Genevieve, writing in her diary in a mirrorless room, reflected on being trapped in another Devil-run mansion, fearing her impending marriage to Rowin just before her twenty-second birthday. She confessed to feeling reckless and worried about Ophelia’s judgment, acknowledging her history of nearly marrying someone she despised.

Rowin entered to report that specifications for Genevieve’s wedding dress had been sent. Earlier, Genevieve had refused to answer questions about the ceremony, though she perked up at the promise of an extravagant gown. After Barrington and Sevin left to handle preparations, Rowin proposed a tour of Enchantra to help with Hunt survival.

As they moved through the mansion, Rowin explained that each Hunt round had different rules and that his siblings favored certain variants. When Genevieve asked if he had a favorite game, he answered wryly, highlighting their combative dynamic. In the ballroom at the grand staircase, Rowin abruptly pulled Genevieve close, bending her back against the banister to stage intimacy because they had “an observer.”

Rowin identified the watcher as Grave after the man at the top of the stairs vanished. Genevieve recognized him as the unidentified stranger she had encountered in the mirror-realm. Once the moment passed, Rowin cooled and suggested continuing, while Genevieve, rattled by his hot-cold shift, chose to prepare her hair for the ceremony instead of the tour. Rowin warned that, as a mortal, she only died once, and left.

Walking back through the foyer, Genevieve grumbled about the situation. Hearing a grunt from a nearby corridor, she investigated a cracked door and saw a man in a dark bedroom, his back marked by a tattoo of a black serpent climbing his spine. He used a knife to make shallow cuts along his ribs, moaning as blood ran down. Startled, Genevieve gasped; the man rasped a challenge, and she fled.

She rushed past Sevin, who teased her about cold feet. Genevieve flipped him off and headed for the drawing room, only to run into Ellin at the door. Ellin announced that the wedding dress had arrived and urged Genevieve to get ready, ending Genevieve’s brief attempt to escape the mounting dread.