“Eight.. I.. I was trying to give her the space.. The daughter of a noble family, despite being from the streets herself, could be shamed for being friends with a street mongrel. She became nobility, I wasn’t sure where that left us as friends.” There’s a moment that the redhead stopped himself before saying more, tattooed brows pressing together for a moment before he let out a soft breath. “I’m not much, I’m not even sure it’s okay to be around her after these forty years..” Insecurities were a nasty business. everyone had them and he unfortunately.. had a lot of those back then. “I was trying to respect who she became, because I knew my place. Even after I became a Lieutenant.. I didn’t feel it was the right thing for me to do.”