Chapter Summaries

Iver planned to use his appointment as Lloyd's president and Gray-Green's gang network to steady Avalon’s merchants and support the coming railway construction. After returning to Isabel, he heard how overwhelmed she was by her first journey beyond Glass Island, where she found the world outside it “blank.”

• Grandet left after speaking with Iver, who considered how becoming Lloyd's president could reassure its merchants and bring the gangs under his influence.
• Iver and Gray-Green agreed that he would lead Lloyd's while she helped manage the gangs and their potential role in railway construction and local affairs.
• Iver returned to the Silver and Tin Palace, changed clothes, and waited for Isabel, who arrived with Ligeia looking exhausted.
• Iver gave Isabel ginger-sugar black tea and listened as she described the strain of leaving Glass Island for the first time.
• Isabel asked Iver about places beyond Glass Island and called the world outside it “blank.”

Isabel told Iver about the poverty, harsh child labor, and lack of basic services she had witnessed while secretly visiting cities beyond the pilgrimage route. Iver explained why churches in poorer areas could not provide enough aid, leaving Isabel distressed by the hardship facing their residents.

• Isabel described the poor infrastructure, inadequate hospitals, overcrowded prisons, and child labor she had seen in cities outside Glass Island.
• Iver was surprised that Isabel had managed to witness these conditions, and she explained that she had secretly visited cities not on her pilgrimage route.
• Isabel told Iver that working children had tried to stop her from protesting their wages and hours because they feared losing food and work.
• Isabel asked why people could starve despite churches being expected to provide free food.
• Iver explained that churches relied on wealthy patrons concentrated in prosperous cities, while poorer regions lacked resources and clergy willing to remain there.

Isabel learned how harsh life was beyond Glass Island and, with Iver’s help, saw how a freight railway could improve remote cities. After Iver explained Grandet’s financial sponsorship and promised to handle the problems, Isabel broke down in his arms, and he comforted her.

• Isabel described the severe conditions she found at an orphanage, and Iver contrasted them with the better-funded orphanage where he had grown up.
• Iver explained that Glass Island’s port and military protection concentrated Avalon’s wealth there, and promised to help Isabel address the inequality.
• Iver told Isabel about Grandet’s deal, and she saw that a freight railway could benefit remote cities and proposed bringing goblins and trolls to work on its construction.
• Iver admitted that Grandet’s money was a bribe and financial support for cultivating his ambition, but said he could still work with Grandet to solve Isabel’s problems.
• Isabel threw herself into Iver’s arms and confessed she was tired and did not know what to do, then sobbed as he comforted her.

Iver comforted Isabel as she cried, then recovered the painful memories of losing his family in his Previous Life and understood that his fear of loving others had driven his self-sacrificing behavior. Reassured by the courage Isabel had given him, he kissed her.

• Iver held Isabel as she cried and remembered how he had once comforted her through her fear and loneliness.
• Iver recalled the love he had received from his family in his Previous Life and remembered that a great earthquake had left him alone.
• Iver recognized that survivor's guilt and fear of losing loved ones had made him avoid others' affection and sacrifice himself.
• Iver told Isabel that he had realized he was a coward, and he felt his heart grow calm as he accepted his past.
• Iver called Isabel Lu Lu and kissed her.

Isabel invited Iver to spend New Year’s Eve with her, and their growing closeness shaped their plans for the Candle Holder Festival. Iver agreed to visit Master Agnes with Isabel and arrange for Edward to join them, leaving the story with Isabel happily showing off her illusion skills.

• Isabel invited Iver to celebrate New Year’s Eve with her, and they agreed that Yulia and Edward could join them.
• Iver decided to handle some of Isabel’s work himself so she could have the afternoon free, and he asked Lily to invite Edward to the Silver and Tin Palace.
• Isabel said she wanted to spend the afternoon with her teacher, Master Agnes, and guessed Agnes had gone to the Red Queen District.
• Iver offered to accompany Isabel to look for Master Agnes and visit their teachers.
• Isabel demonstrated Resilient Illusion by taking on Yulia’s appearance, then admitted she had used Iver’s face while questioning people.
• Iver teased Isabel about the disguise and mussed her hair; she changed back and smiled, already planning to use his face again.

After returning Watson to Glass Island, Hai Na urged Sherlock to spend New Year with his family, and Watson challenged Sherlock’s belief that wisdom and love could not coexist. Sherlock reconsidered his assumptions and decided to go home, curious whether his parents would recognize him in his childlike form.

• Hai Na and Sherlock returned to the Detective Watson Agency on Liz, and Watson thanked them for saving his life.
• Hai Na asked Sherlock whether he would go home or visit Mr. Iver, but Sherlock said he preferred to stay home and read.
• Sherlock explained that he avoided love because he believed the Path of Wisdom was lonely and incompatible with emotional attachments.
• Watson countered that his Mage Lord father and Child of the Moon mother remained in love, and described his birth as proof of their devotion.
• Watson gave Sherlock pastries and encouraged him to spend New Year with his family, prompting Sherlock to reconsider his beliefs.
• Sherlock said goodbye and decided to go home, wondering whether his parents would recognize him in his smaller body.

Iver and Isabel found Yanis atop the Clock Tower, where she taught Isabel that beauty came from careful observation and aesthetic sense. After completing a painting for Iver and Isabel, Yanis left Glass Island to resume her travels, without saying goodbye.

• Isabel used her powers to give Iver illusory wings, and they flew to Yanis atop the Clock Tower.
• Yanis critiqued Isabel’s attempt to disguise herself as Yulia and taught her to observe beyond appearances to understand a subject fully.
• Yanis explained that art approached reality without copying it, and Isabel cautiously answered that aesthetic sense was the path to beauty.
• Yanis finished a painting of Glass Island sixty years earlier, depicting herself and Sofia together as she wished they could have been.
• Yanis gave the painting to Iver and Isabel, transformed Isabel into an indistinguishable Yulia, and left Glass Island alone.

Yanis left Avalon after finishing her painting, and Iver recognized that letting go had changed her fate and begun her salvation. Back at the Silver and Tin Palace, Isabel named the painting “With Me,” recalling Iver’s promise to stay by her side.

• Iver understood that Yanis’s grief over Sophia had once driven her toward the Path of Twilight, but that she had now released her sorrow and changed her future.
• Yanis departed, leaving her masterpiece with Iver and Isabel instead of taking it away.
• Isabel felt the painting’s beauty strengthen her Path Power and bring her close to the threshold of the Fourth Level.
• Iver and Isabel ended their shopping trip early and returned to the Silver and Tin Palace with the painting.
• Isabel named the painting “With Me,” inspired by Iver’s words that morning.

Iver learned why Sherlock had become estranged from his family: years earlier, Sherlock had refused Meg’s offer to inherit her place on the Path of Authority and pursued the Path of Wisdom instead. After Mycroft explained the misunderstanding and Ligeia revealed she had never been angry, Sherlock returned home for a joyful family reunion.

• Iver asked Mycroft why he was so happy, and Mycroft revealed that Sherlock had gone home while still in his child form.
• Mycroft explained that Sherlock had fallen out with his family after refusing Meg’s offer to train him as her successor and choosing to pursue the Path of Wisdom.
• Mycroft described how Arthur, unaware of the full confidential situation, pressured Sherlock to accept Meg’s offer, leading Sherlock to argue with his father and move out.
• Ligeia revealed that she had never been angry with Sherlock and explained that Meg had prepared a different plan after he refused her invitation.
• Iver realized Sherlock’s guilt had driven him to consider sacrificing his detective career during the Promotion Ritual, and Mycroft said Sherlock’s family was now happily reunited for New Year.
• Isabel sent her blessings and regards to Sherlock and Arthur as Mycroft hurried back to celebrate with them.

Iver prepared a Phantom Demon Card intended to seal the succubus Emma while Queen Isabel invited Edward to stay at the Silver and Tin Palace and appointed him Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Iris Flower Kingdom. The chapter ended with Iver continuing to make the dangerous card as Ligeia watched.

• Edward arrived at the Silver and Tin Palace and found Iver, Isabel, Ligeia, and Yulia gathered around Iver’s work.
• Isabel welcomed Edward, invited him to stay for the New Year, and offered to address him as a knight.
• Edward refused at first to accept advancement beyond his abilities, but Isabel appointed him Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Iris Flower Kingdom and granted him knight’s armor.
• Isabel took Edward to her study to discuss the diplomatic document, while Iver reflected on her rapid growth under pressure.
• Iver explained the Phantom Demon Card called Lust and continued making it to seal the succubus Emma, with Ligeia watching.

After completing the Lust Phantom Demon Card, Iver woke with no memory of his drunken ritual and learned that Isabel had watched over him. As he went to find her at the Candle Holder Festival, a platinum-blond woman led Isabel away while mistaking her for Yulia.

• Iver woke the day after the banquet and confirmed that he had completed the Phantom Demon Card ritual, sacrificing his recent memories.
• Lily told Iver that Isabel and Ligeia had been with him while he was drunk, but she kept his words secret at his request and said Isabel would have to tell him.
• Iver learned that Isabel had gone to the Candle Holder Festival in Yulia's appearance and decided to go find her.
• Iver asked Lily to protect Yulia, took the completed card, and left with Viennes.
• A platinum-blond woman approached Isabel at the cathedral and led her away after Bishop Mathers mistook her for Yulia.
• Isabel realized the woman had called her Yulia, but she kept following without showing that she had noticed.

Isabel resisted Countess Emma’s mind control by arranging for Emma to call her Yulia and jolt her back to awareness. Emma planted a suggestion for Yulia to come to Lloyd’s Building after the Round Table Hall Conference, while Isabel briefly regained her senses in the carriage and noticed a starving girl carrying wildflowers.

• Emma took control of a family’s carriage and brought Isabel, disguised as Yulia, toward the Lloyd District.
• Isabel recognized that Emma’s fragrance softened her resistance and planned to use Emma saying the name Yulia to regain consciousness.
• Emma told Yulia to remember the route to Lloyd’s Building and planted a suggestion that would draw her there after the Round Table Hall Conference.
• When Emma called her Yulia, Isabel’s disgust broke through the enchantment and briefly restored her reason.
• After the carriage entered the Lloyd District, Isabel saw a gaunt girl carrying wildflowers and leaned out to look back at her.

Emma manipulated Isabel into giving a poor flower girl a fortune, intending to spark greed and violence on Glass Island and later torment Isabel with the consequences. Iver learned that Yulia had left with Emma and hurried to search for them, suspecting Emma's influence over Bishop Mathers.

• Isabel objected to Emma's dismissive attitude toward commoners after spotting a flower girl outside.
• Emma gave Isabel One Hundred White Crown Coins to give the flower girl, knowing the money could put the girl in danger and provoke conflict.
• Emma anticipated that her gift would cause misery and considered using Isabel's kindness to make her suffer later.
• Iver reached Candle Holder Cathedral and asked Bishop Mathers about Yulia.
• Mathers said Yulia had left with Countess Emma about two hours earlier, and Iver decided to check Lloyd's headquarters and seek the Grand Guardian's griffin.

After Countess Emma abducted Isabel, Iver and the Grand Guardian searched for her, but Emma ambushed the Grand Guardian while he used the Eye of Avalon. Emma tried to bewitch him with her full power, unaware that the unhatched succubus within her had already bewitched her into acting against her own interests.

• Iver told the Grand Guardian that Countess Emma had taken Isabel, and the two hurried to Lloyd's Building to search for her.
• The Grand Guardian found Emma's office empty, sent Iver and Philip to search elsewhere, and used the Eye of Avalon to scan the area.
• Emma emerged from a teleportation array and ensnared the Grand Guardian while he was focused on the Eye of Avalon.
• Emma's power leaked through Lloyd's Building, driving merchants into a frenzy as she tried to overcome the Grand Guardian's resistance.
• Emma resolved to continue her attack, not realizing that the succubus within her had bewitched her into defying her father's order and targeting the Grand Guardian.

Iver searched the port for Isabel and used a ritual that led him to a flower-selling girl in the alley where he had once encountered a Demon Scholar. The girl revealed that a white-haired, red-eyed woman had given her a fortune, allowing Iver to identify her as Isabel disguised as Yulia and realize she was still alive and nearby.

• Iver ordered a six-hour inspection of ships at the port while the Grand Guardian searched Lloyd's headquarters for Emma and Yulia.
• Iver performed a searching ritual above the port, received no answer, and moved to the alley near the sealed Pelican Bar.
• The ritual showed a flower-selling girl being surrounded by vagrants, and Philip's storm scattered them before they could rob her.
• The girl recognized Iver and offered him the one hundred White Crown Coins she had received from a kind older woman.
• Iver asked the girl about the woman and learned she had white hair, red eyes, and was only slightly taller than the girl.
• Iver recognized the description as Isabel disguised as Yulia and concluded that she was alive and had not gone far.

Iver followed clues from a flower girl to find Isabel trapped in a carriage, then reunited with her during the Candle Holder Festival’s noon miracle. With Isabel safe and strengthened by the ordeal, Iver headed to the Silver and Tin Palace to protect the king and make someone pay.

• A flower girl described the distinctive carriage that had taken Isabel, and Iver realized it belonged to Arun Carter.
• Iver brought the flower girl along on Philip’s griffin, followed her directions, and stopped the carriage after Viennes confirmed the succubus was gone.
• Iver found Isabel disguised as Yulia, caught her as she stumbled from the carriage, and comforted her while she cried.
• The Candle Holder Festival’s noon radiance washed over the city, eased Isabel’s lingering succubus mark, and left her feeling stronger.
• Iver asked Philip to take them to the Silver and Tin Palace and then collect George, saying someone would have to pay for what happened.

Iver prepared to kill Emma after learning of her attack on Isabel, while Isabel planned to stage events so Stibnite would be responsible for starting the war. Before Iver could leave the Silver and Tin Palace, the succubus arrived with a mind-controlled Grand Guardian, and Iver summoned Viennes to attack her.

• Iver handed Isabel, still disguised as Yulia, to Ligeia and geared up to kill Emma.
• Isabel told Ligeia she intended to stage another performance so any war with Stibnite would appear to have begun with Emma attacking her, and asked Ligeia to protect her.
• Philip stormed into the Silver and Tin Palace with the controlled Grand Guardian and a Fifth-Level succubus, who tried to persuade Iver to form a contract with her.
• Iver summoned the Book of Law and called on Viennes, whose appearance transformed Glass Island into Blood Night.
• Iver warned Viennes not to kill George or Philip, then ordered her to kill the succubus.

A night demon fought the succubus and the Grand Guardian while protecting Iver, using curses and shadow magic to restrain them. The succubus tried to turn the Grand Guardian against Yulia Moriarty, but he stopped just before attacking her.

• The night demon blocked the Grand Guardian’s attacks and knocked him away while keeping Iver safe.
• The night demon trapped Philip in her Jealousy Grip and weakened the succubus with the Weakness Curse and Blinding Curse.
• The succubus considered fleeing but chose to stay because she wanted to keep the Grand Guardian as her servant.
• Yulia Moriarty arrived, and the succubus planned to use her Suggestion Brand to make her attack Iver.
• The succubus ordered the Grand Guardian to attack Yulia Moriarty, but he froze before striking her, so the succubus lashed him with her whip and repeated the command.

Iver and Viennes trapped the succubus while Isabel and Ligeia restrained the Grand Guardian. With the fight briefly under control, Iver began choosing a card to seal the succubus before the Arbitration Hall arrived.

• Iver used an illusion to distract the succubus, then seized her with the Night Demon's Hand of Jealousy.
• Viennes thanked Iver for his concern as the Night Demon's shadowy hands crushed the succubus and held her captive.
• Isabel revealed herself and bound the Grand Guardian with silver chains, while his conflicting orders made him tear at himself instead of harming her.
• Ligeia arrived and calmed George with a command, then urged Iver to hurry and seal the succubus.
• Iver ruled out the Suggestion Brand and weighed creating either the Bewitching Aura or Scarlet Vixen card.

Iver chose and created an Echo version of Bewitching Aura after dissolving the Succubus, freeing the Grand Guardian and the others from her control. Isabel and Ligeia presented the events to the arriving knights as a successful defense of the Queen, and Iver condemned the knights for their failure to protect her, prompting them to kneel and lay down their swords.

• Iver rejected the Scarlet Vixen whip and used the Succubus's power to create an Echo version of Enchantment: Bewitching Aura, which he could cast repeatedly at a steep mana cost.
• The Succubus dissolved into blood, ending her control over the Grand Guardian, Philip, and Isabel; Iver recalled Viennes at Ligeia's request.
• The Arbitration Hall knights arrived to find the Glass Staircase destroyed, the Grand Guardian gravely weakened, and Isabel safe beside Ligeia.
• Isabel and Ligeia told the knights that Count Scarlett Emma had attacked the Queen as a Succubus and that Iver had destroyed her through Constant Self's power.
• Iver blamed the knights for nearly allowing Isabel to be killed, and they knelt in shame and laid down their swords.