Before the banquet for Director Adaeze Feng and the Wong-Hopper Consortium party, Hadrian dresses while Lady Liliana criticizes his appearance and his mishandled entrance at the reception. Hadrian asks why Lord Alistair excluded him, and the conversation turns to succession. Liliana tells Hadrian that Alistair is not bound to choose the eldest child and could name Crispin or order another vat-born child instead.

Liliana’s comments expose the cold distance within the Marlowe family. Hadrian resents her frequent absences and suggests she barely knows Alistair; Liliana replies that no one truly does. She warns Hadrian that if he rules, he must lead his people rather than stand beside them, reinforcing the aristocratic expectations Hadrian finds constricting.

At dinner the next evening, Hadrian sits away from his usual place near Alistair and remains uneasy because his father has not reprimanded him for the reception incident. The Consortium delegates discuss the Cielcin war, the destruction of Cai Shen, and the urgent need for fuel. Director Feng frames House Marlowe’s uranium as newly valuable, while Alistair acknowledges the advantage created by the crisis.

Crispin bluntly asks whether the Cielcin eat people, embarrassing the table but drawing an answer from Terence, a Consortium scholiast. Hadrian corrects Crispin’s terminology and explains what he knows of Cielcin feeding habits, migration, and enslavement. Gibson confirms that Hadrian has long studied the Cielcin and their language, which causes Director Feng to take interest in Hadrian and suggest he consider the Chantry or even Consortium work.

The discussion turns from curiosity to politics when the guests speculate about what should happen to the Cielcin after the war. Hadrian argues that exterminating them is impossible because their mobile clusters can survive if even one ship escapes, whereas human populations remain vulnerable on planets. Alistair cuts him off and accuses Hadrian of flirting with treason, forcing Hadrian into public humiliation while Director Feng smooths over the incident and redirects the meal back to business.