[ ookurikara doesn't seem phased by the hesitation, or the backtracking. he lets lili stumble over that, waiting until she quiets to answer. ]

I don't think I could love you any less.

[ he uses that same word easily, without a trace of the hesitation that lili shows, after the fact. ]

But I would rather be broken than allow someone innocent to die in my place. You know that. And I trust you to follow through with it, should it come to that.