"Hm," he says, studying her. "Should I go on a princely quest to find you after the ball's concluded, to see about your disappearing status and have a more straightforward conversation?"

Slight smile; agreeable nod.

"Then I look forward to speaking with you properly in the future." He points his pretty smile at her.

She grins back.

"Do I get any hints?" he wonders, lightly.

Oh look it's the enigmatic smile again.

"Will you confirm correct guesses?"

Nod.

"Let's go through what I've noticed, just so we're on the same page." And so he can show off for his crush. "You're intelligent, and observant enough to notice me keeping an eye on you. You've charmed everyone you've come in contact with, even without the ability to speak. You were in the sort of situation where you consulted a mysterious old woman, which I don't get the impression you'd do casually. If you were looking to marry up, frankly I don't think you'd need the dress. You seem smart enough to manage it on your own if you wanted to." Also pretty enough, but he doesn't mention that. "So it's some other problem you're having. Lacking information, I don't know what that might be." He hums thoughtfully, leading her through the next few steps and then a twirl.

"I could make a number of observations about you, but we are dealing with a mysterious old woman situation, so first I'm afraid I must check the validity of my observations. You very well might end up looking nothing like yourself, with magic dancing skills. So, first—do you look like yourself? Are your skills unaugmented?"

A nod at the first question, a half-shrug at the second.

"Okay. So, some magical assistance probably involved, I should not start making assumptions about you based on your dance skills. I could make observations about how you look, but I do think you look a bit—idealized. You obviously were lovely to start with, but I think there's something playing it up. It's probably throwing everything else a little bit off, and inconveniently making any observations I could make about you kind of not great for actually figuring anything out! On the bright side, this way I can recognize you after my princely quest to find you."

Approving (and amused) smile.

He smiles back. "Notably, no one else recognizes you either. So you're either from very far away, very sheltered, or you're a commoner." He absolutely does not give a damn about which it is, and displays this pretty clearly. "All of which are approximately equally likely, because mysterious old woman involvement. You could have come from quite a long way away, and it wouldn't have been all that much trouble at all. Are you from close by?"

Nod.

"So I don't have that far to go to reach you. In this city?"

Nod.