There's an aching, in the emptiness of Claudius's chest -- the emptiness Claudius created by vacating his body, but it must not have worked, because there's something there that can be hurt. He tries to grasp it, tries to imagine the wedding day, but after the loss of Shen Yuan nothing is certain. "How canst thou bear it?" He asks, looking up at the stars of the ceiling, put there by two men he loves for the god he adores. "How canst thou bear all the losses thou hast had?" Is he looking at the answer, while looking at those stars? He finds he can't look away. That aching in his chest starts to feel like bitter hope.
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