It’s quite satisfying to watch someone who knows what they’re doing at work, whatever they’re doing. Plugs and outlets are still quite beyond Claudius, so he takes a seat at the bar and observes with fond curiosity — until Shang Qinghua asks his question.

“Yes, from the play,” he sighs, prepared to head this off at the pass. “The one on which The Lion King is based. Yes, I’m aware that it isn’t a history play, but a fictional drama, originating in England —” Wait. England is common to many worlds, with Crowley and Nightingale both being based in London, and he knows there are translations into the French and Chinese — that’s all well and good. He’s made his peace with it. But Claudius would have bet anything those nations and their literature weren’t in the area of Luo Binghe’s fictional empire. “How do you know the play?”