Varian admired himself in the mirror before pulling a mask over his face. He took a step back, nearly tripping over Ruddiger. The raccoon chittered indignantly.

"I'm sorry, Ruddy," Varian said, leaning down to mess the critter's fur, "I'd better watch my step, huh?"

"Varian? Who are you talking to?"

"Nobody, Mother."

"Are you almost ready?"

"Yeah, I'm almost done," he called back, "just- just go on without me. I'll catch up later."

He sighed, sitting on the edge of his bed. "This could quite possibly be it, Rud."

Ruddiger chittered, but not at Varian. No, he was intently focused on an owl just outside the window. The owl was quite plain by most standards, but something about the creature intrigued Varian.

Despite the bitter cold, he opened the window and gently stroked the owl. Below, a figure, wearing a dark cloak, darted out of the woods.

Quickly, Varian hid behind a curtain, glancing out at the shadowy figure. The figure reached up to remove their hood... Revealing a beautiful young woman.

She had short, chin-length hair the color of the night, contrasting her fair, pale skin. Her eyes were narrow, but in the moonlight, Varian could see flecks of hazel, even from three stories up.

The owl hooted softly, flying down toward the mystery girl. He landed on her shoulder and hooted again. She looked up at the window.

"I know you're up there, whoever you are," she called up, "show yourself."

Varian hesitated before shyly peeking out from behind the curtains. "Um... hey there."

He nervously scratched the back of his head as he stared down at this girl, all dressed in black and standing among the trees and bushes, which were all laden in snow.

There was a certain feel to what he was looking at.

It almost felt like... magic.

Varian pushed the thought aside. There was no such thing as magic. But this mysterious woman had appeared almost out of nowhere. There was no denying her beauty, how it entranced him... How it, for lack of better terms, cast a spell over him.

"Who are you?" the girl asked, frowning.

"I- I'm Varian," he replied.

"Varian... like... like the prince?"

"Uh... yeah. And who might you be, milady?"

She scowled up at him. "None of your business."

Something about her attitude, quite possibly what was supposed to offend or intimidate him, only fascinated him even further.

"I'll be the one asking questions around here, capisce?"

Varian didn't quite understand what the word 'capisce' meant, but he readily repeated it.

She nodded curtly. "Good, then."

With her owl still on her shoulder, she turned and left as suddenly as she had come.

After the strange encounter, Varian rushed to get ready. He checked himself in the mirror once more before rushing out into the warm hallway and running full-speed downstairs, towards the ballroom.

He arrived within less than three minutes, sweaty and panting for breath. A few servants came over, bombarding him with help. Finally, they deemed him 'fit' to enter the grand ballroom.

Everything- the lively music and friendly conversations- died down when the big French double doors opened, revealing the young prince. Everyone- except for the king and queen- knelt down on one knee, but Varian could've cared less.

No, things like this, meant to symbolize honor and respect, only embarrassed Varian. Usually, he just ran down the stairs as fast as he possibly could. He would do anything if it meant he could escape all the attention, all the knees bowed out of respect to him.

But something told him to hang on, to scan the crowd; observe everything he could.

His parents expected him to find potential suitors that night, so it only seemed polite to break habit, just this once, to take it all in. All of the dark black suits, the dresses of almost any color you could imagine. And the masks, matching the color schemes of the outfits...

His eyes landed on a young woman in a far back corner. She wore a shiny golden gown and mask- a color that nobody else had chosen- and she smiled sweetly.

He made his way down the stairs, towards his parents.

"Father," he said, nodding his head in a curt manner.

"Son."

"Mother."

She smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Varian."

"Who-who is that?" Varian asked, pointing at the young woman in the corner, "do you- do you know?"

Queen Ellianna glanced at where her son was pointing, and her brow furrowed. "I- I don't know. Why don't you go find out?"

Varian just nodded and walked off to go meet her.

Varian was almost positive that this girl, the one hiding in the corner, was his mystery girl from earlier, and he was determined to get to know more about her.

He had to dodge tons of people, mostly girls who were interested in getting to know him and possibly get to have a chance with him. But he was laser-focused on his mystery girl.

"Excuse me," he said once he finally reached her, "um, hey there..."

She turned away like he was invisible. He sighed before reaching out to tap her on the shoulder. She turned back to face Varian.

"Yes?"

"Um, hey... Hi."

"Hi."

They both stood awkwardly, staring at each other. There was a brief second in which Varian's eyes darted away quickly, finding his parents.

His mother motioned with her hand- kind of twirling it around.

Dance.

"So, um..." he tried, "um... may I... may I have this dance? Perhaps? Maybe, maybe not...?"

He turned a deep, dark red. Of course, he was making a fool of himself, as he always did. How could he be a good prince, a good leader, if he could hardly even talk to a mysterious but beautiful young woman? Urgh...

"Fine. It's not like I've got anything better to do."

He was stunned: he had never expected her to agree. Knowing her as much as he did- which wasn't much, but still- he had expected her to laugh at him, at his complete awkwardness and inability to socialize. But... No. She had said "fine."

Finally, he regained his senses, and he led her onto the dance floor.