The music slid slowly between the columns like amber mist, suspended in that unreal moment in which time seemed to hold its breath. The hall of the palace, wrapped in a golden glow, seemed to have come out of an ancient dream: heavy curtains barely moved in the breeze of an open balcony, and the candelabras cast flickering reflections on the masks, on the eyes, on the shadows.

She was there, standing at the edge of the room, like a dissonant note in an impeccable waltz. The sapphire-colored dress caressed her skin like deep water, and the pearl mask only half hid her gaze. There were eyes that were watching, of course. But she... she was looking for something else.

It was then that she felt it, before even seeing it: a presence that grazed her skin like a caress of wind.

The hooded figure emerged from the shadows with the slowness of someone who knows she doesn't have to ask permission to exist. His dark, silver-embroidered suit fell on him like a night studded with dead stars. He didn’t speak right away. He stopped a step away from her, his head slightly inclining.

Then, with a gesture that was neither hesitant nor intrusive, he held out his gloved hand toward her.

“My lady,” he said, and his voice was deep and warm, like a fire in a cold room, “no melody is truly complete without the step of the one who inspires it. Will you do me the honor of dancing?”

The lady looked at him, uncertain. There was no arrogance in that voice, only an ancient, almost chivalrous respect. And yet, something still held her back, a thread of invisible hesitation that even she couldn’t name.

Perhaps that was why he took a step closer—not to impose himself, but to protect her from the cold that seemed to creep even between the notes of the waltz.

“I will not lead you where you do not wish to go,” he added, with a sweetness that was like an oath. “But if you choose to follow me… I swear that no shadow or deceit will touch you.”

And then, amid the flickering light of the candles and the dull thump of his heart, she placed her hand in his.

And the world began to dance around them.