Bree wakes late to find Alice gone to the library and Mrs. Charles still asleep inside her. Feeling the weight of how she abandoned Nick after using his trust and help, Bree decides she cannot move forward without addressing the hurt she caused. She texts Alice for Charlotte’s number because Bree wants help preparing for the Order gala.

While waiting, Bree spends the day caring for herself by washing, conditioning, and styling her hair, which makes her feel more like herself than she has in months. Charlotte arrives with borrowed dresses and jewelry, and Alice helps Bree choose a gown. When Bree sees herself in the winning dress, Alice becomes emotional because Bree looks like Faye, and the two friends share a quiet moment of grief and connection.

Charlotte drops Bree at the Carolina Club, where the Order’s gala is already full of Legendborn and Vassal families gathered amid concern over the demon attacks and the coming Table meeting. Bree feels out of place in the elegant, old-world setting, but a Black doorman’s encouragement steadies her. Inside, Bree reunites with Felicity, Sarah, and Tor, and senses Sel watching her from somewhere in the crowd.

Nick approaches Bree, and instead of anger he shows relief and admiration. Their easy banter returns, revealing that their connection remains strong despite Bree’s silence. When an older man summons everyone to be seated at Lord Davis’s request, Nick tells Bree they can talk later and that he is glad she came.

At dinner, Bree sits with Nick, Greer, Whitty, Evan, Fitz, Tor, and Sarah. Tension rises when Fitz defends Vaughn as a fighter and Nick sharply insists that choosing his Squire is his decision. Bree also notices that all the waitstaff are Black and brown, reinforcing her sense that the Order’s world is not hers and that she has come only to say goodbye properly.

After dinner, Nick asks Bree to dance, and they move toward the dance floor as their friends tease them. Before they can begin, a long-fingered man taps Nick on the shoulder. Bree recognizes the frightening Merlin by his acrid signature, and Nick stiffly greets Isaac Sorenson, Lord Davis’s Kingsmage.