S. reenters the Interlude to describe his own experience as an assassin in this section. He discusses how on every mission he encounters people who help him, but he never questions who they are. He feels ignorance is safest, but it also solidifies his solitude. He also believes this is a way to stay intangible in a physical sense, but very tangible and mysterious in his influence. He compares himself to Vévoda, in that you would need “special lenses to see what’s truly there.”

This is the first time that S. entertains the idea that maybe he and Vévoda are really not different, but are instead the same person on opposite sides. This may seed the thought that S. has later on when he questions his whole purpose against Vévoda.

S. says that Vévoda is mysterious and runs everything from his estate in Rumor. In footnote 8, FXC reveals that in a letter to her, VMS mentioned that The Principality of Rumor was a potential title for Ship of Theseus. He stated that he was unaware of the shape the novel would take and this title may have implied a greater focus on Vévoda and the end of the novel when S. goes to his estate.

The Principality of Rumor is not a real location, but there is a map showing his estate to be in the south of France and the bottom of the Pyrenees. The French départements of  Pyrénées-Orientales, Aude, Ariège, Haute-Garonne, Hautes-Pyrénées, and Pyrénées-Atlantiques are in this region and may be part of this principality.