Chapter 25

When Helio lifted his head to look out the window, he noticed Ashton glancing at him. The playful look Ashton gave Sabina turned cold for a moment. Helio felt his heart sink and quickly looked away.

Sabina glanced at Helio’s quickly averted head with a puzzled look, but Helio didn’t notice.

The journey to Ashton’s mansion was short and uncomfortable.

Helio wondered if the carriage door would ever open.

But most journeys have an end. The carriage finally stopped. Even through the closed door, he could sense the crowd gathered inside.

“So many people are here—is it alright for the host to be absent?”

“Surely nothing serious has happened. The drinks haven’t even been set up yet. They’ll handle minor mishaps themselves.”

“That’s irresponsible.”

Sabina lightly scolded Ashton for his carelessness and took his hand as she stepped out of the carriage. Ashton let go of her hand and reached back into the carriage once more.

“Here. Hold on as you get down.”

Helio’s face stiffened involuntarily.

“You’re a guest, so I’m helping you down.”

In the end, the boy took the man’s hand, thinking it was just a host’s courtesy for a minor guest. Indeed, as soon as Helio got out of the carriage, Ashton naturally withdrew his hand.

The garden of this house seemed brighter than the moon over Ridblon. Despite having left the Marquis’s mansion, where hungry dogs barked at every turn, Helio already felt used to the quiet of the D’Vialis mansion. The laughter and music bursting from inside made him a bit uncomfortable.

“Alright, let’s go in.”

Ashton clapped his hands lightly.

At that moment, unexpectedly, both Ashton and Sabina turned their gazes to Helio. The boy, caught off guard, looked between them; it seemed each had a different reason for looking at him. Sabina’s eyes were a bit worried, Ashton’s were not.

“Helio. If anything happens, tell me. I’ll leave right away.”

“What? Are you going to leave me and go home?”

Helio nodded at Sabina’s advice.

Ashton tried to tease Sabina a few more times before handing something to Helio. Helio checked what it was before accepting it.

It was a white mask.

The boy looked up at Ashton.

Whenever Ashton dealt with Helio, he wore a slightly less cheerful face and spoke in a polite, almost artificial tone.

“I forgot to mention. Tonight, all guests wear masks—except for me and my partner.”

The mask landed in Helio’s hand.

“Tonight’s dress code is Carnival.”

The feeling when the word ‘Carnival’ came from Sabina’s mouth and when it came from Ashton’s was entirely different.

Helio’s lips started to dry as he looked toward the door.

As the three approached the main gate, the guard checked the host’s face and opened the door. Helio frowned unconsciously. Ashton’s garden was much brighter than it appeared from outside.

Lamps that didn’t overheat the garden trees hung everywhere. Inside the glass lamps, flames burned without harming anything, changing colors constantly.

It wasn’t just the flames that changed. As Ashton, Sabina, and Helio entered the party hall, the music changed. The chattering crowd looked around at the more lively music and spotted the three.

Ashton and Sabina walked ahead, the boy followed behind. Someone shouted from somewhere.

“The host is late! We haven’t even poured the drinks because of you!”

At the rowdy, cheerful shout, Ashton winked in that direction.

Applause. Laughter. Music.

Ashton’s claim that he and Sabina were dressed modestly was no lie. People were decked out in jewels like magpies drawn to shiny things. And everyone wore a mask. The noise from all directions was almost deafening. Or maybe it just seemed louder to Helio.

It was dizzying, like spinning around twenty times and then straightening up.

Helio was a clever child. He wondered why a space meant for high society was so noisy and lacking in dignity, why people wore masks, why it was held on a Tuesday…

Except for the auction, this was a substitute for Carnival.

Ashton had seen through the essence. What people wanted most from Carnival wasn’t the auction itself. Of course, the auction was the centerpiece of the entertainment, but more than that, nobles needed a place to hide their faces, pretend not to know each other, and indulge in undignified fun.

As nobles, it was hard to organize such a gathering. Hosting and simply attending were judged very differently. So Ashton was scratching their itch for them.

‘But why did that man give me a mask? Am I supposed to be part of ‘Carnival’ too?’

‘No matter what, I can’t fit in among these people…’

Another thing that made Helio uneasy was how Sabina seemed perfectly calm, as if she were used to such places. For a moment, Helio felt betrayed by her for no reason, then quickly shook his head.

“How cute. A little boy!”

Someone shouted, looking at Helio. The boy spun around, trying to locate the voice. People burst into laughter at his reaction.

“He looks healthy. Should we ask him to take off his mask?”

“Oh my, goodness!”

People gasped around Helio. They pretended not to know him, but only on the surface. They all knew who the boy was, and were amazed that a slave had been formally invited to the party.

The eyes of countless nobles pierced through their masks all at once, reminding Helio of the moment he’d been dragged with a broken leg, displayed and sold in front of a crowd.

Almost instinctively, Helio searched for Sabina. At this moment, she was the only one he could rely on, oddly enough. Sabina, reading the desperation in Helio’s masked eyes, stepped forward.

But Ashton gently held Sabina back and stepped forward himself.

“Helio! Are you alright?”

He shouted loudly, as if to drown out the noise of the crowd, and stepped in front of Helio. The boy, disappointed that Ashton came instead of Sabina, weakly shook his head and stepped back.

But Ashton strode over in big steps, leaving Helio no choice.

“You really don’t look well. Why did you insist on coming? I tried to stop you!”

Helio had never heard Ashton say such a thing, nor had he insisted on coming. But he was savvy enough not to challenge the lie now.

The man grabbed the boy’s forearm with a large hand. Helio hid skillfully behind Ashton’s back.

“You should listen to adults. Let’s go inside and rest for a bit. I’ll get you some mulled wine. Ah, of course, once you’re better, you can come back to the party, so don’t worry.”

Ashton kept talking so Helio couldn’t get a word in. As he roughly pulled Helio toward the main mansion, the crowd parted in confusion to let them through.

Helio silently followed Ashton. But as he was being led away, he turned his head to look for Sabina.

She was a small lady, but to Helio, Sabina stood out more clearly than the North Star. It wasn’t just the sparkling blue dress—what he saw most clearly was her eyes. Sabina fluttered her lashes, blinked a couple of times, and nodded.

‘It’s better to rest. I’ll handle the people.’

Helio’s lips parted as if to speak.

‘But you…’

Sabina quickly disappeared from sight. People, sensing that neither Helio nor Ashton were approachable at the moment, swarmed Sabina like a cloud. She rarely appeared at social parties, so this was their chance to speak to her.

Pushing through the warm, sticky summer air, the two—who weren’t very friendly toward each other—slipped inside, away from prying eyes.

Helio was overwhelmed with conflicting emotions. Being alone with Ashton was what he wanted, but it also filled him with a bit of fear.

Ashton entered the mansion and closed the door. Inside, it was chilly. Where there were no people, Ashton erased his expression completely, like the true master of the house.

Helio held his breath. He was glad to be wearing a mask.

“Here.”

Ashton, now cold-voiced, walked to a table in the corner of the hall. Bottles of alcohol for the party were lined up alongside the performance of the invited singer. He casually uncorked a bottle, drank straight from it, and finished half in one go, then set down a glass and grabbed a new bottle.

“Want a drink?”

Helio was well aware he was underage. He edged toward the door and shook his head. Ashton smiled.

“I wasn’t going to give it to you anyway.”

“……”

“I know you’re not the type to enjoy this kind of party. It’s obvious. So why did you insist on coming? You must have something to say to me.”

“……”

“So it wouldn’t catch Lady D’Vialis’s attention.”

Ashton spoke as if he could read a child’s mind. He tilted the bottle. Pale golden liquor filled the crystal glass.

“Go ahead. Tell me what you’re curious about.”

The boy, with trembling hands, slowly removed his mask. His cheeks, lightly powdered, looked very pale.

Helio’s question was simple.

“What… are you?”

Ashton burst out laughing.