Nora finds the Midnight Library still and subtly shifted, glimpsing an office setup in the aisles. Mrs Elm sits at a low table playing chess against herself, musing on the difficulty of predicting what makes us happy.

Seeking clarity, Nora asks what happens to the version of herself left in a borrowed life. Mrs Elm explains she only knows today and that the resident Nora will remember the actions as her own. Reflecting on Dan, Nora considers whether he changed or she failed to see who he was.

Nora then unloads her despair, asserting that she is a burden, has failed at work and relationships, and even failed Voltaire. She insists she wants to die and believes unhappiness will follow her in any life.

Mrs Elm challenges this by saying want can indicate lack and suggests filling that lack differently. Declining another look at the Book of Regrets, Nora focuses on Voltaire. She articulates a clear goal: to try the life where she kept her cat indoors, didn’t attempt suicide, and was a better owner, hoping to see her own Voltaire alive again.