"Eh?" Shen Yuan startes out of his reminiscing, flinching away from Viktor like he's been caught out. "Y-yes," he says, hiding his face behind his sleeve. "It was a prophecy of sorts, the...you know, the future emperor's glorious rise to power and the foundation of his harem. That...that kind of thing."

"Oh, Shizun," a soft, gentle voice drifts down the stairs. "Is that really what you're going with?"

Shen Yuan freezes in place, even forgetting to breathe for a couple seconds as a tall figure dressed in black and red robes walks down the stairs, his face calm, bearing straight, hair satiny and lustrous in the torchlight. Shen Yuan's breath escapes as a quiet sigh. Even if they were in fear of their lives, how could anyone fail to admire Luo Binghe's masculine beauty? He's truly the perfect stallion protagonist -- so it's kind of a shame he has to go and be a huge jerk.

"Is this really the wise and kindly master I served for so many years?" Binghe asks the cold dungeon air. "It seems so unlikely, with how foolish he sounded just now."

Shen Yuan nearly chokes on his shocked gasp. "Binghe!"

"Shizun," the lordly half-demon rejoins, with a nerve-wracking sneer. "Just how long do you plan to run from your mistakes?"