Ned attended the Gala primarily out of an obligation to the Codex. He put on his finest robes and wizard hat, sent to him by his parents. They were primarily white, with bold green trim and highlights in various shades of blue. Under this he wore a blue undershirt that Hildegard told him would bring out his eyes. He's not quite sure what that meant, but he's clueless when it comes to fashion so did it anyways.
Most of the night was spent with Kraius, which consisted in no small part of listening to him complain about Athalor, before moving onto other topics. Despite the social nature of the event, Ned inevitably started talking about the intricacies of how spell matrixes shaped magical energies in greater detail than anyone, save maybe Kraius, had any ability to truly appreciate at any opportunity he found.
As the Gala started to wind down, Ned split off from the group, but did he see Kraius catch up with Athalor and Arianna? What was that noise? "I should go see what's going on"