Answer:
He's reading to try to distract himself from the grief of losing a "rare and radiant maiden" named Lenore. ... Perhaps the gentle knocking on the door causes him to hope that it's Lenore, and he has to tell himself otherwise in order to quell the likely disappointment that reality will bring him.
The subject is Crystal and Peter
Hope this helps
An internal conflict is a battle that takes place inside yourself. It makes the person who is having to deal with this battle choose between a variety of options or even just two options in particular. Basically like choosing to either roleplay as a forced-to-be-villain with a kind heart or a hero with a dark side. Or, if that is a bad example, to cheat on a test but pass or fail the class entirely.