The depth of his fondness for Magnus Chase is impossible to express, so Lan Wangji hesitates. Perhaps Claudius will accept one more story.

"I mentioned the child I carried away from the Burial Mounds," he says. This may seem unrelated, but he imagines Claudius will trust him to bring this around to the point. "Wen Yuan. His family name was a death sentence. I gave him mine, so that he became Lan Yuan, and when he came of age, I gave him his courtesy name as well, Sizhui." He takes a moment to think, and then says the name again, slowly, separating out the characters in hopes that Claudius will understand: "To recollect and long for."