Perhaps not from your perspective, I suppose, but from mine, we've had quite some time to get to know one another as we are now.

[That may not make much difference, in truth; Hendrik is still Hendrik no matter how many months have passed, and even before she had found her way to this place, she had caught herself insisting he be less formal with her on more than one occasion.]

But please— you have nothing to apologize for, nor is it my right to tell you what you can or can't say. I only don't want you to feel as though you have to my battles. I've grown very capable of fighting my own.