His brow furrowed, considering that for maybe the first time, because for him the past few days had only been a pleasant diversion, or mostly-pleasant anyway, and not a glimpse at how things might have been.

His arm curled more securely around Charles' waist, keeping him close, "I don't suppose I thought of it that way." He shook his head just a little, settling once more, but keeping that arm looped around his partner even as he explained, "If... well, if I hadn't been sacrificed, I likely would have died in the war, and if I'd somehow survived that, the best I could have hoped for was an amicable sort of marriage to a woman I hopefully liked well enough, maybe we could have been friends but likely wouldn't have actually loved each other. Would have been expected to have an heir to the family name, maybe live off my military pension, maybe take on a management role at a factory or a textile mill somewhere, but nothing more than that."

Another little head-shake, settling himself against Charles' side more comfortably, "So while this has been a lovely time, it was... it was a vacation rather than anything that might have been."