Royo wakes at sunrise in the fleet carriage on the Eastern Road and watches the others: Aeri is cheerful, Sora and Tiyung still asleep, and Euyn and Mikail look as if they barely rested. Euyn says they will reach Capricia soon for a quick meal and washup before continuing toward Tamneki.

As they arrive, Royo remembers traveling to Tamneki as a poor boy with his mother to see the Royal Tuhko Championship, and how loving people—first his mother, then Hwan—has felt like a liability that doubles the cost of loss. Outside in Capricia, they pass a field where amateur men practice tuhko, and Mikail briefly gauges Royo before directing him to the travelers’ inn.

Royo returns to the carriage to wake Tiyung and Sora so they do not miss the day’s only stop before supper. He notes how strangers openly stare at Sora as they walk, reinforcing how she can use attention as a tool.

At the inn, Euyn and Mikail already have coffee, and they say Aeri went to wash up. Sora goes to wash as well, while the men wait and eat as breakfast arrives.

When Sora returns, she reveals she never saw Aeri in the washroom. Alarmed, Royo asks Sora to check again, then checks himself, and finds the washroom empty. Aeri has vanished from the inn.