"Alright Miles, this is the last stack. After putting these next to the fireplace with the rest, you can go off to bed," a servant said, handing Miles a handful of logs.

"And once again, thank you for helping me, Miles. Without you, this would've taken me forever."

"It's no problem." Miles answered, trying not to act like the pile was as heavy as he actually thought it was, “well, good night then."

As Miles turned around a corner, he abruptly stopped in his steps, falling to the ground & dropping the logs.

"Look where you're going!- Oh, I'm sorry." the man in front of him stated coldly, jumping off his horse, and reaching out a hand for Miles to take. "Are you alright?" he asked, the same cold expression on his face.

It took Miles a few seconds to register what had happened. When he finally snapped out of the shock, he hesitantly and embarrassingly took the man's hand, the man pulling him up as if he weighed nothing.

"T-Thank you, sir. Yes, I-I'm alright. Are you?" Miles stumbled over his words, dusting off his clothes lightly and fidgeting with his fingers.

The man chuckled lightly, his deep and elegant voice cutting through the air like a knife. "Don't worry about me, Sweetheart. I'm alright," he said, his voice soft like butter. He then started picking up some of the dropped logs, but not before lightly clapping Miles' shoulder, who was still slightly in shock.

“Here you go. I'm sorry for, well, nearly running you over with my horse,” the man apologised, facing Miles, who was picking up the last log. 

Once they were facing each other, the man continued: “It looks heavy, would you like some help?” The question took Miles slightly by surprise. He wasn't used to people offering help, but it felt nice. Especially coming from a stranger.

But he couldn’t ask a stranger to help him, could he? No, he couldn’t ask that from someone he didn’t even know: “Thank you for the offer, but no thank you. It’s fine,” that was good, right? No- the man’s in front of him smirk disappeared. That was bad. Did he sound mean or ungrateful? But he really tried to sound extra nice. 

The man then sighed before the same grin as before returned to his face. He chuckled and handed the stack of logs he had collected back to Miles. "Alright then. I guess I'll see you tomorrow at the ball? If so, make sure to sleep well, we wouldn't want you to be tired now would we?" the man laughed soothingly, followed by Mile's small chuckle. "No sir, we wouldn't. I'll see you tomorrow then?" 

"Oh, you bet you will," the man jumped back on his horse and went forward to stand next to Miles. 

"'Guess I'll see you then?" he continued, seeming sort of eager to continue the conversation. 

"Yes sir, see you then," Miles finished the conversation, not seeming to notice the little look in the man's eyes, and left. After a few seconds of having the feeling of someone staring at him and not hearing the man move, he heard the sounds of hooves on gravel. Before he knew it, Miles was done with his tasks of the day and back in bed. 

Finally they had time to relax for a bit. They had to wake up extra early that morning since they had to make sure everything for the masquerade was perfect.

At least the 'special' uniforms were quite comfortable. Surprising, considering how uncomfortable Miles imagined the suit being. Especially the elegant, black leather shoes, which didn't look as flexible and soft as they actually were. The loose sleeves of the white dress shirt make him feel less cramped while wearing the outfit. Less closed-off, if you may. He had gotten the black vest & trousers tailored a few days prior with the other servants too, so it all fit perfectly.

At the moment, some were waiting by the doors, waiting for them to open, so they could welcome the arriving guests, while others were finishing getting the welcome drinks ready. The band at the end of the hall seemed to be ready for the party too. 

Laura, whom Miles was speaking with, had just finished helping Collones into her dress: "She's looking fabulous! She's wearing this beautiful dark blue- nearly black- floor-length dress with incredible gold details and accents! And her mask matches perfectly too! God, if you ever get rich, you better get me a dressmaker that amazing," she remarked. Miles hadn't seen Collones' dress yet, but from the way Laura described it, it must've been beautiful. 

He was just about to answer when Johan yelled: "Everyone! Get in your spots!" Nobody even looked at him, they just all but ran to their designated spot. Men and boys on one side, women and girls on the other, with those who held the drinks at the end. At that moment, Collones came into the room, and Laura was right- she looked stunning. 

'Alright, here it goes.' Miles sighed, 'Just do your best and be nice, everything will be fine. Wait- will that man from yesterday be here? He said he would be' he continued thinking to himself. Before he could get any further though, two of the other servants opened the door, and they all synchronously bowed to welcome the guests, who were standing and talking together outside the door.

"Welcome everyone!" Johan started, standing in the doorway with Collones by his side, talking to the rich-looking guests. "We at the Vanques house welcome you all to this year's masquerade. I simply have one thing I'll have to ask you to do before we let you in: Please sit in your assigned seats with your names on them. Thank you for coming and we hope you'll enjoy this year's masquerade!" He finished before taking a step to the side and putting his hand out to the side, allowing the guests to come in. 

As the guests began to come in, some stopped to talk to Johan and Collones, while others just walked straight in. To be honest, some of them even looked richer than Johan and Collones, Judging by their clothes, mask and hair. 

After some time, while Miles was trying to focus on not looking like a shrimp while bowing, someone put their hand under his chin and with barely any force made him look at them. And lo and behold- it was the man from the night before. 

"Well, hello Sweetheart. Did you sleep well?" The man put his hand back into his pocket as Miles stood up. Miles then realised something he hadn't noticed before: this man was tall. Very tall. Miles was quite an average height and this man was nearly a whole head taller than him!

"Oh, hello sir, welcome. And yes, I slept quite well, thank you," Miles answered, looking up at the man in front of him. Even though his clothes were completely different from what he had seen him in last time, and the fact that he was wearing a mask, Miles could still somehow recognise him, and the other way around. Maybe it was because of the red and blue eyes?... Red and blue eyes? Does he have heterochromia? And why does he have a red eye?-

"Well, that's good to hear. Look, I've got to get to my table, I'll talk to you later, alright? See you then Sweetheart," the man cut off his thoughts and before he could answer, the man was already gone. 

'What the hell?' Miles thought while looking at the man walking away from him confidently, not even looking back at him. Wait- did he just call him Sweetheart? Twice?- He then quickly got reminded to get back to bowing when one of the other guests gave him a dirty look. 

'God, this is going to be a long day...'