Unfortunately, the rest of Gotham did not have such faith in their prince. Tales of his indulgences - always over-exaggerated in Alfred's humble opinion - reached far and wide, making mid-night rendezvous into harems, and a princely feasts into the gluttony of a drunkard.
Thus, when the young prince's parents died, shortly before his eighteenth birthday, much of Gotham worried over the future of their land, but Alfred did not. He knew the boy would ultimately make the decisions that were best for all of Gotham. Never once did Alfred believe that the boy would place his own personal interest over that of his kingdom.
The young prince did not fail Alfred's trust. The kingdom grew and prospered, both in army size and riches. The indulgent prince that had once been grew determined to continue his parents' legacies, and if Alfred had any concerns for the boy, it was merely that he was too obsessed with fulfilling obligations that his parents never would have demanded from the boy.
When Emperor Ra's came calling with a proposal of marriage that would double the size of the Gotham empire, and increase its wealth ten-fold with all of the eastern spices and treasures Ra's kingdom controlled, many in Gotham were surprised that the young prince said yes. Alfred was not, though his heart mourned that the young prince would marry out of obligation to his kingdom, and never know the love Queen Martha and King Thomas had.
In response to his worry, the former prince replied only that Gotham came first.
Within a year, Queen Talia gave birth to Gotham's heir and Alfred began changing the child and caring for him in the same way that he had cared for Damian's father when the king had been a child. Unfortunately, King Bruce was an absent father - too devoted to Gotham and the training of his army, and having little desire to make a true family with a woman he had married out of duty - and under Talia's influence alone, Prince Damian grew to be quite spoiled.
It was not a very happy existence for anyone in castle. Thus it was, that when Lady Selina first made her presence known , Alfred knew there would be...difficulty.
For a while, Alfred knew the joy of being wrong. In fact, in the beginning, as shocking and repulsive as the idea of a female knight might have been, Alfred was willing to admit that her presence was a positive one on the king. He smiled more freely and laughed more openly than Alfred had seen him do since the untimely death of his parents. Had King Bruce's heart been free to give away, no one would have been as happy for the king as Alfred.
But the king's heart was not free, and a woman independent and self assured enough to be the only female knight in Gotham's army would never settle for the status of a concubine. Alfred was certain that the relationship which brought his former charge would, in the end, cause both he and Lady Selina great pain.
When word - or evidence - of the affair reached Queen Talia's ears, she was of the opinion that they deserved to be in great pain. While Alfred understood her ire, watching the melancholy that set over his king in the days after Lady Selina left the castle was difficult. So too was watching the sadness that overtook the king when word reached the palace that Lady Selina had married Gotham's sheriff a mere month after leaving the castle.
Any confusion about the timing came exactly six months later, when Lady Selina and Sheriff Bradley welcomed a baby daughter into their family.
Outwardly, King Bruce made no statement. Duty forbade him from claiming the child. But occasionally, as the king glanced at Prince Damian, Alfred saw the kind of regret and longing that had nothing at all to do with the young boy.
In response to Alfred's worry, the former prince replied only that Gotham came first. If the mantra was a little more hesitant, and a little slower in coming this time around, Alfred did not mention the discrepancy aloud.
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