Charlotte's fiancé, Martin, brings her cousin Joanna to her manor and instructs his maid to slap Charlotte. Charlotte confronts him, but Martin reveals he plans to make Joanna his co-wife after their wedding, dismissing Charlotte as a 'powerless noble.' Instead of apologizing, Charlotte declares Martin's hand, used to make kites for Joanna, 'disgusting' and deliberately cuts it. She publicly renounces their engagement, calls Martin 'dirtied,' and orders her guards to expel him and Joanna from her family's properties forever.