Rudeus's sisters arrive with an unexpected chaperone. After catching up with an old friend, Rudeus decides it's time to send the girls to school. But convincing Norn and Aisha turns out to be more trouble than he bargained for.

Norn shuts herself in her dorm room and refuses to attend classes. Haunted by the specter of his past life, Rudeus sets out to solve his sister's problems, only to discover that he is the cause.

Rudeus and Elinalise reach Rapan and soon reunite with Paul, only to learn that a deadly labyrinth has claimed both Zenith and Roxy. The fruits of Rudeus's studies offer a last, faint hope to reach his mother and his mentor in time.

With Roxy's rescue, the search for Zenith resumes in earnest. Rudeus reconnects with his mentor amid the perils of the labyrinth. But why does she seem a little more awkward around him than before?

Rudeus arrives home, frantic that something may have gone wrong in his absence. But the conversations waiting for him may become disasters in their own right. How can he introduce a new wife to a family still reeling from Paul's death?