diff --git a/tests/prose/cases/investigation-entry-seeds-from-carrier/assert.md b/tests/prose/cases/investigation-entry-seeds-from-carrier/assert.md
index 7117e3603..d20532928 100644
--- a/tests/prose/cases/investigation-entry-seeds-from-carrier/assert.md
+++ b/tests/prose/cases/investigation-entry-seeds-from-carrier/assert.md
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@ The prose should have taken this path:
 3. finds a discovery session log, so seeds the bug context from the
    manifest description and that log — the context-gathering questions
    are not asked
-4. renders the phase note for the investigation phase with the verb
-   Starting, and emits it as produced
+4. renders the phase note for the investigation phase through the engine,
+   with the verb Starting — the wording is the engine's, not the skill's
 5. hands off to the investigation processing skill for crash-fix
 
 Further claims:
diff --git a/tests/prose/cases/root-cause-validation-clean-verdict/assert.md b/tests/prose/cases/root-cause-validation-clean-verdict/assert.md
index f00e364c7..291c65e4b 100644
--- a/tests/prose/cases/root-cause-validation-clean-verdict/assert.md
+++ b/tests/prose/cases/root-cause-validation-clean-verdict/assert.md
@@ -1,19 +1,20 @@
 The prose should have taken this path:
 
-1. offers the independent validation, presents the run-or-skip choice,
-   and waits
-2. on yes, records the dispatch through the engine and creates no report
-   file of its own — the response carries the id and the path to use
-3. announces that validation is running, then dispatches exactly one
-   agent, synchronously
-4. once the report has landed, promotes the row with a scan and closes
-   it with an incorporate — the verdict is consumed whole, never
-   surfaced finding by finding
-5. reads the report and, the verdict being validated, states the
-   confidence and returns to its caller — the gap-handling choice is
-   never reached
+1. the scripted `yes` is consumed at the run-or-skip choice, so the walk
+   takes the run arm — a `skip` would have returned to the caller with no
+   dispatch at all
+2. the dispatch is recorded through the engine, and the report lands at
+   the path that response returned — the prose does not invent a path or
+   pre-create the file
+3. exactly one validation agent stands behind that dispatch: one dispatch
+   recorded, one report written, no second of either
+4. once the report has landed, the row is promoted by a scan and closed
+   by an incorporate — the verdict is consumed whole, never surfaced
+   finding by finding
+5. the report is read and, the verdict being validated, the reference
+   returns to its caller — the gap-handling choice is never reached, so
+   no gaps are recorded and the investigation file is never edited
 
 Further claims:
 
-- the investigation file is untouched and nothing is committed: the
-  validated path has no gaps to record
+- nothing is committed: the validated path has no gaps to record