“Ah, but you know how persistent I can be,” Crow grinned at Penelope playfully when she said winning over anyone else in her family was unlikely. “I’m a thief, darling. If I want something, I’ll take it—and that includes the heart of your stubborn brother.” Despite his joking words, he was a little worried about what might happen if Layth chose to confront him while he was recovering. Far from “wooing” the other man, he didn’t know if he could even hold his tongue well enough to avoid provoking him to attack. He and Layth despised each other. Chances were, he would say something to prod at the knight and just wind up getting himself hurt.

As Penelope went on to say that he had just gotten lucky in meeting the ‘right’ Vermillion, his features softened a bit. “I really did,” he agreed with a smile, reaching up with his free hand to caress her cheek. Relationship aside, if he hadn’t met Penelope, he didn’t know where he would be today—well, probably not bedridden in the camp of his enemies, but certainly not as well off in other areas of his life. With her, he actually had a future to look forward to, one that was much more meaningful than what he’d been striving towards before. The amount of love he felt for her even incomprehensible to him sometimes, but he never wanted it to change.

At her last words, Crow clicked his tongue. “Alright, fine,” he sighed. “If you really think Layth won’t come around, I won’t waste my time on him... But I will say he’s missing out, because I’m a great lover—although, you already know that, don’t you?” He winked at her teasingly.