When Veyle says it does matter, can Leif really claim to the contrary? Despite his own denial of it in the moment, and perhaps he does think about it that way in that specific scope, when he hears her deny him right back, it feels like an echo of so many of the petulant, bitter remarks he would have said too.
Because, when one's weak, it really does feel important. It feels all the more important when you can see what you can lack— even if not for who you wish to save but instead who you are yourself.
It keeps him quiet, uncertain of what he could even say to be convincing as a result. But before he can find his words, Veyle apologizes anyway.
“...I'm fine, Veyle,” he snaps himself out of his thoughts for the sake of answering her, realizing belatedly the inappropriate nature of his reactions. To her, he's an Emblem, and with it, a stronger and more heroic figure than he actually is. To speak his frustrations, to speak a sliver of his heart, would be to shatter any illusion. “But...”
Words fail him as a result. He forces his hand to unclench, doesn't shake off the way she reaches out, but his expression remains that moue of frustration bleeding with melancholy.
“Ah! Don't slow down!” a voice farther out, closer to the bridge leading to the northern part of the monastery, cries out in the night. “We'll never make it to the Goddess Tower like that!”
Leif turns his head at that. They're not voices he recognizes, but he can't say they're ones he wants to get in trouble. But when he looks back at Veyle, he makes his concession, weighing her ego over any false sense of altruism.
Because at the end of the day, that was something he wished to protect too for her.
“Well, they're all yours, aren't they, Veyle?”