Eventually, he nodded. "Yeah," he said. His voice sounded a little thick. He cleared his throat to try to sound more normal. "Yeah, I know. It makes sense to do this. Even I can't deny that." And once Philip had made his decision, he had to respect that.

This was just like when he was going to run away with Wakana, really. He was just going to be a lot further than a train ride away.

"If you've decided, then it's not my place to say anything about it," he said, but he didn't quite make eye contact when he did. Just because it was true, it didn't mean he had to like it.