Two days after seeing Apollo with a prostitute, Ilsa deliberately starts building a life in Fleuridia instead of dwelling on him. She learns a few French words, explores the library, reads about Lunwyn's noble Houses, and begins riding lessons despite still-healing ribs. When her horse bolts, Apollo's cousin Achilles stops it and, with Draven and Alek, meets her properly. The men decide her injuries and inexperience make immediate travel unsafe, and Achilles gently challenges Ilsa's habit of keeping herself apart, urging her to let the guard know her as herself rather than only as Apollo's dead wife.

Over the next week, Ilsa's world widens. Hans takes over her riding lessons, Laures, Gaston, and Remi help her learn Fleuridian, Achilles teaches her the strategy game ricken, and the men all play tuble with her. On a shopping trip to the city of Benies, Derrik, Achilles, Hans, and Laures indulge her delight in the city's beauty, food, and shops. What begins as escort duty becomes genuine companionship, and Ilsa's isolation eases as the men increasingly shape their time around her enjoyment.

Achilles later realizes the journey to Lunwyn is now badly overdue, but Derrik chooses to delay departure one last time because Ilsa is finally happy. As the trip continues, the men stop for fairs, contests, and festivals whenever something catches her eye. They stop calling her madam or Ilsa and begin calling her Maddie, marking that they now see her as a separate person. At one tournament, Laures wins a bout, Maddie excitedly teaches him several gestures from her world, and Hans jokes that Apollo must be told they will be delayed yet again.

During the long overland journey and sea voyage, Maddie grows close enough to share the truth of her old life. At a midday stop, she tells Achilles and Derrik about Pol's abuse, her flight, and Apollo and Valentine's rescue, and Achilles reassures her that she is safe now. Later on the ship, after too much drink, Maddie thanks Derrik and the others for turning a frightening displacement into something joyful. In that same conversation, Derrik learns that Apollo explicitly told her he got what he wished for and did not want it, confirming that Maddie believes Apollo rejected her personally.

After four months of travel, the party finally reaches the cold realm of Lunwyn and stops at an inn before Karsvall. Derrik arranges comfort and protection for Maddie, then prepares to ride ahead to inform Apollo of their arrival. Maddie, however, has already formed a private plan: speak to Apollo, then leave and make an independent life for herself. Before separating, she thanks Derrik for making her feel free for the first time in eleven years, revealing how deeply the journey with the men has changed her.