With Arina’s bones wrapped in Kaelis’s jacket, they backtrack through the traps, which pose no threat in reverse, and exit to the city through a secret passage behind a tapestry. At the townhome, Gregor is shocked to see Kaelis but lets them in when Clara shows him Arina’s remains. Gregor uses the club’s coded phrase to announce a member’s death, “A star has fallen” (387). Everyone gathers.

Jura unwraps the skull and collapses in grief. Bristara orders a burial. While the club prepares, Clara keeps vigil over Arina’s bones as Kaelis stands in a corner. Bristara sends Kaelis to another room and confronts Clara about bringing him to their sanctuary. She questions Kaelis’s motives, warns Clara that he cannot be trusted, and suggests that he may have been involved in Arina’s death. Clara defends Kaelis, but Bristara says that Clara’s obsession with revenge got Arina killed.

Clara reveals her plan to use the World card, and Bristara warns her not to. She confirms that the World is real and says that Clara’s mother, Laylis, would have wanted her to defend it from the Oricalis family at all costs. Enraged, Clara tells Bristara not to speak her mother’s name. The club gathers in the backyard, where Clara places Arina’s bones in a grave. Ren plants a white lily over the remains, and Jura pours tea over the soil. Twino sings a song of mourning, and Clara finally weeps.

On the way back to the academy, Clara tells Kaelis that she wants to be alone. Changing her mind, she opens her door, but he’s gone. Unsettled by Bristara’s words, Clara leaves Kaelis’s apartments and goes to her old dorm room with Alor for the night. She asks Alor to investigate who was behind the raid on the Starcrossed Club. Lying awake, Clara resolves to steal the World from Kaelis to resurrect her mother and sister.

Three weeks pass as Clara avoids Kaelis, resuming classes, training Alor privately, and studying with Luren and Dristin while avoiding the Sanctum. One night, Luren presses Clara to share what’s wrong. Clara confesses that her sister died, and Luren holds her while she cries in silent support. Then, Clara finds a note from Kaelis requesting that they speak, which she ignores.

Kaelis corners Clara in an empty study room, claiming that she blames him for Arina’s death; she denies it, but doubts linger. Kaelis explains that his desired world would prevent deaths like Arina’s. Clara asks if he will bring Arina back with the World’s wish, but he says that the wish must be for the greater good, not individuals. He explains that the wish is complex and that upon its casting, the deck is reshuffled, and the Majors may change.

Kaelis reveals his own grief, confessing that his father killed his mother and has forced him to do terrible things. Clara asks if he destroyed Clan Hermit and if he will use the World to bring his mother back. He says no; he is focused on dismantling everything his father built and creating a better future. Seeing his genuine pain, Clara feels sympathy. They reaffirm their partnership, though she knows she will betray him.

Sorza guesses that Clara has successfully inked her Major card, and they agree to practice together after the trials. Cael interrupts, revealing that Eza has arranged to be Clara’s opponent in the wielding trial. He whispers that she should fail inking, adding that Eza will not fight fair since the king already possesses Clara’s card.

Later, Clara returns to the Fool’s workshop with Kaelis. She discovers that he has removed and buried all the skeletons. At the final door, Kaelis gives her a magical marking of white roses on her arm, allowing her to pass the Fool’s barrier. They enter a room filled with equipment, books, and self-operating machinery. Clara examines a prototype of the powder mill and asks if the Fool made it. Kaelis says that it was someone else but claims not to know who.

On a subsequent night, Clara returns to the workshop alone. She collects a sample of the Fool’s unique inking powder to give to Twino for analysis. Reading the Fool’s journals, she confirms that the World can do anything and learns that it must be imprinted on a vessel card.

Clara is forced to attend a winter solstice banquet at Oricalis Castle with Kaelis. Silas teleports them, along with Ravin and Leigh, to the castle. Kaelis introduces Clara to High Lord Ixil Leva of Clan Lovers. Myrion calls them a destined match, which reassures Clara. Ixil wishes Kaelis a happy birthday, surprising Clara. Kaelis reveals that he loathes the day because the court uses it as proof that he’s void-born and it reminds him of his mother’s death. Clara promises to steer conversations away from the topic.

They meet High Lord Moreus Ventall of Clan Tower, Alor and Emilia’s father. Moreus recognizes Clara from All Coins Day and seems to want to thank her for saving Alor but is unable to. He expresses suspicion about her common birth and the unlikely odds of the prince finding her.

When Kaelis leaves her for a moment, Clara surreptitiously follows Ravin and Silas and overhears their conversation. She discovers that Silas is the mole and acted as Griv to help lead to her capture. After Ravin leaves, Clara confronts Silas. He admits everything but says that he only cooperated because his family was tortured and he was forced to watch. To prove his allegiance to her, he offers her schematics for the box in which the king keeps the golden Major cards.

Kaelis frantically comes looking for her, as the king has summoned them. Moments later, the king publicly announces and approves their betrothal.

After the banquet, Clara theorizes that the king either believes in their love and that it can be controlled, or he plans to expose their ruse. She states that since they don’t love each other, the king has no advantage. Kaelis’s response is noncommittal. During the rest of the winter recess, Clara and Kaelis maintain a distance. One night, Clara almost goes to Kaelis’s room to initiate intimacy but is held back by her own uncertainty and fear.

The day of the Three of Swords Trials arrives. Clara is called for her reading trial, and afterward, Professor Rothou informs Clara that she has passed. The inking trial is easy, and she ignores Cael’s warning to fail. At lunch, Clara learns that Luren failed the inking trial. Eza threatens Clara, but she retorts that beating him will be purely for fun.

The wielding trial is held on the rooftop where Kel died. Clara comforts a distressed Luren. Kaelis watches from the crowd, his expression a mixture of worry and pride. Clara is placed in the final dueling group against Eza. The duel begins with Clara and Eza trading blows using Minor Arcana cards. Eza uses the Ace of Wands as cover to cast the Eight of Cups, an unexpectedly high card that is not allowed, and hits Clara, making her hand-to-hand combat clumsy.

Refusing to forfeit and unable to win with skill, Clara uses multiple Two of Coins cards to sustain a massive, chaotic assault. She casts all four Aces simultaneously, trapping Eza in vines, ice, fire, and wind. She summons a blade and demands his surrender, but Eza casts the Five of Cups, flooding Clara’s mind with grief and doubt. Clara resists the mental attack, stating that she doesn’t doubt herself, and puts her sword to his throat. She tells him to yield or die. Professor Thornbrow declares Clara the victor.

Eza taunts Clara, daring her to kill him and risk the wrath of Clan Moon. Clara walks away and notices that Kaelis has disappeared. He’s waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Once alone, Clara collapses against him from exhaustion, and he carries her back to his apartments. He takes her to his personal wing, settles her in his dressing room, and draws her a bath.

Kaelis slowly undresses Clara. He asks twice if she wants him to leave; both times, she says no. He leads her to the bath and then kneels beside the tub to gently wash her hands and hair. The moment is filled with unspoken intimacy and longing but also doubt. He leaves her to bathe alone. When she emerges, he’s gone.

That evening, the house placement ceremony is held in the main hall. Dristin is accepted into House Coins, Sorza into Cups, and Alor into Swords. Luren nervously bids for House Cups, and after a nod of approval from Clara, Myrion accepts Luren. Only one spot remains in House Swords for the final two initiates: Clara and Eza. Emilia accepts Clara.

Eza rages, insisting that Emilia had sworn to take him. He lunges toward Clara, yelling that she’s a liar and that he knows the truth about her. Clara uses a card to knock him down, but she’s too weak from the trials. Eza gets up and charges again with a summoned sword. When Kaelis cannot get there in time, Emilia leaps over the table and slits Eza’s throat with her dagger, killing him.

After dinner, Kaelis instructs Clara to go to her new dormitory, Bladehaven, where she will stay permanently. Clara is confused and hurt by his sudden distance but leaves. She enters Bladehaven, a residence dedicated to knowledge and strength. Emilia assigns Clara and Alor adjoining rooms and tells Alor that their father will be proud.

Once alone, Alor reveals that she has found that records concerning the club raid seem to have been intentionally scrubbed. Clara asks her to also look into her mother, Laylis Daygar, suspecting that her and Arina’s deaths may be connected. Clara finds her clothes already moved into her new room’s wardrobe, confirming that Kaelis planned her departure. Later that night, Alor comes into Clara’s room, unable to sleep. Clara asks why she sleeps with a dagger, and Alor explains that it’s part of Clan Tower’s training.

The next day after classes, Clara goes to Kaelis’s apartments and finds him in his study. She demands to know why he sent her away. Cooly, he says that he gave her what she always wanted, listing all the ways she has shown him hatred and doubt. He pleads for her to either commit to hating him or take something more but to stop tormenting them both. When Clara is overwhelmed, he begs her to set him free, saying that she consumes his every waking moment. Realizing that she cannot be nothing to him, Clara kisses him.