"Well, I hope so," he said, keeping his tone light because that was the only way he could talk about this. If he let himself think too seriously about it, his mood sank rapidly, and he wasn't going to let that happen. Not when she had just proposed courtship — sort of — and had an idea about how she was going to fix the whole curse situation — sort of. "You can't write me off as a lost cause just yet. Not if we're going to make a scene together," he teased.

With a small smile, Alfred reached out to take her hand in his. "I'm not very good at goodbyes, am I?"