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He needed to begin his planning. It would be a difficult road ahead of him, one that would need extensive preparations before the first true action could ever hope to be taken. He also needed to formulate a way in which he could appear to be in two places at once to uphold the imagery of him performing his duties in Dunmeath. He supposed it would be easy enough to conjure a simulacrum of himself, a mere shade may be enough to stalk to and fro in his study windows to provide the illusion he was merely locked away in consideration to the upcoming events. It wasn't often, after all, that he was called upon there by any of a meaning station. He would have to test the limits of how tangible a defense that would be as well. Should he be caught in early affairs, he could always employ a lie as well, truly. He could claim he'd had good intel that those involved had planned to betray the crown by one means or another. It would only set back his ambitious goals, delay them greatly and while it wasn't a favorable outcome he supposed it would be best to happen early so that he could better plot and fix his errors in later, more large scale operations. He sighed faintly, shaking his head faintly to dismiss such inclinations for now.

”Thank you, Aevor.” She hummed, along with the genial promise of a true smile. Soft azure would affix to emerald, and he would return her expression. ”You look quite handsome as well.” Despite himself, a light dust of pink would brush his cheeks, and he would avert his stare from the steady contact of her own. Perhaps it was the tentative threads of empathy he had for her and her situation. Maybe it was that and the cloak and dagger of faint dishonesty with her that bid him to feel the inklings of guilt. "Ah, well, thank you." he rumbled, almost sheepishly. He had known Tanyi would take care of her injuries, but he had weighed how far he had been willing to go in means of contributing to her recovery. While he was not a healer by any means, vampiric blood had it's own uses, but should it have come to that it would be far harder to deny any involvement should he be pressed for it. After all, the investigation of what had happened to her village had at first been breached on an official standpoint - though it would not have been a better outcome for she or any other survivor they would have found. Already, they had brought his decisions under brief scrutiny, but he had already well made up his mind that any survivors had already suffered more than enough to warrant being spared the fate of Anderstel. Much like he was content in shielding the presence of Avarice's village from being exposed, adamant about a path to be taken in future endeavors.

He had been thankful it hadn't come to that decision in the end and its dark air of uncertainty. Would she have preferred another method, however? Something that would have potentially left her without the marring upon her lithe back? He was curious as to how she viewed the painfully visible reminders of those unspoken horrors she had faced. Did they drive her forward? Did they only serve to anchor her in a past she wanted to forget but couldn't? Were they the reminders that she had no answers and only spun in circles with her brief leads? It reminded him that he would need to consult his journal over the details of that case to provide her with as much information as he could when they eventually did cross paths in a skin that was comfortable enough to speak with her at liberty. While he did consider himself to have a good memory, this wasn't something he would be content to leave to imaginative detail to fill in any blanks that may have appeared in the years since. ”I hope I’m not keeping you from some appointment, am I?” Ah, had he been too quiet? Though, now that she did provide him a convinient escape, he would rise to his feet before he allowed his frame to sweep into a slight bow. "I do have some business to attend to." Came the admittance, an apologetic simper tracing the curve of his mouth and softening the line of his brow. "It was a pleasure to meet you and I quite enjoyed our chat. It's helped me come to a few decisions, really."