It's disarming, that kind of admission. Jim owning up to his own self-destructive actions instead of the protest Felix was braced for. Calling the Imperial out for assuming his betrothed couldn't or wouldn't see his point of view. Wouldn't care enough to stop what he was doing.

"I couldn't take the chance," he murmurs yet, albeit weakly. "Not again."

But that's not Jim's point, is it? Felix isn't aware of the way he's drawn his arms close, wrapping them around himself. "You... want me to tell you when I'm working on a ritual...?"