Determined to build a rapport with Kael, Elara prepares to treat the king, bringing witch hazel and other remedies to his foul, stagnant chamber. He immediately orders her to leave, but only Miss Hampshire departs, leaving Elara and the king alone. He is hostile and in pain, guarding his shoulder and showing Elara a festering, maggot-infested pustule on his chest. As she applies the witch hazel, he complains that it burns, then grabs her wrist and forces her hand onto the sores, causing them to burst. Elara does not flinch and continues cleaning, enduring his rage. When he threatens her with a hanging, she retorts that this would be a kinder end than the deaths she has witnessed in the midst of the rot. The king drinks the water she offers him, and she wonders what motivates his determination to avoid “feeding” the crown. When she brings a candle closer, he complains that it hurts his eyes, but she chides him for festering in the dark and applies wormwood to his wound to dry it out. Before leaving, she places fresh gauze over his chest and promises to return that night, ignoring his orders for her to stay away.

That evening, Elara returns to find the king asleep on his couch. His wounds are drier and the maggots are dead. He whimpers in his sleep, murmuring “Mother” and his need to “break it.” Elara assumes that he must be referring to Queen Ophelia and that he is dreaming about breaking the curse. Curious, Elara tries to tug on his crown, but true to what Vale told her, it clings to his skull like bone. After tending to his wounds, Elara explores the nearby corridor and discovers an unlocked chamber. Inside, the room is dominated by a large, velvet-draped bed and a veiled mirror. The air smelled of old perfume and dust. Sensing the room’s importance, she wonders why the king sleeps on a couch in a sickroom instead of in this royal bed. Her investigation is cut short by the sound of approaching footsteps. As she retreats into the hall, she comes face-to-face with Vale.

Vale leads Elara to the deserted kitchens for food and privacy. A timid kitchen girl serves them, and Vale explains that she was the previous candidate he sent to seduce the king; she failed the king’s test by retching at the sight of his wounds. Vale declines to join her in the meal, but as Elara eats the stale food, she impulsively asks Vale whether he wants a wife, and he admits, “I have longed for a wife longer than I have had a name for longing” (77). At her prompting, he clarifies that he is a little older than the king, but he mocks her when she comments on his good looks. After some more verbal sparring, Elara asks him about the details of the sacrifice that claimed Queen Ophelia’s life. She wonders whether Ophelia is the source of the king’s determination to break the curse. Vale explains that the sacrifice is a ritual called the “Queen’s Coronation,” in which the king crowns his queen before slitting her throat. He adds that Ophelia’s coronation was “traumatic” because she was unaware of her “fate.”

To better understand the king’s motivations, Elara asks to read the royal records, but Vale tells her that access to the secret annals and letters in the library is restricted to stewards and those of the royal bloodline. He also says that the royal line has been broken before, as the curse was once passed to someone outside the family. As they walk back through the palace, they pass a ruined greenhouse bearing a plaque that states the greenhouse was a gift to the queen upon the “heir’s” birth. Elara resolves to bring Kael into the gardens, sure that the sight of the greenhouse will prompt him to share his memories, but Vale forbids it. They argue, and he grabs her arm. Angry, Elara breaks free and storms away, determined to follow her own plan.

Ignoring Vale’s warning, Elara sneaks a wheelchair from the infirmary to take the king outside. After some resistance, Kael reluctantly agrees. In the moonlit garden, he begins to open up, sharing a memory of playing chess with his mother. However, the moment of peace is shattered when Elara mentions her own brother’s suffering from the rot, as her comment reminds the king that his own legacy is widely dubbed the “Reign of Rot.” She wheels him to a fountain featuring a statue of Death, which he says his father erected.

The sight unleashes the king’s fury. He confesses that he hated his father and that when the time came for the succession ritual (in which the son must kill the father in order to inherit the crown), Kael did not grant Merrick a merciful death. Instead, he tortured and killed his father. This confession forces Elara to realize that the king is a dangerous man who is capable of deliberate cruelty. Telling Elara this story shatters the king’s momentary softening and vulnerability, and he angrily demands to be taken back to his room. Elara resolves that if the king will give her no answers about his history, she must find a way into the library herself.

Elara’s attempt to enter the library is blocked by a scribe infected with the rot; he insists that access is for “[l]ineage and stewards only” (95). Frustrated, she returns to the unused royal chamber to search for clues. While examining the floor, she discovers what appears to be old blood, so she pulls back the rug to uncover a large, deep-set bloodstain. Just then, Vale appears, having been alerted by the scribe. Unsurprised by her discovery, he kneels on the rug beside her and identifies the blood as belonging to Queen Maeryn, the second wife and sacrifice of Kael’s father, King Merrick. Vale suggests that the king avoids the room because it belonged to his hated father and the stain is a grim reminder of the crown’s price. He then apologizes for his aggressive behavior at the greenhouse, confessing his exhaustion and desperation. In a moment of vulnerability, he caresses her face. Elara pulls away but tells him she needs to find information about the royal family more quickly so that she can help end the curse and save her brother. Moved, Vale promises to try to get her into the library but asks her to wait five nights.

Miss Hampshire furiously scolds Elara for taking the king into the gardens. In her anger, she accidentally reveals that the fountain is the site of Queen Ophelia’s coronation ritual, where she “bled.” However, Miss Hampshire quickly amends her story to claim that the queen’s bleeding was caused by illness in the last days of her life. An urgent problem calls Miss Hampshire away, and she orders Elara to wait outside the king’s chamber.

Moments later, Elara hears a crash from within. She enters to find the king in a violent rage, having thrown a chess table. He screams at Vale, telling him, “Know your place, you bastard! […] Get out! Crawl back into the shadows where you belong” (107). Vale stands calmly before the barrage of hateful words and then exits, squeezing Elara’s hand in passing.

The king paces, ranting about being outwitted and lamenting his failure as a ruler. When Elara tries to calm him, he only grows more agitated. When she offers him camphor oil, he slaps the flask from her hand, and it shatters, spilling oil across the floor. As Elara steps toward him, she slips on the oil, hits her head, and loses consciousness.

Elara awakens to find herself in the king’s bed; he is sitting beside her, deeply remorseful. He has tended to the cut on her head and offers a formal “king’s apology” for his violent outburst. He then asks how he can make amends. Seizing the opportunity, Elara tells him that he can agree to a long soak in salt water, which she hopes will help to heal his rot-marred skin. Privately, she believes that such a setting will encourage him to open up to her, bringing her closer to her goal of breaking the curse. Since the palace lacks salt, she suggests that they go to the sea. The king counters that the sea is too dangerous but suggests going instead to a nearby salt spring that flows into a secluded cave on the palace grounds. He agrees that the outing will take place on the next clear, moonlit night.