Nicholas told his people in the royal villa not to let his condition be known to people outside of the place, but of course, they couldn't lie and keep covering it up when the queen's informant came to look for the king and found out his condition.
Queen Marianne had not seen Nicholas for weeks and she started to feel worried. Nicholas only told her he needed to go to Hauntingen to find out what happened to him six years ago.
After Karenina left the royal palace and Nicholas still didn't give the queen any news of his whereabouts, Queen Marianne felt so lonely being on her own. She decided to ask her trusted butler to send an informant and find out Nicholas' news.
The queen was surprised to hear that Nicholas had returned to Livstad for a week and was now resting in the royal villa. The queen was curious to know her son's findings in Hauntingen, so she set out to visit Nicholas in their villa, on the outskirts of Livstad.