Paedyn faces Calum, letting him read her thoughts as she voices her fury over being abandoned as a baby. Calum confirms Paedyn’s deductions: he is her father, and King Edric believed Paedyn was his own child. Calum says Edric handed Paedyn to a Silencer after Queen Iris’s death, discovering that an Ordinary had killed a rare Elite in childbirth.

Calum reveals Iris was a Soul, able to sense and absorb emotions, and says he himself is a Fatal. He spits contempt at Paedyn for being a powerless Ordinary, calling her a disappointment and saying Iris died “for nothing.” Paedyn reels as Calum admits Edric ordered him to dispose of her, that Calum failed to do so, and that Edric recognized Paedyn’s resemblance to Iris the moment she arrived at the castle.

Pressed about the past, Calum explains that the kingdom never knew of Iris’s pregnancy with Paedyn; Edric sealed the true records and told Ilya the queen died giving birth to Kitt. When Paedyn accuses Calum of causing Adam Gray’s death, Calum says Edric kept Adam alive to grow the Resistance until Adam discovered a kings-only secret; only then was Adam killed. Calum further discloses that he took Adam’s place to lead and infiltrate the Resistance.

Paedyn connects this with her memories of the Bowl: Edric allowed the Resistance to grow in order to gather Ordinaries for a massacre, and Calum served as his spy. Calum confirms this and claims pride in how he used Paedyn as a tool. When Paedyn challenges his motives for placing an Ordinary on the throne, he hints at grand plans to immortalize her in history.

Paedyn analyzes Calum’s influence over recent events—Edric sparing her, Kitt marrying her, the Trials, and troop training—and concludes Calum is not only a Mind Reader but also a Controller, a Dual Elite. Calum does not deny it. They fight; he evades every strike by reading her thoughts, and Paedyn realizes she must weaponize his emotions rather than her fists.

Paedyn advances while attacking Calum verbally and mentally, exploiting his guilt over Iris and his failure to protect her or kill Paedyn as a baby. Overwhelmed, Calum clamps his hands over his ears and closes his eyes. Paedyn sweeps his legs, draws her dagger, and holds the blade to his throat but chooses not to kill him; instead, she knocks him unconscious with the dagger’s hilt.

Breathless and shaken, Paedyn takes in the wrecked room—notes, books, roses, and Iris’s photograph—leaves Calum unconscious on the floor, and resolves to tell Kitt what she has learned. She exits without looking back.