Val walked up to the window, next to where Adrien was standing. He placed his forearms against the windowsill. Outside, a light rain reached the ground as sleet. "When I received your first letter", he began, "I didn't know what to say. Could I invite a human to my house... pretend to be human for you? Yet, I wanted to say yes... I wanted to meet you. I thought that I could do it, and that you didn't need to ever know. You would only be my apprentice, after all... But then, you arrived... not my apprentice, but you, Adrien... I couldn't bear hiding this from you. I felt so dishonest".

"Val...", Adrien whispered. "I'm so sorry...".

"Now, you know", Val said, beaming. "I am glad that now you know... I am glad that you understand".