"His -- ...Oh." Realization dawns. "Sweetheart, I'm -- I'm sorry, I assumed you knew, this -- happened before I was even here, apparently, I --" He takes a deep breath, to gather himself, and stop rambling. "Claudius told me a while back¹ that apparently Luo Binghe is able to infect people with his blood, and in doing so, he can torture them by causing them to feel intense pain whenever he wants, wherever he is. Claudius knows this, because Luo Binghe did it to him." Dionysus reaches to take Grantaire's hand and squeezes it. "I'm so sorry for not saying anything sooner."


1. How long ago exactly is 'a while back', you might be asking? Shh, ignore that. Not important.