I was still in a daze after the waltz and I wandered aimlessly, not really caring where I went. I didn't notice my surroundings until the cold wind made me realize I'd somehow made my way out of the hall and onto the balcony which overlooked the lavish surroundings.

It was the night before the full moon and it was bright, everything bathed in a magical silver gleam. It was beautiful.

Everything was beautiful right now.

A small, shy smile tugged on my lips as I recalled the way Lord Han had grasped my hand right before my departure. A heartfelt sigh escaped my lips and I leaned against the marble to stare dreamily across the scene.

A soft sob reached my ears and I straightened with a frown.

'Hello?'

The sobs continued and they sounded uncharacteristically familiar, so I abandoned my place in search of the sound and found Mae, head buried between her arms, collapsed by the stairs.

'Mae!' I exclaimed, rushing to her side. 'Oh lord, are you alright?'

'Minah…' she whispered, straightening slowly. There were tear tracks across her cheeks and her lower lip trembled as more water gathered in her eyes. 'What do I do?'

'Mae,' I sat down beside her, extending my arms to hug her close, the older sister in me urging me to protect her. 'What happened?'

Her fingers clutched desperately at the ruffles in my dress as she sobbed her heart out and all I could do was hold her. It was a good thing this part was secluded, so no one could disturb us while I calmed her down and heard her story.

'…and…' Mae hiccupped, head resting against my neck, 't-then… he asked Lady Yi f-for the w-w-waltz…' her sobbing intensified all over again.

I patted her comfortingly, feeling for both my sister and my friend.

Baekhyun was very insecure when it came to Mae – probably because Mae had yet to actually accept his hand, happy to just string him along thus far – and seeing her agree to waltz with another man was, no doubt, painful for him.

At the same time, I knew how Mae actually felt about him. She had turned down all of her suitors the first time Baekhyun had let his interest be known because she had been waiting years for the day he would see her as more than just an annoying little brat.

Seriously, these two were such a mess.

I sincerely hoped Kyungsoo was with Baekhyun because for all his bravado, he was even more sentimental than Mae right now. If she was sobbing like this, I didn't want to imagine what he was doing.

It was in times like these I missed Jongdae the most. While I trusted Kyungsoo to stop Baekhyun from doing something completely stupid, we both knew it was really Jongdae who could talk Baekhyun out of it. Oh well.

Thankfully, Mae was never one to cry long. She went from tears to anger after a while, convincing herself that she did not need Baekhyun in her life anyway – the tears spilling out of her eyes belied her words but she wiped them away ruthlessly – and finally calmed down enough that we could leave.

I noticed the stares when we re-entered the hall and surreptitiously checked both myself and Mae. While a little pink in the face, Mae was still presentable and except for the wrinkled sleeve, there was nothing amiss about my dress.

Then Mother waved us over and we hurried off, heading back to our temporary quarters.

…………………………………

My parents seemed to be in a happy mood, having met with old friends a