The dress was lavender.
Soft as clouds, light as air — it barely felt real between Aurelia's fingers. She stood in front of a mirror taller than any door she'd ever walked through, and yet the reflection didn't feel like her.
It felt like a ghost.
Or maybe a dream stitched from someone else's life.
Tessa, her personal maid — too sharp-eyed to be ordinary — hummed softly as she adjusted the gown's ribbons. Her fingers were quick and precise, like they'd dressed royalty a hundred times before.
"Hold still, little dove," she murmured, gently brushing out Aurelia's tangled hair.
Aurelia didn't move. Couldn't.
Today, she was expected to attend a tea party.
With Mireya Vale — the elegant daughter of the Southern Duke. Beautiful. Poised. Kind… at least, on the outside.
She had arrived in a white carriage with gold trim, smiling like a sunbeam. But something in her eyes flickered. A spark of something... colder.
"She looks perfect already," a voice suddenly said behind the doorframe.
Aurelia flinched, clutching the mirror stand.
Two heads peeked in — one with a lazy smirk, the other with a tray of candied nuts.
Ren and Aero.
"Stop looking," Tessa snapped playfully, not even turning around. "She's not a stage play."
Ren leaned casually against the door.
"We weren't staring," he said, eyes twinkling. "We were admiring. That's different."
Aero snorted. "You look like a doll."
Aurelia blinked at them, unsure whether to be insulted or flattered.
Then, like lightning cracking through clouds, a voice echoed down the hallway.
"Lucien. Rowan. Out. Now."
The boys froze.
"Coming, Father!" they chorused, bolting like guilty pups.
And just like that, the room fell quiet again.
Aurelia looked up at Tessa, confusion clouding her already full mind. She hesitated, lips parting.
Tessa raised an eyebrow. "You don't have to ask permission to speak to me, sweetling."
"I just…" Aurelia hesitated. "I thought their names were Ren and Aero…"
Tessa chuckled as she pinned a lilac ribbon into Aurelia's hair.
"Nicknames. Ren is actually Lucien. Aero is Rowan. They use those names around people they don't trust."
Aurelia tilted her head. "And me?"
"You're in-between," Tessa said softly. "They're figuring you out."
Aurelia nodded. Silence stretched again. Then—
"Can I… have a nickname too?"
Tessa paused. Her eyes met Aurelia's in the mirror. Something unreadable passed between them.
"I'll think about it," she said.
The garden was like a page from a fairytale — fountains, roses, vines curling like poetry. And seated at the center was Mireya, sipping tea like a queen.
She smiled when she saw Aurelia. "You made it."
Aurelia nodded politely. "Thank you for inviting me."
The tea was sweet, the cookies delicate. But under Mireya's gaze, Aurelia felt stripped bare.
She complimented her dress. Her skin. Her "innocent charm."
But her eyes said something else entirely.
Mine. Everything that's yours, will be mine.
And Aurelia — still too gentle, too bruised, too unsure — didn't know yet just how dangerous a "best friend" could be.