Chapter 151: The Friend Card


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


    "Do tell mewhy did youe 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, mar must be unusually perceptive.


    ise swallowed hard. "Why do you wish to know?"


    mar casually tapped his fingers on the armrest of his chair. "I''m a bit confused by your intentions. Youe all this way without payment and offer up a n that would benefit us slightly more than it would benefit your homnd. 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 n''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," ise said stiffly.


    mar shrugged. "I''m merely doing my duty as a brother-inw 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 nning 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 frompletely different worlds and wanted different things. And perhaps more importantly, Abby didn''t think of him that way.


    "I see no reason not to," ise 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."


    A half-smile appeared on mar''s face. "Ah, the friend card. I am quite familiar with it. My wife only saw me as a friend and tried to push me onto another woman to keep the plot of the novel consistent. Eventually she changed her mind because of that very friendship. She cared too much about me to let me get hurt. The rest is history."


    He was shocked by how much personal information this virtual stranger had tossed at him in the form of trying to give advice. Were all people in Annias this unguarded? No, Abby was like this too.


    This must be somethingmon in her country. Katie had clearly influenced her husband.


    ise had a hard time believing the ultimate power couple who seemed not only perfectly in sync but perfectly in love had such a history. Yet he couldn''t prevent a small bubble of hope from filling his chest.


    If they had started as friendswas it possible that Abby might change her mind about him by the time he came back? No. He shouldn''t be thinking this way. He didn''t want to be tied down to one ce, even if it was one as intriguing as this.


    He would like to spend more time here learning about all of the advancements Katie had implemented but if this military n was going to work he would have to leave right away. Ships only came and went from Annias a handful of times a year because of the dangers associated with a wintry ocean.


    "The situation is not the same," ise said dully. "I do not have the time you speak of to change friendship into something more. Even if I didI could not bear to separate Abby from her sister since that was her primary purpose ining to this world.


    "I became a Warrior to see the world and never had any intention of getting married. She crept into my heart unexpectedly. I doubt she will ever leave it but I am unfit to be her husband. She deserves someone who can give her the lifestyle she wants. She would be better off marrying a nsman."


    mar snorted. "She won''t have much luck with that considering the only unmarried men around here are either much younger than her or widowers old enough to be her father."


    His traitorous heart leaped in his chest. Did that mean she truly would remain unattached by the time he came back? It wouldn''t be toote to try and convince her toe see the world with him for a few years?


    ise didn''t manage toe up with a response to that before Katie came back.


    "Alright! I''m ready to rejoin the discussion. Abby took Adam to the yground for me," she announced as she pped her hands together and sat back down at her husband''s side.


    mar gave no indication that they had been talking about her sister or anything other than the proposed agreement. For that ise was eternally grateful. Thest person he wanted to know about his conflicted feelings other than the woman herself was her historically overprotective sister.