Apollo lies awake after the night with Maddie, savoring how different she feels from Ilsa even as he judges himself harshly. He decides that, because Maddie drank adela tea without understanding its effects, he took advantage of her desire instead of protecting her. Convinced she will hate him when she wakes, he blames himself for repeatedly harming a woman he should have been helping heal.

Before dawn, Valentine appears in a swirl of green mist. Apollo realizes she secretly left the adela tea for Maddie, and he angrily accuses her of scheming. Valentine does not apologize; instead, she argues that Apollo has failed to claim Maddie emotionally or make her feel safe, warns that she will take Maddie away herself if he does not, and reveals that Derrik heard the couple during the night and is upset. She also reports that the scouting party from Bellebryn returned alive but found none of their enemies, leaving Minerva, Baldur, and the others hidden, and she urges Apollo to remember the troubling pattern linking separated lovers across worlds.

After Valentine leaves, Apollo wakes Maddie gently and arranges baths, breakfast, and preparations to depart. He also posts a servant in the hall in case Derrik approaches. Once ready, Apollo goes first to Derrik, who is exhausted and openly bitter after hearing Apollo and Maddie together. Their exchange turns hostile until Apollo makes clear that Maddie is not a substitute for Ilsa and that her chosen name in this world is Madeleine. Derrik admits he is in love with her and decides to leave Karsvall for the Lazarus seat, but Apollo asks him to continue protecting Apollo's children until he and Maddie return. The conversation ends with Derrik telling Apollo to take care of her, and Apollo answers with a vow.

Apollo then returns to Maddie expecting anger, but instead finds her in tears, apologizing. Maddie believes she selfishly pushed him into sex while looking like his dead wife, and she condemns herself as cruel for hurting him. Apollo stops her, holds her, and insists that he made love to Maddie, not to Ilsa. He admits that his earlier cruelty about her resemblance was his own failing, not hers, and explains that the adela tea clouded her control.

When Maddie asks whether he hates her, Apollo reassures her that he does not. He promises to explain both the tea and Valentine's visits later, then gently shares that he calls her his poppy because of her hair and because she is unlike Ilsa in ways he now sees clearly. Maddie shyly offers a small truth about herself, that she loves being outdoors, and Apollo welcomes that difference. With the tension between them eased and their connection strengthened, he reminds her they must leave, and her familiar "okeydokey" tells him they are on steadier ground.