Stellae

Alfred came to love him with time, yes. But, deep in his core, he knows he doesn't like his way of being or the circumstances in which he ended up taking care of him.

Bruce also knew that Alfred never actually wanted him, at the start, at the very least. He got stuck with him because of unforeseeable circumstances, and if it wasn't for Bruce being his new employer, he probably wouldn't have stayed. Or that's what Bruce has always believed anyway.

His kids and not-quite-kids often, whenever they're actually at home, comment on how lucky Bruce was to at least find a guardian who cared for him emotionally and physically so well after the incident.

Bruce wants to agree with them with his whole being, as, at the end of the day, Alfred did take care of him, and he is of the mind that he should be eternally grateful that he cared for the difficult child he was, as he had always told him.

However, after experiencing his own accidental child acquisitions and raising the children in question, he begins to see fault in Alfred's earlier days in the manor and how he dealt with a traumatized child.

Alfred's bad decisions are undeniable. But it doesn't mean Bruce won't still try to rationalize them in his head with thoughts fueled by his own self-hatred.

Another thing he would never do apart from finding fault in Alfred's actions is shatter his kids' realities by informing them that the sweet, helpful and caring Alfred they've always known, wasn't always that way.