Our first encounter was more than awkward.

I didn't realize until later that he's genuinely clueless despite his sophisticated demeanor. I was thrown off by how blunt he can be, but if you're not straightforward with him, he thinks you're beating around the bush. Sarcasm goes right over his head.

He doesn't understand a lot of things, especially the emotions of others. I don't know how because he always talks about wanting to help people and gets particularly upset when he discusses Cyrus' "methods." 

It doesn't help that Demetrius misleads him, and he's his closest friend. Elias often completely misunderstands situations, but Demetrius gets a thrill from troubling him. 

Elias has never gone into detail, but he's disappointed with how Cyrus controls the realm. His goal is to change things for the better with me. I don't know what I can do, but I don't want to see him unhappy. It swallows him, or so Demetrius says. They both would rather not talk about it.

Cyrus says, "Empathy is his downfall," but I don't understand what he might mean. He's warned me that Elias can be possessive at times. As far as I can tell, he is just expressing his dislike towards him.

Cyrus vaguely mentioned mistakes Elias has made. I wonder, but it's nearly impossible to get answers from Elias. 

Nora