"You knew this couldn't last Sabine. He can offer you neither status nor money. You need to save yourself for a suitor who can further the nation."

Sabine shook her head, "Why would I need a man of high status for my husband? How is the role of empress in waiting not sufficient?"

Sabine's mother sighed. "Your father simply wishes you expand his empire, and believes you are up for the task. He just wants you to help him, Nǚ'ér."

Sabine closed her eyes for fear of tears escaping her eyes but managed to explain. "I love him mother. I will always love him, and I do not care for heightened status or the empire."

A gasp. "Don't speak so treacherously! You know very well that even the walls in this palace have ears."

A long buried irritation flickered within Sabine, "If the Emperor is willing to kill his heir over honorable ideology, than our nation is truly corrupt. My father does not deserve to sit on the throne."

Her mother visibly paled.

Sabine' voice held bitterness she knew she would later regret. "Do not expect to see me again, Māmā."

Sabine greeted her daughter with the usual chipper, smiling sweetly. "How was your day Marinette?"

Marinette just sighed, sinking into a kitchen seat with poorly disguised exhaustion. "It was alright. I almost fell on my face in Mathematics."

Sabine offered a questioning glance, "Almost?"

"Yeah." Marinette pouted, "Except Chloe caught me before I could hit the floor."

Sabine chuckled, "you sound as though falling down would have been preferable to Chloe's saving you."

Grumbling, Marinette explained, "Most anything would."

Smiling at her daughter's antics, Sabine asked reasonably, "Chloe can't possibly be all bad, can she?"

"Chloe Bourgeois is worse than bad. She's- she's- just awful. She has no respect for anyone, and thinks she deserves to be treated like royalty."

At this, Sabine momentarily tensed, but managed to relax before Marinette could notice.

Not that it mattered anyway, Marinette was to busy studying the frost that coated the windows, it's swirls and stars a tangle of gossamer.

"Tea Marinette?"

Marinette jolted a little, "Sorry what?"

"Would you like something to drink Nǚ'ér?"

Marinette tilted her head, "Yes please. I- What does that word mean?"

Sabine smiled, "Nǚ'ér? It means daughter."

"Right. I knew that." Marinette flushed a little. She'd always felt a little embarrassed to never have learned Chinese, but it had never been a priority, and now she could only vaguely recognize a few words that Sabine used regularly.

At the other end of the room, the front door opened, and Tom Dupain stepped in. He came up behind Marinette and caught her in a tight embrace. "How is my birthday girl?"

Marinette laughed and managed to squirm out of his arms, "My birthday isn't for another six days Papa!"

"Then who's to say you can't have a birthday week?"

Marinette hummed thoughtfully before saying, "Maybe not."

Sabine nodded, "I think it's best we wait for big day before celebrating all out."

Tom sighed, and nodded, "I suppose that's majority than."

Sabine grinned, "I love when you talk democracy to me Tom."

Tom chuckled, but Marinette only stuck out her tongue, "Ew maman! It's my birthday week!"

Tom smirked, "I knew the birthday week idea would pull through."

Sabine rolled her eyes affectionately at this but didn't argue. Her husband and daughter in turn continued to discuss the week ahead.

She ambled over to the bubbling pot dotted with dumplings, humming to herself gently. The water sent a soft cloud of steam up to kiss her face, and she stirred the water with wary movements.

Soon enough, the three members of the Dupain-Cheng family were seated around their dinner table, chopsticks in hand.

Tom and Marinette were practically drooling as they greedily eyed the meal spread before them.

Sabine chuckled and nodded, "Let's dig in."

They all began to very animatedly pile up the servings of their food, rushing with poorly restrained enthusiasm.

Sabine eyed her daughter, "You certainly have an appetite these days Marinette."

The girl in question just slowly swallowed a dumpling before laughing shyly, "I just love your cooking maman."

Sabine noticed the melancholy lilt in Marinette's voice and asked, "Is something troubling you mon amour?"

Marinette looked away, brows knotted, "It's just- I've just been feeling really apprehensive lately, like something really big is going to intervene with my daily life."

Tom and Sabine exchanged an uneasy glance just as Marinette abated, "It's probably just your usual case of adolescent anxiety though. I don't mean to worry you."

Sabine closed gray eyes, forcing calming breaths through her lungs.

That evening, the Dupain-Chengs received a family a letter from the Imperial Palace in Beijing. The first contact in almost sixteen years.