Marianne blinks a few times, taken aback. And then she lets out a breath of air and returns the nature of his smile.

"You know, you were one of my adoptive father's favorite marriage candidates at the Academy. He thought it would be good to align ourselves with a strong Alliance family." There were other reasons, but Marianne doesn't have the heart to speak them aloud: that Count Gloucester is far safer an ally than enemy, for one, and that the strength of their bloodline might be enough to drown out the possibility of Marianne's own Crest being passed forward to their progeny. Given the nature of the conversation, there's no need to remind Lorenz further of the sorts of games that nobles play.

She leans in and presses a kiss to his cheek, chaste and gentle. "Accepting your proposal and pursuing Hilda's heart may not end up being mutually exclusive, depending on how things play out back in Edmund once the fighting is done. If we end up in a place where you feel it's all right to ask, I would happily accept. I cannot promise you romance, but I can love you. Do love you, Lorenz."

For a marriage of obligation between nobles, that's far more than most get.