She tried to pay the boy beyond the glass wall no mind, but alas, it would appear that he garnered all of her attention, frustratingly, without even trying. He did not do much besides sit and observe her. The mild blue glow of his window, paired with the unusual luminosity of his skin attracted the overall light of the room his way, like he was placed under stage lights. Madeleine was not too sure if he would still draw as much attention were he to move from beyond the hearth and position himself somewhere less centrepiece to the interior. Something about him made her gaze seek him out, no matter how hard she tried to remain on top of her task. With enough stolen glances, it finally dawned on her, embarrassingly belatedly, that the young man was in fact not exactly human. The freckles that adorned his pale skin seemed to glimmer faintly in their own light, unrelated to the environment. The same could be said of what Madeleine was now moderately sure were decorative or protective growths around his eyes. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense to her that he was a rare Magical Beast, or perhaps a Being, displayed as a valuable collectionary piece, an artwork. Not that he was not beautiful, and he clearly had a magnetism to him – likely a magical ability of his kind – which drew people to him, for better or worse.
-- Pearls of Golden Chapter 1 <AO3>