During dinner at home, Diem mischievously tells Teller and their father, Andrei, that Princess Lily invited the family to dinner and that Diem instead invited Lily to the Bellator house. Teller panics because he has been hiding the depth of his connection with Lily, while Andrei mistakes Lily for Teller’s girlfriend and warmly approves. Diem’s teasing loses some of its humor when Teller looks genuinely defeated, then retaliates by exposing that Henri proposed to Diem three weeks earlier and that Diem still has not answered.

Andrei presses Diem to explain why she is delaying. Diem asks how Andrei knew Auralie was the one, and Andrei recounts how he admired Auralie in the army before courting her. He says Auralie had a commanding presence, left on a confidential yearlong mission, and returned after he had spent that year regretting his silence.

Andrei explains that he was terrified to ask Auralie to court him, but finally decided the possibility of being with her was worth the risk of rejection. Their early courtship was loving but guarded, with both keeping parts of themselves private. Andrei says he trusted Auralie’s secrecy because he believed she had reasons, just as Auralie did not force him to relive the horrors of war.

Andrei then reveals that Auralie eventually came to his door with infant Diem in her arms, confessed she had become pregnant and given birth during her mission, and planned to leave the army and start over elsewhere. Auralie only meant to say goodbye, but Andrei realized he could not imagine life without Auralie and Diem, so he gave up his career and followed them. His certainty about Auralie makes Diem feel the contrast with her uncertainty about Henri.

When Andrei suggests Diem should wait to speak with Auralie when she returns, Diem and Teller freeze. Andrei speaks as if Auralie’s return is certain, but before Diem can question whether Andrei knows where Auralie is, a series of deafening explosions shakes the house. Andrei recognizes the sound as explosions, and the family sees fire and smoke rising from Lumnos City.

Andrei assumes the blast may be an accident, while Teller suggests a rebel attack on the palace. Diem immediately fears that giving the Guardians a secret way into the palace has caused the destruction. Over Andrei’s objections that Diem is forbidden to go to Lumnos City and that other healers can help, Diem grabs a travel bag and runs into the woods toward the city, convinced she must help and that the disaster is her fault.