[Byleth's tone wasn't scolding or disapproving... he sounded puzzled, more than anything.]
It seems like... a contradictory risk. To survive at all costs, you must keep your circle of trusted ones small and well-vetted. Even then, they may betray you, as humans are complex and contrary creatures.
[Byleth had experienced it with Shez, in a way, but before that he had simply witnessed it in his fellow man. Jeralt always told him to be careful too, even while pushing him to make friends with his peers. 'Everyone's got a price, even if they don't know it,' he had said, though he never said what his price was when Byleth asked. He had just waved him off and said he had already paid it, whatever that meant.]
Not to say that I disagree with you. For a brighter future, we must believe in man's better nature, yet... at the same time...
[Perhaps it was Sothis's ingrained wariness from how she came to reside within Byleth: a trauma that lacked memories yet left an indelible smudge regardless on both of them. To trust, to turn your back on someone, to be openly vulnerable... it made them both cringe and bristle at the same time, to remember a vivid and visceral stab of pain deep in his chest, as if a dagger in the dark had speared through it.]
...I suppose I'm in slight awe at your reckless kindness. It's a rare trait in our world.
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[Byleth's tone wasn't scolding or disapproving... he sounded puzzled, more than anything.]
It seems like... a contradictory risk. To survive at all costs, you must keep your circle of trusted ones small and well-vetted. Even then, they may betray you, as humans are complex and contrary creatures.
[Byleth had experienced it with Shez, in a way, but before that he had simply witnessed it in his fellow man. Jeralt always told him to be careful too, even while pushing him to make friends with his peers. 'Everyone's got a price, even if they don't know it,' he had said, though he never said what his price was when Byleth asked. He had just waved him off and said he had already paid it, whatever that meant.]
Not to say that I disagree with you. For a brighter future, we must believe in man's better nature, yet... at the same time...
[Perhaps it was Sothis's ingrained wariness from how she came to reside within Byleth: a trauma that lacked memories yet left an indelible smudge regardless on both of them. To trust, to turn your back on someone, to be openly vulnerable... it made them both cringe and bristle at the same time, to remember a vivid and visceral stab of pain deep in his chest, as if a dagger in the dark had speared through it.]
...I suppose I'm in slight awe at your reckless kindness. It's a rare trait in our world.