Chapter Text
Vernon had never been 'important', but he'd never been 'unimportant' either.
He was average; his father worked as a blacksmith and his mother was a maid in a wealthy household and, between them, they earned enough to keep food on the table and make a living for themselves.
Vernon had always enjoyed joining his father in the workshop, his fingers a little calloused from working with metal alongside him, but they were much smoother than his father's rough skin, obtained from years spent in the dingy back room. His father's eyesight was not what it used to be after working so long in the dark, and there were occasions where a coughing fit would tire him out and leave his chest feeling raw, but he couldn’t yet retire in fear of no longer earning enough to support the family.
He earned a decent wage, considering he was the best smithy in town, but the population was small and few people could pay large sums of money for his work.
When he was young, Vernon thought his mother earned a lot for the work she did but, though the family she worked for was wealthy, they were stingy and it certainly would not be enough for the three of them.
Vernon knew all of this, and so he trained harder so he could take over soon enough, his hands littered with small scars obtained from mistakes of the past.
This was why he was perplexed as to why a very important looking letter addressed to him was propped up on the dinner table, drawing his attention immediately because of the royal insignia visible on the seal.
Balls were not uncommon but usually limited to nobles and royalty alike where they’d bask in their wealth and boast of their achievements. He’d heard rumours from others in town that the royal family was preparing for something big, but what they were planning for exactly changed every time the topic was brought up.
His parents had been too nervous to touch it, and though he was certainly wary, he also couldn’t hide his excitement as he grabbed it from the table, tearing it open with vigour before he read it with wide eyes.
“A-a masquerade ball?”
“What?!” His mother snatched it from his loose fingers, bringing it up to her face to examine closer, letting out a small shriek of excitement. “Vernon, I can’t believe it! A masquerade ball?!” She wrapped him up in her strong arms, squeezing tightly before letting go with the brightest smile Vernon had seen on her face in years.
“There must have been a mistake… I don’t get invited to-“
His mother shook her head, determination written all over her face. “If it was, I don’t care. You’re going.” She gripped his shoulders, staring into his eyes. “You do realise what this means, right?”
Vernon shook his head, his expression still one of pure shock.
“You can make your way up in the world!” She yelled, fingers digging into his skin. “Vernon, this is exactly what you need. You could find someone, get a better job, a better life!”
Then, it clicked. His mother’s enthusiasm finally made sense, and though Vernon was glad she was looking out for him, he also felt a little guilty. “But Ma, I don’t want to leave you guys behind if something happens…”
She shook her head. “No use worrying about us. You can’t let an opportunity like this pass you by, sweetie.” She wore a sad smile as her fingers brushed against his cheek. “I want you to be happy.”
He nodded, but couldn’t push down the feeling that he was betraying them by even considering it, even if that’s exactly what they wanted for him. “You know I can’t turn up like this, though. I don’t want to-“
She clamped a hand over his mouth, rolling her eyes. “Honestly, I thought you’d be more excited about this.” She only released him when he let out a small huff of defeat, swatting at her hand.
“I don’t want you spending anything on me for this.”
“Vernon, I can’t not spend money on you for this! As you said,” She leaned back, placing a hand on her hip. “You can’t turn up like…” She gestured all over his body. “This.”
Despite his protests, she did end up spending money on him but, luckily for him, she didn’t go overboard. They already had a decent suit from when his father was younger and it only needed to be sent to a tailor to be re-fitted and spruced up a little.
They didn’t have a mask, however, and he caved in to his mother’s pleading eyes to get one custom-made for the event, even though he reminded her he was likely only going to one in his lifetime, but she had insisted and he couldn’t say no once she had made up her mind. He agreed on a Venetian Hound design they spotted in the back of the shop but refused to go with any of the wild colours she recommended, sticking with various shades of brown and cream, golden embellishments enhancing its features.
“I still think you should have gone with that green.” It had been the brightest shade of green the pair of them had seen, and she was likely messing with him, but Vernon still shuddered at the thought.
“Ma, the suit is blue, it would look awful together.”
“But people would notice you more!” Her grin proved that she was messing with him, no matter how hard she tried to conceal her quiet laughter with a cough.
“For all the wrong reasons.” He groaned, walking a little faster to spite her. She was aware she was on the shorter side but refused to acknowledge it around other people, so she didn’t complain and simply sped up her pace to match his.
“You’re going to look great, you know?” She spoke quietly, her smile morphing from cocky to proud in seconds. “I can’t wait for the day I get to dress you up and-“
“Ma,” His voice was stern. “You’re not allowed to put any makeup on my face.”
“But Hansol,” She only ever used his first name when she wanted things to go her way. He had always preferred to go by Vernon, even though it was his middle name, considering where they lived had more people from his mother’s country than his father’s. Hence no one except close friends and family knew that Vernon wasn’t actually his name.
“No but’s, Ma, I thought we agreed on this.”
She pouted, gripping her skirts. “Maybe I changed my mind. After all, it’ll look lovely! I won’t do too much and it’ll really accentuate your best features and-“
“Ma!” He didn’t snap, but he was definitely loud enough to quieten her pleas. “If I agree to a little light makeup, will you drop it?”
Her eyes lit up like the sun as she nodded her head so vigorously that he feared it would fall off.
He let out a quiet sigh, knowing that even if he asked for it to be light, he wouldn’t be able to control that once the actual night in question came around.
Thankfully for him, he had no reason to worry; she kept her promise.
He had sat down in the chair in front of her rickety vanity obediently, gripping the chair tightly as her eyes flew over the various powders and liquids lined up in front of her. It was quite intimidating, but he also realised how complicated this kind of thing could be, so he couldn’t exactly complain if she was willing to help him out this one time.
It was still rather early on in the day, but she had insisted they had to prepare everything early on. She applied a bunch of transparent liquids to his face, claiming they would help prepare and cleanse his skin, fingers delicately dabbing and pressing his skin.
Despite there seeming to be about 20 products in front of him, she only ended up using a few, explaining each one as she went along; one for covering blemishes, something for his eyelids to make his eye colour pop and another that looked as if it should be used for drawing rather than used on his face, but he didn’t say anything in fear that she would fly into a rage and ruin everything.
After applying a couple more products, (“Why did you get your father’s lips instead of mine? Oh well, we can work with this…”) she seemed pretty happy with what she had created and, after getting a look in the mirror, he had to admit she had done a good job.
He knew the reason most of her focus had been on his eyes was that the holes in the mask for the eyes were quite large, and it had certainly paid off. He didn’t know how, but the hazel in his eyes showed a lot more than before, and his lips were a little fuller. His cheekbones and jaw were much more defined than without the makeup (he didn’t even know they were this sharp) and he couldn’t help but be impressed.
“Do you like it?” She seemed a little nervous but relaxed a little when he grinned.
“I almost look like a noble, Ma.”
She snickered, punching his shoulder gently. “Well, that was the look I was going for.”
He grinned back, then proceeded to admire himself in the mirror again. If he was an unsuspecting noble, he’d definitely think he was quite handsome. Not gorgeous, but relatively attractive, at least.
There was a gentle knock at the door before his father entered, surprisingly clean, the usual four o’clock shadow he sported was almost invisible, and his scarred hands had clearly been scrubbed quite hard.
“Pa, why are you so…?” Vernon trailed off, almost feeling bad for asking the question, but his father simply laughed, holding out a package.
“Your mother refused to let me go pick up your outfit before I cleaned up.”
Vernon chuckled. It certainly sounded like something she’d do and, from her triumphant smile as she took the package from his father’s hands, she definitely had done so.
Unwrapping it gently, as if it were made of glass, she unfolded the outfit delicately, the material falling in navy blue waves until it was revealed in all its glory. It was simple, but clearly of good quality.
The tailor had done a good job of sprucing it up. Originally, it was simply blue with few or no embellishments at all. But the silk and velvet materials were still gorgeous and almost looked new. Whether that was the tailor’s work or simply the result of being taken care of by his parents was something he would likely never know.
He fingered the velvet navy blazer, golden thread sewn into the lapels, and matched the trousers completely. The waistcoat was decorated with more detail, intricate gold patterns curling over the slightly tougher fabric. The pure black of the silk shirt beneath was dark enough to rival the night sky, clear of detail but it was Vernon’s favourite part of the outfit. The navy and gold tie hung loosely from the patterned collar of the shirt and Vernon found himself entranced by the quality.
“Are you sure this is ok?”
He felt an arm around his waist, his mother resting her head gently on his shoulder. “Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”
He shook his head, still a little dumbfounded.
She smiled, pulling away. “Now, put it on! I want to see my boy all dressed up before his special night.” She clapped slightly in excitement, and when he glanced over to his father, he noticed his eyes were a little glassy.
This was how much this meant to them.
After shooing them out of the room to the loud protests of his mother, along with yelling at him to “make sure he didn’t ruin the makeup she had so carefully applied” as his mother had put it, he began to change into the ensemble.
He was doing perfectly fine until he got to the tie, staring down at it blankly for a couple of minutes before his mother’s voice on the other side of the door awoke him from his trance.
“Do you need any help?”
He nodded, blinking before he realised she couldn’t see him through the door. “Y-yeah, Ma.”
She entered, eyes widening when she caught sight of Vernon. “Oh my... Vernon, you look so handsome.” She was obviously choking up, despite her best efforts to hold it in, and suddenly Vernon was finding it very hard not to cry right along with her.
She’d probably throw a fit about him ruining his makeup before joining in, so he tried his best to stay strong.
She stepped in front of him, her fingers delicate as they began looping his tie, taking care to make sure it was even before finishing, pressing it down on his chest before buttoning up his waistcoat, smoothing down the material. “Oh, Vernon…” Her voice cracked and she pursed her lips, stepping back slowly.
“Ma-“
Before he could even respond, she had barrelled into him, arms wrapped tightly around his torso as he struggled to stay standing. She began to wail, tears pouring down her cheeks. His father rushed up, worried something awful had happened, but he immediately relaxed after he noticed her breakdown.
Though he was clearly at his tipping point too, he managed to choke out a genuine laugh before managing to pry her gently from Vernon’s figure.
After she calmed down a little, she began frantically checking Vernon’s outfit for tear stains. Luckily, she hadn’t buried her face in any of his clothing, so they were saved from that disaster at least. Though she looked ready to break down again at any second.
“I’m sorry, I-“
“It’s fine, Ma.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, squeezing it gently. “I was kind of prepared for it anyway.”
She laughed, wiping her tears away. “I wish your sister could see you.”
His smile fell a little. Sophia had moved away with her boyfriend several years prior without telling anyone and, though she still sent letters and tried to keep their relationship as strong as possible, it still hurt that she went so far away with no warning.
She and her boyfriend were happy, and his parents could never resent her, but it was still a sensitive subject for all of them.
“She would have been worse than you, and that’s saying a lot.” Vernon let out a quiet laugh, trying his best to lighten the mood if only a little. It seemed to work since the two of them began to smile and, though there was a hint of sadness to their expressions, it was better than before.
“Very true.” His mother finally responded, flattening the lapel of his blazer as a way of distracting herself.
His father grinned, patting his shoulder affectionately. “I’m proud of you, kid. And you look nearly as handsome as me when I was your age.” His grin changed into a smirk.
“I’m clearly more handsome.” Vernon struck a pose and both his parents laughed out loud.
“It’s all the makeup’s doing. Don’t let it get to your head.” She went to ruffle his hair, then let out the most dramatic gasp Vernon had heard. “Your hair!”
He was shoved back into the chair again, his father pushed out of the room to make more space while his mother went into another one of her frenzies.
Naturally, his hair was a little curly and, though it wasn’t particularly messy if left alone, it certainly wasn’t appropriate for an event such as this. His mother spent the next twenty minutes fussing over his head, managing to tame it enough to be deemed presentable, his dark hair pushed back at one side while his fringe fell over his right eye slightly, but not enough to blind him.
“Okay, I think this’ll do.” She glanced up at the wall clock. “Oh dear, if you don’t leave soon, you could be late and-“
He placed his hands on her shoulder to ground her. “You’re freaking out again. Relax.”
She let out a long breath. “Okay. I’m okay.” Glancing up at him, she let a smile take over her features. “You look so handsome Vernon, really.”
“Stop, or it really will get to my head.”
Her face was still serious. “If-“ She let her fingers wrap around his wrists, gently hanging there. “If you leave, remember that we love you, ok? We’re so proud of you.”
He nodded, pecking her on the cheek carefully so as to not ruin whatever she had put on his lips. “I know.”
When he caught sight of the carriage that awaited him, he could not prevent his stomach dropping, weighed down by guilt that reminded him of what his parents were sacrificing for an event that was not guaranteed to secure him the future they hoped it would. However, his mother refused to let his mind wander enough for him to linger on the guilt for too long, shoving him towards the open door as she yelled something to the driver, eyes sparkling.
It would take a long time to reach the capital where the royal family resided, and they would have to take several breaks along the way. It seemed a lot of effort for one night but, if things were to go as his parents hoped, it would all be worth it in the end.