Hello again readers! Death and I are so ecstatic at the positive feedback we got for this so quickly! Quick shout out, the cover art for the story was made by a very talented online artist. Her name is Piku-Chan, she's on Deviantart, and was kind enough to let us use her art. She's really good, check her out, she has a lot of Miraculous content.(ps:I might not be able to get the new cover up tonight but hopefully I'll have it up tomorrow:) )

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The next morning, the entire castle was bustling, hurrying to make the final preparations for Duke Adrien's birthday. Turning sixteen was a big deal, as he would now be eligible for marriage. Added on top of that was the fact that he was the son of Lord Gabriel, the right hand man of King Bourgeois.

Marinette and Alya worked together to carry the large rack of dresses to the Princess's chambers. Once they arrived in front of the large gold trimmed door, Alya carefully removed a hand from the rack to knock on the door. "Your Highness! Your dresses have arrived." She called out, putting on her sickly sweet voice.

Almost a minute passed before Chloé finally opened the door, ushering them in and scowling at them. "What took you so long? You were supposed to get them to me thirty minutes ago!"

"It was a little heavier than we thought, we had to walk slower to avoid dropping

them." Marinette explained, intervening before Alya could snap at Chloé . They had both paid the price the last time they had spoken out of turn in front of Chloé. "We apologize, mistress."

Chloé simply humphed, moving to a pedestal and standing on it. "Well, let's get on with it. I need to be wearing the perfect dress for the Duke's birthday tonight." She said, her voice turning soft and dreamy. "Ahh… Duke Agreste. He's so perfect!"

Marinette rolled her eyes as she selected the first gown for Chloé to try on. It was a soft blue, with frills at the bottom and wisps of silver threads scattered throughout it. This dress alone probably cost more gold than she made in a year, maybe two. Chloé glanced at it and scoffed. "Garbage, it's hideous. Toss it."

Alya smiled sweetly, gripping the dress and tossing it on Chloe's bed, perhaps with more force than was necessary. "What about this one, Your Highness?" Alya held up a white gown with a flower design across the neckline.

Chloé raised her eyebrow. "It's a birthday party, not a wedding. What else?"

Marinette frowned, selecting a shining gold dress. She had barely pulled it off when Chloé dismissed it. "Horrible. Did you get me anything even remotely pretty?"

Marinette opened her mouth to answer when Chloé stormed off the pedestal and searched through the dresses herself. "Ugly, tacky, ugly, ugly, stupid, horrifying, ugly… none of these are good enough! Take them back, get me something else."

Alya was fuming, but Marinette simply sighed. "Your Highness, this is the fourth rack we've gotten."

"And all four have been filled with poorly selected options. Go. Get. Me. More." Chloé repeated, glaring at her handmaidens.

Marinette curled her lips, leading Alya out of the room, taking the rack of dresses with them. Suddenly, an idea occurred to her. She turned to her friend. "Do you think you could handle taking these back? I have an idea to get her Highness a dress she may actually like."

"Anything to make her stop complaining. Go for it." Alya huffed, increasing her efforts to carry the rack as Marinette took off for her room.

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The bluenette stood frozen outside the tailor's workroom. She was clutching her personal sketchbook to her chest, a whole book's worth of designs she had created. She knew she was probably going to be a handmaiden to the princess for years to come, but she would give almost anything to be a tailor. To create the clothes that the nobility wore, and provide more than simple rags to the lower class. Hopefully, she was just good enough to be taken seriously here. She knocked, and the door was flung open by a very tired looking old man. "Please, no more. I have made so many dresses for her Highness, I can do no more!"

Marinette took a step backwards from him. "I, uh, actually… had my own design. That, m-maybe Chloé, might like…" She trailed off, deciding to just show him the design, opening to the right page and holding it out for him to see.

The tailor frowned, adjusting his glasses and peering at the paper. It felt like an eternity to Marinette before a grin broke out across his face. "My little girl! This is amazing! Such a unique design!" He stepped aside and ushered Marinette inside his room. "As I said before, I am much too tired as of now, but I would like to offer you my shop to create your dress. Go ahead, I wish to watch."

Marinette smiled as she set to work, she had read books and sewn things on her own before, so she knew her way around the workshop. She picked up a pair of scissors and a sheet of yellow fabric, and set to work.

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Alya was already in Chloé's chambers, helping her get cleaned up when Marinette walked inside, the dress in her hands behind her back. "Your Highness? The tailor made a new dress for you, he thinks you'll really like this one."

Chloé glanced in disinterest at her, before her face lit up as Marinette pulled the work of art out from behind her back. It was the Princess's favorite color, a bright canary yellow, with a V-cut down the middle that revealed a golden underset that had yellow flowers sewn along the neckline. It fell to the feet, with a golden trim along the bottom and just the right amount of layered frills. The waistline was covered by a golden sash with more yellow flowers, and the sleeves ended just above the elbows. "It's… actually not hideous. I guess that tailor does know what he's doing. Give it to me, I want to try it on."

Marinette handed her secret passion project to her mistress, who took it to her bathroom to change. Alya walked over to her friend, a frown on her face. "I recognize that dress. That's one of your designs. Why waste it on her?"

"She wanted a pretty dress, I thought I could deliver. Besides, she was working the old man to death, why not give her something she likes to end the work?" Marinette responded. She hushed her friend as Chloé walked out of her bathroom, twirling and wearing a seductive grin. "The Duke will be helpless against my looks tonight, he'll fall for me instantly."

Marinette rolled her eyes again, Alya trying her very best not to laugh. "If that's all, Your Highness, we do have other matters to attend to to prepare for the party."

Chloé waved her hand dismissively as she admired the dress in her mirror. "Yes, yes, go ahead." She said uncaringly. Marinette and Alya made sure she wasn't looking, then did a very exaggerated mock bow as they left the room, only letting themselves laugh once they knew she was out of earshot.

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Adrien huffed, pulling at his ascot, which was tucked a bit too tightly around his neck, he absolutely hated the things, they were always made of silk which constricted movement and they honestly looked horrible. Nino chuckled, adjusting his own ascot, he didn't like them either but didn't hold the same hate for them that his friend did. "Calm down dude, it's just for tonight. Then you can burn it." Adrien smirked, thinking of burning the damned thing in fire made it a bit more bearable.

"That perked you up more than it should have." The dark skinned Duke chuckled, looking over his outfit one more time, a royal blue tunic with puffed sleeves, accented with golden strips down the side of them, golden buttons with his family's crest on them closed the tunic, sewn with silver thread. Dark blue leggings covered his legs, with thinner gold stripes running down the sides of his legs, ankle boots with small golden clasps covered his feet. Normally he didn't like clothes like this, far too fancy for his tastes, but this one wasn't as outrageous as some other outfits his father forced him into.

Adrien's clothes however were far fancier than his, donning a deep royal purple tunic with large gold buttons, adorned with his family's crest as well, keeping it closed. The tops of his sleeves were puffed as well, with three horizontal stripes on them, each a different color, a lighter purple, a bright green and sun yellow. His leggings were a slightly deeper purple, almost black color with two gold buttons closing them, the same three stripes running down the sides of his legs, ending at his black boots. And of course, he had a deep black ascot tucked around his neck.

"Damn dude, did your dad actually let you decide on your clothes for once? Cause it looks like you actually got some color in your clothes this time." Nino whistled, his Father normally forced him into all blacks or whites.

"No, I actually got to the Tailor before he did and got to choose the colors. He wasn't happy but let it slide since it's my birthday, and I actually picked colors that didn't look horrible on me" the young blond smirked. Nino almost fell over, he was laughing so hard.

"Damn dude, that's evil." for Adrien it was, anyway. He was normally a model son, doing anything his father asked of him, so it was pretty funny whenever he rebelled from that "perfect son" image.

Adrien smirked, then let out a sigh, accepting that it would be impossible to get the ascot into a remotely comfortable position. He glanced out his window. The sky was fading to a beautiful orange, sunset. "It's nearly time to head for the castle. Ready for a whole night of acting civil and dancing with people you don't want to dance with?"

"I hope you are. I, however, plan on finding Alya again." Nino replied, smirking.

Adrien rolled his eyes. "Wish I could join you. You lucked out, your father couldn't care less if you stayed at the party or not."

There was a knock on the heavy door, and it opened to reveal Lord Gabriel's personal servant, a pretty woman with short brown hair. "Young Dukes, your fathers await in the carriage. It is nearly time to leave."

"Thank you, Nathalie. We'll be right down." Adrien responded, smiling at Nathalie. Nathalie returned the smile, those were in short supply around the Agreste palace.

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Marinette and Alya stood by the doors, watching as the numerous guests, all noblemen and women, were greeted and ushered inside the ballroom. Alya was keeping a sharp eye out for Duke Nino, while Marinette, in her boredom, let her imagination drift. She was in the ballroom, dancing in a beautiful dress. Her dress, that she made. She twirled around the dance floor, blushing at the cries of awe and cheers as she danced. And to her delight, everyone in the room was wearing her designs, from gowns to jackets to ascots. She…

She was shaken from her daydream as Alya squealed. She looked to see one of the most ornate, and in her mind overly ornate, carriages she had ever seen parked in front of the gates. Two men got out, and she recognized Lord Gabriel and Lord Lahiffe get out, followed by a dark skinned boy whose eyes immediately found Alya, and he waved, receiving an excited wave from Alya in return. Following him, Marinette saw the man of the hour. Duke Adrien, nearly every girl's dream man, with his golden hair brushed and his purple clothes stunning. She had to admit, she did see what everyone was seeing in him. But if he was friends with Chloe, she could only imagine how vain he was. Not her type of man.

She glanced at her friend, who was waiting patiently for Duke Nino to finish saying hello and politely greeting everyone before running over to him to catch up. Marinette sighed, turning to go back inside. Nearly everyone would be in the ballroom, so the castle halls would be mostly empty. Peace and quiet, just what she liked.

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The ball was lively, filled with bright colors, from the beautiful women in stunning dresses to the soft, warm light the crystal chandeliers emitted, Master Fu thought, smiling to himself. It's been awhile since he let himself have time away from his island, though the matters that brought him away from his home were not pleasant ones, he thought, tapping his pocket, which held two ornate boxes. One with the Black Cat's Ring, the other with LadyBug's Earrings. Two very powerful items, which could be very deadly in the wrong hands.

Master Fu was dressed in his fanciest clothing, a red tunic with white buttons closing it and simple dark brown leggings with two white buttons closing them as well, ending at his dark brown boots, his bracelet covered by the sleeves of the tunic. He scanned the room from his position at a large marble pillar, seeing for himself as the man of the night, Duke Adrien Agreste arrives with his father and childhood friend. Fu did not know the man as well as most of the Lords, Ladies, Dukes and Duchesses did, but he did know that the child was a very kind young man, having that kind of attitude when he had such a high political standing was very admirable.

The old man continued walking around the room, bowing politely to men or women of higher status when needed. He may be old, but he did have manners.

He frowned as he gazed around the room. He had to be very careful with his choices, the holders of these Miraculous could be the greatest of heroes, or the worst of villains. But who to choose? He had a feeling the next Chat was in this room, he just had to find him.

He found his eyes once again falling on Duke Agreste. He narrowed his eyes. He had heard conversations of the boy's life, he was well known for attending charity events, and often volunteered his time in villages to help the people who lived there. Perhaps

He needed to test him. He scanned the room, and his eyes fell upon the princess, Chloé, he remembered her name being. Apparently she and the Duke were friends. He smiled as an idea began to formulate inside his head.

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Adrien knew seeing Chloé was inevitable, but he tried surrounding himself with other people, all of whom gave the same speech, "Congratulations on turning sixteen! You'll be taking over for your father in no time! I can't wait to see who you decide to be your bride. You can have almost any girl you want, you know, you're so wonderful!" He sighed as a crowd parted, giving Chloé the opening she had been looking for. "Adrikins." She cooed, standing a little too close for comfort. "Happy birthday, Adrien."

"Thanks, Chloé." He thanked, smiling.

"So, I hear you're looking for a bride. Is that true?" She asked innocently.

Adrien fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Yes, father is pushing for me to select a woman to court. I haven't made any decisions…" his voice trailed off nervously as Chloé got even closer. "...yet." he finished lamely.

"Now Adrikins, surely you have some people on your mind?" she whispered, smirking. "Surely there's some eligible woman you want?"

He was at a loss for words. Thankfully, he was saved by his father. "Attention, everyone." The King's booming voice resonated throughout the massive room. "Lord Gabriel would like to speak."

Adrien watched as his father bowed to the king, standing back up to face the room from a balcony. "I'd like to thank everyone for coming to the celebration of my son, Adrien's, sixteenth birthday." His father's voice was deep and icy, commanding respect. "Truly it is a proud day, and I know that I will only become even prouder in the years to come. My son has become a man, and will one day take over for me. Tonight is a celebration of his transition from boyhood… into manhood. Happy birthday, Adrien." His short speech received a loud cheer from the crowd, a field of glass and wine raised into the air in a toast to him. Adrien smiled, slightly embarrassed, raising his own glass in acknowledgement. He sighed as people returned to their various conversations.

"So Adrikins…" Chloé continued. Suddenly she shrieked, and Adrien saw an old man stumble to the floor. He groaned as he saw a red stain spread across the front of Chloé's dress. Wine. "You… You! How… How dare you?!" Chloe's voice was quickly rising, and they had already captured the attention of a few nearby partygoers. "You imbecile! You stupid old man, look at what you did!"

"I'm terribly sorry, I stumbled and…" the man rushed to apologize. Adrien cringed, he knew what was coming.

"And nothing! You have ruined my dress! Look at it! Look at it!" she was becoming hysterical, and they now had the attention of several onlookers.

"Chloé… Chloé!" Adrien said, trying to calm her down. "Chloé, listen, you're making a scene…"

"He's the one who ruined my dress!" she shrieked, cutting him off. She returned to glaring daggers at the feeble man. "What kind of idiot spills wine on a Princess?!"

"CHLOÉ!" He said angrily. That shut her up. "He made. A mistake. Let it go, it happens." He offered the man a hand, helping him up to Chloé's outrage. "Look, you can just change into a new one, I know you must have a hundred dresses."

Chloé scowled in fury, and the man spoke up. "Please, allow me to take your dress, I will personally deliver it to your cleaners. Allow me to make up for my mistake."

Adrien smiled. "Great idea." he looked at a watching servant. "Can you get the Princess a new dress from her chambers?"

"Of course, Duke." the woman nodded, running off to fetch a new dress.

Adrien returned his attention to the still fuming Chloé. "Let's not let this ruin the night." He looked back at the man. "I'm very sorry, sir."

Master Fu smiled back. "It is I who is sorry. Thank you, though, for helping me." It would seem he had found the new Cat holder.

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Marinette sighed, walking around the outer gardens of the palace, humming to herself, her thoughts wandering again, what she wouldn't give to be inside, wearing a dress of her own design. But like that would ever happen to me, she sighed, shoulders slumping. "Oumff!" She yelped, falling back on her bum, hearing a faint tearing sound. Oh no, she thought, looking up, seeing a small older man on the floor across from her, holding a large yellow dress, with a large stain across the front. Chloé's dress!, she almost cried.

"I am so, so sorry!, I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking!" She scrambled, getting up and offering the man and hand up. Master Fu looked up, seeing a young woman with short blue hair tied into ponytails with old red ribbon, wearing a brown dress with tattered ends and a white apron tied around her waist.

"No, no, I wasn't looking either. Thank you" he smiled when she helped him up, sighing he looked at the dress, there was a large rip in the bottom hemline of the skirt and a diagonal stain of red wine across the bodice of it. He barely made it out of the first accident alive, how was he going to get this dress fixed and find a way to get the other Miraculous to the future Ladybug, one he hasn't even found yet.

"Oh my, Princess Chloé's dress.." Marinette trailed off, chewing her lip.

The old man sighed, "thank you for helping me," he smiles at her kindly, watching her reaction. "But I must get this to the cleaners, then have it fixed." Guilt gnawed at the young handmaiden, she did cause part of the problem, maybe she could help him fix the dress.

"Please, let me help. It's partially on me as well, I wasn't watching where I was going and tripped on the dress. Let me sew it up."

Master Fu looked up at the woman, and smiled. Perhaps he could kill two birds with one stone. "Thank you, that would be much appreciated, if it isn't too much trouble?"

Mari shook her head. "My duties for the day are finished. It's no problem at all." She picked up the dress and tossed half over her shoulder, turning to go to the tailor's room, "Follow me." she said, smiling at him sweetly. Master Fu walked behind her, stroking his chin as he watched her. She'll do just fine. He smiled mysteriously, toying with the last box. She will be a fine holder.

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Adrien sighed to himself, he finally got away from the party for a bit, claiming he needed fresh air. He found himself wandering around in one of the gardens, which, though very pretty, couldn't compete with his mother's garden, it held too many good memories for it to ever be second best. At least to him. As he wandered along the wooden path, literally smelling the roses, he heard singing. It wasn't very loud, and whoever was singing had a very beautiful voice, it was soft and warm, reminding him of his own mother.

He continued walking, slowly following his ears to find who that voice belonged to, he was surprised, but not disappointed, when he saw that the owner of the voice was a common handmaiden. She was very plainly dressed compared to what he wore, but that made her seem more real than the women at the ball. Her blue hair had a fine layer of dust and grime, her clothes were stained. Yet somehow he found her… pretty. She wasn't dressed up to look nice, she was just, natural. Though he imagined she'd look just as pretty in silk and lace as she did with cotton and dirt. He cleared his throat, making her jump, "Ah, I'm sorry. I couldn't help but hear you singing"

Marinette turned and saw that her singing hadn't just attracted the attention of some nobleman, but Duke Agreste himself. Her cheeks warmed and she bowed her head, "My apologies, Duke Agreste, I didn't mean to disturb your evening." Her heart was racing, she wasn't supposed to disturb the nobility.

Adrien's eyebrows shot up as he stared at her in shock. She thought her singing was ruining my evening? "What? No no, I actually liked it." He smiled warmly at her. "You're very talented, I just came over to hear better." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm Adrien, though I suppose you already knew that. May I ask your name?"

Mari blinked, several times, it, wasn't bothering him? But i'm a horrible singer, the Princess herself has said that much on multiple occasions. Yet here she was, standing in front of one of the most high standing men in the land, and he was not only being polite to her, but complimenting her. And… was she stuttering? She never stuttered. "O-Oh! I'm glad you liked it, I never really considered myself very talented when it came to singing." She slapped her head, having forgotten his question. "I-I'm sorry. Marinette. My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng." She shyly looked down at her feet. "My singing really wasn't bothering you?"

The young Duke's smile grew. "Far from it, it was really nice." He smiles sheepishly. "So. Uh, why are you out here alone, and not at the party?"

"Princess Chloé requested I and most of the other servants entertain ourselves tonight and not go to the party. I'm sorry, I'm one of her handmaidens." She curtsied, hand over her heart.

Adrien's eyes furrowed. "Did she now?" He mumbled to himself. His smile returned. "Well, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Marinette." He said, taking her hand and kneeling slightly, planting a kiss on her hand.

Her heart skipped a beat, she couldn't believe she was being treated so kindly by a man of such high standing. She found her cheeks were heating up, and she internally groaned as she realized she must be blushing like crazy. "I-It's a p-pleasure to make yours as well, Duke Agreste."

Adrien rose to his feet, flashing a grin. "Please, call me Adrien."

Her lips turned up in a grin. "O-okay, Adrien."

He returned the grin, and started walking. "Care to join me for a stroll?"

She nodded, following him, embarrassed. The thought that she would get hell from Chloe if this were discovered never crossed her mind. "So, um, why aren't you at your party?"

The Duke stiffened, hesitant to reveal his feelings. "I… honestly, I hate those things." he admitted. "The fancy clothes, the small talk, the nobility, the expectancy of absolute perfection. And my doubt that my father really cares about my birthday is boosted by the fact that aside from his heartwarming speech he hasn't spoken to me all night."

Marinette listened in silence. That's so sad. She thought to herself. "So you wanted an escape?"

"Exactly." he responded. "An escape." he smiled at her. "So. You're Chloé's handmaiden? I imagine that's a handful."

"You have no idea." She muttered, and he burst out laughing, much to her surprise. She joined in, and their laughter resonated throughout the garden.

He calmed down, wiping tears from his eyes. "Ah ha, heh heh. I can imagine." He turned to her, and they both started giggling again. "I'm just glad she didn't choose another tacky dress for the party tonight. Tonight's dress was actually really pretty."

Marinette's cheeks flushed at the unintended compliment. "Wanna hear a secret?" She asked softly.

"Sure." He responded, looking at her curiously.

"She turned away a few dozen dresses, nothing was right. I'm an aspiring tailor, and I had a design she might like. I made that dress."

Adrien's eyebrows shot up again. "Really? So not only are you a talented singer, you're also a great designer? What are you doing being a handmaiden?"

She smiled at his praise. "My parents work in the castle kitchen, and I was chosen by her to be her handmaiden. And you don't exactly refuse the offer of being a Princess's handmaiden. I didn't really know what I was getting myself into." She sighed. "It's not all bad, though. I met my best friend because of it, along with a lot of other servants as well, since we all kind of stick together."

Adrien nodded, silence overtaking them. After a minute, Adrien rubbed the back of his neck again. "I don't believe you got to finish your song before I interrupted you."

Marinette's cheeks reddened. "I-I'm not really… good at singing in front of people."

Adrien smiled at her. "What if they were singing with you? There's an old lullaby my mother used to sing, I believe it's fairly well known." He started softly humming, and Marinette did in fact recognize the tune. She smiled at his eagerness to hear her sing, and she joined in. The gardens were once again filled with music, a beautiful melody traveling through the flowers and hedges.

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Marinette sighed, smiling widely as she went back to her room, her day started normally, well, mostly, aside from prepping for the party, but her night was even better. She met and talked with a noble man, who was sweeter than she thought most nobles were. It was interesting talking with someone who had a much higher rank than she did, but treated her like an equal.

"I'm back mom!," she yelled as she entered the small house on the palace grounds that she and her parents lived in, it was a simple two story wooden house with brown and white paint, a small chimney peaking out of the roof. It's was simple, but it was home.

"Okay honey!, we're just stopping in to get clean clothes, we have to leave and take out Duke Agreste's birthday cake. Goodnight sweetie." Sabine miles at her daughter, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek before leaving their house with Tom. "Oh, by the way Marinette. A kind old man came by here earlier and left you a gift in your room. He said you helped him earlier tonight."

"Okay mom!, love you" Mari smiled before dashing up the stairs to her room, untying her apron, hanging it on a hook. She looked around her room as she changed out of her dress, spotting a small black box with odd symbols carved on the lid in red. "Huh, what a strange box," she sat on her bed, her light pink sleep dress flaring out softly. She opened the box and a red blur came out of the box, it hovered in front of her and blinked up at her with big blue eyes.

Marinette screamed and flew back, falling off her bed, the red, thing, stared back and giggled. "I'm Tikki, your Kwami. Nice to meet you Marinette!"

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Adrien was silent for the whole ride back to the palace. Not that his father noticed, he was too busy writing in some parchment. Not even a "Happy birthday" for his son. Though for once, Adrien didn't mind the silence between them. He got to think about his new friend, Marinette the handmaiden. Nino and he became friends because their fathers were friends, and outside of him Adrien didn't have anyone he considered a real friend. Marinette was the first friend he had ever made on his own, and she was a great one to boot. He sighed, thinking about how hard her life must be, serving Chloé. He knew how high maintenance she was.

Once they arrived, he walked back to his room, wanting nothing more than to get into bed. Tonight had been emotionally exhausting. He was about to do just that, when a small, black, ornate box caught his sight on his pillow. He curiously picked it up, hesitantly lifting the lid. To his surprise, a black blur flew out, and hovered in front of him. It opened it's bright green eyes, and stared back at his shocked expression. "Hey, I'm Plagg, your very own Kwami. Do you have any cheese by any chance?"

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Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! By the way, while we were writing, Death got bored and made a bunny named George. Here he is.

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( ^-^)

O( (")(") ← Death's bunny, George

Also, we may not be able to get out a long chapter, or much or a chapter for chapter three. I'm grining to be very busy this week packing up my house since we're moving next week. But who knows, maybe it'll run really smoothly and we'll have a lot of time to write. Till then, Ja Né~