•ScalesArt•(OPEN COMMISSIONS)

It's why they cross the Meridian despite 200 years of taboo. It's why they open up to him and show him their own vulnerable sides. It's why Corbin says: "There's just always been something about you, since this group revolves around you," and being a prince was only part of it. It's why they're ready to lay down their lives for him in the end (compare Kora in Act 5 "No matter what happens, keep going!" to her in Act 1 "Are you crazy!?" as they barrel headfirst into life-threatening situations).

It's why there is really only one instance where Simon being a Vermeilian spy is spoken of in an accusatory light within the group. If you speak to them later, Eleanor will express that she's certain that Clarissa and Simon will see reason once they learn the full truth of what's happening, on top of including Simon in Ranger's Reminiscence on their way back to Azuria. Ogden says that he's looking forward to inviting Simon along to explore the crystallized Lao-Shang Lung when everything is over. Thea claims she still has so much more to learn from Simon. Heck, the first thing Gaul says after Simon first reveals himself in the Sacrosanctum is just a remark that he's still alive, when we know that he had lots to say about the assassins. And there is just a startlingly lack of fuss in general over the reveal that Simon is Kris after speaking to Cosimiro in Death's Maw, when everyone knows the connection (the prince muses that: "...this is the route that Mother and Simon took all those years ago," and all he gets in response is comfort from the group).

But the truest and biggest giveaway in how much faith the prince has in Simon is in how assertive he is when speaking to him directly. From as early as Act 1, we see the prince shrink in on himself whenever he's called the Child of the Turncoat Queen. He doesn't seem to believe that he's as physically capable as Simon despite managing to hold himself quite well against feral monsters on his own. And yet when Simon says he got close to him only because the prince was his target, his retort is a fast and hard "Don't lie to me!" When Simon asks us to join him in his quest for revenge the refusal is instant, because we still trust that Simon of all people should know that "Ratha is not a weapon!"

And when the prince tries to stop Simon from harming the egg, it's with even more direct language, no matter how shaken he was about the earlier crystalisis reveal. It's not so much an appeal as it is a direct call-out to who he sees Simon is as a person ("You're a Ranger, just like us! Taking lives, harming monsters, that's not who you are and you know it!"). And in the end, there is never any hesitation or second-guessing at having Simon at his back again, because no matter how much hurt Simon deals to him, there is always that unbreakable thread of faith underneath it all that Simon is a good person—that Simon was always a good person.

Simon being unable to truly betray that faith is inevitable, not when "Simon" was originally an empty vessel that he willingly put into the prince's own hands to pour ten years worth of trust and belief and love into.

Also, this line from the prince is especially telling and I think extends far beyond Gaul, despite being the one he originally said it to: "With you around, I feel like I have the confidence to take on whatever comes my way. Like I can become the person I'm meant to be." There's room for each and every single one of the Rangers to grow into who they're meant to be, because the prince has fostered a Rangers base that will always be at their back and believe in them, come hell or high water.