Rumors spread in the palace that His Majesty keeps visiting Ms. Yowell while a court faction plots to install Clarissa as noble consort and Sophia as empress with Mr. Browne's backing. Ms. Yowell, coughing up blood, is told the emperor had gone to rescue another person during a past attack, which left her captured, tortured, and infertile. One woman offers to renounce the empress title to remove herself as an obstacle. Ms. Yowell refuses and vows never to forgive them. As tensions peak, Clarissa moves—and someone shouts, "Clarissa, what are you doing?"