Rune slips into the Blood Guard box beside Gideon Sharpe just as the second act is about to begin. Gideon startles and questions whether Alex is with her, and Rune forces herself into the role of a vapid socialite to keep Gideon from suspecting her real purpose.

While pretending to find the opera boring, Rune privately remembers attending the opera with her grandmother Nan before the Red Peace outlawed the old works and replaced them with Ministry-approved propaganda. Rune recognizes the new operas’ predictable message: witches are villains and witch hunters are heroes, a message Nan would have despised.

Rune pivots to her actual objective and invites Gideon to her party, intending to use enchanted wine and flirtation to lower his defenses and learn where Seraphine Oakes is being held. Gideon rebuffs her with open disdain, and Rune nearly snaps back before re-centering on her act, realizing Gideon is shutting her out rather than engaging.

Trying another angle, Rune appeals to Gideon’s bond with his brother by saying Alex would want him there. Gideon’s tense response suggests deeper conflict between the brothers, and he reiterates that he has better things to do.

A woman named Harrow arrives, prompting Gideon to stand and leave. Harrow quotes a line that Rune recognizes from a beloved old opera, but the darkness hides Harrow’s identity. After Gideon departs with Harrow, Rune feels she has failed again and worries about time running out to find Seraphine and about drawing suspicion by repeatedly stalking Gideon. Exhausted and anxious that enemies like Laila Creed may be closing in, Rune decides to seek out Verity, the Crimson Moth’s second-in-command, for help planning her next move.