Chapter 21

Evangeline discovers Chaos has filled her room with gowns and finery for the upcoming journey, making her feel guilty about hiding her and Jacks’s plan to visit House Slaughterwood. She recalls Chaos protecting her during her near-transformation and wonders why he forbids Slaughterwood, especially after Jacks hinted the House started their current troubles but refused to explain, seemingly out of loyalty to Chaos.

While packing, a magical history book shifts its title to The Ballad of the Archer and the Fox, then opens to portraits of Vengeance Slaughterwood and multiple labeled “brides-to-be,” including Glendora Redthorne. More pages show unrelated noble portraits, then an image of three young men by a target—the Merrywood (Bitterwood) Three—one unmistakably resembling a younger, human, laughing Jacks tossing a red apple.

Startled by the implication that Jacks was once human and part of this notorious trio, Evangeline studies the image and wonders what changed him. Jacks arrives to fetch her, briefly sees the book, and the pages turn blank. He curtly announces their carriage is coming soon and tells her to stop with “sad stories.”

Evangeline insists she saw Jacks among the Merrywood Three. Jacks denies it, warning that stories and pictures here lie, even as his reaction betrays unease. The moment ends with Jacks urging her to finish packing, pressing them toward their clandestine departure for House Slaughterwood and leaving the book’s revelations—and Jacks’s past—unresolved.