diff --git a/crates/nuncio-store/src/cipher.rs b/crates/nuncio-store/src/cipher.rs
index 71c34f3..fe5a508 100644
--- a/crates/nuncio-store/src/cipher.rs
+++ b/crates/nuncio-store/src/cipher.rs
@@ -64,12 +64,12 @@ impl PayloadCipher {
     /// AES-256-GCM key. The key MUST be sourced from a [`crate::vault::SecretManager`]-backed
     /// vault (never a compiled-in default) so that at-rest ciphertext cannot be decrypted
     /// without access to the OS keyring.
-    pub fn encrypt_text_at_rest(key: &[u8; 32], text: &str) -> String {
+    pub fn encrypt_text_at_rest(key: &[u8; 32], text: &str) -> Result<String, CipherError> {
         if text.is_empty() {
-            return String::new();
+            return Ok(String::new());
         }
-        let encrypted = Self::encrypt_bytes(key, text.as_bytes()).unwrap_or_default();
-        hex::encode(encrypted)
+        let encrypted = Self::encrypt_bytes(key, text.as_bytes())?;
+        Ok(hex::encode(encrypted))
     }
 
     /// Decrypt text payload from database column storage at rest using a caller-supplied
@@ -236,13 +236,17 @@ mod tests {
     fn text_at_rest_encryption_decryption_roundtrip() {
         let key = [7u8; 32];
         let text = "Sensitive Email Body Payload";
-        let encrypted = PayloadCipher::encrypt_text_at_rest(&key, text);
+        let encrypted =
+            PayloadCipher::encrypt_text_at_rest(&key, text).expect("encryption succeeds");
         assert_ne!(text, encrypted);
 
         let decrypted = PayloadCipher::decrypt_text_at_rest(&key, &encrypted);
         assert_eq!(text, decrypted);
 
-        assert_eq!(PayloadCipher::encrypt_text_at_rest(&key, ""), "");
+        assert_eq!(
+            PayloadCipher::encrypt_text_at_rest(&key, "").expect("empty text is not encrypted"),
+            ""
+        );
         assert_eq!(PayloadCipher::decrypt_text_at_rest(&key, ""), "");
     }
 
@@ -254,7 +258,8 @@ mod tests {
         let key_b = [2u8; 32];
         let text = "Confidential ledger payload";
 
-        let encrypted = PayloadCipher::encrypt_text_at_rest(&key_a, text);
+        let encrypted =
+            PayloadCipher::encrypt_text_at_rest(&key_a, text).expect("encryption succeeds");
         let decrypted_with_wrong_key = PayloadCipher::decrypt_text_at_rest(&key_b, &encrypted);
 
         assert_eq!(decrypted_with_wrong_key, "");
diff --git a/crates/nuncio-store/src/db.rs b/crates/nuncio-store/src/db.rs
index 5f43173..7cc09b6 100644
--- a/crates/nuncio-store/src/db.rs
+++ b/crates/nuncio-store/src/db.rs
@@ -36,6 +36,18 @@ pub enum DatabaseError {
     /// compiled-in default key.
     #[error("cryptographic key provisioning failed: {0}")]
     KeyProvisioning(String),
+    /// A body payload failed AEAD encryption before it could be persisted at rest.
+    /// This is a fail-closed error: it is returned instead of ever writing an
+    /// empty/placeholder ciphertext that would be indistinguishable from a
+    /// genuinely empty body on read-back.
+    #[error("payload encryption failed: {0}")]
+    Encryption(String),
+}
+
+impl From<crate::cipher::CipherError> for DatabaseError {
+    fn from(err: crate::cipher::CipherError) -> Self {
+        DatabaseError::Encryption(err.to_string())
+    }
 }
 
 impl DatabaseError {
@@ -984,14 +996,19 @@ impl DatabaseEngine {
     /// is not encrypted, so this intentionally trades some body confidentiality for working
     /// search.
     pub async fn save_email(&self, email: &nuncio_core::model::Email) -> Result<(), DatabaseError> {
+        // Encryption failures MUST surface before any SQL runs: a swallowed error here would
+        // otherwise leave a row with an empty/placeholder body column, indistinguishable from
+        // a genuinely empty body on read-back.
         let enc_plain = email
             .body_plain
             .as_ref()
-            .map(|p| crate::cipher::PayloadCipher::encrypt_text_at_rest(&self.storage_key, p));
+            .map(|p| crate::cipher::PayloadCipher::encrypt_text_at_rest(&self.storage_key, p))
+            .transpose()?;
         let enc_html = email
             .body_html
             .as_ref()
-            .map(|h| crate::cipher::PayloadCipher::encrypt_text_at_rest(&self.storage_key, h));
+            .map(|h| crate::cipher::PayloadCipher::encrypt_text_at_rest(&self.storage_key, h))
+            .transpose()?;
 
         let mut tx = self.pool.begin().await.map_err(DatabaseError::Query)?;