Adrien slid his hands off his ears. He felt as if his insides were tied in knots. "...What...? How? You...". He gasped for air. "You... You told me?". He remembered - he remembered it well: it had been on the day when they went for a walk in the forest, the first time he'd left the tower since his arrival - he was walking at his side, and, at one point, he was asked - "By the way, Adrien, may I ask you to call me Val? I'd much prefer it". At the time, Adrien had assumed that he preferred to be called by an informal nickname. "It simply does not feel right", Val had said. Tears streamed down from Adrien's eyes. "Why did you tell me?", he whimpered, barely choking down his tears. "That's...".