Paedyn and Kai, still mourning Kitt six days after his death, sort through his blood-marked letters. The writings oscillate between rage, grief, calculation, and loneliness, showing Kitt at war with himself and the brothers’ mutual dependence.

The earliest notes capture Kitt’s shock after Edric’s beheading, his anger at Paedyn, and his command to send his Enforcer after her. He documents isolation, rumored madness, and a self-assessment as a disappointment to his father, resolving to become powerful to earn posthumous approval.

Kitt recounts Calum’s push to marry Paedyn to bait Ordinaries, and Edric’s legacy urging eradication of Ordinaries. Upon learning Elites could be made, Kitt pivots: with an Ordinary queen to open borders, he intends to smuggle the Plague into other kingdoms and rule a world of Elites. He pleads for Kai’s loyalty, fearing Paedyn will take him, and frames his coming choices as “for us.”

He admits taking a second dose of the Plague despite Scholar warnings, citing Edric dosing infant Ava, whose death he links to the Plague. He hides his worsening symptoms from Kai, forces Scholars and Healers to comply, and publicly decrees the welcoming of Ordinaries as cover for broader expansion. He describes using Paedyn’s wedding and image for optics while planning her eventual demise via Trials and Plague-laced roses shipped to Izram.

Kitt details orchestrating distractions like the parade bombing and pushing Paedyn into another set of Trials per Easel’s advice, while sending bandits and later plotting her sea journey to Izram with a captain’s discreet license to kill her. He admits simultaneous resentment and reluctant admiration as Paedyn grows stronger, while recognizing Kai’s deepening devotion to her and fearing the loss of his brother.

From Queen Iris’s chamber, Kitt finds notes implying Iris and Calum’s intimacy, triggering paranoia about his own paternity. He writes a cold letter to Paedyn, professing indifference and promising a public mourning once she is gone, insisting he only knows how to love his brother. He remarks on brief, stabilizing moments with Kai, drunken camaraderie, and his declining health.

Kitt confesses arranging Makoto Khitan (the Wielder known as Mak) to fight Paedyn for revenge and spectacle, describing how Calum found Mak after the third Purging Trial. He notes Mak died despite payment for a good show and acknowledges Paedyn’s knack for making people care. As his memory begins to fail, he records Paedyn’s revelation of her Iris lineage and, fearing exposure as illegitimate, admits killing Calum after allowing Calum to read his apology.

In closing entries, Kitt observes the slums bowing to Paedyn and recognizes her claim to the throne. Panic and obsession intensify as he insists on protecting his legacy, eliminating Paedyn, and proving his greatness beyond Edric, even as the Plague erodes his mind and body.