The next day, the ritual is to be performed alone, and the young man is worried that he will be caught and punished for his part in the plot. He is not allowed out of the bedchamber, and if he does not go to the ceremony, he may be suspected of being an accomplice to the coup. The young man explains that he spent six years in the service of his father, who was accused of something he did not do. When his parents died, he was able to prove his father's innocence, and when he was finally able to do so, he became the deputy general. He asks if it has ever occurred to him that his general would work to overthrow him.