In the hidden stone chamber beyond the library passage, Ophelia and Blackwell realize the room itself is a puzzle. They find bricks marked with tally-like numbers, then discover a movable floor tile marked as one. By pressing the floor tile first and the numbered stones in order through five, they trigger the mechanism and open a low crawlspace in the wall.

The victory immediately turns dangerous when acid begins pouring from the ceiling. Blackwell phases and shoves Ophelia into the tunnel, then drags her to safety through the passage and into a second hidden room. Because some acid has eaten through her clothing, he quickly strips away her damaged dress and corset before it can burn her skin. In the aftermath, Blackwell admits he should have been able to transport her away sooner, but wasting power on punishing Cade limited him; he also reveals that whenever Ophelia is hurt, their bond frays, which could eventually make it harder for him to hear her summons.

When they examine the new chamber, they find it is a wood-paneled room with a bookshelf that likely leads back to the library, making the entire ordeal feel pointless. Ophelia is furious, and Blackwell undercuts her tirade by pointing out that she is almost naked. Their banter turns flirtatious, then more charged, when he teases her about the false version of him from the Lust trial and asks what he would need to replace in her memory.

Instead of withdrawing, Ophelia asks Blackwell to show her. They kiss, and the encounter becomes intensely physical, with Blackwell repeatedly checking that she wants to continue. Ophelia gives in to desire, discovering a level of pleasure and hunger she has not felt before, and Blackwell brings her to climax. He then remarks that if it had really been him during the trial, that moment alone would likely have made her fail.

Afterward, Ophelia admits a past lover never made her feel anything like this, and Blackwell dismisses that man as useless. He makes clear he did not pursue the encounter for his own release, then offers to return her to her room. Ophelia insists that what happened cannot happen again because their blood bargain already complicates matters, but Blackwell clearly does not believe her. As she gathers her ruined clothes, she knocks over a candelabra and discovers words scratched into the wooden floor: one name has been violently erased, but the remaining inscription reads, And Gabriel Forever.