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Silvio was the quieter child, the dutiful child, the careful, measured, considered child. It's not that he didn't play, but even as a young boy, he was too clever for most of the simple games, and tended to follow adults around and absorb their conversations like a sponge, which made him a remarkably useful boy for his mother to keep at her side, both for his adorableness -- a not inconsiderable factor -- and for his astonishing ability to retain information. When his mother died, though, he was a seven-year-old left bereft, in the shadow of a tragedy that formed and shaped him. His father grew more remote and bitter, and his training was largely placed into the hands of other relatives. But the Archduchess found his ability to retain information very useful, and the Archduke and his other cousins became -- as he grew older and more acute -- his instructors, his mentors. As a teenager, he was already ruthless: as a lover, as a gossip. Merciless, as only the deeply passionate can be merciless. Wound him not, or regret it. A young courtier from Setarco made the mistake of toying with his affections, and while publicly their breakup left Silvio entirely untouched, the Lyceum did notice that the young man's social connections were completely over afterwards, and that the young woman that he had left Silvio for broke it off with him mere months later. By the time the young man died -- later, in combat -- he was so completely forgotten by society that barely anyone noticed. Silvio first joined the social scene at Lenosia and then, over time, completely took it into his possession, and by the time he was 21, he basically owned it entirely, his influence on the world of fashion and the world of social gossip second only to the Voices of his House. Each tragedy that struck the Velenosas, from the death of Carlotta, to the death of Esera, to the vanishing of Niccolo's new wife: none left him untouched. But he never made any political moves to become more central to the family even as the power vacuum struggled and the Lycenes scrabbled for position. He was loyal to Niccolo as one can only be loyal to one's personal mentor -- not uncommon in the family -- but moreover, he had learned the very Lycene lesson that the hot seat is, itself, an invitation to tragedy. Better to stand just to the left of power and advise power gently on her exquisite tailoring, thanks. Born a Prince, Silvio Velenosa wed Lord Lysander Rubino, bolstering the decimated noble ranks of the Rubino house, and making a union with the royal house of Velenosa.

Studied carelessness and careful elegance: Silvio has a knack for beauty, an artistry about it. He is tall and lean, athletic and flexible. His eyes are dark and warm as coffee, meltingly liquid or smoldering with banked heat; his mouth is a sly curve, or a composed mask, or a daring grin. His hair is either perfectly in place or an artful tousle. If there is a moment that Silvio isn't on display and making of his undeniable allure a performance, it is so fleeting as to be quickly forgotten, or maybe he's asleep. Even sleeping, the thickness of his sooty lashes against the curves of his golden cheeks suggest a boyish innocence that his waking wit can only deny.

Silvio is so warm, so smooth, so elegant, and his charm is so complete that even though it's impossible not to suspect someone so very Lycene of scheming something, it's almost impossible not to like him anyway. He is a natural social tactician as well as a student of social strategy. Elusive, bright, and beautiful, he has it all in one package, and he is very well aware. Subtle, witty, luringly flirtatious to all comers of whatever gender whether he is serious or not, he's very difficult to pin down, slipping away from commitments with as much flair as he slips into his tailoring (the very best, always).