With the circus running more independently, Chandresh’s old dinner gatherings become rare, and Marco loses his only reliable chance to see his instructor. After a year of silence, Marco summons the man in the grey suit by carving coded symbols into frost on his window. The next day the man appears in the hall, refuses to enter, tells Marco his work has been “sufficient,” and bluntly defines the contest as parallel displays of skill without interference; he also warns Marco not to use the summoning method again, and the symbols melt away.

In the sleeping daytime circus, Celia studies the Carousel when Hector Bowen’s ghost appears, disapproving of the piece and of Celia’s willingness to collaborate with others, especially Mr. Barris. Celia argues that the circus is inherently collaborative and that she must create opportunities beyond performance to compete, but Hector insists one participant is her opponent and that Celia should work alone, push her power further, and stop asking about rules and judging criteria. When Celia presses, Hector vanishes, leaving Celia frustrated and newly aware of how little guidance she truly has.

As the circus travels farther from London, Marco receives Isobel’s letters less often and finds them increasingly inadequate. Isobel reports events with careful, cautious distance, referring to Celia only as “the illusionist,” a precaution Marco once advised but now regrets because he wants intimate details about Celia’s life. Unable to ask outright for what he wants, Marco instead urges Isobel to write frequently, then folds the pages into paper birds that fly through his empty flat.

When a rare new tent appears, Celia is tempted to skip her performances to investigate, but waits until after her last show before dawn. She enters the “Ice Garden” and finds a vast, immaculate landscape of ice—frozen flowers, trellises, willows, paths, and a fountain—maintained by sustained, meticulous magic. Testing it, Celia breaks an ice flower only to see it immediately replaced, and she realizes the enormous power and planning required; the tent makes her keenly curious about her opponent while also making her feel the strain such work would demand.

Later, the circus returns near London and Isobel surprises Marco at his flat, discovering he has changed the locks. Marco keeps Isobel in the hallway, then takes her out for tea; he notices a bracelet on her wrist braided from her hair entwined with his, but Isobel hides it and Marco does not press. That evening, when Isobel returns to the circus, the bracelet is gone as if it never existed.