The Night Lords IV. The Palace of Jade.Ion contemplates his feelings for Sister Esther before heading to Duchess Fortuna's funeral procession. He recklessly tries to kill Radu but is easily defeated; as Radu moves to deal a killing blow, he unexpectedly stops himself and struggles to inform Ion that the Rosenkreuz Orden is behind everything before returning under what appears to be outside control. Esther arrives and tries to help but is knocked out; she is taken into custody along with Ion after Empress Vradica orders the two to be imprisoned and interrogated. As Father Abel and Duchess Astha make their way to the Moldova mausoleum, an explosion there seemingly kills the Empress. At the palace, Esther and Ion, who are locked in a cell together, make amends with each other before Radu arrives and is revealed to have been long dead by Dietrich, who explains that he had been using Radu's body as a puppet under his control. Before leaving, Dietrich has Radu shoot Ion with a bullet that sends him into a blood lust and then toss Esther a silver sword, intending for the two to kill each other. Ion begs Esther to kill him before he loses control of himself, but she refuses to do so.