Doug is desperate, which kind of forces his hand. He has never, ever told anyone that before, not since he said such things to his parents when he was a very small child. But he's never said them romantically.

He definitely feels it. It's that, for nearly five and a half decades, he's been conditioned to believe that sort of confession is a sign of weakness. And he's survived for as long as he has by suppressing all signs of weakness, including the vulnerability that you need to show in order to truly become close to someone.

The proposal that Lili has made turns the Calafan society a little on its head. On our side of things, the High Priestess is more of a figurehead, and doesn't hold legislative power (think of the Queen of England). Whereas, in the MU, that same role is of sole real authority, a kind of last word after anything that the First Minister or the remainder of that government might wish to do.