The chapter opens at the choosing ceremony as the clock chimes. Knox arrives, makes a pointed birthday remark to Genevieve, and Ellin announces she is redeeming a token. The crimson fish Genevieve and Umbra had recovered is now a gemstone; when Ellin gives it to Knox, he grants her immunity for the round. Knox raises the Hunting Blade and it chooses Sevin, who grins and selects the game type “solitary confinement,” taunting Genevieve that it is his birthday gift to her.

Ellin departs to enjoy her immunity, and the players disperse with a ten-minute lead before Sevin can pursue. Rowin takes Genevieve upstairs, where Umbra waits. As they head down the corridor of enchanted doors, Rowin remains silent until Genevieve forces a confrontation by blocking a door. He pulls her into the upstairs powder room, covers the mirror, and accuses her of going through his things again. He asks if she knew about the hex, leading Genevieve to connect the dots: the crow-hexed invitation that brought her to Enchantra was forged by Rowin.

Rowin admits he authored the invitation as part of his effort to find a cure for his family, insisting that Barrington would never have believed it came from Tessie and that he had hoped Ophelia might help. Genevieve reels at the implication that the invitation was meant for Ophelia, not her, and challenges Rowin’s secrecy and prior attempts to push her away. Rowin concedes her points, apologizes for not telling her sooner, and asks for another chance, saying he needs her and values her stubborn resolve.

With their lead time dwindling, Rowin guides Genevieve into an enchanted room: a gloomy forest of black, moss-draped trees filled with mirrors. Their reflections show unsettling variations, including versions with abyssal black eyes, different features, and one that gives Genevieve “Grimm Blue” eyes like Ophelia’s, provoking reflection on her sister and Genevieve’s determination to survive.

Rowin sets Umbra to watch the entrance while he and Genevieve prepare to wait out twelve hours. Their charged attraction resurfaces, but Genevieve, still weighing trust, asks Rowin to earn it by telling her everything about Crimson Rot and how it has affected his mother. Rowin agrees and sits beside her. A large mirror reflects them as their masquerade personas—a fox and a hare—underscoring the game’s themes of pursuit and deception as they begin this deeper conversation.