Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of sexual content, gender discrimination, sexual violence, emotional abuse, graphic violence, animal cruelty and death, and death.

Auren tries to distract herself by imagining the armies attacking Fourth Kingdom. She tells herself that Midas must know what he is doing, given that King Ravinger is widely feared and hated for his cruelty. It is said that he makes everything in his land corrode and rot, even the people. However, she also fears that Ravinger is too powerful and that no amount of Midas’s wealth will save him if Ravinger retaliates.

When Digby summons her, she puts on the sheer dress that Midas left for her, but in a moment of defiance, she wraps her ribbons around herself in the semblance of a corset, trying to cover her exposed breasts and hips. She wonders how Midas will respond. Because her enclosure does not extend to the banquet hall, Digby unlocks Auren’s cage and escorts her through the hallways. Dread and fear fill her as they approach, but she tells herself to trust Midas.