In Rune Winters’s bedroom, she brings Gideon Sharpe inside as part of her usual strategy: lure a man away from the party and use her enchanted Truth Teller wine to extract information. Lizbeth delivers two cups and a decanter, along with an unexpected telegram, and mentions Verity was looking for Rune before leaving them alone.

Rune pours wine and offers Gideon the cup she previously enchanted, but Gideon refuses, revealing he does not drink because he dislikes losing control. When Rune switches cups, Gideon notices immediately and pointedly suggests she might be trying to drug him, implying he is alert to manipulation and possibly to magic. Forced to improvise, Rune drinks from the enchanted cup herself while concealing the spellmark under her hands.

The spell takes hold on Rune, loosening her inhibitions and making her fear she will blurt out dangerous truths if Gideon questions her. To keep Gideon talking instead, Rune probes why he abstains, and Gideon admits he once relied on alcohol and “stronger substances,” hinting at a rougher past, then deflects her curiosity by pointing at the telegram.

Rune reads the message: Public Safety Minister Aila Woods names her guest of honor at next week’s Luminaries Dinner and expects a pro-Republic speech. Gideon explains the original honoree, Lola Parsons, was taken into custody after a servant reported a casting signature. Under Truth Teller’s pressure, Rune nearly reveals her true hatred of the Republic and her grief over betraying her grandmother, but manages to redirect into safer truths—she has no dress in time and she will be forced to speak about Nan.

Gideon softens while studying the portrait of Nan, Kestrel Winters, with a young Rune on her lap, and Rune pivots from panic into a calculated attempt to get information through flirtation. The intimacy unexpectedly intensifies, and Rune realizes she is losing control and wants the kiss Gideon is about to take. To break the moment before she is overwhelmed—or says something unforgivable—Rune dumps her wine down the front of Gideon’s suit.