This chapter opens with a flashback to the beginning of the previous chapter, in which we learn that the young woman, the "big sister," has come to visit her cousin, the young prince. The young woman wonders why the prince does not treat her as an outsider, and wonders what trick the fat women have used on him. She asks the prince if he is unwell, and the prince responds that he is, and that she should get away from him. The woman then inquires about the prince's leg muscles, and he tells her that his leg muscles have not completely atrophied but that they can still be cured since his legs are still strong. She tells the prince that she is his destined wife, and asks him if he will marry her. He replies that he does not believe in her, but he promises to prove it to her.