Victor seemed to ignore Mondai’s first comment; if it was due to genuine interest in the state of his tux, or done on purpose, it was impossible to tell. He only seemed to snap back to reality as the young girl, sounding quite unlike herself, ordered him to look at her.

And though he was surprised and perhaps even secretly amused by how out of character her command was, Victor didn’t want to. Looking at Mondai was pretty much all he’d done for this entire night, and it had led him to… what? Near expulsion? To hide away in the darkness of the Forbidden Forest like some lunatic, like a villain? And the last time he’d looked at her, properly looked at her, a rush of honesty and secrets had dared to spill out from his lips. Now that he thought about it, Wilder had done him a favour by interrupting that foolish, thoughtless moment.

Still, he looked at her. And he immediately regretted it.

“…You should get out of here, Mondai.”