It was the height of aristocratic France, when the great houses competed not with armies but with spectacle. In the gardens and salons of Parisian palaces, wealth became theater—silk gowns, candlelit fountains, orchestras hidden behind marble columns. On nights like this, the Duchess Élisabeth de Valmont’s estate outshone even many royal gatherings.

Her masquerade ball filled the grand hall with swirling masks of gold, velvet, and feathers. Nobles laughed behind porcelain disguises while violins carried a lively minuet across the polished floor.

Élisabeth herself moved through the crowd in deep sapphire silk, her face hidden behind an ornate mask, though everyone knew perfectly well who hosted the evening.

When the masked stranger approached, bowing with a confidence that did not belong to a courtier careful of rank, she took his offered hand without hesitation.

As they spun into the dance, she laughed softly beneath the music. After a few rounds she leaned into his ear while her fingers running through his thick curls. Her eyes locking on his through their masks.

“Tell me your name… or better yet, don’t. It may make this more exciting to keep being strangers, no?"