Nora visits Mrs Elm—now Louise—at Oak Leaf Care Home and finds her visibly older but still sharp at chess. They dust off the home’s board and begin to play. Louise asks Nora to use her first name, signaling a warmer, real-world connection beyond the Midnight Library.

Nora explains she is newly busy: within a day of asking Neil to post her notice at String Theory, she is inundated with piano students. She also volunteers at the homeless shelter every other Tuesday, but promises she will always have an hour to visit and play.

Looking out the window, Nora sees Dylan walking Sally the bullmastiff and briefly considers adopting a dog when she can manage rent. Louise confides that life in the home feels lonely and that she has regrets—she wasn’t always a good wife or mother and understands why people drifted away.

Nora thanks Louise for past kindness and says a pawn has come to join the lonely king. Louise counters that Nora was never a pawn, then advances a bishop decisively, remarking, “you just never know how it ends.” Nora smiles, conscious of her choices, her students, her volunteering, and the companionship she can offer—as she considers her next move.