In contrast, he's realizing now just how small she feels in his arms. That isn't anything new for Dimitri and Marianne had always felt a bit frailer even before the war. Still, with the way she was shaking and her frantic apologies he can't help but already feel a tinge of protective instinct.

(She also looks very cute when red in the face, he thinks, but will absolutely not say aloud anytime soon.)

"You have nothing to apologize for," he says, to that. "If anyone became carried away, it was me." He can already hear Gilbert's disappointment in how casual he could be with some of his older friends. 'As king, you need to set an example and be the standard of nobility-' and blah blah blah. "But thankfully, things here are more... relaxed than they might have been in The Kingdom or otherwise. I don't think we'll scandalize anyone with just a hug."