The Eve (1)

Anna objects first to Charlotte's plan, refusing to let the princess enter the prison and pleading with her to consider the grief her father would feel if she disappeared, unaware that the king had violated his own daughter. Charlotte replies that she no longer regards him as her father and presses Casca once more, admitting she is no warrior and knows little of the world beyond Wyndham, yet could still serve as a hostage of value.

Casca refuses, warning that freeing Griffith will trigger a massive manhunt the weakened band can barely withstand, that taking the princess captive would drag in the king and spark a national crisis, and that it would tarnish Griffith's reputation and kill any lingering chance at his dream. Charlotte rejects every argument and dissolves into a loud fit until the others clap their hands over her mouth, and Casca relents on the condition that she leave the moment Griffith commands it. Turning gloomy, Casca confesses to Guts that Charlotte's talk of Griffith stirs her jealousy; when she reaches to apologize, he recoils from her touch and urges everyone onward, privately deciding that he is the one who must break free of Griffith.

At the Tower of Rebirth, Judeau silences the two patrolling guards with thrown knives, takes a ring of keys from their bodies, and the group slips inside. Far off at the woodland camp, where the wounded lie listless, Rickert shares a hopeful moment about rebuilding once Griffith returns before being sent to fetch water. Kneeling at the lake, he spots something luminous drifting offshore that streaks to the bank above him with startling speed, and for an instant he takes the creature for an elf. It darts toward the camp, and hearing an uproar, Rickert races back expecting a raid, only to find the site swallowed in darkness, the fires guttering, and every soul, friend and foe alike, simply gone.