The narrator tells us that the emperor's second-in-command, the prince regent, is the second-most powerful man in the world. The prince regent is the most powerful person in the whole world, and he has the power to rule over the entire world. He can do whatever he wants with the emperor. The emperor and the princess are in the middle of a conversation, and the prince is trying to figure out what to do with the princess. The princess tells the prince that she wants to go to the emperor, but the prince refuses to let her go.