The chapter opens with archived notes from earlier crawlers warning that sponsor gifts can be helpful, manipulative, or deadly. Carl then adds his own hidden record, explaining that he is documenting a plan in a way the system cannot easily monitor. He states plainly that the Butcher's Masquerade is a trap and that Queen Imogen will probably become the forced final fight of the event. Because Signet's elite quest also targets Imogen, Carl believes the production will sabotage any attempt to resolve that conflict outside the main show.

Carl defines survival as the top priority and lists the secondary goals he thinks are necessary for his group's future: solve Tina's quest by getting her on stage, kill Eva if the chance arises, save the changelings, take the castle by killing Imogen, stop Lucia Mar before she ruins everything, and make sure no hunters survive the floor. His allies sign the plan with varying levels of support, skepticism, or alarm, showing that the group is committed but divided on how reckless Carl's strategy is.

An hour before the masquerade, Carl rides toward the castle in a guarded wagon with Britney while Donut struggles to keep Tina under control outside. The high elf footman Theobold explains the castle procedures: more inspections, backstage access for performers, required formal clothing, bans on weapons and magic in the ballroom, and disabled access to magical storage. He also reveals that the guests will be separated across goodwill ballrooms, so enemies will not share the same physical space, and that any attack on a protected guest is treated as an attack on Queen Imogen under safeguards established by Apito. Carl keeps questioning him because he wants to identify loopholes, asking about known enemies, the queen's cat Ferdinand, and the hunter-hand prize counter, but Theobold offers only limited answers.

After Theobold leaves, Britney worries that the smuggling plan will fail under the repeated searches, and Carl checks that her shield is ready and tries to keep her calm. As the caravan nears the castle at dusk, Carl reviews the group's arrangement: other crawler teams ride in nearby wagons, Ren brings her pet Garret, and the supply cart holds props, attendants, and a robed "Signet" who is actually the changeling Pearson in disguise. Donut reports that new guards have entered that last cart, and then Queen Imogen suddenly materializes inside Carl's wagon beside Britney. Britney panic-casts Shield, Imogen asks whether Carl is really trying to smuggle someone who looks like her half-sister into the castle, and Carl realizes with shock that Queen Imogen is actually Ifechi, Florin's supposedly dead girlfriend.