Eva Bernhardt, The Count's Cousin

 Your name is Eva Bernhardt, and you are the Count of Talabecland's beautiful young cousin. Your life is one of luxury and ease, and (like so often happens to those in your position) you have grown terribly bored with the day-to-day activities of the wealthy. You've just finished the Grimoire Beterricus, a marvelous text describing many of the monstrous creatures that inhabit the Old World, and you find yourself wishing to stare down a Chimera, or hunt down a Cockatrice. It's not that you're a particularly brave soul, and you're certainly not skilled at anything that could remotely be called "adventuring," but it would be a change of pace, at least.

 You're on your way to the home (and quite extensive library) of your father's friend, Thyruss Gormann, to return the Grimoire Beterricus and see if there's anything else he'll let you take home, when a stooped figure in a hooded robe bumps into you, sending you both sprawling to the ground. You pick up your book, and are about to launch into a scathing assessment of the peasant's eyesight (and a few less-relevant other things), but when you turn to start yelling the stranger is gone, already lost in the masses of commoners doing their daily business.

 "Hmph. How rude," you think to yourself, when you notice you're holding a rumpled-looking scroll tied with a black silk ribbon. The rude peasant must've given it to you before taking off, the impudent swine. Momentarily forgetting about returning Thyruss' book, you untie the ribbon (which smells faintly of a very pleasant perfume you can't identify) and unroll the slightly-crushed vellum scroll. The impeccably-written letter reads:

Miss Eva Bernhardt,

 You are cordially invited to attend our All Hallow's Eve masquerade ball. We apologise for the short notice, but we trust you will be able to come up with something to wear. Our messenger will call upon you tonight for your reply. Remember - follow your desires.

 You roll up the letter and hastily return Thyruss' book, barely speaking three words as you re-shelve the book and run home to give this mysterious messenger your answer. You get all the way home before something dawns on you:

 The letter isn't signed.