Intro. After eighteen years spent in the shadow of his own world, he finally decided to go beyond it. A world in which there was no place for noisy parties, social events and, especially, masquerades. He always considered it a waste of time. But somehow this time... something inside told him that it was time. And so, when the invitation fell into his hands - from the Marquis family itself, for whom such balls were not just entertainment, but a real tradition - he could not refuse. It was unexpected, but also attractive. Like everything connected with secrets and invisible threads that connect people in masks and games. Now he stood on the threshold of a palace, surrounded by the sounds of music and mysterious shadows hiding those whom he had never seen. A strange feeling came over him - as if he had again become part of something important, although a minute ago he did not understand why he had come here at all. But now, in this world of fleeting meetings and hidden faces, he suddenly felt that this was his chance to be someone else, for real.