The door to the palace is open, but the king is nowhere to be found. The king tells his son that he has run away to escape his marriage. The young man wonders why the king hasn't arrived yet, and the king tells him that there's a big celebration coming up that day, and he'll be able to hear about his mother's reaction to his escape. He tells the young man that he's waiting for the two of them to come out so he can hear about how angry his mother is before entering the palace. When the king realizes that the man is a troublemaker, he orders the arrest of the troublemaker. He says that he doesn't even know who he is, and that he should be locked up in prison and interrogated thoroughly. When he sees the king, he thinks that the king must be the one who was tapping him. The man says that the arrest must have been done by the empress, who ordered the news embargo and sent search parties looking for the king. This time, he says, his mother didn't make things difficult. She made things difficult for everyone, but she wasn't in the king's dreams. He asks the young men to relax first, and then he can talk about what's been going on. He's had to go without food, water, and sleep for three days, and now he wants to go bathe with the king and have a good time. He wants to talk about breaking off the engagement with his mother, too.