Chapter 151 - The Friend Card (1/2)

It seemed like Katie was gone for ages. Blaise sat there unsure what to say until Alamar asked him a rather pointed question.

”Do tell me…why did you come all the way across the ocean for a woman you hardly knew?”

His heart raced. Had he been so transparent? He had hardly spoken two words to Abby directly since meeting the man. Since the woman herself and none of the merchants in the caravan had caught on, Alamar must be unusually perceptive.

Blaise swallowed hard. ”Why do you wish to know?”

Alamar casually tapped his fingers on the armrest of his chair. ”I'm a bit confused by your intentions. You come all this way without payment and offer up a plan that would benefit us slightly more than it would benefit your homeland. More specifically, it would benefit her.

”I'm not as selfless as my people think I am. I know better than most how love can drive a man to do desperate, uncharacteristic things. You want to help us because doing so will keep Abby, who has decided to stay here, safe in the long run.”

He scowled. So what if that was his primary motivation? He had still been an objectively concerned bystander regarding the Kanta clan's military arrangements before his feelings for Abby were past the point of no return.

Did his motivations truly matter? He was here, he had an idea, and it was possible to implement. Results were more important than the intentions behind them.

”I do not know what you are implying,” Blaise said stiffly.

Alamar shrugged. ”I'm merely doing my duty as a brother-in-law to discover the intentions of any potential suitors. I may have barely met her but I know how much Abby means to my wife and I will not stand to see her hurt. You are planning to return to Shibatsu and leave her behind, aren't you?”

He froze at the mention of being a potential suitor because he had thought about it. More than once.

There were two main reasons he hadn't acted on those thoughts. First, they were from completely different worlds and wanted different things. And perhaps more importantly, Abby didn't think of him that way.

”I see no reason not to,” Blaise argued, unable to meet this discerning man's eyes. ”We have made no promises to each other. She does not see me as a man.”