During his three days with Sofia, Elijah always thought the girl was just like any other resident of the Rhodes Continent, so he never thought of her as someone special. But after Elijah rode the horse-drawn carriage and even saw the knight who bowed before Sofia, Elijah finally realized that even though Sofia was just an NPC to him, the girl had a much different life than he did.
Even if it was just a system setting or a program, Sofia lived her entire life as a princess who was respected by many. Elijah might only think of Sofia as an NPC. But to the residents of the Rhodes Continent, especially those from the human kingdom, Sofia was their precious princess.
The same is true for Damian, who is the prince of the elven kingdom. Elijah thought about his attitude towards the two royal families before and decided to show a change in the way he treated the two of them from now on.