The chapter is told from Trystan's (The Villain's) perspective as he and Evie walk back toward the manor after visiting his sister Clarissa. Evie is walking ahead in pointed silence, clearly still upset that Trystan refused to share his past with the king. Behind them, Tatianna lingers, staring longingly at Clarissa's front door, but Trystan shrugs this off and focuses on catching up to Evie.

Trystan reflects on King Benedict's strategy, concluding that the king is sending the traitor through Trystan's family members—not necessarily to hurt him emotionally, since Benedict knows Trystan doesn't easily yield to such tactics. Still, Clarissa calling him a "monster" cut deep because her voice and face reminded him of their mother. In his most private thoughts, Trystan imagines a fantasy of sitting with his siblings and Tatianna at Malcolm's tavern, feeling a sense of belonging—but he dismisses it as impossible.

He also reflects on Evie herself, acknowledging that she is beautiful and that he feels unsettling pangs of both affection and admiration when looking at her, feelings he normally avoids. He compares her to the women he typically seeks out for physical intimacy—jaded and familiar—and recognizes that Evie is different, which unnerves him. Her hurt expression is something he finds "intolerable."

Trystan finally breaks the silence by clumsily noting that Evie is being unusually quiet, then offers a rare moment of vulnerability. He explains that his history with King Benedict is long and known only to his family, and that he doesn't refuse to share it—he simply doesn't know how. Evie softens, admitting she has similar things in her own past, and they reach an understanding. When Trystan asks if they have a truce, Evie takes his hand, smiles mischievously, and whispers that a truce wouldn't be any fun, leaving Trystan both charmed and wary of whatever playful revenge she has planned.