[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/240213/6a1af8e5082bd8470db334cb0cc5c1d1.png[/img][/center][hr]Renault watched the Kaudian man keenly as he went, noting how his interest seemed piqued when he saw Lucas. Scandalous theories flooded his brain on instinct, but he repressed them. No magic in the world could cover up a rendezvous between Estoran royalty and what was most certainly Kaudian nobility. Good. Affairs were pedestrian, boring. It baffled him to no end how brazenly powerful people would risk their careers over lustful impulses. Not that he doubted the prince wasn’t given to a plethora of vices, but he was not, despite what the tabloids might convey, [i]that[/i] stupid. 

But he had been right—this was interesting. He committed the red-haired man to memory, and determined that, given the opportunity, he would seek him out for conversation. For now they had business. 

As the lot of them stepped into the room with Rhaveus, Lucas cocooned them in silence. Renault’s attention went to the chalkboard initially, eyes scanning the arcane arithmetic with a sudden, renewed academic vigor. He was no stranger to the scholarly pursuit of magic, and though his lessons had been cut short with his pivot into politics, he never stopped studying. The steady rise of his career had afforded him a generous salary, and he’d found no shortage of tutors eager to trade it for their knowledge. Rhaveus was, of course, advanced beyond his own measure, evident in the way he wrote. Shorthand, scratches, highlights; it was very much like peeking into someone’s diary, or the notes of a savvy journalist—which was to say, it was chaos. The sort of chaos that came with deep understanding. 

He clicked his tongue when it was wiped clean. Shame. You could tell a lot about someone from the way they expressed their passions. As Rhaveus began an explanation of the basics of mana however, Renault’s attention wandered. He chose to peruse the room, keeping one ear in the conversation. He brushed the books left on the podium, were they materials for his class, or was there personal reading as well? With a man like Rhaveus, the two likely overlapped. 

As the topic evolved, shifting to the ambush, Renault tuned back in. Mana negation. He was familiar with the concept, and like most he assumed it was merely the demesne of monsters. The idea that someone might be able to lock him out of using magic did not thrill him, as his capacity for physical violence had suffered greatly from his incarceration. 

“[color=9e005d]Oh, I wasn’t present,[/color]” he said, stepping aside to resume picking through the room. Time had been tricky in prison, he hadn’t even been aware of the day until his release. “[color=9e005d]But please, do share. Firsthand accounts can be so enlightening.[/color]”