Episode 34

## Chapter Link

Ep. 34

**Episode 34**, titled "**Prince Frederick (part 2)**", is the 5th episode of Season 2 of Cursed Princess Club and the 34th episode in total.

## Synopsis

*Frederick recalls more of his time at military academy, and the comfort he found in one particular tale. After passing out, he wakes up to a special delivery...*

## Characters

*Characters are linked in order of appearance. First appearances will be in bold.*

* Frederick
* Blaine
* Lance
* Monika
* Abbi
* Gwendolyn (thought)
* Jamie (thought)

## Music

* CPC OST vol. 3
	+ Track 05 "The Plaid Princes (piano ballad version)"

## Location

* Plaid Kingdom
	+ St. Cerulean's Military Academy for Royal Boys (flashback)

## Story

Once his first day of military academy ended, Frederick had been declared a loser. None of his peers would talk to him or acknowledge his existence. When writing letters to his father for advice, it had been made clear he was not supposed to rely on him. Frederick was told by Leland to "sink or swim", and with that, Frederick chose to sink. He describes himself as escaping more into the hobbies that marked him as a loser, instead of of shunning them; dreaming of sailing far away on one of his model ships or pretending to be the protagonists of books he read.

Frederick recounts one particular tale he got attached to: a man stuck in the bottom of a hole, a laughing-stock and embarrassment to the village, who saves the man and lifts him out of the hole. The man gains courage he never knew he had, becoming admired and respected by everyone. Defeating a serpent that had been terrorizing the village, the man was crowned a hero and lived happily ever after with the angel. This story brought comfort to young Frederick, but as the years went by he began to saw those fairytales as stupid to believe in. Frederick graduated military school with no accolades or honors, his status as a prince sinking low in comparison to his brothers. He describes himself as choosing to stay down there, gaining the mindset that if everyone were to look down on him, he would look down on them first. Frederick was completely content with that philosophy, until the news of his engagement came in. Mistaking Jamie for Gwen, Frederick had hope once again... until he learned the truth, viewing Gwen as a witch who would drag him down.

Screaming, Frederick wakes up in his room after passing out from sparring with Lance. Blaine and Lance are there to check on him, and deliver a letter from Gwendolyn. Frederick reflects on Gwen after reading her letter, thinking about how she was "much more confounding" to him than he imagined- being incredibly thoughtful, kind, and great at making soup. When Frederick unwraps Gwen's gift, he's touched to see his favorite book from his childhood, *The Tiniest Prince*. He then opens the next gift, which are newt eyeballs. Frederick is left incredibly disturbed.

The episode ends with Monika and Abbi at the CPC headquarters. Monika throws up a little toy ship, and Abbi realizes a crucial reason why their curse reversal potion did not work.

## Episode credits

* Art, writing and music by LambCat
* Edited by Eunice Baik

## Notes and Trivia

* This episode introduces two major things:
	+ The first mention of the Angel of the Fortune's tale, and Frederick's perspective of the first meeting of the Plaid Kingdom and Pastel Kingdom.
	+ Gwen's gift to Frederick, which was meant to be a book and a vial containing a tiny model ship, but the latter was swapped with a jar of newt eyeballs instead. It was noted to be the heaviest by the other Plaid princes - it's unknown what Maria and Lorena gave to Blaine and Lance, but by comparison, they were lighter than abook.

## Gallery

Frederick dreams of the Angel of FortuneThe first mention of the tale of the Angel of FortuneLeland's letter to FrederickFrederick in his military school room that was destroyed by his bulliesFrederick's misconception of his first meeting with GwendolynThe Plaid Princes' anticsThe first part of Gwen's letterThe second part of Gwen's letterMonika spitting out the model ship in a bottle