His Real being in a relationship with her only works to his advantage, for it makes wounding her a simpler task. All he has to do is be himself, a walking contrast to the man she's grown to love — and worse, shades of him that could have been, had history's path been slightly altered. He knows she has difficulty questioning it, that it's entirely possible this could have happened to her Doc Holliday. It's pissing her off, upsetting her... And he's practically basking in it.

"Oh, but it could have. And in the shape of my design, it did." He keeps the accent up, just to be even more of an ass. "Poor little heir. Always faced with the hard choices, always losing people to her legacy. Never the winner. Never the champion. Never the hero people thank, only the problem they wish would go away."