yeah the spirit is very important in this world as in literally god of nature walk among mortal and wasn't like the spirit can't lie and anyone that doubt that will be kill?He told the prince "But Bridgette, she'll be safe until I can observe her," so I think it's pretty clear he's saying that he knows the prince delayed her summons so he could have a chance to do something to her to prevent her spirit from coming out again and he'd protect her from him. After all, if her spirit is reevaluated and proven to be powerful, her status as a noble will be restored, and that means that not only is it a stain on the prince's record that he cut things off with her but his mistreatment of her will come to light and anything she says will now have weight to it. It makes sense that he'd want to sabotage her, and the expert clearly means well if he's protecting her.
and this dude is expert for said spirit worship, he absolutely mean well.