Roman sits at his desk in Dacre’s factory headquarters, drifting into a vivid memory of a candlelit room, scattered letters, and Iris’s presence. The reverie is broken when Lieutenant Shane bursts in with news from Hawk Shire, forcing Roman back to the immediate danger around him.

Shane reports that Dacre’s hounds have returned with one badly injured and no spoils, confirming that Enva’s scout escaped and that the attack failed. Dacre coldly lists the impossible outcomes—the evacuation of an army, Iris surviving gunfire, and a motorcar outrunning his hounds—and concludes that someone in his ranks betrayed him. Captain Landis tries to defend the officers’ loyalty, but Dacre silences him and dismisses everyone, making clear that betrayal is the one offense he will not forgive.

Because Roman is the one who warned Hawk Shire, Dacre’s suspicion terrifies him. Roman quietly packs his typewriter and leaves with the other officers, expecting at any moment to be stopped and exposed. Dacre, however, remains focused on the night outside the windows, and Roman escapes the room unnoticed.

Once outside, Roman is overtaken by pain in his leg, heaviness in his lungs, nausea, and a pounding headache. The symptoms remind him of the gas attack at Avalon Bluff, and the memory triggers panic until he steadies himself. When Roman touches Iris’s wedding ring in his pocket, the rest of his lost past floods back: running to Iris through a golden field, speaking their vows, and being with her in the dark. By the end of the chapter, Roman understands that touching Iris began restoring his memory, and now he remembers everything.