[Wilhelm prefers honesty to sugarcoating. Back home, people were always telling him what they think he wants to hear, trying to cultivate his favor by bending their opinions around him, and it gets old. As Claude finishes, he contemplates what he's said, chewing on his cheek.]

So in other words, you got better at pretending.

[A quiet sigh. That was another part of royal life that exhausted him: always having to keep everything stuffed down where it can't be seen. Covering everything up under polite smiles and bland platitudes.]

Well, I guess it's better to pretend that you're not letting it get to you than pretend to be something you're not.