[Here he pauses first, rolling back over the conversation to make sure he's remembering it right, that the words that had stuck out to him linger still while he's had a moment to cool off.]

You said... you were putting me in this position. That you're taking my time away from them. That you're getting in the way of the happiness I could have with other people. "Isn't that what you want?" That's what you said. It didn't sound like a question.

[Each and every time. Taking. Denying. Hurting. All the things she claims that she's doing, when it's his time, his happiness, his wants. When next he speaks, he looks up at her, his gaze intense, intentional, still with that lingering hurt.]

Pyra. I'm the Chosen, not the Chooser. Remember?

[So much of his life had been set in stone from the moment he was born. His career, by the royal blood in his veins. His destiny, by the Crystal's magic that chose him as its final king. His marriage, false or not, by the good-will gesture of a conquering nation. His choices had been so, so small. Even his friendships- every one of them except Prompto and maybe Iris had been handed to him by fate or his father. He'd chosen to make them real, but he didn't pick them out from the start.

In this place, as long as he's been here, his choices have all been his own. Where to go, when to go there. How to spend his time. Who to spend it with.

Who to love.

She'd tried to take that from him, under the misguided belief that she might be less than what he deserves, and that is what hurt.]