Mische wakes on a white beach that smells like Vostis, wearing Esme’s bloodstained nightgown but feeling no pain. The scene resembles her childhood home near the Citadel, and Eomin appears as he did in her Dawndrinker days, silently urging Mische toward evening prayers.

The illusion begins to fracture when Mische notices conflicting details: her clothing shifts into Dawndrinker robes, memories of Raihn and then Asar break through, and Mische realizes something is wrong. The figure wearing Eomin’s face grabs Mische, causing Mische’s wounds and pain to return as two realities flicker around her.

Mische runs toward Asar, who lies unconscious near the surf with his hand on his sword. Too weak to summon magic, Mische takes Asar’s blade, feels its power surge through her, and uses it to kill the false Eomin, which collapses into ash-like shreds. Asar wakes disoriented, and Mische discovers that Asar does not see the beach at all.

Asar explains that they are in the Sanctum of Secrets, a place shaped by desire, shame, and hidden emotions rather than pure memory. The chamber overlays real terrain with personal illusions, and souleaters become more intelligent here by wearing faces drawn from a victim’s mind. Mische asks whether the figures at Esme’s house were souleaters, but Asar confirms they were wraiths, meaning Malach may still pursue them.

Asar and Mische decide the apparent Citadel is the chamber’s epicenter and begin following the brick path through Mische’s false Vostis. Mische is badly injured, exhausted, and increasingly distracted by the smell of Asar’s blood, while Asar also bleeds and struggles to remain steady. When Asar insists they stop and accept help, Mische rejects him, stung by his accusation that she is playing a self-sacrificing missionary role.

Mische’s body finally gives out before the argument can continue. After a brief glimpse of another, harsher reality beneath the illusion, Mische collapses in the forest while Asar leans over her and urges her to get up. Luce darts into the trees, and Mische loses consciousness before she can answer.