"I often wonder what a family is for," he says, making a soft confidence. "It's so essential to understanding people. Not only the way it's used in Elsinore, where knowing someone's family lets you know their status and connections ... it's the way people think about their families, about the roles family members play. By the time I was born into the royal family, everyone's role as a mother or father or son had become so eclipsed by roles that were impersonal and political. When I heard other mothers speak of the way a mother cares for her children, or other older brothers speak of a protective instinct, I perceived the differences. But at times I look to Lan Wangji, and imagine he could easily be such a brother to me. I also look to him as a confidante."