Episode 4 begins with a scene where Charlotte is being picky about her food and expresses the wish that someone else should eat it. Wilhelm tells her a story about elves who helped a shoemaker because he was so hardworking.



The episode then shifts to a writer who hasn't produced any significant work in two decades and spends his time repeatedly receiving rejections from publishers. After a confrontation in a tavern that leads to him being thrown out, he encounters a critical elf who speaks disparagingly about his writing. Following an argument, he dismisses her.



The next day, the author finds a completed manuscript that he doesn’t remember writing and sends it to his publisher. The manuscript is highly praised and published, earning him a lot of attention and numerous collaboration requests. However, further works solely from his own pen are rejected.



After a drunken outburst in front of his publisher, where he admits that the successful story wasn’t his own, another manuscript titled "The Elves and the Shoemaker" appears, which he also doesn’t recall writing. This novel becomes a major success and catapults him to bestseller status with numerous subsequent publications.



Later, after drinking too much alcohol, he returns to his old house and sees a shadow writing. He encounters the elf girl again, who questions the authenticity of his authorship and expresses her disinterest in his lack of genuine writing, leaving him when she senses his dissatisfaction with his success.



The episode ends with the author dreaming of a happy life with his family and waking up aged, holding the same manuscript from his youth. His death is briefly mentioned in the news, and the elf girl is seen in the city.