For a long moment she didn't dare to look at him, her gaze fixed on the place where their hands joined. It left her breath short and her brow knotted as she tried to control her emotional expression. But she wasn't idle, her finger's traced his, running over the palm of his hand, and the joints of each finger, her stomach suddenly feeling hollow and her breathing shallow.

'Please be sure Mister Fo...Atticus, please be sure' she pressed, looking up through her lashes at him, it was easier to wear your heart on your sleeve when you weren't looking into someone eyes, but she forced herself to meet his. 'Please be sure' she felt numb, even her cheeks, although she could feel them drained of colour, 'Because well....well...' she stumbled again over her words, cursing internally. When her own heart was in the mix, apparently all of the Empress's cool composure evaporated when it was in relation to someone she actually cared about losing.

She shook her head, trying to clear her mind enough to express it 'Because I could not bear it if... you chose someone else? Her treacherous mind finished for her, she was going to diminish the impact - to say that she didn't want to endanger her friendship with Poppy, but she couldn't bring herself to lie to him. She squeezed his hand, almost unconsiously to express a modicum of all she wished she could, all she wished she was equipped to express. Her head dropped forward again, 'Because Mister Foxwood, I would like to spend all of my time with you.' she managed, chancing a look at him, trying to read his features. Her passage was booked, the looming reality of what it would mean to go to Japan. It hadnt seemed too bad when she had agreed to it, but then she hadn't been in love then. 'if you do not think me too bold to say.'

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