Ricard Anchises Avent

Ricard is the 47th Prince of the Aventine House and a son of Emperor William XXIII of the Sollan Empire, distinguished by thick red hair worn long in the Mandari fashion and a characteristic drawling voice.

Ricard's dealings with Hadrian are consistently hostile and manipulative. At the Triumph and its accompanying ball, he receives Hadrian with aristocratic condescension and openly slights Valka on ethnic grounds. In a later encounter, he attempts to draw Hadrian into a ruinous gambling wager and calls him a coward when he refuses. When a confrontation breaks out with Prince Philip, Ricard interposes himself as a warning rather than a peacemaker, invoking the penalty for laying hands on Imperial royalty. He then reports to the returning Empress that Hadrian attacked Philip, framing the incident to Hadrian's detriment.