After Celia Bowen finishes her illusion act and vanishes before the crowd, the audience applauds and files out as the exit door reappears. One man, Marco Alisdair, stays seated in the inner circle, watching the empty space where Celia stood until the door fades back into the tent wall.

Celia appears in a chair across from Marco, still in her black lace gown. Marco tells Celia he came a long way and accuses her of hiding from him—leaving before he could speak at Herr Thiessen’s funeral and then taking the circus across the ocean. Celia thanks him for creating the Pool of Tears, and Marco confronts her about stealing his book; Celia apologizes, and Marco says the book only matters if it is kept safe.

Celia explains her goal: to make the circus independent and “untie it from the challenge” binding it to the contest between them. Celia says she is arranging practical management through Ethan Barris and Lainie Burgess, and believes that with training Poppet and Widget can handle the magical manipulation that Ethan and Lainie cannot. Marco asks to help, but Celia insists she does not need him, and Marco realizes Celia does not trust him; Celia points to Isobel and Chandresh as people who trusted Marco and were hurt by his omissions.

Marco insists his feelings for Celia are not a tactic, admitting he mishandled Isobel but never loved her as he loves Celia. As Celia tries to leave, Marco pleads with her not to keep abandoning him. Celia then states the contest’s end plainly: one survives as victor and the other dies, making it a test of endurance, and Celia is trying to make the circus self-sufficient before the ending comes. Marco understands Celia is considering removing herself from the game; Celia confirms it is the only way to stop it, because she cannot keep holding on and intends to let Marco win.

They confess their love—recalling, as the space around them shifts through magical rooms, the moment each knew—and they kiss, causing the entire circus to flare with heightened brilliance and cohesion. Celia breaks away, saying it was effectively “too late” from the start, because so many lives are entangled in the circus’s web that any move harms others. Celia asks Marco to do one thing for her: not to come back; she vanishes like at the end of her act, leaving Marco alone. Before he leaves the tent, Marco places a single playing card on Celia’s chair.