"But you know that now, don't you? You can admit you were wrong."

And once again, Riddle's looking down. He thinks about the angry fire in his Overblotted eyes, and then the sorrowful pits they'd become. They were still so sad. Maybe they'd always been, and just like Cater, he'd learned to cover up that pain. Acting on instinct, feeling some kind of impulse to see those eyes again, Cater's hands move from Riddle's shoulders to cup his face, instead.

"Nobody can be right all the time--that's just being human. What makes a leader isn't the ability to avoid mistakes, but how to move past them and learn to do better in the future." His voice getting even softer, Cater adds, "having weaknesses doesn't make you weak. You're the strongest person I've ever met. I still believe that."