"I gave it back, of course." He would not keep a token of affection from someone who hates him. "But we spoke again on the day of the truth curse. Claudius knows me very well. Second only to you, perhaps. It is different than the animosity that Lan Wangji and I share, which is marked by total disinterest on both sides. It seems the project of this mansion to force us to understand each other, and perhaps to prove that familiarity does not breed affection." Or, more likely, to show Luo Binghe what he could have had; to force him to feel the loss of Claudius' regard, a hurt he attempted to bury once he'd decided to cease his revenge. He resents it.