[Until Iris admits that — I think I like it a lot — Wilhelm doesn't realize that he's holding himself like a breath, braced for an answer he doesn't want to hear.

Kelson, who once shared this room with him, and whose necklace he now twirls around his fingers, had made it no secret that he never intended to stay if he could help it. He was unhappy here. Despite Wilhelm's best efforts to show him that his life didn't have to be confined to the narrow path chosen for him, he still believed the best he could do was surrender his happiness for duty. He still believed he could find no purpose beyond the throne he'd ascended to at such a young age.

At some point, Wilhelm gingerly brushed against the conclusion that even if Kelson had stayed, loving him would have broken his heart eventually.

Now, he relaxes into a smile. He lets go of the moon-white pendant.]

Good. [His eyelashes flutter low, head shaking.] I mean, not that you were going through a rough time before, but... It's good that you have a chance to...get comfortable again.

[He lets that linger for a moment, before he stumbles into saying something he wasn't planning to share, but it feels right suddenly. It just fits, in this cocoon Iris has created for them, this sleepover atmosphere of wine and confessions.]

I had a hard time at first when I got here. I was younger than everyone else, and I didn't have the skills or experience that they all seemed to have. It felt like...being thrown into the ocean without knowing how to swim. And it's not that nobody tried to reach out to me and help me, but...I don't know, I just felt like I didn't belong.

[His gaze wanders around the room over Iris's shoulder, his brown eyes catching the blinking lights. He expels a dry chuckle.]

Actually, I spent a lot of time hiding in here.