Wei Ying enters his apartment to find Lan Zhan waiting for him on his ratty old sofa, as promised. What Lan Zhan failed to prepare him for, however, is that he is wearing nothing but his glasses. Wei Ying's messenger bag hits the floor before Lan Zhan looks up from his phone. “Oooh, is that for me? Lan Zhan, you shouldn't have!” He's rushing across the scant distance between them, trying to get his shoes off and walk at the same time, and it isn't working well. He practically collapses to his knees, shuffling forward till he's between Lan Zhan's legs.

Once upon a time, there was a prince named Gabriel who lived in a shrinking kingdom. A blight had swept in from the east, withering plants, sickening animals, and fouling the water. It left behind a great waste where nothing would grow and no one could survive. For years, the king held audience with anyone who claimed to be able to halt the spread of the blight and restore life to the waste, but no one—from farmers with knowledge of the land, to sorcerers with arcane magics—could find a solution.