Later, when Stale remembered the look on Gilbert's face, he was sitting and wondering what to write to his mother. He put the letter aside and teleported to where Gilbert was, and overheard him spreading terrible rumors about Pride.
It made Stale furious. Gilbert smeared her name in front of anyone who would listen and called her a selfish, arrogant brat. Stale went home turning the problem over: what could be done about it, how a person went about winning the trust of others, how the doubts about Pride's character could be cleared away. He dressed himself well and told himself that he would have to earn more trust than the prime minister himself.
Elsewhere in the palace, a mature blonde woman sat with a small girl. This was Rosa, the current queen, and Pride's mother. She asked her daughter Tiara whether she was excited to meet her elder sister and her brother soon.
A few days later, Pride attended an elegant ball with Stale at her side. Stale, blushing, told her how cute she looked, and her answer left him more embarrassed than before. They went out into the main hall together, and there they met Queen Rosa, who announced the appearance of her first daughter, Pride, to the public.
Pride and Stale greeted the queen, and then met a very nervous Tiara.
The crowd adored the little girl on sight. Pride felt a small jealous sting at how much more attention her little sister was getting, and then greeted her happily anyway and promptly fell completely in love with her. Stale greeted Tiara as well, and declared to everyone within earshot that they were one big family, and that they would all work together to support Pride, the future queen.
That won the people over. They could see for themselves that Pride had the support of the entire royal family.
Then Rosa approached her daughter and announced to the assembled people that she had chosen Pride as her successor. Pride was taken by surprise. Her mother told her to remember this moment forever.
Later, as the crowd enjoyed the feast, Gilbert came to greet Tiara and Pride. He mocked Pride for being made successor instead of her little sister, and Stale defended her loyally. The two girls watched the argument turn heated, and both of them were frightened by how venomous Stale's words became.
Across the hall, Rosa let herself feel relief. The dark future she had once seen for her daughter Pride had been erased.
Pride was greeted next by Rodrik, the captain of the Imperial Knights, who seemed impressed by the princess's elegant conduct, while her parents looked on at the sight and smiled.
Three peaceful years passed after that.
Pride sat and watched Stale practice swordplay against a knight. Her sister asked her about her relationship with Stale, and Pride answered that the two of them would probably be married. Stale heard it, was caught completely off guard, stumbled, and was knocked flat.
Tiara went to clean his face. Pride smiled at the pair of them and thought that perhaps, just as in the game, Stale had already fallen for the protagonist, Tiara. Stale, blushing, went to some trouble to avoid the gaze of her misunderstanding, and Pride turned and asked the knight for a favor.
Soon Pride was practicing with the knight herself, and her sword work surprised everyone watching. Her cheat ability let her learn any technique after seeing it performed only once.
Watching her fight so gracefully, Stale felt disheartened, and wondered whether she needed him to protect her at all. Pride reassured him that she would need his help whenever her own strength ran short, and that was enough to send him back to practice with new determination.
Pride smiled as she watched the peaceful scene, and wondered when her end as the villainess would come.
Later, the Imperial Knights received Pride for an observation of their training. She asked Vice Captain Clark where Rodrik was, and he told her that the captain was away with some new recruits, running joint drills with an allied kingdom.
Pride was watching the knights practice when the terrible news arrived.
Rodrik and the new recruits had been attacked by enemies. Clark began preparing to go to their assistance, and Pride asked to come with him. They went to a room with a screen for communication, and when Rodrik saw who was there, he was outraged that a princess would involve herself in such a low-level task. Pride insisted. She would try to save as many lives as she could. She learned that the closest reinforcement team would not reach the battlefield for thirty minutes.
So she had Stale teleport supplies to the field.
The soldiers' gear was restocked in an instant and their spirits lifted with it, and they fought back with courage. Rodrik was astonished by the power of Stale's ability, and Pride asked Clark to keep it a secret.
As the troops regrouped and worked out their strategy, Pride heard someone mention that the ground of the battlefield was unstable. It reminded her at once of what that ground was: a hidden cliff, one that would collapse and kill everyone standing on it.
Pride alerted Rodrik, telling him her foresight had shown it to her, and Rodrik immediately sent all of his recruits away to safety. He himself stayed where he was.
Pride learned why. His leg was trapped beneath a boulder. And because Rodrik's own ability made him immune to every sword attack, he could not so much as cut off his own leg to free himself.
The situation looked hopeless, and everyone watching braced themselves for a sacrifice.
Then a silver-haired young man cried out for his father to fight back. This was Arthur, Rodrik's son.
Rodrik held the enemy back so that his recruits could escape, and Clark cut the communication from his end to keep the palace safe from the enemy. Arthur was devastated. Pride felt helpless as more and more wounds opened on Rodrik's body.
When all hope seemed gone, Pride told Arthur that she would save her knight no matter what it took, and asked Stale to teleport her to the battlefield.
Stale did not want it. Neither did the knights; their crown princess was not to risk her life. But she refused to stay behind while her men fought for the kingdom. She reassured Stale that she would survive, whatever happened, then cut open her skirt so she could move freely, and was teleported.
She announced her presence to the soldiers and began hacking and slashing at once.
Everyone watched, stunned, as the weak-looking princess took the enemy forces apart on her own. Then she looked around and spotted a man hiding behind a tree. Pride caught him and brought him to Rodrik and told the captain to hold him tight. She leaned in and whispered something into the mysterious man's ear as the rocks of the collapsing cliff began to fall around them.
Back in the kingdom, Arthur was living through a nightmare of his own situation.
In it, the heartless Princess Pride let his father and the recruits die, and her only comment on the matter was that Rodrik had been a useless captain who had cost her some worthless men. Arthur was enraged by that cold, ungrateful treatment, and it was that rage that made him a knight, so that he could avenge his father.
Now he stared as the rubble of the fallen cliff settled and cleared.
A strange box of rocks near the base of it opened up. Inside were Pride, Rodrik, and the odd man, all three of them safe and sound.
After the battle, the mysterious man was taken into custody and the soldiers began putting themselves back in order. They asked one another who the pretty young girl standing with the captain was, and were shocked to learn that she was their future queen, Pride.
Inside the palace, the knights and Arthur allowed themselves to breathe. The battle had ended with zero losses.