Chapter Summaries

Roselle recorded how the Savant potion restored his memories and raised questions about his bloody arrival, while Klein documented his plans, the Gray Fog, and a new participant drawn into the gathering. The chapter left Klein investigating the Strange Candlestick that had brought the newcomer Above the Gray Fog.

• Roselle wrote that the Savant potion restored buried knowledge and might help him improve machinery and earn the Church of the Artisan's favor.
• Roselle recalled waking in an alley with blood on his chest but no wounds, wondered whether the original Roselle had been murdered, and hid his diary when Charlotte came to visit.
• Klein recorded his cautious correspondence with another branch of the Abraham Family and considered finding work as a genuine apprentice.
• Klein described how he had built an illusory gathering Above the Gray Fog and disguised himself as both its ruler's follower and an ordinary participant.
• Klein noted that a new member had appeared Above the Gray Fog after touching a Strange Candlestick from the Tudor period of the Fourth Epoch.

Charlotte visited Roselle, who had recently become a Savant, and showed him an unusual Fourth Epoch candlestick. When Roselle touched it, he was transported to a mysterious gathering and learned that its organizer was the great Mr. Fool.

• Charlotte reflected on her fight with Julian Wright and how her actions had fit the Arbiter's sense of justice.
• Roselle told Charlotte that he had drunk the Savant potion and described its effects on his memory and learning.
• Charlotte showed Roselle the upside-down candlestick and said she intended it as a gift for their partner, Morvan Durand.
• After Charlotte left, Roselle touched the candlestick and was transported to a fog-shrouded palace with three other people and a hooded figure.
• Roselle learned that the others had been summoned by the figure, whom they called the great Mr. Fool.

As Charlotte prepared for her eighteenth birthday, she practiced noble etiquette and used her Arbiter abilities to settle a dispute between two maids. Raoul gave her a thousand Gold Louis as a coming-of-age gift, then asked whether she had already become a Beyonder.

• Charlotte practiced dance and social etiquette with Delia Perry ahead of her formal debut at a noble ball.
• Charlotte questioned two maids, identified an unfair division of chores, and ordered them to share the work more reasonably.
• Charlotte reflected that settling disputes seemed to help her master the Arbiter potion and might let her advance sooner.
• Raoul summoned Charlotte to his study and presented her with a thousand Gold Louis as her coming-of-age gift.
• Raoul noticed Charlotte handled the heavy box with ease and asked whether she had taken a potion and become a Beyonder.

Charlotte’s father realized she had become a Beyonder, gave her the gold he had saved, and warned her against pursuing advancement carelessly. At a Sushit Weekly gathering, Charlotte grew suspicious of Morvan Durand’s knowledge of cursed Fourth Epoch artifacts but decided to observe him rather than report him.

• Raoul recognized Charlotte as a Beyonder and gave her a box of gold coins he had saved for her expenses.
• Raoul explained that the Sauron family’s property would eventually belong to Charlotte and urged her to avoid advancing further because of the dangers of losing control.
• Morvan examined an old candlestick, identified it as likely from the Tudor Empire period, and warned that Fourth Epoch artifacts could carry curses.
• Morvan proposed a serialized story for the Sushit Weekly, and Roselle enthusiastically supported the idea.
• Charlotte wondered whether Morvan was warning her and Roselle as fellow Beyonders, but after noticing his scrutiny, she chose to wait and see.

Charlotte visited the Inquisition’s underground headquarters beneath Saint Roch Cathedral, where Viève explained its structure and beliefs. Viève then described the cultists’ powers and the newly strengthened Dagger of Judgment, before asking Charlotte to pick it up.

• Charlotte followed Viève through the Inquisition’s underground offices and learned about its work, factions, and the Hall of Holy Radiance.
• Viève reported that two cultists had been captured and one had died resisting, while the Supervisor who contacted Julian remained unidentified.
• Viève explained that the cultists’ powers came from an entity’s bestowal and outlined the Broker and Shadow Merchant sequences.
• Viève revealed that the dagger had absorbed Julian’s power and become the Grade 3 Sealed Artifact 3-1452, the Dagger of Judgment.
• Viève described the dagger’s new ability and strengthened negative effects, then asked Charlotte to pick it up.

Charlotte tested the Dagger of Judgment and was asked to help document its effects because she felt no guilt while holding it. Later, she attended her coming-of-age debut at Viscount Derilose’s estate, where she spotted Roselle Gustav among the guests.

• Charlotte held the Dagger of Judgment without experiencing its guilt-inducing effect, while Viève quickly became distressed when she tried it.
• Viève explained that Charlotte could help document the dagger’s side effects while the Purification-ers sought approval for the arrangement.
• Charlotte decided not to tell Viève about her suspicions concerning Morvan Durand, feeling no guilt about withholding the information.
• Charlotte arrived with Raoul Sauron and Delia Perry at Viscount Derilose’s lavish estate for her debut and greeted the assembled nobles.
• Charlotte noticed Roselle Gustav watching her, and he furtively winked at her.

Charlotte attended her coming-of-age ball, met several young noblewomen, and danced her obligatory first dance. Roselle gave her a trial print of the Sushit Weekly, and the chapter ended with Charlotte offering to dance with him.

• Charlotte greeted Baron Leon and Eleanor Gustav, then met Matilda Abel and other young noblewomen at the ball.
• Viscount Derilose formally presented Charlotte to the guests, and she danced a minuet with a baron's second son.
• Charlotte stepped onto a balcony, where Roselle showed her a trial print of the Sushit Weekly as her birthday gift.
• Charlotte and Roselle saw a young noblewoman and man slip into the garden together.
• Charlotte stopped Roselle from returning to the ballroom and told him she could dance once more that evening.

Klein continued his clockmaker apprenticeship, reflecting on how his work helped him act as an Apprentice, while taking precautions against the Abraham Family’s curse. He entered the gray fog for the gathering, noticed an unstable new crimson star, and elsewhere Morvan Durand investigated a Tudor-era candlestick before continuing to write about his cursed past.

• Klein repaired a pocket watch under Mrs. Harrington’s supervision and felt the potion respond to his diligent work.
• Klein evaded possible followers by taking a circuitous route to his safe house, where he reviewed the Abraham Family’s curse and recalled surviving full-moon ravings by retreating into the gray fog.
• Klein entered the ancient palace and found a distant crimson star flickering, but severed his connection when it destabilized his spirituality.
• Klein summoned the three connected members to the gathering above the gray fog.
• Morvan Durand examined an Inverted Candlestick from the Tudor Dynasty and wondered whether the Blood Emperor had left behind power, then resumed writing about a man’s cursed life.

Charlotte and her partners prepared to launch the Sushit Weekly, and they discussed expanding its distribution to Trier while Charlotte was away. Morvan returned Charlotte’s antique candlestick and warned her to watch for misfortunes that might affect people around her.

• Charlotte finished reading Morvan’s serial, which ended after the prince linked his family’s deaths to a curse from the Fourth Epoch, and Morvan said he had not decided what happened next.
• Roselle described plans to print a thousand copies of the Sushit Weekly, and Charlotte told the partners she would be leaving for Trier with her father for a month.
• Roselle and Morvan urged Charlotte to investigate newspaper sales and distribution in Trier, and she agreed to gather information there.
• Roselle gave Charlotte his notes on establishing newspaper distribution channels and predicted the Sushit Weekly would become the city’s best-selling publication.
• Morvan returned Charlotte’s antique candlestick, saying it might have a wondrous effect by her side, and warned her that fate-driven misfortunes could first strike people around their intended target.

Charlotte traveled with her father toward Trier and stopped overnight in Beaumont, where she investigated an unusual church. The chapter ended when its priest welcomed her to the temple of the Creator.

• Charlotte reviewed her progress as a Sequence 9 Arbiter, considered the Dagger of Judgment and the Sushit Weekly, and anticipated reaching Trier.
• Charlotte and Raoul stopped with their entourage at Beaumont for the night after a long day of travel.
• A local man told Charlotte that Beaumont's old church was one of the town's few sights, so she went to investigate it with Lila.
• Charlotte entered the plain church and found rows of pews, a shrine with a statue of a man carrying a cross, and a bearded priest.
• The priest welcomed Charlotte to the temple of the Creator.