"I would not dare to think of you, as lovely as you doubtlessly are, as a bauble, Chaldean. To set oneself against such an impressive intellect is utter foolishness and I would not see the remaining days of my life darkened by making such an enemy. Indeed who would want to see all of their ambitions dashed for showing such disrespect?" It wouldn't have been any more subtle if he had written 'my rival is an idiot' in massive neon letters and hung them in the sky. It was better than making a show of acknowledging the slight Mikino had fired at him, that was all a part of the game after all. He had at first thought to play the pair against each other, but seeing them now made him think better of it. Becoming entangled in whatever it was that was going on between them seemed rather hazardous for his health, it gave him more time to endear himself to the Queen if they were too busy with one another to limit his access to her.
He took a quick drink from his glass before turning his eyes back to the expressions of the Lord Regent. "And there it is, the matter I wished to address you both. As you know talk is free, and in nowhere does it fly more freely than in court and in the assembly, and lately it has been of the lack of affection between a particular suitor to Her Majesty and her two most prominent intimates. And as we all know this would not be an issue if he were not one of Her Royal Highness' two most favored suitors. The other, who is beset by multitude of talk and slander against himself, the bulk of which is untrue or a distortion of truth, would have it known that he holds no grudges against any official or house and in all things is agreeable to whatever may be best for his Queen and country."
Again, not as subtle, but as he saw it subtly could so easily turn to lies and falsehood. Dishonesty was something he greatly wanted to avoid in the presence of Judgement, especially now when Fredric had so spurned his favor.