Between a scheming prince and a slightly less grimdark version of Guts, never bet on the prince. His schemes will be meaningless in the face of someone with enough skill and willpower to fight an army of bandits, at night, for eight hours straight. Assassins will be useless, and social attacks will be meaningless because Leonid does not give a fuck. He's already publicly told the prince to fuck off, with clear intentions of violence if he didn't. Someone with so little regard for decorum and tact, and so little to fear physically, is just too much for this little princeling to handle.