After Celia Bowen’s audition, Chandresh tells Marco that Celia is too exceptional to be left among the crowd and insists she must have her own tent. Noticing Marco looks pale and shaken, Chandresh orders him to go home, postponing paperwork and sending Mme. Padva to take Celia away for tea and further questions.

Marco dismisses the remaining illusionists waiting in the lobby, hiding his trembling hands until his pen snaps in his grip and ink runs down his wrist. He gathers his things and leaves the theater, growing more distressed as he walks through the crowded streets back to his meticulously organized flat.

At home, Isobel confronts Marco about his state. Marco blurts out that he has discovered his opponent: Prospero’s daughter, newly hired by Chandresh as the circus’s illusionist. As Marco frantically pulls books from shelves, he fixates on the implications—Celia’s magic is “too good,” and the circus must be the venue of the challenge that has been shaping his training.

Isobel presses for details—whether Celia knows who Marco is and whether the contest begins when the circus opens. Marco admits he does not understand how he is meant to compete if the circus travels while he must remain in London, and he obsesses over a specific moment from the audition: Celia changing fabric in a way he cannot explain.

Seeking a way to stay involved, Isobel proposes joining the circus as its fortune-teller and sending Marco letters while it is away. As she quietly draws tarot cards—The Lovers followed by The Tower—she asks whether Celia is pretty and whether she is stronger than Marco, but Marco cannot answer. He reluctantly considers arranging for Chandresh to hire Isobel, then names his opponent aloud as Celia Bowen, while privately rubbing the burned space where his old ring once marked his skin.