"Mm ~" Adrien hummed as he sat himself up in bed and stretched out his arms. He yawned and wriggled his toes under the covers before stepping out of bed. Adrien cracked his back and made his way towards his private bathroom. He really wanted to curl back up and stay asleep for the rest of the day but his body had other things planned and he functioned like he was on auto pilot when he woke up in the mornings anyways.
Adrien filled a bowl up with water and proceeded to wash his face over the bathroom sink by carefully dipping a washcloth in the dish and rubbing it around his face. He dried off with a towel and glanced up at himself in the mirror. Adrien could tell from his appearance alone that he was up late last night at the stupid ball his parents threw for him.
He sighed and combed his fingers through his hair realizing that he was officially no longer a single man. His childhood came to an end that day as he met his betrothed. Adrien still disapproved of Chloe but it's not like his parents would change their minds. Maybe after really getting to know her he could learn to love Princess Chloe. He must not be the first in a long line of royalty to feel this way!
After getting a shower, brushing his teeth, and throwing on a casual button-up and a pair of khaki pants Adrien made his way down to the dining room where his parents had already been sitting at both ends eating their breakfasts in silence. How does one do that anyways? He took a seat somewhere in the middle of the large dining table and as if on cue a waiter came out with a serving dish that held the breakfast a chef had prepared this morning: A tartine with honey spread and apricot slices and a mug of black tea. He thanked the waiter who sat the dish in front of him. The waiter bowed before leaving to the kitchen.
"Good morning mother and father." Adrien greeted both of his parents while nodding in their respective directions. He cut a small piece off the bread with his fork and knife and took a bite out of it. He chewed it slowly, savoring the sweet tastes of honey and apricot before finally swallowing. His parents both gave him a small good morning back before the room fell silent again, the only sounds came from the clanking of silverware on plates and mugs being set back down on the table.
Adrien had to break the awkward silence. He thinks about this every meal but he could never think about anything to say to them. This time was different; he could talk about the party, Chloe, maybe even throw in Marinette when he talked about the guests. "Yesterday was fun…" he tried to ease into the conversation slowly.
It was almost as if his parents were triggered by his own voice, both of them dropping their forks and basically glaring at Adrien. He felt like he had misspoken, overstepped his boundaries, did everything wrong in one sentence.
Adrien gulped and looked into his mug, staring at the barely touched black tea he was given for breakfast. Well he tried…
"I'm glad, Adrien." he heard his mother speak up. He looked at her. She had given him a bright smile. Adrien smiled back. "I saw you enjoying your time with Chloe." his smile fell back to a straight line. "I can see you too are you going to have a happy life together. Didn't you just fall in love with her? She's so pretty and her father says she's bright too."
How would Adrien answer her? He tried to enjoy the company that Chloe gave him, but he was happier around other's company, especially when he was speaking to Marinette. He smiled at the thought of the lady-in-waiting. He can't tell his mother that! "I'm not sure." realizing that this might come off negative he added, "I still have so much more to learn about her." and that was true. Adrien wondered if what he will learn ends up being positive.
"Yes, I suppose it can take a bit of time getting used to someone new, especially knowing that you are engaged to them."
Adrien gave his mother a fake shy laugh and told her, "I guess so…"
Gabriel broke the silence by asking if they would eat more than chat. *He met his fiancee," Elise reminded him. "and he wants to talk about her."
Gabriel huffed, "Well then I guess I'll be the only one at the table enjoying our meal." and he returned to eating.
Elise sighed in defeat. "Why don't you go back to your breakfast, Adrien." she suggested although it was more of a demand.
So he's not allowed to talk to his parents during a meal then? Did his mother make an exception just to talk about Chloe?
Although he was the last one down for breakfast, Adrien was the first one finished and had excused himself from the table.
He hadn't a clue what he was going to do today. His parents didn't schedule any parties or meetings to attend to. It was once every blue moon where the young prince had a free day to do whatever he wanted. This was that one occasion.
Adrien started wandering back to his room trying to figure out what he was going to do for the rest of the day. He walked over to the garden doors, thinking about taking a walk when Marinette came in from the garden. He had stopped in his tracks and looked over at her. She gave him a smile and waved Adrien over. He approached her, a little confused but overly excited. Adrien wondered what she could want from him.
"Good morning, Prince Adrien." she curtsied. "How are you doing today?"
Adrien bowed back before responding. "I assume myself to be well. And how about you?" he took a moment to admire her get up while Marinette responded with the same positive response. She was dressed for horseback riding in a pink coat, white pants, and black boots. She didn't have a helmet on and her hair was put up into two little pigtails.
"What's with your outfit?" he asked even though it was obvious.
"I just came in from grooming my horse. The Queen and I are riding today." she told him.
Adrien nodded as a thought occurred to him. He hadn't gone riding in a while, let alone even visit his horse out in the stables. This was a perfect chance to do that again, have something for the day, and hang out with Marinette. "May I join you two?" he blurted out the question in one rapid breath.
Marinette cocked her head to the side and giggled. "Of course. Why don't you go up and change into something better suited for horseback riding and I'll meet you by the stables."
She said yes! Adrien blushed as the image of him and Marinette riding horses together. "O-O-Okay," he turned to leave, looking back at Marinette as he started walking up to his chambers. She waved him goodbye. Adrien's face turned a darker shade of red he waved back then suddenly ran into a wall.
He hid his face in his hands, embarrassed by his accident in front of the maiden but Marinette had let out a chuckle. Adrien was startled by her laughter and removed his hands to look at her. His face flushed its most furious shade of red from both the embarrassment and Marinette just seconds before.
Adrien patted the wall he hit his head against. "Tha-That's a wall." he tried to add a laugh. "I ran into a wall."
"Yes you did." Marinette agreed, and did Adrien spy a little blush on her cheeks as well? No he must be going crazy!
Needing to get out of this awkward situation he made an immediate turn around the corner and out of Marinette's view. Adrien began slapping the palm of his hand against his forehead repeatedly saying: "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" while making his way up to his room to change into an outfit more suited for riding.
Elise made her way out into the garden, taking in the fresh summer air as she watched the gardeners tend to the yard. She knelt down next to one who was busy digging out holes to plant flowers. "rose of castiles!" her eyes shimmered as the gardener put a blooming rose of castile in the dug up dirt. "That's my favorite flower!"
"Thank you, my Queen." thanked the gardener. "Are you meeting your maiden in the stables? You don't look properly dressed."
"I must speak with Marinette before I change." she informed him. "Is she at the stables right now?"
"I saw her heading in that direction just a few minutes ago."
Elise thanked the man then asked him to trim the hedges after planting the pansies. She made her way towards the horse stables and met with Marinette who was petting her horse, Snowflake, with one hand and feeding her oats with the other.
"Good morning, Queen Elise." Marinette chimed up when she noticed the Queen's presence. "Are you ready to ride?"
"I still need to get dressed." Elise pointed out, waving her hands at her sundress. "But I know of a beautiful spot that I used to go up to with Antoinette. I want to take you with me today so make sure Snowflake is well fed and rested up because it's a long ride up there."
"That sounds great!" Marinette beamyed. "I'm excited for you to show me!"
"Great, now I'm going to get into something comfier." Elise waved and began to make her leave when Marinette stopped her.
"Oh, your son is joining us today. Is that alright?"
Elise nodded. "I love spending time with my son, and he seems to like you too."
"Oh ~" Marinette tilted her head. Elise began to assume she was thinking about something suddenly.
"Yes, I asked him near the end of the ball last night. I saw you two talking and I thought that you would make great friends. He got along with Antoinette so well I wanted to know that he could learn to appreciate you too."
"Oh ~" she said again, her voice softer and not as interested as before.
"Well I must change now if we went to get horseback riding." and this time she was able to make it back to the castle without another interruption, leaving Marinette to herself.
Both Adrien and Elise returned to the garden about a half an hour later. Marinette had put on her helmet, was already mounted on Snowflake, and taking the horse around the yard. When she saw the two royals coming her away she halts the white horse and steps down from her.
"You both look so good." she said, clearly appreciating the Queen's and Prince's choice of horseback riding gear. Elise was dressed similarly to Marinette but in a dark red jacket, black pants, and the matching red boots. Adrien had went with a dark blue riding shirt with black pants and black and blue checkered shoes.
They were all ready to mount their horses and take a ride around the valley behind the garden.
Adrien approached the horse he hadn't seen in a long time. He gave the brown horse a pat down his long nose. "Hey there, Seabolt, long time no see. How've you been, bud?"
Seabolt whinnied and scraped a hoof against the dirt ground. Adrien got Seabolt ready for riding and walked him out of the stable with a hold on his reins. Marinette was back on her horse and so was his mother. Adrien mounted on the back of Seabolt and with one lap around the yard the three of them took off towards the valley.
Adrien forgot what this felt like, wind hitting his face and blowing the hair that stuck out from underneath his helmet, the feel like he's soaring through the air, the overall adrenaline that he got just from being on Seabolt again.
He was a few steps ahead of the girls and looked back at them. Marinette waved at him and signalled him to come back. Adrien slowed Seabolt a little so his mother and her lady-in-Waiting could catch up. All three rode alongside each other now.
"Queen Elise wishes to show us some place special. She'll lead the way." Marinette told Adrien.
Adrien peeked around her head to look at his mother on the other side. She wore a big smile on her face and nodded. "I think you'll appreciate it too." She swatted the reins for her horse to speed up and Marinette and Adrien had to do the same thing to catch up to the Queen speeding ahead of them, taking the lead this time.
The little farms and country homes slowly faded away and soon Adrien couldn't see any form of civilization around him for miles. Where was Elise taking them? Did they get lost along the way and she hadn't told anyone?
Elise made a sharp turn around some trees and Adrien and Marinette followed her up a small windy hill and stopped at the edge of a cliff. The three people looked out into the horizon, a small breeze picked up and Adrien closed his eyes to soak in the fresh feeling.
"It's much prettier during sunset." Elise spoke in a hushed tone, her words barely making it to Adrien and Marinette. "Antoinette said she wanted to be cremated and have her ashes spread around up here. She didn't get that."
"This is what you wanted to show me." Marinette stated softly. "I see why you and Antoinette came up here so often." Elise's smile was sad as she nodded.
Adrien looked back out towards the sky in front of him. "It's the most beautiful view I've ever seen in my life." he could feel tears welling his eyes as he imagined his mother and Antoinette sitting up here alone together. This was their place where they could be alone together, just a Queen and her lady. She wanted to share these moments with Marinette, to have this maiden see the world Elise had with one of her closest companions. One could only imagine what else Elise wishes to show her new lady-in-waiting. It was right now that he really felt glad for his mother finding a new woman to appreciate the same things as Antoinette did.
He took a look over at Marinette right next to him. A few stray hairs blew around in the wind, a soft smile creeped on his face as he also imagined him and Marinette making a place to call their own for them to hide away from the mundane tasks everyday brought them. He pictured a sunset in a spot similar to this that they'd cuddle under and share small kisses. This is the life he wanted, not the one his parents forced him into. Adrien didn't like the stiff royal ways, he wanted something simple like a commoner's where he could marry whom he pleased and do whatever he wanted with a job that he loved.
"I'm glad Adrien came along." Elise broke the seemingly long silence. She looked over at her son. "I can see you and Chloe getting married here in the future. It'd be the prettiest royal wedding to come out of France."
And Adrien came back to the real world. That daydream is not his life. I will never be his life since he is forced to marry Chloe, a girl he's not even sure he likes, and eventually be crowned King to live out the rest of his life dealing with royal duties.
"Yeah…" he deadpanned as he turned Seabolt around. "I think we should head back now. Father might be wondering where we're at."
"You two go ahead without me, I'll catch up." said Elise, not turning away from the view ahead of them.
Marinette and Adrien rode their horses back to the garden. Adrien jumped off of Seabolt after stopping him in front of his stable.
Marinette and Snowflake came to a halt just right behind Adrien. Being the well raised gentleman that he is, Adrien outstretched his hand for Marinette to take and help her down. She graciously accepted his hand and swung her farthest leg around. As she tried to step down her one foot got caught in the stirrup and she knocked both her and Adrien to the ground, Marinette landing on top of the prince.
Adrien looked up at the maiden on top of him, Marinette was staring back down at him with her cheeks flushed red probably from embarrassment. Adrien's cheeks blushes that same color and then he started laughing.
Marinette realized the awkward position they landed in and rolled off Adrien, joining in on his laughter. Adrien pushed himself back on his feet and held his hand out for Marinette again. The lady-in-waiting waved his hand off and told him that she could get herself up. With all things considered, his help got her on the dirt I'm the first place. Marinette got up on her feet and proceeded to wipe the dirt off her pants.
Elise came riding up behind them. "I hope two did nothing bad while I was gone." she said as she brought her horse to a stop. Does the girl you might have a crush on falling on top of you count as doing something 'bad?' Elise jumped down and patted her horse's back. "Let's get these guys back in the stable."
Adrien and Marinette both nodded, the atmosphere still seemingly thick with embarrassment to Adrien, and they all got the horses back into the moved inside the castle.
Gabriel must have been informed of the whereabouts of his wife and son as he stood on the other side of the garden exit waiting for them.
"King Bourgeois has made arrangements to meet with us over dinner tomorrow." he informed the group, probably mostly towards Adrien than anyone else.
He thought his eyes were going to budge out of his head. Great, tomorrow he has to meet the parents...