At the palace, Sophie leaves Michael and Howl behind as she is brought to the King. He appears to be an ordinary man to her, though she becomes nervous at the thought of speaking to a King. Sophie’s nerves get the better of her. Instead of cleverly blackening Howl’s name as instructed, she blurts out that Howl refuses to find the King’s brother Justin. Sophie tries to explain that Howl lied, that he is vain, untrustworthy, and cowardly, but likewise states that he is generous and kind. She accidentally convinces the King that Howl is the perfect wizard for this assignment.

The King wants “’a fairly clever and unscrupulous wizard’” (247) to find his brother, who is a talented military general. The neighboring nations of High Norland and Strangia are close to declaring war on Ingary, so the King needs his brother. Though Sophie debates with the King as to how reliable Howl is, the King proclaims Howl his Royal Magician and officially assigns him to find Prince Justin before the end of the year. Sophie dutifully leaves when dismissed, blaming her failure on being the eldest of three sisters. She is escorted from the palace and, not seeing Michael or Howl waiting for her, begins walking through Kingsbury looking for the castle’s disguised door and becomes lost.