The invitation appeared on every student's desk overnight—folded parchment sealed with stardust, humming with glamor.
"You are cordially invited to the Moonlit Masquerade.
Disguises required. True names concealed.
Magic encouraged. Secrets inevitable."
Elior stared at his with a wary frown.
Kael, across the room, was already twirling his between his fingers like a charm coin. "Let's be honest," he said, "this is just an excuse to make a mess in formalwear."
Elior folded his arms. "You're not supposed to recognize anyone."
Kael grinned. "But I'll still know it's you."
"You'd better not."
"Oh come on, Flower Boy—your aura practically hums with judgment."
"Maybe I'll wear glamor this time."
"You? Break a rule for style? Scandalous."
---
By nightfall, the academy ballroom had transformed. Enchanted chandeliers floated like stars. The walls shimmered between mirrored illusions and deep galaxy skies. Music poured from instruments that played themselves.
Everyone was masked.
Not just simple masquerade masks—full magical glamors.
Hair shifted hues. Heights changed. Voices deepened or sparkled. Even scent was veiled.
Elior wore pale silver robes and a half-mask shaped like an owl. His glamor made him taller, with green-flecked eyes and storm-grey hair. He looked nothing like himself.
Which was the point.
Freedom.
No expectations.
He drifted through the crowd like mist—watching, listening, blending.
Until he heard a voice behind him.
Too familiar. Too cocky. Too Kael.
"Nice feathers," the stranger said. "You come here to spy on everyone or just brood stylishly?"
Elior turned—and blinked.
The figure before him was masked in deep indigo with a sun motif and glowing golden tattoos up one arm. The glamor shifted slightly as he moved, like heat rising from stone. Kael, clearly.
"I don't know who you think I am," Elior said, voice charmed into a different tone. "But I assure you, I'm not here for you."
"Oh?" Kael leaned closer. "Because you look like you definitely hate how I just found you."
Elior narrowed his eyes. "How did you—?"
"I always find you."
There was a pause—just a moment's quiet between notes of music—before Kael added, more gently, "Even when I don't mean to."
Something fluttered in Elior's stomach.
He ignored it. "Still full of yourself?"
"Only around you."
Someone jostled between them with a tray of enchanted fruit.
Elior took the chance to vanish.
---
Half an hour later, he was hiding in the balcony gardens—half-glamor slipping from his sleeves, breathing in the cool night.
Of course Kael found him again.
"Stop doing that," Elior muttered without turning.
"I didn't follow you," Kael said. "I just… end up in your orbit, apparently."
Elior sighed. "It's a masquerade, Kael. We're supposed to pretend not to know each other."
Kael shrugged. "You can keep pretending if you want."
Elior finally turned to face him. "Why do you keep pushing?"
Kael's mask shifted slightly in the moonlight. "Because I don't know what you're hiding from."
Silence.
Then Elior said, quietly, "You joke. You flirt. But you never tell the truth either."
Kael's smile faded.
"Maybe," he said, voice lower now, "we both wear masks even when we're not at a ball."
Another silence.
Not quite uncomfortable. Just… honest.
Elior looked away first. "I should go."
Kael didn't stop him.
But just before Elior stepped back inside, Kael called after him—
"Even if I never say it out loud… I still see you."
Elior didn't reply.
He couldn't.
---
Later, back in his room, mask off and glamor fading, Elior sat on his windowsill and whispered to the wind, "You don't know what you're seeing."
But his pulse fluttered like magic anyway.