Bakome appeared frozen at first. He didn't react to Erik immediately. Everyone waited patiently for his thoughts to restart. Everyone except Hana, of course. Her licking never wavered.
Finally, he closed his eyes, rubbed his temples, and sighed deeply. His body relaxed a little.
"Fine… Fine…!" he mumbled under his breath. "You've rolled with the punches before, Bakome… The family's prosperity comes first… She doesn't need to be rescued… She just made an incomprehensible choice… You can risk the family to rescue one of its members from someone else, but not from themselves…"
He spoke as if there was no one else in the room. The others gave him this moment to himself. Erik still had another ten minutes before the hour he'd promised Alice was over.
After a moment, he opened his eyes again. "Fine, Asha, was it? I won't try to fight Hana's decision."
