Upon arriving at the manor and entering his office space, Trystan is immediately met by a disheveled Becky, who gasps out that there was a bomb in his office and that Evie took it to the parapet. Hearing Evie's name snaps him into focus. He sprints through the doors, up the stairs, and onto the parapet, where he sees Evie's small form near the tower, her foot trapped in the stone. He screams at her to run, but she cannot free herself. As the bomb's timepiece begins to shake and the tower rumbles, Trystan reaches Evie, grabs her by the waist, throws her to the ground, and covers her body with his own, enveloping them both in as much protective magic as he can summon—though he fears it won't be enough. The world goes red as the bomb detonates.