@AnonDePlume I was thinking mostly the same thing. He understood what she meant very quickly and was open to changing his behavior, which is about as rare as a unicorn when it comes to love interests who give extravagant gifts.
I do think that over-the-top and heartfelt aren’t mutually exclusive when it comes to presents, though—it’s just that excessive gifts create concern about fiscal responsibility and how outsiders will perceive the expense, which make it difficult to be 100% happy about them. Many male love interests, being about as concerned with other people’s feelings and a personal sense of responsibility as the average cat, can’t relate to or understand that, and their responses can usually be summed up as “just be more like me!
I don’t care about these things!” The duke’s understanding reaction here acknowledges that Ivona has different preferences and concerns than he does and demonstrates a willingness to accommodate them.
He felt kind of stiff and boring to me before, but I have a very good impression of him now because of this.