Stale felt terrible that he had let Pride fight at all, and vowed to himself that he would get stronger, so that he could protect her.
Back on the battlefield, Rodrik offered to carry Pride to safety, and she refused. She had to stay and make sure everything went as it should. This time, though, the obedient knight captain was not taking any of her orders. He picked the reckless, foolish princess up in his arms, and he was angry about it.
Pride realized he was upset with her. Then she remembered that she had torn open her skirt.
Every knight watching burst out laughing while the princess blushed furiously.
Later, Pride gathered the knights in a private room, and there they went over everything that had happened on the battlefield. Rodrik asked how a girl her age had been able to use a sword and a gun, and Pride answered that she had seen some knights practicing with them. That she could learn a skill after watching it once shocked all of them.
Rodrik also asked why she had come to help him in person. If she had died through her own carelessness, he said, the kingdom would have fallen into darkness.
Pride found his words reasonable. She still felt that she would have acted to save her knight, or any common soldier, if she had the power to do it. And she reminded Rodrik of something else: that although he could have died an honorable death out there, his death would have meant fewer people protected by him in all the years to come.
That shocked the knights, and they agreed with her.
So Pride declared, firmly, that she was a future queen, and that she would always fight for her people. It silenced the room.
Then, slowly, the knights began thanking their crown princess for saving their captain.
Arthur knelt with the rest of them in gratitude, and then asked Pride whether he could become a knight at all, with a measly power for growing crops.
Pride took his hand and reassured him. She fully believed that he would one day become a great knight.
Nearby, Stale watched the two of them with jealousy.
Arthur was still steadying himself under the weight of her trust when Pride asked him to stop her, if one day she turned evil. It shocked him.
Finally Rodrik admitted that he was glad — glad that he could go home to his friends and his family.
Arthur watched Pride hug his father and wondered why such a sweet princess believed she could one day become a horrible person, and vowed to protect her with his life.
Later, Arthur remembered how he had awakened his ability in childhood. It grew crops. It had made him think he was better suited to being a farmer than a knight. But Pride's kindness, and the person she had shown herself to be, had convinced him to become stronger so that he could protect her.
He got himself ready and went outside his house to spar with his father.
While they fought, Rodrik asked Arthur whether he was thinking about Pride, which caught him completely off guard. Rodrik defeated him — and then found himself greatly surprised by his son's skill, given that Arthur had not trained with a sword in years. The commotion brought his wife out of the house, and Rodrik fled to avoid her, leaving his sword behind him on the ground.
While all of this was happening, back at the castle Pride was remembering Arthur from her other life. In that memory the devastated boy cried out for his father, who had been tossed away by the evil Pride.
Stale's voice broke into her thoughts and pulled her out of them.
Afterward the two of them went to meet Clark, and then Rodrik, who greeted the princess urgently. He was updating Pride on Arthur's progress when the son in question came running up with his father's forgotten sword.
The moment Arthur noticed Pride, he became embarrassed and tried to leave without explaining himself.
Stale stepped up and asked Arthur to become his practice partner. Arthur was surprised, but agreed, and the two boys went off to an open hall where Stale began training with him.
Arthur noticed a strange intention behind Stale's friendly smile, and it made him uneasy.
Stale launched a swift attack. Arthur blocked it quickly. Stale praised him for being so talented, and Arthur went on feeling uncomfortable — and then Stale told him why he fought for Pride.
He simply wanted this kind-hearted girl to be happy, and a girl like her would always need a strong guardian at her side. Stale had seen Arthur's strength, and he had seen Arthur's love for Pride, and what he wanted was for Arthur to become a knight strong enough to be worthy of protecting their reckless future queen.
Arthur was a little confused by Stale's behavior, and by Pride's worry that she might turn evil, but he accepted the challenge. He also remarked that Stale's suspicious smile was rather like Gilbert's, which thoroughly embarrassed the boy.
Happy to stand beside him as another shield for Pride, Arthur decided to train with Stale and to improve his abilities as fast as he could. The two of them got along well, and they agreed to begin.
One day, Tiara, Pride, and Stale were reading books together in the library. Pride pointed out that the hero of her romance novel looked like Stale. Tiara noticed that the heroine looked like Pride. Stale hid himself in embarrassment, and Pride, watching him do it, decided that he must be disappointed at the thought of being a couple with her.
Later, Pride was called into her room by her parents.
They told her that the criminal from the battlefield had been identified. He had been involved in selling out information about their friendly kingdoms, so that enemies could launch ambushes against their forces.
Guards brought the criminal in. His name was Val, and his ability was earth. Rosa asked Pride to deliver judgment on him.
Pride thought about it, and braced herself, and then announced her decision: the man would either be executed for his crimes, or live on as a servant, if he helped the kingdom find any of the hostages.
She asked Val himself which fate he wanted, and he agreed to live as a servant.
Rosa approved of her daughter's judgment and handed her the contract. Pride began to read out the laws written on it, the ones that would force Val to obey the royal family and never resort to violence.
Afterward, Stale met Pride outside and asked her to let him attend any crucial meeting in the future.
Pride agreed, and the two of them went to visit Val.
She made Val angry at her first, and then gave him his orders: to protect Tiara if she was ever in danger, and to turn to Pride for help if he ever needed it himself. Val was cursing at her as he was taken away, and Pride stood there wondering whether she had done the right thing.
Stale asked her why she would let such a horrible criminal go. Pride told him that Val was bound to obey her anyway, and that she did not want to take his life away from him for no reason.