Chapter 1: The Mystery Girl

The Masquerade Festival is a famous tradition in the province of San Lorenzo celebrated every month of October. Sometimes, they held a Masquerade ball to honor a member of a wealthy family or just for a special event. The said event removes the boundaries of social status. They have the freedom to talk and mingle without being judged or mocked. There is no rich nor poor, everyone is equal.

There are strict rules to follow if one plans to attend the ball. Costumes have to make the wearer unidentifiable and wearing a mask is mandatory to hide their identity. No one is allowed to unmask anyone or to say the name of the person even if you recognize them. It is like a game of pretending to be someone or whomever you want to be in one night.

According to tradition, the mask is said to drive away evil spirits or bad luck and brings good fortune to the one who hosts the party. Other theories said that with their identity hidden, there is a greater chance to find their soulmates or destined partners after the party is over. And for some, believed that "The lost shall be found" and, "The truth will be revealed."

Amongst the rich and famous families were the Madrigal, Santibanez, Buenavista, Villarreal, Montemayor, Jimenez, and Luisita. They are the ones who usually host the ball. Edward Madrigal was the first one to celebrate his return to the province. He is now at the right age to handle their family business. One of their businesses is the manufacturing and distribution of one of the World's Famous wines Chateau Margaux 1769 named after his great-grandmother. Little did he know that the ball he hosted is a night that he will remember for the rest of his life as he met a mysterious girl that will change his life. The masquerade ball may have ended, but their story has just begun.

After Edward had returned from overseas, he decided to continue his studies at San Lorenzo University. He is currently in his senior year and just has a few more subjects before he graduates from college.

"Edward Madrigal!" a loud voice called out his name. "You are so dead right now! Where did you go last night?" Edward turns his back to see the person who is rushing toward him. "Seriously man, how could you ditch your party?!" Joaquin was furious pushing Edward on his chest.

He simply ignores Joaquin and continues to walk in the hallway as if he didn't hear or see him. But Joaquin is too persistent and he immediately grabs his hand to stop him.

"I met a girl," Edward said while trying to calm his friend Joaquin.

He knew that there was no use in telling a lie or keeping everything a secret from his perverted friend, so he might as well go all in and be straightforward with him.

"What? That's the lamest excuse I've ever heard! You have no idea what the hell I've been through just to take care of your guest!" he complained and yelled at the top of his lungs. "And now you're telling me after cleaning up your mess that you went disappear just because you've met a certain girl?" Joaquin continued ranting.

Edward immediately covered Joaquin's mouth to prevent him from talking too loud. He leans closer to his ear and whispered.

"I got laid." 

Edward looks around to see if there are people around listening to them. His head keeps on turning from left to right afraid that someone else would listen to their conversation while his friend was completely baffled by his confession.

"What?" Joaquin is pretending not to hear his friend and asks for confirmation to repeat those words.

"I said, I got laid," Edward said in all honesty in a low tone while giving his friend a deadpan stare.

They stared at each other for a few lazy minutes before Joaquin finally confirmed that Edward was indeed telling him the truth. His mood shifts from anger to excitement as he continues to interrogate his friend.

"Really? Your sneaky little bastard! Tell me what happened," Joaquin's face lighten up while asking inquisitively.

"Is she hot?" Joaquin started with his first question.

"Yeah, she is sizzling hot." Without having second thoughts, Edward immediately answered with a smile on his face.

"Is she pretty?" Joaquin immediately follows through with another question.

"I guess," he said with uncertainty.

Common tell me the juicy details," Joaquin started to become impatient and was too eager to know exactly what happened to his friend.

Edward is not the same as Joaquin who loves to flirt with the ladies. He is timid and naive. In their years of friendship, Joaquin never saw Edward interested in women because he is more focused on his studies and family business. Edward is the youngest billionaire in San Lorenzo Province all because of his hard work and perseverance. This may be the first time that Edward fell head over heels for a girl whom he knows nothing about her.

"Who is she?"

"I wasn't able to get her name," Edward sounded sad and disappointed.

"But at least you saw her face we can still find her," Joaquin curiously asked.

"That's another problem." He releases an audible sigh after answering his question.

"Wait. What?! Don't tell me you banged her without even seeing her face. I didn't know you were into cosplay. So, both of you were wearing a mask the whole time?!" his eyebrow raises while imagining the scenario.

Joaquin is utterly astonished while listening to his friend. He couldn't believe that Edward is capable of getting into the wild side. 

"Well, she knows who I am. I introduced myself to her and even removed my mask in the middle of our you know... I tried to remove her mask, but she stops me so I just let her be," he sheepishly said and scratches the back of his neck.

"Really?! She's something else... so how did you meet your mysterious girl?" Joaquin insists on the full detail of the story.

"Okay, you see, I was out welcoming the guests when I saw her wandering in the garden and for some reason, I can't take my eyes off her. There's something about her that draws me to her. She was not even wearing a flashy gown. But somehow, I feel like I'm connected to her like I've known her my whole life. I know it's crazy because I haven't even met her yet. She caught me staring at her. I decided to walk towards her, but then she ran away. I panicked, so I also went running after her, and we ended up in the wine cellar," he carefully explains and tries not to miss out on the details of the story.

"Wow, unbelievable! Wine cellar why did I never think that before? I've tried having sex in different places but not in a wine cellar! You're a naughty boy." Joaquin grins.

"Do you still want me to proceed or do you want to continue with your fantasies?" Edward started to get pissed and decided to walk out on him, but Joaquin stopped him and begged him to stay.

"Dude, chillax. Please continue. We haven't reached the juicy part yet." He smirked.

Students are starting to fill the hallway, so they decided to walk away from the crowd and go to a more secluded place. They decided to go to the back of the school building where they usually hangs out every time they wanted to escape from the public eye. They are one of the popular students in the University and all eyes are locked on them.

They sat on one of the benches in the botanical garden away from everyone else. There they could have complete privacy. After they ensure that the coast is clear Edward continues with his story.

"Okay. So, we ended up in the cellar and got ourselves locked inside," he was about to continue his story when he got interrupted by Joaquin.

"Wait. Hold on. Did you get locked in the cellar?" Joaquin raises his eyebrow and suspiciously looks at him. "Who are you kidding? Dude, I'm your best friend. I'm not buying that shit."

"Fine! I intended to lock us inside. But don't judge me. I was just trying to stop her from running away from me," he said nervously and wipes off the sweat from his forehead.

Edward is not good at lying and Joaquin can easily tell if Edward is hiding something from him.

"You've got skills, man! What happened next?" He chuckles.

"Well you know how cold it is there, so I suggest drinking wine to keep us warm. We ended up finishing a few bottles of wine and eventually got drunk," he said tensely while rubbing his fingers over his pendant.

"Wait... wait... wait...You got drunk?!" Joaquin's voice raises two pitches higher as he did not believe what he heard from his friend. "The guy who has been drinking since he was ten years old got drunk with just a few bottles? C'mon, whom are you fooling?" Joaquin firmly said.

Edward shook his head knowing he can get away from his excuses. 

"All right, she... she got drunk, happy?" Edward said and releases a sigh of irritation.

"Go on," Joaquin asked Edward to proceed as he pays more attention to the details of his story.

"I remember the body heat technique you've taught me, so I suggested that," he said while smiling.

They both have a good laugh reminiscing their mischievous times when they were still in high school. They met abroad were teenagers there were more liberated and open-minded. Joaquin has always been his mentor when it comes to flirting with girls because of his anti-social attitude.

"Oh, my little Anakin, I'm so proud of what you have become, the force is definitely with you! So, what happens next?" the great Obi-Wan, I mean, Joaquin said while putting on a fake tear to complete the drama.

"Well, what do you still expect next to happen after kissing?" Edward's lips curve into a smile and winked at him.

"There are a lot of possibilities," Joaquin playfully smiled and pretends to be innocent.

"Point taken, Mr. Sex Guru. But can we focus on me now? Dude, I need to see her again. I need to find her," Edward depressingly said looking desperately.

"You came to the right person! I'll help you find your girl." Joaquin places his arms over his shoulder and gives him a reassuring smile. "What are friends for? Tell me, what does your girl look like?

Edward closes his eyes and thinks hard, "She has amazing eyes!"

"Amazing thighs, okay noted! Not every girl has perfect legs." Joaquin took out his pen and notepad from his backpack and started to write.

"Well yeah, she has smooth and firm thighs, but I was talking about her eyes," Edward clarified.

"Her ass, I bet they are voluptuous!" Joaquin said biting his lower lip as he fantasized about an hourglass-figured woman.

"Yeah, her ass was super-hot and voluptuous but again, I was talking about her eyes!" Edward raised his voice a little.

"Her abs, you mean? I bet they are firmed and toned," Joaquin drooling while imagining the abs.

"Yes, yes, her abs are super firmed and toned, but I was talking about her big brown eyes!" he started to get annoyed and scratched his head.

"Big brown rack? Oh boy, she's so good to be true," Joaquin taking all the details down in his notepad.

"She sure has one hell of a rack. Wait, are you even listening to me? I was telling you about her beautiful eyes underneath the mask!"

Edward grits his teeth and clenches his fist in annoyance, but Joaquin is too fixated on writing down the details in his notepad.

"OK got it! Thighs, ass, abs, and rack. I got all the details I need. All we have to do is to figure out how we can get those girls to show us their naked bodies." Joaquin is engrossed in his daydreaming while smiling devilishly.

"He lost it!" Edward sighed.

Edward noticed a group of girls coming out of the gym. "Bro, where do you think those girls are going? They seem to be heading in one direction, do we have a school event or activity today?" He said while pointing in the direction of the girls.

"That's it! You're such a genius! You're right we will sneak into the girl's locker room to find out who is your mysterious girl!" Joaquin said excitedly.

"Uh... I don't remember saying that we will sneak into the girl's locker room. That was your idea, not mine," Edward confusedly said and raised a brow.

"That's a brilliant idea. It might work!" Joaquin tried to sketch the map of the girl's locker room. 

Joaquin sketches a replica of the girl's locker room as if he memorized every corner by heart. 

"Are you crazy? We can't do that. What if we get caught?" Edward warned his friend. "This is our last year in this school remember? I don't want to have a bad record before graduation," he tries his best to remind his friend.

"For the sake of love and glory my man I liked your determination! It's been decided we are sneaking into the girl's locker room!" 

It is pretty much obvious that Edward is not listening to Edward's warning. He places his right arm over Edward's shoulder squeezing it lightly like he was comforting and reassuring him of his unwavering support. 

Edward just shook his head for he knows that there is no use in arguing with his friend. Joaquin is determined to help out his friend and now that he has a very important mission on hand, he will do anything and everything even if it is perversely against his moral values. The conquest is on to find the Mystery Girl.