Louis!
Kalista had gotten used to the idea that the only opportunities she had to get out of the house came in the form of a charity event, or some other social gathering where she was responsible for representing her household. Augustus accompanied her from time to time, but for the most part she went off by herself because her husband had work, or simply did not
want to join her. Ever since she was a little girl, she had been trained to make conversation with all the right people in order to remain in their good graces. She knew which pure blood witches and wizards enjoyed having their egos stroked, so all she really had to do was shower the right people with compliments and talk up Augustus - make mention of how
successful he was, and what a great father he was to Astrid.
It wasn't like she was
lying, but the smile she spoke through was never sincere. Kalista had always daydreamed about getting married since she was a little girl, and while she knew an arranged marriage was a possibility, she thought things would be different. She thought she would be happier, for starters. She would even settle for
content, but between Augustus treating her like her only purpose in life was to produce an heir, and her best friend turning into someone she didn't want to know anymore, she only ever felt happy when she was with her daughter.
Making her way to the other side of the room, Kalista was careful to make sure no one stepped on her
dress as she approached the fountain of spiked punch. Holding out her goblet, she filled it and took a sip, peering over the rim through her
mask in order to survey the crowd. The crowd was thinning out, seeing how a lot of people had work in the morning and had left at a reasonable time. Glancing over at the clock, she saw that it was only 12:30, and let out a sigh at the realization.
She wasn't ready to go back home yet, just to take off her costume and crawl into bed with her husband who would
surely be asleep. She would likely stare at the ceiling for hours until she was tired enough to doze off for a bit. She tried not to think about it as she took another sip of her punch, hoping to at least get a nice buzz so that falling asleep wasn't so much of a chore when she finally did decide to leave.
