Murder at the Agreste Mansion

Chapter 1 – Lady Bugsworthy

Lady Bugsworthy,

You have been invited to a dinner party at the Noir Manor (Agreste Mansion) this Saturday.

You are daughter of the deceased Lord Bugsworthy and his wife, and heir to their wealth and status. (Costume recommendation: High class dress, red and black colour scheme).

Be at the mansion for 6PM and stay in character!

Yours sincerely,

Your host – Lord Cassar Noir

"So, Lady Bugsworthy, are you looking forward to the party?" Alya asked Marinette after reading her invite, emphasising the name mockingly.

"I am indeed Madame Rouge!" Marinette retorted in the snootiest accent she could manage, also emphasising the name.

The two girls stared at each other for a second before both bursting into laughter.

"But in all seriousness, I am really excited!" Marinette said after finishing giggling.

"I know right! I still can't believe Adrien's dad let him have it, Nino told me that Adrien spent a whole week trying to find a moment to ask him! He was so shocked when he said yes!"

"He's so excited about it too! I've seen him practising mannerisms as his character before class all week. It's so cute!" Marinette said giddily.

Alya looked at Marinette smirking.

"Shut up Alya!" Marinette began to blush, "I'm allowed to think he's adorable when he's happy."

"You always think he's adorable"

"And that's because he is. Stop judging me, you go on about Nino sometimes for hours." Marinette folded her arms and frowned at her friend.

Alya's smirk dropped and she quickly tried to change the subject, "So what are you wearing? I'd assume your fashion designer's brain is going wild with ideas for your costume."

Marinette's face suddenly lit up as she pulled out her phone to show Alya pictures, "Yeah! I kind of went overboard as soon as I read the invite."

Marinette showed her photos of a mannequin wearing a red cocktail dress with a small black cardigan covering the shoulders. It also had a necklace with a red pendant with black spots on it. She also had photos of a black clutch bag, red high heeled shoes, a red headband and earrings that matched the necklace.

"You made all of that in 3 days?!" Alya asked in disbelief.

"uhhh-" Marinette sheepishly looked at her friend, "Actually I did this all in the first night after I got the invite. I got a bit carried away. I didn't go to sleep until 5AM."

"Girl you're crazy!" Alya exclaimed, "Although I guess your efforts were worth it! It looks fabulous! I love the touches with the Ladybug pattern on the jewellery and that headband- Oh my Marinette I can't remember the last time I saw you let your hair down! Wow I bet Adrien's going to love it!"

Marinette's face froze.

"I meant because he's so enthusiastic he'll love the costume!" Alya clarified, "Although I wouldn't blame him if he fell for you in this." Alya felt a light dig in her arm. She smirked, it was always fun to tease Marinette.

After a few seconds of silence Alya decided to change the mood again, "I was just gonna buy stuff for my costume but if you want you could help pick it out."

Marinette's eyes lit up as a big grin appeared on her face. Alya was slightly disturbed by the enormous smile.

"Alya can I please please please please pleeeeeaaase make your costume?!" She almost exploded the words from her mouth in eagerness.

"Go for it, I can't turn down an offer from the best seamstress I know."

The grin returned as she frantically got her notebook out and began sketching Alya's body. "So I was thinking your character would wear a dress that goes down longer and doesn't flower out as much as mine. And of course, it has to be orange like the invite specified, and with that I'd say orange heels and Lady's hat to match. I was also thinking you could get a fox fur, although make sure you don't get a real one because having a dead fox around your neck is disgusting and cruel."

After finishing her spiel Marinette showed Alya the sketch. "What do you think?"

"It's perfect! That definitely looks like rich huntsman's wife to me."

Marinette jumped up and began running out of the park, "Ok that sounds great I'm gonna go buy some spare materials for this and get to work make sure you remember to buy the fur byeeeeee!" she shouted all in one breath as she left.

Alya laughed at her friend as she ran off in her passion-filled craze. She got out her phone to call Nino.