He's also not even a little bit interested in girls, or he'd marry one for real, I think. 

...You have my sympathy.

He really really hates - not being who people would expect him to be, and in particular being something that would horrify them. 

I can see the logic but it still sounds very hard on you.

Yeah. Sigh.

Well. Fortunately he isn't at all attracted to girls and he's marrying my girlfriend instead of someone who is actually competition.

I would have done something if he were trying to marry a girl who was expecting a proper marriage, it'd be a disaster.

Oh Halls yes. That would be bad.

It's a little bit of a blind spot of his, that.

I will put up with public kisses to spare some poor girl that.

I don't think he'd have gone for it. But this is - better than never moving forward, I think.

Never moving forward?

The King thinks Maitimo should get married and have children before he takes the crown, since he can hardly do it afterwards, so absent a good way to do that I think he was just planning to - watch all his siblings marry and have children and grandchildren, make excuses, wait, wait, wait some more, eventually maybe the King would relent but maybe not -

Yeesh. And what if Maitimo just--didn't want kids? Some people don't.

That might go over all right, were it true.

Would've been kind of awkward if Marille didn't.

I assume he discussed it before telling her anything, he was very paranoid about sharing it more than necessary.

True.

It's nice to not have to avoid ever being in the same room as both of them at the same time lest he suss out our dark secret anymore.

Oh, were you doing that? That must have been hard, with Marillë spending more time around his family - did you skip the wedding -

Nah, just coordinated very carefully so the three of us were never in view of each other at the same time. It was tricky. Kind of an enjoyable challenge, out of context.

If there were less at stake. Headshake.

...Yeah.

It was--kind of stressful--in between the recitation and Maitimo suggesting this whole scheme.

I can imagine. He wouldn't - even if it weren't him, I don't think - but that'd hardly feel like security.

Yeah. This is easier, that way.

Now I will have to ask him how many poor people he's guessed about and never mentioned, and who might be living in terror that some day he'll bring it up.