Paedyn narrates her tightly managed final day before the wedding, chafing under constant oversight from Ellie and Lenny and performing ceremonial routines she dreads. Ellie dresses Paedyn in a navy gown with a corset, and Paedyn resolves to display her scar openly, imagining defying the late king by doing so. She releases Ellie to rest, then walks with Lenny, who asks a favor: once Paedyn is queen, he wants to be released from Imperial duty to see other lands. Paedyn agrees to discuss it later.

In the throne room, Paedyn and Kitt view the opulent floral decorations for the wedding. Overwhelmed by the reality of being bound to Kitt, Paedyn feels trapped and excuses herself, then physically flees the castle into the gardens as storm clouds gather.

Paedyn runs to the willow tree and finds Kai waiting on a blanket. The two acknowledge the imminence of her wedding and the distance between them in recent days. Kai says he cannot watch her marry Kitt; Paedyn asks him to have her "one last time" and to pretend they have a forever that night, stating that starting tomorrow she will give Kitt her life, but she gives Kai her heart.

Despite hesitation, Kai yields to Paedyn’s plea and the pair share an intense, consensual encounter. Kai undoes Paedyn’s corset after confirming her consent, and they exchange declarations of love. Paedyn removes his dagger to disarm the moment’s danger, and Kai vows that no part of her will go unloved.

As thunder and rain surround them under the willow, they make love, repeating that they love each other and calling one another "forever." Paedyn frames the night as their private eternity before she weds Kitt, concluding with the sense that their bond is both inevitable and destructive: "Forever my undoing."