It's been a noisy outside for some time now. Did something happen? The old men made a move to assassinate the Queen, but the funeral bell didn't go off. The old man says it's not easy to get the news of what's going on inside the palace, so he tells the Queen to go inside and see for herself. He tells her that he was supposed to be serving the Queen tonight, but when he came to her sleeping quarters, he suddenly felt unwell. He decided to let Wange temporarily replace him to serve her. He says he doesn't know why the Queen is so nervous, but he begs her to let him go. He also tells her about Wange's visits to the Queen's home and the purchase of food and rice for her mother. The Queen says she has no idea why she's so nervous. She's made friends with Wange, she says, and they're in on the whole thing together. She asks the old man if he's wrapped the bandage on his wound too tightly, and he says he wants to do it. He feels a strange sense of familiarity whenever he sees the Queen. He asks the Queen if he did it deliberately, and she says it was because he came late to rescue, otherwise the Queen wouldn't be injured