"Well, she has a backup plan," he murmurs. "She thinks we can talk her down—or rather, that she can. If anything, your Palace adds more evidence for that."

And it might add more weight to Goro's insistence that they wouldn't change Ren's heart, of course—he's already talked this possible alternative through, with Makoto and the others.

He offers Ren a smile. "You did say you wouldn't let me near the police. And besides, after all of this, tricking you was never going to work."

And he doesn't want to.