In the fortune-teller’s tent, Marco arrives abruptly and confronts Isobel, demanding to know why she did not tell him about a new feature at the circus. He shows her a notebook sketch of a bare black tree covered in dripping white candles, which Isobel identifies as the Wishing Tree and describes as a place where new candles are lit from old ones—new wishes ignited by previous wishes.

Marco insists the Wishing Tree is Celia’s work, explaining that he can feel her magic around it, like a change in the air before a storm. When Isobel asks whether Celia can sense Marco in the same way, Marco admits he has not considered it, and the idea both unsettles and pleases him.

Isobel presses Marco on what the contest even means if neither side can directly take away what the other creates. Marco explains he cannot use Celia’s work for his own advantage and must answer her “moves” with his own. Using the tarot card La Justice as an analogy, Marco conjures balancing scales to illustrate the contest as two sides weighing against each other, though Isobel points out that continual additions could break the system.

Isobel admits she wants to stay with the circus but also wants to understand, because Celia appears quiet, kind, and ordinary outside her performances; Isobel struggles to see Celia’s “moves.” Marco counters that the Wishing Tree is alive and beyond mere mechanics, and he cites Ethan Barris’s limitations while acknowledging Celia’s enhancements to the carousel. Marco decides to watch Celia perform, tells Isobel to alert him whenever a new tent appears, and leaves quickly; Isobel calls after him that she misses him, but he is already gone.

Later, after her last client leaves in the early morning, Isobel privately draws a single card from her Marseilles deck, already knowing what it will be. She turns over an angel (Temperance) that confirms her suspicion, and she does not return the card to the deck.