Sophia asks the maid if Alex is nervous, and the maid says that he is. The regent has set a deadline for Alex to find a cure for plague, and if he cannot do so by the deadline, he will put the entire group to death, including sophia. Alex has also ordered the transfer of the people from the wespersang camp to the convent. The maid asks if the old man will listen to them, and she says that there is only one way for them to force him to do so: by tomorrow, the deadline for the cure has passed.