Chapter Summaries

Hesta carried Tangral through a burning cemetery and across Tanyi while Zoe, Theresa, and the Quicksilver Needles pursued them. She reached Clocktower Square, where Victoria ambushed her as she raced toward Roan Palace.

• Hesta carried Tangral to the top of a cemetery obelisk as fire spread through the grounds, and she spotted Wilford's Quicksilver Needles evacuating him and his family.
• Zoe and the Quicksilver Needles tracked Hesta's position and prepared to block her escape, while Theresa ordered them to drive her toward Clocktower Ground.
• Hesta fled northwest into Tanyi, leaping over rooftops with Tangral as she evaded pursuing Quicksilver Needles and drew the attention of people below.
• Hesta reached the ruins of Clocktower Square and sped toward Roan Palace, but Victoria struck her from behind a statue and called out to her.

Hesta escaped Victoria and the Quicksilver Needles after they discovered that the Tangral they had rescued was a dummy. While police searched for the real Tangral, Silei reconsidered the assassin’s identity and went to the police station, where she found Stella Clifford being held after taking photographs at the cemetery.

• Hesta used feints and a sudden turn to break through the Quicksilver Needles’ encirclement, and Victoria called off the pursuit.
• Police searched the city for Tangral, while Silei realized he might have trusted the assassin because she was one of his Quicksilver Needles.
• Victoria told Silei that Paule’s people had detained someone familiar at the scene, and Silei sent her deductions to Victoria and Theresa on the way to the police station.
• Silei learned Victoria had already left and found Stella Clifford in the interrogation room after Stella had gone to the cemetery to take photographs.
• Silei ordered Paule to return Stella’s camera and said she would take Stella with her.

Stella offered Silei secret information that might explain why Wilford was on the Assassin’s list in exchange for access to the estate, but Silei refused to bring her there. Silei returned to find the Quicksilver Needles had gathered as ordered, only to learn Eureka was still missing.

• Stella told Silei that information from women connected to Rishi and Fernan had helped investigators target figures in the foreign aid organization, and offered further details about the Assassin’s motive.
• Stella questioned why Wilford was on the Assassin’s list despite never benefiting from the foreign aid organization.
• Silei refused Stella’s request to enter the estate, but decided to check on the foreign aid organization investigation.
• Victoria and Theresa ordered all Quicksilver Needles to return to the estate so Silei could check whether one had a knife wound on her right shoulder.
• Silei arrived at the estate and found Theresa and several Quicksilver Needles there, but Theresa told her Eureka had not returned.

Officer Silei questioned whether Eureka was connected to Roger’s disappearance, but eased her suspicions after Eureka returned injured from helping put out a cemetery fire. Meanwhile, Hesta used Sophie’s book pickup as cover to smuggle Tangral out of the duke’s residence, where he waited for Eureka and planned to meet Roger.

• Officer Silei recalled that Roger had shown unusual interest in Eureka, but Theresa urged her to wait for Victoria’s report.
• Eureka returned to Tangral’s estate with her left arm bandaged and explained that she had been hurt while helping extinguish a cemetery fire.
• Officer Silei examined Eureka for other injuries, then agreed to arrange access for Palan to collect books from the duke’s residence.
• Hesta entered the duke’s residence using Palan’s identification and Sophie’s book list, then left after borrowing the garage.
• Tangral climbed out of a suitcase in the underground garage and waited for Eureka, who was supposed to take him to see Roger.

Hesta prepared to carry out her plan after contacting Eclipse, while Silei uncovered the scale of Fernan’s criminal network and questioned the assassins’ targets. Hesta brought Tangral to Roan Palace, where he found Roger waiting and angrily complained about his ordeal.

• Hesta bandaged her left arm, calmed herself, and reflected on how smoothly her plan to contact Eclipse had gone.
• Silei read the investigation findings about Fernan’s aid organization and the crimes linked to Fernan, Tangral, and their associates.
• Silei searched the report for Wilford and called Stella after reconsidering Chiba’s words about her becoming a judge.
• Hesta found Tangral shivering in a suitcase in the garage and brought him to Roan Palace.
• Tangral learned Roger was waiting downstairs and complained that he had risked his life and spent the day hiding in the car.

Hesta lured Tangral through Roan Palace to the sunken dance floor, where he discovered the ruined, still-living Roger and realized that Hesta was Eureka in disguise. Hesta confronted Tangral and revealed that her long wait had been for a daughter waiting for her mother.

• Hesta led Tangral through Roan Palace, recalling Roger’s suffering there, while Tangral remembered the depraved revels he had once attended in the palace.
• Hesta brought Tangral to the sunken dance floor and told him Roger was waiting in its center.
• Tangral found Roger slumped in a chair, his body mutilated and connected by tubes to a machine, and recognized him.
• Eureka removed her black wig, revealing her fiery red hair, and Tangral understood that she was Hesta.
• Hesta approached the helpless Tangral and told him that the most agonizing wait was a daughter waiting for her mother.

Hesta revealed why she had killed Tangral’s accomplices and moved to punish him for his role in the ritual. The next morning, Silei and Victoria discussed evidence that Tangral had planned an escape and that the assassin had powerful help within their organization.

• Hesta explained how Hoffman, Rishi, and Schmidt had each contributed to her mother’s fate and described why she had chosen to kill Schmidt.
• Hesta told Tangral she should pull out his tongue, while he clung to her and begged for forgiveness.
• Victoria showed Silei Tangral’s letter, in which he had planned to escape and promised to return after matters settled down.
• Victoria told Silei that killing the assassin had become more important than protecting the hostages because the assassin had breached their internal system.
• Victoria revealed that an old man who had offered Avinash a clue about the assassin and a woman named Volva had been killed, and that his banked documents had been removed in advance.

Victoria and Silei discussed the investigation into the assassin, while Hesta returned to rest. Silei met Stella at her new newspaper, the Nonexistent Daily, and urged her to investigate the assassin’s connection to someone called Volva.

• Victoria told Silei that the internal data leak remained unresolved and that they might make progress by reaching the assassin directly.
• Hesta returned from searching the yard, then went to her room to sleep after Victoria told her she did not need to attend the emergency meeting.
• Silei visited Stella at the printing basement, where Stella showed her the Nonexistent Daily’s sensational coverage of Alecto’s murders.
• Stella explained that publishing the stories could build public sympathy for Alecto and ease pressure on AHgAs.
• Stella shared the Valeri Alliance account of the assassin’s origins but had no new information about the assassin herself.
• Silei told Stella that stories about the assassin should include Volva and urged her to investigate that lead.

Hesta woke with a low fever and learned that Victoria’s group would enter electronic silence while they hunted the assassin, leaving Ende with her at Wilford’s villa. After Wilford and his family returned, Ende, Sophie, Alvira, and Wilford came back looking grim, and Wilford nearly fell as he got out of the car.

• Hesta woke with pain in her wounds and a temperature of 37.9 before meeting Zoe downstairs.
• Zoe gave Hesta an emergency alarm from Victoria and explained that the group would stop all electronic communication while hunting the assassin.
• Zoe told Hesta that the plan was to use ambush tactics and that the assassin had to be killed in a single strike.
• Zoe said Ende would stay behind to help Hesta, while the butler told Hesta that Wilford and his family had already returned to their home.
• Hesta heard a car arrive and saw Ende, Sophie, Alvira, and Wilford return to the villa, with Wilford nearly falling as he got out.

Hesta watched the scandal surrounding Wilford grow as the Nonexistent Daily exposed the slave trade and its victims, while public outrage spread through District 3. As she reflected on how quickly people would forget, she and Ende wondered whether the assassin found any comfort in seeing the crimes made public.

• Hesta read the newspaper exposing the slave trade and saw Schmidt and Rishi's portraits alongside the letter she had left for Schmidt.
• Ende explained that the duke had returned after reading the paper, and Wilford sobbed upstairs.
• Hesta saw Wilford's funeral guests avoid the estate as public outrage over the slave trade spread across District 3.
• The Nonexistent Daily published interviews and accounts that moved readers to leave gardenias by the Golden Crow Palace ruins.
• Hesta reflected on the injustice of the Habitable Zone and told Ende that the public would soon forget the revelations.

Wilford explained the origin of Hesta’s name, then left to take a walk after her words stirred his sorrow. At the Golden Crow Palace ruins, Officer Silei found no clues while Stella gathered flowers and told her the Golden Gardenia’s myth and meaning.

• Wilford told Ende and Hesta that Eureka meant “I’ve discovered it” or “I’ve found it,” and Hesta said she chose the name because she liked its meaning.
• Hesta suggested that everyone had questions they could not solve, and Wilford left to take a walk.
• Hesta went upstairs to check on Sophie and the others while Ende reflected on whether Wilford was free or unfree.
• Officer Silei searched the Golden Crow Palace ruins for clues as Stella photographed the Golden Gardenias and took two flowers.
• Stella told Officer Silei the District 12 myth of Golden Gardenia and explained that the flower symbolized chastity.

Stella explained to Silei how District 12’s myths may have been altered to erase women’s achievements, and defended fictional writing as a way to restore their stories. Later, Palan visited the injured Hesta and warned her that her condition made the planned operation dangerous and that Palan would act against her if she were exposed.

• Stella told Silei that Dech’s myths contained contradictions suggesting they had been tampered with.
• Stella argued that Alecto and other women’s real victories had been rewritten or erased, and said she would give Alecto a place in her writing.
• Silei questioned whether Stella’s approach violated journalistic principles, and Stella replied that her writing was fictional.
• Palan visited Sophie and Ende with desserts, comforted Sophie, and went upstairs to see Hesta.
• Palan found Hesta’s wound inflamed and urged her to cancel the operation because she was unfit for high-precision combat.
• Palan warned Hesta that if her identity was exposed, Palan would take necessary measures against her.

Hesta assured Palan that she understood the risks of her plans, while Wilford unexpectedly asked to leave the villa. Later, Victoria summoned Silei to Roan Palace, where police uncovered a grisly display of victims and evidence of bloodshed in hidden rooms.

• Hesta told Palan she knew what she was doing, and Palan ended their meeting after warning her about the danger.
• Palan overheard Wilford asking to return home, but Ende insisted he wait until morning; Alvira watched from upstairs as Palan left.
• At two in the morning, Victoria called Silei to Wilford’s residence, where police had gathered.
• Victoria showed Silei a cross bearing the heads of Hoffman, Tangral, Schmidt, and Rishi, along with Roger’s impaled body.
• An officer reported four hidden rooms behind the dance floor and extensive luminol reactions inside them.

Silei questioned Wilford about the murder at Roan Palace while Hesta slipped back into the duke’s residence unnoticed. Wilford insisted he was innocent, and Silei asked what he had wanted to discuss with the assassin.

• Victoria told Silei to wait for Wilford’s arrival and avoid making any moves until their plan was ready.
• Wilford’s family returned to Langfang Avenue through streets crowded with reporters and police, while Hesta used the distraction to slip away.
• Hesta returned to her room, saw police at Roan Palace, and began checking her emails.
• Silei questioned Wilford about the murder and the contradiction between the locked palace and the butler’s account.
• Silei asked Wilford what he had wanted to discuss face-to-face with the assassin.

Wilford refused to answer Officer Silei’s questions and rejected a tracking chip, nearly bleeding to death while trying to remove it. Silei then realized the assassin’s final targets might have been Gray and Tangral rather than Wilford, leaving the group uncertain whether the killings were already over.

• Wilford refused to answer Officer Silei’s questions, and she let him leave.
• Quicksilver Needles rescued Wilford after he cut an artery while removing the chip, but Wilford insisted he would rather die than wear it.
• Zoe explained that the chip could help locate Wilford if the assassin abducted him, but he rejected the protection as degrading.
• Ende recalled that Victoria had asked the assassin whether Tangral and Wilford were next, and the assassin had neither confirmed nor denied it.
• Silei counted Hoffman, Rishi, Schmidt, Gray, and Tangral among the possible victims and concluded Gray and Tangral could have been the assassin’s last targets.
• Silei warned Ende that death notices were not required for the assassin to kill someone.

Silei urged Sophie not to change the plan based on assumptions, while Sophie insisted that Wilford was innocent. Later, Wilford secretly gave Sophie his tracking ring so he could be alone in the inner room, leaving his next move unclear.

• Sophie pleaded with Silei to believe Wilford was incapable of the crimes, but Silei warned that they could not risk changing their strategy while the assassin might still return.
• After Sophie went upstairs, Silei wondered aloud what conscience meant and said she would make a call.
• Victoria persuaded Wilford to wear a new ring that reported his location and whether he was alive.
• Alone in his room during a storm, Wilford wrote “I did nothing” repeatedly in his diary.
• Near midnight, Wilford gave Sophie his monitoring ring and asked her to wear it while he went into the inner room to pray alone.

Wilford secretly entered Roan Palace to meet the assassin and pleaded with her to spare Alvira and Sophie from the consequences of the accusations against him. The assassin rejected his defense, telling him he was no different from Tangral and his people.

• Sophie became uneasy when Wilford did not answer from his room, but he told her he needed uninterrupted time to pray.
• Wilford moved a wardrobe and used a hidden passage to reach a secret room in Roan Palace.
• Wilford met the assassin and admitted he had expected their encounter, while saying he did not seek forgiveness.
• Wilford urged the assassin to protect Alvira and Sophie and protested that the accusations linking him to Tangral's crimes were false.
• The assassin told Wilford that he and Tangral's people were the same kind of person.

Hesta confronted Wilford about his role in the ritual killings at Roan Palace and revealed that he had learned of the murders but stayed silent after Tangral promised the ritual could save his dying child. Wilford begged to be killed, but Hesta said she had never intended to kill him, leaving him terrified of what she would do next.

• Wilford angrily defended his silence as loyalty to his friends, then broke down when Hesta asked whether killing could bring the dead back to life.
• Hesta told Wilford that killing one person or twelve could not resurrect the dead and said she knew he had not planned or carried out the crimes.
• Hesta recounted how Wilford's steward Townsend found bloodstains and a severed finger on the ritual's third day, prompting Wilford to confront Lixi before Tangral spoke with him.
• Hesta explained that Tangral and Lixi had used Wilford's grief over his dying child to persuade him that human sacrifices could save the child.
• Hesta reminded Wilford that his first child had died in 4619 and asked whether his grief had persisted after Joey was born.
• Wilford begged Hesta to kill him, but she said she had no intention of killing him and called him an ordinary person with ordinary human weakness.

The assassin confronted Wilford with evidence of his concealed crimes and left him facing exposure, while Hesta waited for justice to reach its end. After a gunshot rang out at dawn, Alvira found Wilford’s final diary entries and understood that he had shot himself.

• The assassin told Wilford that a photograph of him, Alvira, and their child could expose his crimes, then made its distribution depend on his sincerity.
• Wilford reassured Sophie, spent the night in anguish, and watched dawn approach.
• Hesta heard a gunshot, then Quicksilver Needles break into the scene as people screamed and sobbed; she felt her vengeance was complete.
• Alvira entered the room and saw evidence that Wilford had shot himself in the head.
• Alvira read Wilford’s diary, which ended with repeated claims of innocence and a small apology.

After Wilford died, Silei showed Alvira the eleven skeletons buried beneath Roan Palace, and Alvira collapsed as she confronted what her husband may have known. Three days later, Palan visited Hesta, whose identity had been restored and whose health was improving, and asked what she planned to do next.

• Wilford was confirmed dead, and Sophie accused Silei and the others of plotting his murder.
• Silei asked Alvira what she knew about Tangral and the foreign aid organization, but Alvira insisted Wilford had not been involved.
• Silei took Alvira and Sophie to Roan Palace and revealed eleven skeletons buried beneath the dance floor.
• Alvira collapsed after Silei questioned how much she and Wilford had known about the buried victims.
• Three days later, Palan visited Hesta at her apartment and asked what she planned to do next.