Page 102 of Smoke, Mirrors, & Misdemeanours

Cassia looked back down at the fabric. It clung and fell in perfect balance—structured without stiffness, luminous without flash. All Opalina’s work.

“It’s perfect,” she said softly.

“It certainly is,” Opalina replied, rising to stand beside her, looking at their reflections in the mirror. “It’s made just for you.”

“She’s right,” Lilibeth chimed in, approaching the dais. “You look like they’re holding the ball for you.”

“You know they aren’t. It’s just Ark’s obligation. I’m only attending as his fake Chosen,” she said, as if reminding herself as much as them.

Lilibeth leaned forward, eyes fixed on Cassia’s neck. “Still. I see you took our advice.”

Cassia’s hand flew to her neck, her cheeks flushing. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Opalina circled behind her, gently pushing Cassia’s hand away to examine the mark. “No need to be coy.” She met Cassia’s eyes in the mirror. “It suits you.”

Lilibeth grinned. “The fake Chosen is getting less and less fake, I think.”

“It’s complicated,” Cassia muttered.

“Complicated,” Opalina repeated, exchanging a glance with Lilibeth. “Is that what we’re calling it now?”

“I’m calling it none of your business. How about that?”

Lilibeth hummed. “The mark says otherwise.”

Cassia was just about to retort when the prickling on her neck flared to life. She lifted her hand to rub it. It had been doing that all afternoon—faint, warm pulses she couldn’t explain. The door chimed. The sensation intensified.

She turned and found Ark standing in the doorway.

Oh. So that was what the mark did.

Her heart stuttered. He didn’t speak right away, didn’t smirk or offer some dry remark. He stood there, his gaze moving slowly, deliberately, from her face down the length of the gown and back up again—an unhurried assessment that made her skin feel tight.

For a long moment, they didn’t move. The air between them thinned. She couldn’t seem to draw a full breath. Then he walked forward, his soles quiet on the carpeted floor.

“You look,” he said at last, his voice low and rough, “like every star in the sky came down just to rest on your shoulders.”

The words spread like warmth through her chest. Her cheeks flushed, and she looked down at the shimmering fabric of her gown, a feeble anchor in the sudden, profound stillness settling around them. “It’s the dress.”

Ark’s gaze, dark and unwavering, softened. “I don’t believe so.”

She felt suddenly flustered. “Well, no matter what, it’ll have to do.”

“It will do splendidly.”

For a long moment, there was only the sound of their breathing, the distant hum of life beyond the windows a world away. The space between them seemed to contract, charged with everything they couldn’t say.

She broke first, the silence becoming too loud, too full. “Opalina and Lilibeth⁠—”

Her sentence trailed off as she turned, expecting to find them beaming nearby. She was met with empty space. Her brow lifted in genuine surprise, the spell of the moment finally snapping. “—were right here a moment ago.”

Ark followed her gaze, as if just realizing it too.

“They’re either giving us privacy,” Cassia murmured, “or planning something.”

A faint smile curved Ark’s mouth. “Both, probably.”

Cassia stepped down from the platform. She turned slightly, a helpless gesture toward the intricate lattice of buttons and ties securing the masterpiece to her body. “I need to get out of this. Opalina will kill me if I strain the seams.”