Marinette had been looking forward to Chloe's masquerade. It did sound a little weird to want to attend an event thrown by the very person who treated her like dirt but Marinette was not that petty. She still wanted to experience the sights of the beautiful ball gowns, the wonderful aroma from the food the chefs whipped up, the elegant dancing, the heavenly music from the court orchestra… She merely wanted a good break that night, a feel of her old life again.

When Alya told her that she was not invited to the masquerade, she wasn't sure what to feel. Anger? Disappointment? Despair? Marinette went for non-chalance. 'Oh, well, I didn't expect Chloe to give me a hand-written invitation card,' she laughed it off. 'Besides, we can spend the night together laughing about her antics!' She traced her fingers along the side of the wooden dining table, something which she tended to do when she was lying, though she was really lying more to herself this time.

Alya snorted, 'Yeah and break off our hands from all the food we have to serve? No thank you! I say you should just go to the masquerade anyway! With everyone wearing masks, no one would recognize you!' She then drank a big spoonful of 'Celestial Soup', as her mother had called it. 'This tastes amazing!' she exclaimed.

Chef Cesaire smiled knowingly as she walked into walked into the servant's hall, serving a dish of roasted pheasant. 'It's a recipe I obtained from a merchant from the lands of China. The secret ingredient are the wild purple flowers,' she said. 'Looks like I figured out what to cook for the masquerade!'

'Princess Chloe hates soup though,' Marinette said, rolling her eyes. 'She wouldn't be happy.'

Alya's mother grinned. 'She's not the only guest at the party, you know,' she sang as she waltzed out of the room.

'Ugh, she gets all happy and dance-y when she figures out a recipe,' Alya slapped a hand across her face. 'Anyway, I think you should go to the ball.'

'But I don't have a suitable dress! Chloe had them all burnt!' she protested.

'Put your sewing skills to use! I saw how you made that dress for Madame Bustier's daughter- you've got talent!'

'But I don't have the materials… I…'

Hold on. Marinette had the materials! 'Kwamis, I've got it!' she gasped. She still kept her mother's old gowns, beautiful things that she refused to let them throw away after her death. Sure, they were a little old-fashioned and probably didn't fit her very well but Marinette could work with anything. Her eyes sparkled with the thought of the endless possibilities. She could use the pink gown- she could add ribbons, shorten the sleeves, sew on some sheer lace at the collar, alter the waistline… The list went on. She was sure she could find a mask somewhere and fix her hair into something presentable!

'I knew you could do it, Marinette!' Alya beamed proudly. 'You've got time- 3 days till the masquerade!'

She clenched her fists. Yes, she would go to the ball. She would go and have the time of her life. No Chloe for that night. No chores, no orders, no nothing. She rose with confidence. 'Thanks Alya! I have to get back to the Hall of Mirrors! I'll start working on a dress after I finish cleaning it up,' she said, waving as she ran out of the hall.

It was a long way from the Servant's headquarters back to the main Palace, giving Marinette time to complete a sketch of the perfect ball gown in her mind. I could borrow satin ribbons, lace and beads from Rose she thought. She would pay the young seamstress back with some money, of course, but she was sure she wouldn't mind lending some to her first. Time was not much of an issue, she worked fast and could alter the clothes at night after right completing all her chores. Oh, maman would be so proud of her, she would be ecstatic to see Marinette breathe life into her old gown!

Suddenly, she heard faint giggles echo from the Hall, immediately recognizing the owner of the voice. Her happiness faded rapidly. Chloe. Chloe rarely left her wing of the Palace, her being here meant that she was probably attending to another royalty or an aristocracy of some sort. Which meant that Marinette probably shouldn't show her face in front of them.

The sound of water splashing on the floor. A muffled male's voice. More giggles. What exactly has she done?

She arrived at the scene, gasping, only to find a blond boy her age dressed in a verdant nobleman's waistcoat, kneeling by a puddle of scummy water with Chloe and Sabrina smiling smugly behind him. She had carefully cleaned every nook and cranny of the hall and merely just took a short break only to find it dirty again? How dare he ruin her hard work! Marinette stomped over to the trio, the sound of her heavy footsteps bouncing off the high walls, her cheeks warming and fists clenched tightly. How tempted was she to yell at them to scram, to give them a piece of her mind. 'My lord… may I request your leave so I can clean the mess up?' her voice trembled. How she hated herself for her cowardice, despised herself for letting a complete stranger trample over her.

'Insolence,' Chloe hissed, her voice not unlike a venomous snake, icy cold eyes gleaming with cruel satisfaction. 'Come now, Adrikins, we need to get you changed. I also need some fresh air.' Wrinkling her nose, she continued, 'This place reeks of commoner.'

The stranger gave Marinette a guilty look, his emerald eyes silently apologizing as they walked away, which fueled her rage even further. Have courage and be kind, her mother had always told her. If only her mother knew how difficult it was to be courageous or kind in her situation. Marinette ignored him and gazed at the dirty floor. She thought about the daunting tasks that awaited her. 'This is going to be a long day,' she murmured to herself.


'Rose, could you get me some pastel pink ribbons, pearl beads and sheer lace?'

The petite blond teenager, who happened to be at her table mending someone's shirt, smiled sweetly and chirped, 'Sure! Who're you making the gift for?'

'I'm giving the gift to myself, if that's what you're asking,' Marinette laughed.

'Give me a moment...' Rose left to enter the labyrinth of sewing materials.

Marinette had always been fascinated by the seamstress' workplace. It was filled with cloths of all textures and colours, ranging from a light periwinkle to dark forest green, stacked as high as the ceiling. Ribbons were draped across chairs and tables. Her eyes wondered to an unfinished silky yellow dress was left on a mannequin, no doubt made for Chloe.

True to her word, Rose came rushing back in a minute, a box of the materials she requested in her hands. 'Thank you so much! I'll pay you back soon,' Marinette said apologetically. Winking, Rose handed the box over. 'Anything for the Princess. Its free of charge,' she whispered.

'Thank you ever so much,' Marinette repeated gratefully. She hurried to her own little room, a modest place hidden away from the careless eye. She lit a candle and found the heavy wooden box, carved intricately with little Kwamis, put at the corner of the room. Blowing away the dust, Marinette lifted the cover to reveal ball gowns that she had saved after the Queen's death. 'Found it!' she sang with delight after digging around for a minute. She drew it out of the box and shook it out, reveling it in all its glory as she took in the beauty of it. Simple yet elegant, the subtle flecks of gold sewn into the light pink fabric glistened under the soft candle light. The pinks of the gown were slightly faded and the design was definitely outdated but Marinette remembered how gorgeous it looked on her mother and nearly trembled in excitement at the prospect of restoring it, or making it even better.

'Mari?' a male voice called cautiously from behind her. She jumped out of her skin. 'You again?' she cried out.

It was that noble who spilled dirty water on the floor she worked so hard to clean. Just another one of Chloe's cronies. And now he was invading her privacy, standing by the door of her room.

'I'-

'Save it. I don't want to hear your sorry excuses.' Be kind, Marinette could hear her mother warning her.

'Look, I just want you to know I wasn't the one who spilled the water. I was trying to clean it up.'

Marinette looked at him, an eyebrow cocked with suspicion. 'Uh-huh.'

'I swear!' he raised both his hands. 'I… I'm sorry you had to deal with that. I know how Chloe can be. How could I help make it up to you?'

'You could help me restore this dress,' Marinette said jokingly. The noble walked into the room and sat next to her, his close proximity making her feel slightly uncomfortable. She squirmed mentally. 'What can I help you with?' he asked earnestly. Wow, he's serious.

'We should probably start with introductions first, though. My name is Marinette, not Mari.'

His face contorted with confusion before saying, 'My name's Adrien Agreste. Adrien's fine though.'

'Nice to meet you, Lord Adrien. Well, you could help me with the lace, if you even know how to sew.'

Adrien's face split open into a grin- a very attractive grin, Marinette couldn't help but think.

'Oh, you'd be surprised.'


I hope yall like this chapter! Ladybug and Chat Noir might make an appearance in the next chapter so keep your eyes peeled ohohoh ;) I realised that Marinette didn't really say or do much in the previous chapters so I did this one in her point of view! As always, thank you so much for favouriting/following/reviewing and please continue to review it means so so much to me :)

PureMLTrash (if you see this): I think I'm really used to typing with ' ' and not " " sooo its pretty hard for me to change this habit- I totally forgot about this! I'll try to change it in the next chapter sorry!