Roman emerges into the Kitt family parlor at dawn and is struck by how unchanged his home looks. He slips upstairs to his old bedroom, where he finds fresh forget-me-nots on his desk and realizes his mother has likely been tending the room. The sight makes him feel guilty about the pain he caused her, but he forces himself to stay focused on the mission instead of seeking out his family.

Roman changes out of his Underling clothes and into his old civilian clothes, keeping only four crucial items with him: a map, Iris’s wedding ring, and two letters from Dacre. Holding the ring reminds Roman that protecting Iris matters more than their own happiness. Because Val is likely watching him for Dacre, Roman decides he and Iris must act like their former distant selves when they meet, so he writes a brief note for later, hides his Underling uniform, and realizes he needs a telephone to contact her safely.

Meanwhile, Iris grows increasingly anxious after hearing nothing from Roman for more than a day. She tries to reach him through the wardrobe typewriter with a coded test message, but no reply comes that night or by morning, deepening her fear that something has gone wrong. She goes to the Inkridden Tribune worried and exhausted, though Forest’s note about Sarah coming to dinner offers a brief distraction.

At the office, Iris and Attie notice Helena looks worn down, and Attie reveals that the Graveyard has begun pressuring the paper directly. A threatening letter left for Helena, marked with pressed red and white anemones, demands approval over any reporting about the war or the gods. Iris is furious at this growing censorship, but before she can dwell on it, an assistant tells her she has a phone call.

On the line, Iris hears Roman’s voice, but his formal use of “Iris E. Winnow” and “Winnow” tells her immediately that he cannot speak freely. Roman says he has a message that must be delivered in person and asks her to meet him at Gould’s Café in twenty minutes. After he abruptly hangs up, Iris understands both that Roman is in Oath and that something dangerous is constraining him, so she leaves the Tribune at once to meet him.