Ahiru wakes up the next day as a duck. The man Drosselmeyer appears and offers Ahiru a magical pendent that will transform her into a girl, and the girl into the prima ballerina Princess Tutu. With the desire to see Mytho smile, Ahiru accepts the pendent and takes on the task of returning his missing heart shards to him.

When Ahiru comes to, she believes that everything she has experienced so far has been a dream. As a duck, she attempts to swim, but transforms into a girl in the process. She then meets the mysterious life-sized puppet named Edel, who gives her advice and tells her stories. Edel and Ahiru walk to Gold Crown Academy, and Ahiru encounters Mytho reading a book; while talking, Ahiru notices how lonely Mytho's eyes look, and he expresses neither intrigue nor disinterest in his activity.

The interaction is interrupted when Mytho is approached by an Anteater-girl named Anteaterina. Anteaterina asks if Mytho would go out with her instead of Rue, to which he obliges. Later, she and Mytho challenge Rue to a dance-off in class; although Anteaterina is a good dancer, Ahiru feels that her dance has no joy in it. To Ahiru's surprise, Rue chooses her as her partner next. Although Ahiru is nervous, Rue guides her throughout their dance, and they win.

After class, Ahiru stumbles upon Anteaterina reprimanding Mytho for their failure. She angrily storms off past Ahiru, which causes Ahiru's pendent to glow. Confused, Ahiru follows after her, and discovers that Anteaterina is being influenced by one of Mytho's heart shards—the feeling of bitterness. She transforms into Princess Tutu, and convinces Anteaterina to reveal that she is bitter and jealous of Rue's superior dancing skills. Princess Tutu consoles her, and returns the heart shard; to Fakir's dismay, Mytho gains the emotion of bitternesss.