"The Tarnished--" He had to stop and painfully clear his throat. "The Tarnished once brought hope with them. But the lands have crumbled still further. I've aided them still, but oh, I've had my doubts." The Mohgwyn Dynasty would see the world restored, but it needed knights. So few had proven worthy, yet their failures were also his own. It could make him so bitter, sometimes.

And yet. "You are different. I know little of what you are, or what you were. But there is something truly special at the heart of you." There was a calculated aspect to this, of course. He'd devoted so much of himself to this task, it would be impossible, disobedient to set it aside.

But what drove him to such devoted service was love. How could that not affect him now? That was what underlaid his sincerity. "I have high hopes for you, dear one. Perhaps you are a herald of change."