The emperor and his men return to the northern palace, where they find that there is no sign of anything wrong between them. The commander of the North sends the doctor back, but he never returns. The emperor asks why the doctor is so bored, and the doctor replies that he has been hiding from him. He says that someone asked him to give him a letter, and that the letter was meant for the emperor. The doctor says that the emperor has been talking too much, but the emperor points out that the doctor has not come to see him since he brought him back from the grotto.