[He's wrong. Kaname has compelled him just by the simple fact that he is a vampire. And he had intended to manipulate him from the start. Even if it ultimately wasn't necessary to do so, he had planned to force the trust and respect that Conrad currently feels for him. That typically isn't his style, but he appeared in an unknown world with limited access to his powers. His first priority had been to protect Yuuki, and so that was what he set out to do. His lips part as if he will say something, but he doesn't just yet.
He does feel guilty, like he always did. But it is easy to convince himself that everything he does is for a greater purpose. Manipulating the lives of others, bending them into perfect marionettes that will do his bidding... it's always so simple with the power of his blood.
However, it wasn't that way with the night class, his followers, the vampires that supported him. He let them decide. He didn't want to influence their choices to follow him in creating a new world. The same is true for Conrad. When it came down to it, the desire to have his support and trust arose from an honest place. And yet, that desire is what makes Conrad wrong about him. His lips settle into a frown, but his eyes never leave his.]