Outside the throne room, Kai and Kitt prepare for a spectacle to reintroduce Kai to the court after his supposed death during Paedyn’s Trial. Kitt straightens his crown and, with Kai, acknowledges the plan to make Kai’s survival seem inevitable and intimidating. They enter together, and Kitt announces Kai as the strongest Elite whose death “will not come so easily,” prompting shocked celebration fueled by fear.

As Kai stands under scrutiny, he reflects on the trauma of watching Paedyn nearly die at the hands of the impostor who wore his face. The hall doors open again and Paedyn enters in an emerald gown that bares the carved O scar above her heart and the slice down her neck. Kai notices Kitt’s lack of surprise at the scar, feeling a pang of jealousy at Kitt’s earlier knowledge. Paedyn ascends to the dais, poised and defiant.

A courtier challenges the legitimacy of the Trial, implying Paedyn failed to kill Kai. Paedyn replies with lethal calm, offering to complete the Trial on him instead, and then dissects him with precise observations: he is a Crawler who recently lost his dominant hand, weakening him, and he resents his Healer wife for failing to save it. Under pressure, the man admits she is correct, stunning the crowd and reinforcing Paedyn’s feared and respected acuity.

Paedyn addresses the court directly, declaring herself Ordinary yet powerful by choice and effort. She reframes her scar as proof of survival and vows to mark the kingdom in return. She claims identity across divides—Ordinary and Elite—and asserts she has earned their loyalty by enduring the Trials and deceiving as a Psychic through observation and strength.

Moved, Kai prompts the court to bend the knee to their “future queen of Ilya,” and the entire room kneels. Kitt takes Paedyn’s hand and publicly names her the Silver Savior, proclaiming that in three days she will be queen, cementing the timeline for her coronation and the court’s acceptance.