"Well, they didn't exactly want us in any case," Claude says, with an enigmatic smile and a shrug of his own. "They wanted the people they kept mistaking us for. And I can't see a Sylvain of any age feeling great about anyone wanting him for anything other than himself."

Ah, he's betraying perhaps too much familiarity with Sylvain's issues here. But then again, not only would it be dishonest to pretend Sylvain is pulling the wool over his eyes with a comment like that, it'd be unflattering. Claude is rarely willing to pretend to be - or be perceived as - less intelligent than he actually is unless it's for an exceptionally good reason. He especially doesn't like the thought of Sylvain thinking Claude is less astute than he actually is. Sylvain's opinion of him matters more than most.