[ He knows exactly how it sounds, and his immediate and self-assured answer pulls Fern's lips further and her brows knit together into a frown... Yet, still, she can't sense any kind of malice... Or even any of the smarminess she would have expected from someone like Mister Sein. ]

...I think there's a difference between being confident and knowing your own value and being too full of yourself.

[ . . . ]

What are you hoping to gain by treating everyone that way, though?