Evie seizes an opportunity while The Villain is away from his office to open an overhead vent connected to the mess hall, hoping to eavesdrop on workers' conversations that might reveal useful intelligence. She climbs onto his desk in her stockinged feet and manages to pop the vent open just as The Villain returns. He watches with dry amusement. When Evie loses her footing on a loose piece of parchment, she falls and takes them both down, landing on top of him. They share a warm, playful moment—she teases him about a bald spot, and he asks her to "dismount." The Villain begins to open up about his past, but Becky bursts in, interrupting the intimate exchange.

Becky presents a letter she claims fell from Evie's pocket: King Benedict's offer of employment, which Evie had previously found in Blade's room. The Villain reads it and demands an explanation, immediately suspicious. Evie tries to explain that she withheld the letter to give "someone else" the chance to come forward, but The Villain cuts her off, accusing her of keeping secrets while expecting him to share his own. He tells her he stopped caring about who lies to him long ago, and when Evie holds up the gold-inked pinkie as proof of her loyalty, he dismisses it, saying the magic only prevents her from causing him harm—not from lying.

Evie is devastated, feeling that every moment of mutual respect she believed they shared was one-sided. She spirals into painful memories of her family: how her father relied on her to hold everyone together after her mother's despair following Lyssa's birth and the arrival of her mother's magic, how she received no help from her father or brother Gideon, and how her family still crumbled. She questions whether The Villain ever valued her or merely pitied her.

Overcome with anger, shame, and helplessness, Evie declares she quits. She grabs her knapsack and cloak and storms out of the office past the silent workers, ignoring The Villain's pursuit and incredulous protests. She flies down the stairs, runs past the gate, and only then realizes the gravity of what she's done: her magical bargain with The Villain, sealed in gold ink on her pinkie, was a vow of loyalty. According to a Malevolent Guard member, the ink can turn to poison at even the hint of betrayal. By quitting, Evie may have triggered a death sentence upon herself.