Oh. One of those questions. Jack had heard this asked a million times before from simple dirty peasant girls, to high born noblewomen, to actual goddesses. Every so often, he'd be stupid enough to answer honestly. Mercifully, Jack was clever enough not to make this one of those times.

"Because underneath that pomp and makeup, you're quite the woman. You've got smarts and beauty all rolled up in one. You don't get on my case for not being some saintly hero like half the jerks in this place do. You say what you mean and do what you want, no matter what the rest of those assholes think."

And to Jack's surprise, his web of lies to make her feel appreciated ended up with nuggets of actual sincerity in there. They were sprinkled with praise, but it largely was exactly how he felt about her. But it was still a lie, of course. He liked her because she was having sex with him and in his mind, that was enough.