At a royal audience Matteo Vale is pressed about the commander at the border and denies it, saying his cousin leads the force. He fears that if word of a battlefield death reaches Princess Luna she’ll learn he enlisted under a false name and blame the Vales. Luna, uneasy about her upcoming wedding to Victor, is further unsettled by Gavin’s absence as advisers urge her to accept fate. The Vale Army returns in a triumphant, larger procession; their arrival now risks exposing Matteo’s secret and forces an immediate, unresolved choice for Luna.