Marius continues to grow closer to Mial, which makes the task of assassinating the young prince all too difficult. Instead, he decides on a daring plan to assassinate the archduke instead. Valerius, telling Lord Reenas that Norisse would be the archduke of Crystal if both Vlad and Mial are killed, figures out a way to have Norisse murdered first. As the day of the wedding approaches, the opposing schemes finally come to fruition. However, Norisse is no fool and has made preparations of his own.