At the winter beach, Rune watches Gideon undress for a dare and is jolted by the crest on his chest: the thorny rose and crescent of the Sister Queen Cressida. Looking closer, Rune realizes it is not a tattoo but a brand, proof Cressida permanently marked Gideon as her property. Gideon, unaware of Rune’s realization, teases her to join him in the water.

As Gideon wades into the freezing sea, Rune fights to stay in her socialite persona but can’t fully hide after his earlier confession. Wanting to match his honesty while also letting him search her for casting scars he expects, Rune decides to accept the challenge and undresses, noting she has only ordinary scars, not the silvery casting marks he is hunting for.

Rune enters the icy water and reaches Gideon chest-deep. She tries to offer a careful truth, mentioning that her grandmother brought her to this beach as a child. Gideon presses the wound by referring to Rune “turning her in,” and Rune gives him one sincere admission: Nan was her best friend and the person Rune most wanted to be like.

Rune’s memories spill into a vivid flashback of Nan’s public execution: Rune dressing carefully to appear loyal, pushing through the crowd, seeing Nan (Kestrel) displayed with her casting scars exposed, and enduring the moment Nan silently mouths “I love you” before the Blood Guard slits her throat and discards her body in a mass grave. Back in the water, Rune only tells Gideon the part about watching Nan die, terrified she has revealed too much and that he will suspect her more.

Gideon closes the distance, cups Rune’s jaw, and tells her it is not a crime to have loved a witch—admitting he would be guilty too. His gentleness breaks Rune’s defenses, and despite knowing he is a witch hunter closing in on her, Rune gives in to their mutual desire and pulls Gideon into a kiss.