It's been two years since he asks about Sylvain's opinions. He's learned that if he does, he most likely wouldn't like the answer. Once upon a time Sylvain knows how to present himself how the room wanted him to be, and although Claude hated to, he can't deny himself the admission that that had been why Sylvain moves through social circles the way water moves through stone: by finding a nice gap and filling it so naturally that no one thought to look twice. It's a nice camouflage, almost impressive, except that Claude would have thought that he'd spare a bit more sympathy for the well-being of his friends. Who can stay friends for ten years if you don't at least have something in common?
He wonders, quietly, whether Sylvain is really alright with it: his friends hating him, the way they looked at him like they're ready to cut him down if he weren't the King of Faerghus. Claude can't really judge Felix and Ingrid at all, seeing how the same thought had crossed him more than once. He couldn't really make out why, but whenever he sees Sylvain entering through the door - like now - he feels his grips tightens and his muscles tensed. If Sylvain wasn't the King of Faerghus because the Royal line of Blaiddyd ended with Dimitri, he would have...
"So," he waves a hand, "you're finally happy to see me. I thought your guards were going to leave me out here to freeze." Faerghus' climate wasn't exactly his favourite. He'd told Dimitri once how this weather would have killed Faerghus quicker than any of Edelgard's wars if he didn't do anything about it. Armies weren't exactly the most important thing in a war, he thinks. Provisions are. Dimitri always needed it spelled out to him even though he welcomes suggestions at any given time of the day. Sylvain never needed a reminder to come to the same conclusion, and yet he rarely ever says a thing. He rather watch and see how things go.
"As promised, I come as my own emissary. A stable supply of crops and poultry for the next fifty years." It's a generous offer and a lofty promise that would outlast them by a generation at least. Naturally, he wants something back in return. He's knows it might make Sylvain uncomfortable. He stares at Sylvain and the crown on his head that would have once belonged to Dimitri.
"I'll be straightforward," he says, "I want Areadbhar."