diff --git a/crates/epiphany-engrave/DECISIONS.md b/crates/epiphany-engrave/DECISIONS.md
index 3fb40de..9c465bb 100644
--- a/crates/epiphany-engrave/DECISIONS.md
+++ b/crates/epiphany-engrave/DECISIONS.md
@@ -617,10 +617,24 @@ horizontal justification (independent axes). `ENGRAVER_VERSION` 8 → 9.
 convention wants — a single-page score is therefore unchanged (its only page is
 the last), so every existing single-page golden is byte-identical. A page with
 one system has no inter-system gap to grow; an already-full or overfull page has
-no positive slack. Drives `page_fill_efficiency` to ~0 on justified pages (a
-non-final page now fills the height). Locked by
-`vertical_justification_fills_non_final_pages` (a small custom `PageGeometry`
-forces the multi-page path; the non-final page fills, the last stays ragged).
+no positive slack. Locked by `vertical_justification_fills_non_final_pages` (a
+small custom `PageGeometry` forces the multi-page path; the non-final page fills,
+the last stays ragged).
+
+**Quality-metric trade-off (honest, tested).** Vertical justification drives
+`page_fill_efficiency` to ~0 on justified pages (they fill the height — the
+point), but the same stretch grows their inter-system gaps beyond the band
+model's preferred height, which `vertical_density_penalty` measures directly
+(its inter-system-gap term, quality.rs `vertical_raw`). So the two axes TRADE:
+filling the page is paid for in inter-system density, and a *sparse* justified
+page (few systems, large per-gap stretch) is charged more — which is a defensible
+signal (a 2-systems-on-a-tall-page layout genuinely reads thin) but over-charges
+a *moderate*, uniform stretch that is good justification. Same family as the
+horizontal `casting_off` / justified-raggedness note; the catalog refinement
+(score only EXCESS stretch, or measure gap UNIFORMITY rather than deviation from
+preferred) is the deferred follow-up, needing catalog alignment. Pinned by
+`vertical_justification_trades_page_fill_for_inter_system_density` so the
+interaction is not silent (review finding).
 
 **Still deferred (the rest of the vertical spring solve).** Inter-staff
 band-height renegotiation *within* a multi-staff system (today the constrained
diff --git a/crates/epiphany-engrave/src/quality.rs b/crates/epiphany-engrave/src/quality.rs
index 1d9646e..3e1b9a5 100644
--- a/crates/epiphany-engrave/src/quality.rs
+++ b/crates/epiphany-engrave/src/quality.rs
@@ -900,4 +900,48 @@ mod tests {
         let report = Engraver::default().solve(&ten_measure(), &SolverConfig::default());
         assert_eq!(report.metric_vector.vertical_density_penalty.0, 0.0);
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn vertical_justification_trades_page_fill_for_inter_system_density() {
+        use crate::PageGeometry;
+        use epiphany_layout_ir::{Margins, Size2D, StaffSpace};
+        // On a MULTI-page layout, vertical justification spreads a non-final
+        // page's systems to fill the height (`page_fill` → ~0), which stretches
+        // its inter-system gaps beyond the band model's preferred height — a
+        // cost the vertical-density axis measures. The two axes trade: filling
+        // the page is paid for in inter-system density. A catalog refinement
+        // that scores only EXCESS stretch (or measures gap uniformity) is a
+        // deferred follow-up, alongside the casting_off / justified-raggedness
+        // note. Pinned so the interaction is not silent (review finding).
+        let geometry = PageGeometry {
+            size: Size2D {
+                width: StaffSpace(40.0),
+                height: StaffSpace(30.0),
+            },
+            margins: Margins {
+                top: StaffSpace(5.0),
+                right: StaffSpace(5.0),
+                bottom: StaffSpace(5.0),
+                left: StaffSpace(5.0),
+            },
+        };
+        let report =
+            Engraver::with_geometry(geometry).solve(&ten_measure(), &SolverConfig::default());
+        assert!(
+            report.layout.pages.len() >= 2,
+            "the small page forces multiple pages"
+        );
+        // Justification fills the non-final pages…
+        assert!(
+            report.metric_vector.page_fill_efficiency.0 < 0.1,
+            "non-final pages fill: {}",
+            report.metric_vector.page_fill_efficiency.0
+        );
+        // …at the measured cost of stretched inter-system gaps.
+        assert!(
+            report.metric_vector.vertical_density_penalty.0 > 0.0,
+            "stretched inter-system gaps are measured: {}",
+            report.metric_vector.vertical_density_penalty.0
+        );
+    }
 }