The hand that had been wiping the tear away gently wraps under his chin, lifting it so Alfred can look him in the eye. Still smiling. Still reassuring.
"Don't be sorry. I'm...glad I saw it. I'm glad. Up until that moment, I was still so afraid of you. I still believed what the Professor was saying, and - and he was trying to get me to work up the nerve to...to do something...terrible." Momentarily, his eyes lower in shame. The meaning is clear enough.
"But when I saw you like that, I...felt like I was seeing you for the first time. The real you. Not the Thing the Professor insisted you were.
That was the first time I saw YOU."
He looks back up.
"And that's also why the stakes and crucifixes were missing from the bag when we got to the ball. Because I...threw them off the castle."
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The hand that had been wiping the tear away gently wraps under his chin, lifting it so Alfred can look him in the eye. Still smiling. Still reassuring.
"Don't be sorry. I'm...glad I saw it. I'm glad. Up until that moment, I was still so afraid of you. I still believed what the Professor was saying, and - and he was trying to get me to work up the nerve to...to do something...terrible." Momentarily, his eyes lower in shame. The meaning is clear enough.
"But when I saw you like that, I...felt like I was seeing you for the first time. The real you. Not the Thing the Professor insisted you were.
That was the first time I saw YOU."
He looks back up.
"And that's also why the stakes and crucifixes were missing from the bag when we got to the ball. Because I...threw them off the castle."