Four years after Pol’s departure, Enid has grown quieter and more withdrawn. Helena and Kaine try to help Enid make friends in the village, but secrecy about alchemy, their real identities, and Lila and Pol’s whereabouts keeps Enid isolated. Enid’s happiest moments are the family’s summer visits to Lila and Pol on the Northern mainland.

While Helena prepares tinctures, Enid notices the holes in Helena’s wrists. Helena explains that, during the war, people tried to remove enemies’ resonance, and the manacles used on Helena succeeded for a time. When Enid asks if Helena was captured, Helena admits enough of the truth to say she was held during the war and chose to run away and have Enid instead.

After sending Enid to the village, Helena confronts Kaine with a newspaper reporting that Stroud has been found drowned in Hevgoss. The report reveals that Hevgoss had sheltered Stroud and granted immunity in exchange for Stroud’s research, despite publicly presiding over war-crimes trials. Kaine does not deny Helena’s accusation that Kaine killed Stroud while pretending to handle business at the ports.

Helena is furious because Kaine lied and risked being caught, which could have destroyed the life they built with Enid. Helena also fears the future, knowing Enid will eventually learn Kaine’s real identity and the things Kaine did during the war, especially if Enid studies away from home. Kaine insists Stroud deserved death for what Stroud did to Helena, but Helena says Kaine should have left Stroud alone.

Helena’s anger breaks into grief and relief as Helena admits she is glad Stroud is dead, though Helena wishes Kaine had not been the one to kill Stroud. Kaine holds Helena and promises that Stroud is gone and there will be no one else.

Ten years later, Helena and Kaine watch a steamship disappear after Enid’s departure. Helena understands why Enid has gone and suggests it was inevitable, given the family’s difficulty letting things go. Alone together again, Helena asks what they do now, and Kaine answers that they can do anything Helena wants.