- The next morning all their girls' dresses are missing. It turns out they're being dyed black for mourning, and that for one year, the windows will be draped, and they'll all wear nothing but black—oh, and dancing and going out in the gardens also won't be allowed. Bummer.
- The girls all talk about how their dad, the King, is being weirdly distant—normally he eats meals with them, but now he's all busy with Royal Business and never sees them.
- They hear his voice before dinner starts, and get excited… but he's only there to show Lord Bradford in to stop the clock in the tower for mourning. The rest of the girls are pissed off, but Azalea volunteers to show him to the tower.
- Apparently the clock works by magic. After the High King was killed, Harold the First (Azalea's ancestor) unmagicked the palace so that people could safely live there, but there are still pockets of magic here and there.
- On that note, Lord Bradford tells Azalea that if she rubs silver on the D'Eathe mark (a half-moon shape), it'll open a magic passage.
- Lord Bradford stops the clock, and they go back down to the main floor. Azalea's sisters pelt him with potatoes because they're upset at him for stopping the clock, so Lord Bradford gives his golden watch to Azalea so that they can still tell the time.