I can see you waiting down the hall from me [DMB]

The Duke's Masked Ball was not something Vivienne 'I despise social niceties' Howard looked forward to. However, because she was left as the last carrying her surname, she could do nothing but attned. It would of course be improper for the last Howard not to show her face at a social gathering like this, her adoptive family had said. Vivienne just found it rather foolish, especially since no one would actually show their face tonight. It was a masked ball, after all. She supposed not everyone was as well-versed as she was, and that there was a fault in fate that was particularly cruel to her.

In a getup that was nothing short of terrifyingly beautiful the girl arrived at the Winter palace. The building seemed even more immense than it usually did, and ever so imposing. That was, to anyone who wasn't Vivienne. She could have marvelled at the architecture, hadn't it been Winter's home. Now she just felt annoyed to be in the place that the blonde walked through each day, undoubtedly perfectly happy in her pompous 'little' world.

As she walked into the giant ballroom she could feel herself wanting to turn around and never return. Yet there were strong gazes keeping her here: ones she would rather leave behind for the gloom of her own family's estate, but also ones who had ways of finding her regardless of where she went. So the girl, dressed in all black and tall like a swan, found her way to the nearest drink. If she was in luck, there would be no one talking to her and she could spend the night thinking, listening to the only voice she found reasonable: her own.

& Alison Winter

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