He jokes in self-deprecation, but of course, that option is going to be the only one that can fly here, isn't it? Anyone else will be seen as an excuse and a cover. This will be the best way to keep rumors from growing by orders of magnitude with speculation of his condition. The scene at the ball can't be the last impression the crowd has of him. Yukimura understands this without need for prompt. It's the kind of acuity Niou has always loved about him.

"That's true... Then, what's the situation with the princess? I don't remember her on the RSVPs."

And there had been that private meeting with her earlier...