Chapter Summaries

Avalon’s newspapers turned Iver and Aleister’s story into a scandal while Ligeia used the distraction to expose and execute the treasonous Minister of the Navy. The chapter ended with foreign spies concluding that Isabel Du Lac’s harmless image concealed a ruthless ruler.

• Newspapers published conflicting reports about Iver’s injuries and Aleister’s identity, while the Glass Staircase Newspaper printed Aleister’s speech and image.
• At Ligeia’s instruction, the Grand Guardian disclosed Aleister’s oath and past to the press, using the story to pressure Stibnite and the Crowley Family.
• Ligeia interrogated suspected ministers and discovered that the Minister of Maritime Affairs had sold Avalon’s naval deployment maps to Stibnite.
• Ligeia sentenced the Minister of Maritime Affairs to death, and the Death Sentence Spell appeared over Glass Island.
• Stibnite and Iris spies interpreted the crackdown as evidence that Isabel Du Lac was secretly ruthless and sent warnings to their countries.

Iver visited Isabel in Silver and Tin Palace as Queen Sophia neared death, and Isabel asked him to help her prepare to rule. Iver began teaching Isabel the qualities a monarch needed and promised to accompany her to say goodbye to Sophia.

• Iver entered Silver and Tin Palace freely and found Isabel waiting for him in the study, dressed and styled to look more mature.
• Iver taught Isabel how to assert her authority and explained that a monarch needed humility, self-reflection, and firm resolve.
• Isabel told Iver that Sophia had only a few hours left and asked for his help with everything ahead.
• Iver told Isabel that a monarch's first lesson was learning how to lie, and Isabel said she was willing to learn.
• Iver offered to accompany Isabel to send Sophia off.

After Queen Sophia died, Isabel took the throne as Avalon’s new Queen while the people mourned her grandmother. The chapter ended with Iver swearing loyalty to Isabel, who accepted him as her knight.

• A silver-white pillar of light rose above the Silver and Tin Palace, and Avalon announced Queen Sophia’s death as people gathered to lay flowers on Griffin Bridge.
• Isabel put on the crown and took up the scepter as Yanis painted a magic portrait of the new Queen, with Iver standing beside her.
• Iver encouraged Isabel as she faced her grief and posed for the portrait that would be published as proof of her identity as Queen.
• Iver knelt before Isabel, kissed her Dragon Head Ring, and swore loyalty to her.
• Isabel accepted Iver’s loyalty and called him her knight.

Andre Watson, a Stibium spy and Narcissus loyalist working as a detective in Avalon, investigated Iver Moriarty after learning about Miss Crowley’s forbidden love for him. After studying newspapers and a magical painting of Iver with Queen Isabel, Andre concluded that Isabel had chosen Iver as her companion because she wanted to take him from Miss Crowley.

• Iver stayed at the Silver and Tin Palace to avoid the crowds and Round Table Hall members waiting outside.
• Newspapers across Avalon announced Queen Sophia’s death and Queen Isabel’s succession, with some publishing Master Yanis’s magical painting of Iver and Isabel.
• Andre Watson examined reports about Iver while reflecting on his identities as a Stibium spy and a Narcissus loyalist.
• After learning Miss Crowley’s story, Andre sympathized with her and became suspicious of Iver, whom he believed had a history of unfaithfulness.
• Andre studied the painting of Iver and Isabel and concluded that Isabel had chosen him for the photograph to steal him away from Miss Crowley.

Andre pieced together scattered events into a theory that Queen Isabel was preparing Avalon for war against Stibnite, and decided to report his suspicions to the Mage Tower. At the Palace of Silver and Tin, Iver coached Isabel before her first Round Table Hall meeting while choosing to stay behind.

• Andre concluded that Isabel had appointed Iver Minister of Everything to secure his loyalty and push Aleister Crowley away from him.
• Andre connected Iver’s past incidents and Isabel’s recent actions, then suspected Avalon and the Iris People were preparing a surprise attack on Stibnite.
• Andre decided to send his intelligence to the Mage Tower first and continue observing Iver before deciding whether to warn Stibnite.
• Iver helped Isabel prepare for her first Round Table Hall meeting and advised her to stay guarded, take notes, and consult him afterward.
• Iver declined to attend the meeting, saying he wanted the ministers to invite him themselves, and privately wondered whether he was ruling from behind the curtain.

After Queen Sophia's death, Isabel presided over her first Round Table Conference, relying on Iver's advice to manage the ministers and establish her authority. The meeting ended peacefully, while Moriarty remained absent and Isabel prepared to report the ministers' reactions to Iver.

• The Death Knell rang seventy-nine times as Isabel prepared to preside over the Round Table Conference, and the knights entered in an order chosen by Isabel and Iver.
• The knights swore allegiance to Isabel and took their seats, but Moriarty did not appear, leaving his place at the Round Table empty.
• Isabel told the assembled ministers that Moriarty had sworn allegiance the previous night and had her permission to miss the meeting because he was unwell.
• Isabel reviewed the Policy Outlines and confirmed that military spending would rise by five percent and compulsory conscription would be carried out, prompting questions about the threat of war.
• Isabel followed Iver's advice as she answered ministers' questions and rebuffed the Minister of Trade's demand to know the target and likelihood of war.
• The conference ended peacefully, and Isabel silently reviewed the ministers' conduct so she could recount it to Iver; Mycroft Hermes watched from the corner.

Iver advised Isabel on the Round Table Conference and helped her plan changes to the Privy Council, including giving Mycroft Hermes greater authority. As Isabel listened, Ligeia was summoned out of the room by a hand reaching from behind a painting.

• Isabel reported that the Minister of Trade had fallen silent and seemed terrified during the conference.
• Iver approved Isabel's decision to let Minister Hermes recruit new royal-affairs staff and advised her to promote Mycroft Hermes after the process was complete.
• Iver told Isabel to remain cautious around the Camelot Minister while recognizing his loyalty, and they discussed making Mycroft Vice President of the Privy Council.
• Iver advised Isabel to dissolve Queen Sophia's-era Privy Council, retain its president, and have Mycroft and the Camelot Minister organize new appointments.
• A hand emerged from a painting and beckoned Ligeia, who silently left the room.

Yanis explained to Ligeia that Lily’s supposed tradition of initiating noble boys was a lie, then argued that the rumor could spur Isabel to act on her feelings for Iver. Meanwhile, Iver watched Isabel handle political affairs and resolved to help her grow without making her suffer.

• Ligeia told Yanis she was watching Iver and Lily to prevent Lily from becoming pregnant before Isabel’s coronation, then repeated Lily’s claim that personal maids traditionally initiated their masters.
• Yanis admitted she had invented that tradition to test Iver when he first met Isabel and explained the historical customs behind maids and illegitimate children in other countries.
• Yanis said Lily had likely lied because she also liked Iver, and Ligeia worried that she had already repeated the story to Isabel.
• Yanis advised Ligeia not to correct Isabel, reasoning that the rumor might make Isabel anxious enough to pursue Iver instead of hesitating.
• Iver watched Isabel handle political affairs and decided he would teach her gradually and spare her the suffering that had once made her mature.

Avalon’s ministers gathered after the Round Table Hall Conference to debate Queen Isabel’s intentions, the factions’ influence, and the risk of war with Stibium. Griffiths challenged the Privy Council Minister’s loyalty to Isabel, accusing him of serving Minister Moriarty instead.

• Camelot Minister and the other Chocolate Club members discussed Isabel’s unexpected conduct and wondered which faction the Minister of Everything supported.
• The Minister of Defense argued that Isabel’s ranking of the four national protectors suggested Avalon was preparing for war.
• Griffiths warned that Stibium’s demand for war could make any conflict a battle for survival, and proposed secretly supporting both Stibium and the Iris People to keep them fighting.
• Camelot Minister said that any decision on Griffiths’s proposal belonged to the queen.
• Griffiths accused Camelot Minister of letting Minister Moriarty interfere in politics and questioned whether he was loyal to Isabel or Moriarty.

Camelot Minister reported Minister Griffiths’s suspicious campaign against Iver, and Iver received the secret letter while working at the Silver and Tin Palace. After recognizing Griffiths as a likely pawn of Earl Leipzig, Iver arranged a response and sent Lily to target Griffiths’s home.

• Minister Griffiths urged the ministers to remove Iver, accusing him of ties to Stibnite and raising allegations against his family.
• Camelot Minister suspected Griffiths was concealing something and delivered a secret letter for Isabel to Master Yanis.
• Yanis gave the letter to Iver, who read it and learned it mentioned Yulia.
• Iver told Yanis to have Isabel reply as though he had received her letter, then asked Lily to take the Shadow Demon to Griffiths’s home and destroy things.
• Iver recalled that Ambassador Griffiths had been a follower of Earl Leipzig and that the torso component of the Sasha Set had dropped from him.

Reporter Dimit, Iver Moriarty’s devoted admirer, arrived for an interview at Iver’s invitation. Iver put him at ease with a private dinner, and Dimit became so absorbed in the food that he forgot to begin the interview.

• Dimit received the Glass Staircase Newspaper’s notice that Iver had requested an interview with him.
• Dimit arrived at the restaurant carrying his notebook and pen, leaving his camera and photography assistant outside.
• Iver explained that he had asked the attendants to leave so Dimit would feel less nervous.
• Iver encouraged Dimit to eat and recommended several dishes.
• Dimit focused on finishing the meal while Iver ate beside him, leaving the interview unstarted.

Iver arranged for Lily to attack Minister Griffiths’s manor while his nearby interview created a clear connection to the Shadow Demon. Lily discovered an Evil Eye working with Griffiths, then captured him after it vanished and hinted that she would force him to explain his dealings.

• Iver positioned a reporter and photographer near Griffiths’s manor so the attack would appear linked to him and Aleister’s Shadow Demon.
• Lily infiltrated Griffiths’s basement but waited when she sensed an Evil Eye that could detect her if she attacked.
• Griffiths asked the Evil Eye why he had attacked Minister Moriarty and how he could become a Child of the Moon.
• The Evil Eye said Griffiths could no longer become a Child of the Moon because its master had seen a future in which Griffiths died.
• Assassin Miss’s voice revealed that the Evil Eye had been dismissed through an Anti-Summoning magic circle.
• Lily emerged, bound Griffiths with a gray spiderweb, and began questioning him about Yulia’s blood and the demon’s master.

Lily interrogated Minister Griffiths and learned that Yulia carried the bloodline of the extinct Heracles royal family, while Stibnite sought her blood as part of a plot targeting Iver. To keep the trap from catching Iver under his Aleister identity, Lily killed Griffiths and staged the scene to implicate Miss Chloe.

• Lily subdued Minister Griffiths, extracted his intelligence, and discovered that he had Third-Level authority but little resistance to her control.
• Lily learned that Yulia possessed Heracles blood and suspected she had been created as a Swamp Person, explaining her unusual strength and hidden origins.
• Lily discovered that Stibnite had sent Griffiths to obtain Yulia's blood and provoke Iver, expecting Aleister to retaliate and reveal information about Yulia.
• Lily decided not to let Aleister take the bait because Iver was nearby and the plot could endanger Yulia.
• Lily switched her glove's potion to Moon Mist, killed Griffiths, and destroyed much of the evidence before disguising herself as a gray werewolf to frame Miss Chloe.

Iver offered Dimit the position of Editor-in-Chief of the Glass Staircase Newspaper and explained that the newspaper’s symbolic protection would end as Avalon changed under Isabel. Their conversation was interrupted by a werewolf attack outside.

• Iver asked Dimit who should succeed Master Yanis, and Dimit suggested Chief Editor Randall before admitting he had once imagined taking the role himself.
• Iver told Dimit he would recommend him as Editor-in-Chief after Master Yanis left, and Dimit accepted the responsibility.
• Iver explained that the Glass Staircase symbolized the monarch’s authority and that the newspaper had served as a fragile but protected symbol of Avalon.
• Iver said Isabel would not inherit the old Glass Staircase of Lancelot and declared that Avalon would no longer be a nation of authority.
• A werewolf attack erupted outside the window, with shouts, fighting, gunfire, and a griffin’s cry interrupting their conversation.

Iver reviewed the political fallout from Minister Griffiths’s murder and the Privy Council’s report, which proposed blaming a werewolf purge tied to the Stibium People. He recognized the theory as a deliberate scheme to destabilize the Iris Flower Kingdom ahead of its election, while Lily returned safely from evading the Griffins.

• Iver read a newspaper report announcing that the werewolf who killed Minister Griffiths had been identified as a wanted criminal from the Iris Flower Kingdom.
• Lily returned to the Silver and Tin Palace after spending the night evading the Griffins, while Iver recalled helping Dimit document the crime scene under Arbitration Hall surveillance.
• Iver and the Arbitration Officers found an Eagle Feather dagger and Curse Poison at the scene, linking the murder to the Hawkeye Organization and its earlier assassination.
• Iver read the Privy Council Minister’s report, which outlined how the murder could be framed either as a Health Party plot against Hawkeye or as a rogue werewolf’s purge of Stibium spies.
• Iver concluded that blaming the Health Party for a purge tied to Stibium would sow uncertainty in the Iris Flower Kingdom’s election and leave spies believing Miss Chloe had survived as a werewolf.

Iver ordered Lily to draft a reply supporting a raid on Griffiths’s residence, hoping to uncover evidence and force the Privy Council to distance itself from him. After learning what Lily had discovered about Griffiths, Iver inferred that the Rosy Cross Society was using Yulia’s bloodline and Aleister’s identity to draw him toward them, and he decided to visit Stibnite.

• Iver told Lily to say he would personally join the “Searching for Evidence” operation and would find proof against Griffiths.
• Iver explained that ministers who refused to confess after being warned could be placed on paid “gardening leave,” which would effectively isolate them under investigation.
• Iver asked Lily about Griffiths’s meeting with an Eye Demon, and Lily relayed Griffiths’s proposal, the request for Yulia’s blood, and her suspicions about Heracles Blood and the Swamp People.
• Iver concluded that the Eye Demon had mistaken Aleister for an ancient Child of the Moon and that Yulia was probably a Swamp Person carrying a Paradox Flame Butterfly fragment.
• Iver inferred that the Rosy Cross Society was using the secret of Yulia’s bloodline to lure Aleister toward them, and he resolved to visit Stibnite when he went to the Theocracy.

Camelot Minister and the Chocolate Faction confronted Iver’s growing influence and agreed to apologize to Isabel, while learning that the Iris Flower Kingdom wanted Avalon to station Griffins in Provence. At Griffiths Manor, Iver searched for evidence as the eye demon confirmed that Aleister was Duchess Viennes Émile Zola Bayard.

• Camelot Minister read Iver’s reply, realized Iver had the Queen’s authority, and warned the Chocolate Faction that Iver was dangerous.
• The ministers discussed Griffiths’s murder and the faction’s apparent leak, and Camelot Minister urged them to apologize to Isabel and distance themselves from the affair.
• The Minister of Defense revealed that the Iris People had asked Avalon to station a Griffin unit in Provence, and Camelot Minister ordered him to inform Isabel through the Silver and Tin Palace.
• Iver entered Griffiths Manor with Lily while Grand Arbitrator Ligeia followed, and he began searching for evidence.
• The eye demon reported to its master that Aleister was Duchess Viennes Émile Zola Bayard.

Pengbo Naqi learned that Duchess Bayard was alive and likely protecting Iver with a Shadow Demon, so he decided not to pursue Iver or the Sacred Entity. He sent Emma to capture Yulia Heracros for her Heracles Blood and warned her to avoid becoming Bayard’s enemy.

• The Eye Demon reported that Miss Aleister was Duchess Bayard, that Lily could wield the Shadow Demon without a contract, and that Wolfram had died without obtaining the Book of Law.
• Emma asked Pengbo Naqi about Bayard, and he recalled their past connection and suspected she had returned for the Sacred Entity.
• Pengbo Naqi ordered Emma to capture Yulia Heracros, or at least bring back her heart, because Heracles Blood was needed to open the Herasul Secret Treasure.
• Pengbo Naqi decided to leave Iver alone as a favor to Bayard and warned Emma that Bayard might be pursuing the Perfected Human advancement.
• Emma agreed to seek Yulia and promised to return for a reward.

Iver and Ligeia searched Griffiths Manor for a Holy Relic, and Iver found a shrine concealing part of Sister Sasha’s Holy Banquet. He identified the relic as Offering of Wings of Freedom.

• Iver told Ligeia that Griffiths had likely hidden a Holy Relic, while admitting he had killed him because Griffiths insulted Isabel and tried to hurt Yulia.
• Ligeia reflected on Iver’s contradictory methods and his protectiveness toward Isabel.
• Iver reasoned that Earl Leipzig may have given Griffiths a valuable relic as a deposit because Griffiths was connected to the Evil Eye’s plans.
• Iver found a shrine containing a bound statue of Sister Sasha and recognized her identity.
• Iver revealed that the sealed relic was Sister Sasha’s living skin, called Offering of Wings of Freedom.

Iver performed a ritual before the holy statue at the Griffiths estate to summon the Banquet Master and obtain Blood Energy. Sister Sasha descended, restored his Blood Energy, and left behind a pure white butterfly, confirming the ritual had succeeded.

• Iver explained that sacred objects remained sealed until an Apostle recognized them, and that he could unseal the statue by calling upon its Apostle.
• Iver prepared the Griffiths estate room with Ligeia and Lily as witnesses, then performed a drunken, nude ritual before the statue.
• Iver offered his blood and wine and prayed to Constant Self, asking the Banquet Master to grant him desire and Blood Energy.
• Iver lost consciousness, and Sister Sasha descended from the statue to catch him and channel blood-colored radiance into him.
• Iver awoke with abundant Blood Energy but weakened reason, while Sister Sasha vanished and a white butterfly appeared above the statue.