Chapter Summaries

Jimte and Carral encountered Amy and Sarah outside St. Joan's Girls' Academy and recognized them as dangerous Murderers. Just as the four seemed ready to clash, Amy relayed Lady Cassandra Credos's request for Jimte and Carral to come with them.

• Jimte recognized Amy and Sarah as Murderers and tried to retreat with Carral rather than fight them.
• Carral became bloodthirsty and wanted to kill the two women, but Jimte restrained him.
• Jimte realized Carral might also be a Murderer and questioned whether he himself could be one.
• Sarah became hostile toward Jimte, while Amy calmed her by reminding her of their boss's instructions.
• Amy announced that Lady Cassandra Credos requested Jimte and Carral's presence.

Jimte and Carral confronted Amy and Sarah over their claim to represent Cassandra Credos, while testing whether Cassandra’s forces had a backup plan. The standoff neared violence before someone called for everyone to wait.

• Jimte and Carral recognized Cassandra Credos’s name and recalled reports that she was a powerful, ruthless wanderer who had built a formidable force.
• Jimte stopped his attack and demanded that Amy and Sarah prove they had come on Cassandra’s behalf.
• Amy and Sarah could not provide proof, and Jimte deliberately used the demand to assess Cassandra’s strength and attitude toward their lord.
• Carral prepared to kill one of the women, while Amy’s body swelled and Sarah gathered a sharp, invisible wind.
• A voice shouted, “Wait!” as the two sides stood on the brink of battle.

Anna, a reluctant member of The Invisible, encountered Jimte and Carral while patrolling the academy and mistook their reactions for signs that they were also being coerced. She led them onward, promising answers.

• Anna feared quitting The Invisible because Cassandra Credos might order her killed as a traitor, so she continued slacking off while carrying out her duties.
• After Cassandra threatened her over a private assignment, Anna patrolled the academy as backup for Jennifer and Jane.
• Anna spotted Jimte and Carral at the academy gates and recognized them as long-standing obstacles to Malinda's business interests.
• Anna stepped forward and greeted Jimte and Carral, who recognized her through their investigations of Arthur's supposed romantic rival.
• Misreading their complicated expressions, Anna assumed Jimte and Carral were being coerced too and told them to follow her to find the answers they wanted.

Jimte and Carral saw that Cassandra had already acted against Barro’s plans at St. Joan’s Girls’ Academy, where the students’ wealthy families could influence the Inner Bay. Anna invited them to negotiate, and they agreed, believing she had not uncovered their allegiance to Arthur.

• Jennifer, Jane, Sarah, and Amy ignored Anna, while Ailier, Renee, Donna, Jo Lily, and Junis admired her mysterious air.
• Jimte and Carral concluded that Cassandra’s organization was loosely structured but that she understood Barro’s activities and had already taken action.
• Jimte and Carral recognized that the academy’s students came from wealthy families whose influence could disrupt Barro’s plans.
• Anna realized she could benefit from Cassandra’s arrangements and confronted Jimte and Carral about seeking an opportunity amid the Inner Bay’s chaos.
• Jimte and Carral agreed to talk with Anna, pleased that she seemed unaware of their oath to Arthur.

Barro Hamlet plotted to seize the Grand Duke’s position while searching for his nephews and considering how to use Joel Coleman’s death. He learned that his son Alvis Hamlet was dead, leaving him stunned.

• Barro Hamlet reflected on his plan to take power after his elder brother left the Inner Bay and decided to seize Diodone Hamlet and Pistrie Hamlet as bargaining chips.
• A hidden informant told Barro that Diodone Hamlet had disappeared and Pistrie Hamlet had fled into the Harbor District, so Barro ordered the search intensified.
• The informant reported that Joel Coleman had been killed by Carral, and Barro considered recruiting Carral before deciding he might be dangerous and useful as a scapegoat.
• The informant revealed that Alvis Hamlet was dead, and Barro froze.

Barro Hamlet revealed that the Alvis killed by the hidden squad had been a stand-in, while his real son remained hidden under another name. After learning that Greisa was dead and Count Bette had declared war on the Inner Bay, Barro ordered a false story spread and waited for three Communication Crystals to vibrate.

• A scout reported that Alvis and the hidden squad had been killed, but Barro Hamlet laughed instead of reacting with anger.
• Barro revealed that the dead Alvis was a stand-in and that his real son had been hidden away for ten years without knowing his identity.
• Barro regretted that the stand-in had not been killed by Greisa in public, which would have given him a stronger excuse for revenge.
• A message informed Barro that Count Bette had personally killed Greisa and declared war on the Inner Bay.
• Barro ordered the scout to spread a claim that Greisa had provoked war and murdered Alvis, then all three of Barro's Communication Crystals began vibrating.

Barro learned that Einhaas, West Berlin, and South Los had declared war on the Inner Bay, and he believed the conflict would let him destroy his elder brother and the Countess of South Los. As the Eastern approached Kilger Harbor, Dill Buck secretly boarded it to protect Arthur, but someone caught him at knifepoint.

• Scouts reported that South Los, West Berlin, and Einhaas had declared war on the Inner Bay, each citing Greisa’s actions and Arthur Credos.
• Barro realized that Arthur was a pawn sent by the Countess of South Los and decided he could exploit the conflict to defeat his elder brother and the Countess.
• Barro ordered his agents to monitor the Eastern as it sailed toward Kilger Harbor, then went to prepare in his secret room.
• Dill Buck noticed unknown scouts watching the Eastern and suspected that danger awaited Arthur in the Inner Bay.
• Dill Buck quietly boarded the Eastern, where Pendragon appeared and an unseen person pressed a kitchen knife to his neck, asking if he had come looking for a birthday present.

Dill Buck revealed that Severus Hamlet had sent him to protect Arthur and warned him not to go to Inner Bay because something was wrong there. He identified Arthur as the Golden Lion Family’s Child of Prophecy, only for Arthur to reveal that he was already in Inner Bay.

• Dill Buck surrendered to Lady Anna and asked to speak urgently with Arthur, explaining that he meant him no harm.
• Pendragon contacted Arthur and, with his approval, brought Dill Buck to a Communication Crystal.
• Dill Buck told Arthur that Severus Hamlet had ordered him to protect him and urged him to avoid Inner Bay.
• Dill Buck revealed the Golden Lion Family prophecy and declared Arthur its Child of Prophecy, astonishing Pendragon and Lady Anna.
• Arthur told Dill Buck that he was already in Inner Bay.

Arthur learned that he was a child of fate and entered the Inner Bay, while Dill Buck warned him that the current His Highness might not be the person he knew. Arthur asked Malinda for a safe place in Kilger Harbor as tensions rose over South Los Territory’s declaration of war.

• Dill Buck stopped before leaving and warned Arthur to stay wary of His Highness, then departed for the Inner Bay.
• Lady Anna comforted Pendragon after Arthur’s Communication Crystal went dark, while Miha and Yilo planned to ask Pendragon about the orange cat.
• Arthur discussed South Los Territory’s declaration of war with Malinda and considered whether the Old Lion was ill or had a split personality.
• Arthur asked Malinda for a discreet contact and place to stay in Kilger Harbor, and she recommended Aipuke, a small-gang leader.

Arthur entered the Inner Bay and sent his hounds and ravens to locate Aipuke, while Malinda decided to seek help from her cousin in South Los. The ravens spotted a torch-bearing crowd searching Kilger Harbor for someone with disguised golden hair and golden eyes.

• Arthur told Malinda to poison Aipuke's family, but Malinda refused to provide him with more help and ended their communication.
• Malinda realized Arthur had deliberately changed the subject to avoid discussing Old Lion and the Inner Bay, then decided to visit her older cousin, the Countess of South Los.
• Arthur brought the Medium into the Inner Bay and sent Kuliqi and Kili to find Aipuke while Fuginn and Muninn surveyed Kilger Harbor.
• Fuginn and Muninn saw a torch-bearing crowd rampaging through the Harbor District with secret police cooperating, and Arthur recognized that they were searching for someone with pale golden eyes.

Pistrie Hamlet fled his uncle’s soldiers through the Harbor District, aided by commoners who were killed protecting him. He escaped into a hidden passage toward the wharf as the pursuers closed in behind him.

• A commoner hid Pistrie Hamlet in a straw-filled shed and told him that Kaka had been taken.
• Pistrie remembered how soldiers had ambushed his friend’s wedding: his friend had accepted their money, then stood against them and was killed while helping Pistrie escape.
• A pursuer shot the commoner who had sheltered Pistrie, and the dying man set fire to the shed to block the soldiers.
• A wiry commoner led Pistrie through the alleys and pushed him into a concealed passage toward the wharf.
• The wiry commoner was stabbed and held the passage lid shut while the pursuers hacked him to death.
• Pistrie climbed out of the passage as the soldiers chased him and mocked him for trying to escape.

Pistrie escaped through a secret passage with help from Del’s boss, who revealed she had captured Kaka and handed her to Lord Barro. After she blew up the passage and died, a Mystical Side attacker recognized Pistrie’s disguise and reached to seize him.

• A woman armed with a crossbow rescued Pistrie from pursuers in the passage.
• Del’s boss explained that Del and Tita had defied her because they considered Pistrie a friend, and that she had captured Kaka for Lord Barro.
• Del’s boss revealed that Lord Barro had broken his promise not to hurt Del, and she vowed to make him pay.
• Del’s boss detonated a gunpowder barrel, destroying the pursuers in the passage, but a Mystical Side attacker beheaded her.
• The Mystical Side attacker recognized Pistrie beneath his disguise and reached out to seize him.

Pistrie killed a pursuer and tried to escape Kilger Harbor, but the Pale Hand captured him after his spirituality surged twice. A Pale Hand member became curious about Pistrie's talent and prepared to examine his heart when someone shouted, “Wait!”

• A Mystical Side pursuer tried to grab Pistrie, but Pistrie stabbed him from behind with a poisoned dagger and killed him.
• Pistrie headed for the wharf, planning to flee to South Los and investigate what had happened in the Inner Bay.
• As more pursuers closed in, Pistrie's stamina increased alongside an unnoticed surge in his spirituality.
• A hidden pursuer punched Pistrie down, took his dagger, and bound him with an invisible force field.
• A member of the Pale Hand arrived with three skeletons, noticed Pistrie's two spirituality surges, and tore open his clothes to examine his heart before someone shouted, “Wait!”

Four representatives of the Raven Feather, the Greenstone Forest, the Snake Sect, and the Theophat Psychic Order intervened when the Pale Hand member tried to take Pistrie. Pistrie briefly escaped, but the Pale Hand member’s skeletons and a vine caught him, leaving him trapped again.

• Four figures from the Raven Feather, the Greenstone Forest, the Snake Sect, and the Theophat Psychic Order emerged and stopped the Pale Hand member.
• The Pale Hand member fell under the Theophat Psychic Order member’s Distortion and was caught by a venomous vine from the Greenstone Forest.
• The Raven Feather member seized Pistrie with his raven, but the Snake Sect woman threw a dagger at it, forcing it to drop him.
• Pistrie tried to run, but a vine tripped him and three skeletons surrounded him with blades at his neck.
• The Pale Hand member, still alive despite the venom, revealed his corpse-like face and told Pistrie he would not escape.

Pistrie faced death as his [Spirituality] threatened to drag him into the Abyss, but the wounded woman saved him and revealed her conflicting feelings over Del and her dead family. After she devoured the Raven Feather member’s crow, Pistrie’s [Spirituality] completed its third surge and something inside him broke.

• Pistrie’s poisoned body and regret stirred his [Spirituality], threatening to pull him into the Abyss as the others watched.
• The wounded woman severed the vine trapping Pistrie, then blinded the Raven Feather member’s crow with lime while continuing to fight.
• The Greenstone Forest elder and the Raven Feather member wounded each other and settled into an uneasy balance.
• The woman told Pistrie she saved him because he was Del’s friend, then admitted she hated him but wanted to honor Del and Tita’s dying wish.
• The blinded crow attacked the woman, who seized and devoured it while lamenting the deaths of Del, Tita, and her sons.
• Pistrie’s [Spirituality] completed its third surge, and a sharp crack sounded inside his body.

Pistrie absorbed the power and knowledge sealed in the Fairy Eye, rapidly advancing in strength and killing the Pale Hand member and the other faction members. As he faced the Theophat Psychic Order member’s Distortion Field, an overwhelming force descended on his opponent.

• The Fairy Eye and Great Dragon skeleton crumbled, and their dust entered Pistrie, raising his [Physique] and [Spirituality] and granting him hidden knowledge.
• Pistrie killed the fleeing Pale Hand member with the replica Venom Dragon Fang.
• Pistrie killed the Raven Feather member, the Greenstone Forest member, and the Snake Sect lady in quick succession.
• The Theophat Psychic Order member used a Distortion Field to locate Pistrie and guessed that his family had sealed his abilities to remove him as an heir rival.
• The Theophat Psychic Order member expanded the field to distort [Spirituality] and tried to crush Pistrie, but an overwhelming force descended upon him.

Pistrie killed a member of the Theophat Psychic Order, failed to reconcile with the wounded woman, and fled Kilger Harbor while trying to control his Spirituality. Near the Inner River, he encountered a fisherman with a strangely straight hook suspended above the water, who said a fish had taken the bait.

• A member of the Theophat Psychic Order recognized Pistrie's Distortion Field before it pulverized him.
• Pistrie tried to help the wounded woman, but she rejected him and walked into the Harbor District.
• Pistrie fought to steady his Spirituality as he fled Kilger Harbor and worried that Diodone Hamlet had caused the chaos.
• Pistrie remembered his father's cruelty and the fear that had driven him to flee the Golden Lion Family.
• Pistrie noticed a fisherman beside the Inner River using a straight hook that hung above the water, and the fisherman said a fish had taken the bait.

Pistrie Hamlet encountered Arthur fishing and grew suspicious of the charming stranger, but hunger led him to ask for some grilled fish. Arthur offered it freely, then made Pistrie hesitate by asking whether he feared it was poisoned.

• Pistrie Hamlet mistook Arthur’s commanding presence for a sign that he might be connected to his father and prepared to defend himself.
• Arthur caught a large fish with a straight hook and cooked it beside the river.
• Hungry after his recent chases and battles, Pistrie offered Arthur his gold ring in exchange for a portion of fish.
• Arthur saw through Pistrie’s concealed dagger and reassured him that the fish was free.
• As Pistrie accepted a piece of fish, Arthur asked whether he was afraid it had been poisoned.

Arthur shared grilled fish with the Old Lion's youngest son, repeatedly teasing him about poison and unsettling him with hints that he had watched a secret event. The young noble offered Arthur a gold ring as a token of gratitude, but Arthur pointed out that his trousers were torn at the crotch.

• Arthur ate the grilled fish first and teased the Old Lion's youngest son about whether it was poisoned.
• The Old Lion's youngest son checked himself with his family's Mystic Art, then ate the fish despite Arthur's continued jokes.
• Arthur thanked the young man for letting him enjoy a fine show, prompting him to wonder which faction Arthur supported.
• After eating anxiously for ten minutes, the Old Lion's youngest son thanked Arthur and offered him a gold ring as a token.
• Arthur told the Old Lion's youngest son that his trousers were torn at the crotch.

Arthur teased Pistrie Hamlet about his torn trousers and gave him a pink skirt to wear, leaving Pistrie frustrated and asking what Arthur wanted. Arthur instead asked Pistrie what he wanted to do.

• Arthur pointed out that Pistrie Hamlet's trousers had a small tear from crawling through the secret passage.
• Arthur handed Pistrie a pink, lace-trimmed skirt, and Pistrie tied it around his waist rather than wearing it.
• Arthur told Pistrie he could have used a piece of the skirt to cover the tear, leaving Pistrie embarrassed and silent.
• Pistrie gave up trying to guess Arthur's intentions and asked him what he wanted.
• Arthur told Pistrie that the question was what Pistrie himself wanted to do.