The more you know your beauty, power, and worth, the less you NEED others to VALIDATE you. The less you know your beauty, power, and worth, the more you NEED others to VALIDATE you. The more you know, the less you NEED.
As human beings, don't we need questions without answers as well as questions with answers, questions that we might someday answer and questions that we can never answer?
The thing about villains is that villains always have their own logic, and they don't necessarily see themselves as villains. Richelieu is not a villain, in his own mind. He's doing what he needs to do.