Chapter 11

"Do you see anything interesting?"

Marinette shrieked in fright, flinching in her stance before she turned away from the window to meet her mother's teasing grin.

"Sorry, Maman."

Sabine fondly shook her head as Marinette resumed her task of cleaning the main counter in the bakery. Usually her daughter was always focused on her task, be it helping to bake, cleaning, or greeting customers with a smile and completed transactions.

However, this morning was a different story.

The first time she caught Marinette staring out the window, she simply deemed it as a fleeting daydream and continued helping her husband baking the chouquettes. Marinette continued with her work soon after, and since they weren't busy today (although they haven't been since Prince Matheo took over) Sabine thought it was okay if her daughter's head happened to be in the clouds for a minute or two.

But then she would catch Marinette staring out one of the windows again. Sometimes she would look towards the sky and appear disappointed at the sight of the high sun. Other times her cheeks would momentarily redden before she would quickly shake her head and finish cleaning a display case.

It seemed the longer the day went on, the more Marinette kept looking out the window. It was almost as if she was impatient for something…or someone.

Sabine's heart swelled at the possibility of Marinette being romantically interested in someone. Her daughter was wonderful: smart, beautiful, witty, selfless, caring, and all the other good words in the French language. She deserved the best, and hopefully Marinette found just that.

She just hoped that what Marinette considered 'best' wasn't Theo Barbot, the only man who has made advances on her thus far. But Marinette complained about him numerous times, and rejected him even more.

Thus, it couldn't be Theo who was causing her daughter to act this way. Right? If so, then who else was there?

"Are you waiting for someone?" she inquired, trying to keep the curious lilt out of her tone. Unfortunately, Marinette caught it anyway, rolling her eyes as she replied in the negative.

Although, now that Marinette thought about it, she supposed that it could be considered that she was waiting for someone. In truth, she was impatient for the day to end, so that night would come along with her first training session with Chat Noir. She was excited to be a confident fencer and defend herself without any help.

She had seen Chat's skill with the blade with her own eyes, so she knew that he knew what he was doing. However, would he prove to be a good teacher as well? What if he expected too much from her too soon? Don't get her wrong, she was willing to work hard, but she didn't want any pressure from him nor irritation from her not grasping a technique right away.

Marinette breathed slowly out her nose to calm herself down. She was getting paranoid again; Chat would be patient with her. He never showed any signs of being harsh and she doubted he would ever act that way. Well, towards her, anyway. People like Prince Matheo and Theo were probably a different story.

Beside her, Sabine sighed in discernable disappointment. Should her parents be so eager to have their only daughter married off, she wondered? They were sweet and meant well, but sometimes she hated how they were such romantics.

"It's just that you keep staring so longingly out the window, I assumed you were waiting for a suitor," her mother sighed, leading Marinette to grin and roll her eyes.

"'Longingly'? Maman, I think you're being dramatic."

"I'm not being dramatic," Sabine refuted, frowning. She stepped closer to Marinette and wrapped her in a warm hug. Her daughter welcomed the warm embrace and smiled as she rested her chin against her Sabine's shoulder, even though she disagreed with her mother's statement.

"I just want you to find someone and be happy," Sabine whispered in her ear, in such a sincere, tender way that it caused Marinette to briefly stiffen. "You're wonderful, and sometimes it gets frustrating when men don't acknowledge it."

It might have something to do with Theo intimidating the other men that were interested in her and attempted to call on her, but her kindhearted mother didn't need to know that. Nor did she need to know of Theo's attack the previous night. Sabine would probably faint, then make sure to never leave her alone again. Tom would probably want to go strangle Theo. He was normally a calm, peaceful man, but Marinette knew that when it came to her, he could turn into an angry bear determined to protect his cub.

She loved and appreciated both of them with all her heart. However, she didn't need to give her mother a premature heart attack and have her father sentenced to death for attempting to kill the Captain of the army. Hopefully, Chat Noir would keep what happened a secret.

Marinette kissed her mother's cheek before she pulled away, hiding her true feelings of unease behind a mask of a smile. "I'll be fine, Maman. Someone will come around eventually, I'm sure."

Sabine giggled and tucked a lock of hair behind Marinette's ear, who leaned into the warm touch.

"One of these days a man with good senses will come along. He'll see how amazing you are and be helpless against your charms."

Marinette couldn't help but laugh. "I doubt that, but thank you."

Honestly, Marinette doubted if she would ever find someone to marry. Even if Theo hadn't scared away her other suitors, none of them had caught her eye anyway. And now she was starting to become dangerously interested in Chat Noir, an outlaw who she didn't even know under the mask. Not to mention, what if he didn't intend to properly court her at all? What if when Prince Matheo is taken down, he just leaves for the next town and completely forgets about her?

"It will happen, I promise," Sabine vowed before kissing her daughter's forehead. Marinette blinked when she pulled back with furrowed eyebrows and pursed lips; that was the expression she always adopted when ready to scold her.

"But don't you dare settle. Your father and I wish for you to marry, yes, but only if you love the man in return. Don't get married just to try to make us happy, understand?"

She softly laughed and nodded. "Yes, I understand."

Sabine grinned. "Good."

Marinette noticed her mother's eyes suddenly stray to the door of the bakery, as they at first narrowed with confusion before suddenly brightening with excitement. Marinette, curious as to what caused a reaction like that, turned around and subsequently opened her mouth in surprise.

"Vicomte Agreste," Sabine greeted, smiling politely as she took a few steps away from Marinette to stand behind the main counter. "It is an honor to have you in our bakery."

Adrien allowed the door to close behind him as he walked inside, sending a smile in Sabine's direction accompanied with a customary nod. "Thank you, Madame. And if these pastries taste as good as they look…" He paused, grinning and purposely looking around at the various pastries before returning his attention to Sabine. "Then the honor is all mine."

Marinette couldn't resist rolling her eyes at his smooth reply. Although, she couldn't stop the corners of her lips twitching into an amused smirk.

Adrien abruptly turned his gaze to her, unintentionally causing her to straighten at the shift in focus. He walked closer, stopping behind the counter to dip into a gentlemanly bow. "Of course, it's a pleasure seeing you again, Marinette."

Marinette ignored the inquiring look her mother was currently pinning on her to return his bow with a curtsey. Her cheeks were stained red even as she stood back to her full height; she didn't really care for her mother knowing that she had an acquaintance with a Vicomte, and a young, single one at that. Perhaps if she acted distant, her mother wouldn't get any ideas. Not that it would be all that hard, considering she had only ever spoken to Adrien two times.

"Likewise, Vicomte. Is there anything in particular you're interested in, today?"

Adrien blinked, thrown off by her cool and otherwise indifferent reply, not to mention that she called him by his title and not his name. Weren't they supposed to be friends? Or maybe, he thought with a slight frown, she was lying so she wouldn't hurt his feelings?

He knew she held a fondness for Chat Noir. She already liked one side of him; he was even meeting with her tonight.

So why did the tone of her answer sting so much?

"Ah," he stalled, biting his lip in indecision as he gathered his thoughts back together. He plastered a smile to his face, the same one he often showed during tedious formal dinners. "Not…not really. I was just in the mood for something sweet, I suppose."

"Well, you've come to the right place," Sabine chimed brightly with a small giggle. A sly twinkle shined in her eyes, prompting Marinette to regard her with suspicion. She knew that look…

Suddenly, Sabine wrapped an arm around Marinette's shoulders as she smiled brightly at Adrien. "Because the sweetest thing we have is right here!"

"Maman!" Marinette hissed, cheeks rapidly coloring in her mortification. Her reaction was nothing compared to Adrien's though, whose face was beginning to resemble a slice of red velvet cake as his eyes almost seemed to bug out of his head.

Marinette wanted to cover her face with her hands while her mother merely sent her a secretive smile. Of all people to try to set her daughter up with, she chooses a Vicomte, who not only shouldn't be interested in friendship, but who most definitely would never entertain an idea such as marriage to someone of her low status. Not that she desired to marry him, even though he was handsome and seemed nice…

Adrien cleared his throat, drawing Marinette away from those dangerous thoughts. Thankfully for him, his skin had considerably cooled down in the meantime.

"I-I think I'll just have some…some croissants! They're a classic!" He tried to chuckle although it came off very weakly. Marinette felt pity for the poor nobleman, since it was apparent that he wasn't used to having women practically offer their daughters to his face like that.

"Perfect, how many would you like?" she asked before her mother could further make his visit any more of a disaster.

"Just five, please," Adrien replied. His eyes began to stray toward his boots, but then snapped back up when he heard a door open.

Marinette followed his line of sight, then almost groaned out loud in exasperation right there. For her father had come out of the kitchen holding a fresh tray of cat's tongue cookies, the chocolate on the tips having nearly dried by the time he brought the tray out. But that wasn't what made her upset, oh no. It was the fact that her father was just as, if not more so, determined than her mother to find her 'Prince Charming' to settle down with.

Well, the only prince around was Matheo, so she supposed he would have to settle with a Vicomte instead. Not like that little detail would likely deter his efforts.

"Tom!" Sabine exclaimed happily, taking the tray from him while kissing his cheek in the process. Unbeknownst to the bakers Adrien felt a smile tug at his lips due to the blatant love they held for each other, even if she only kissed him on the cheek. It was all in the way they smiled at each other, and the way their eyes lit up upon seeing one another, or how they both still had blushes on their cheeks after the little public display of affection.

He couldn't help to hope that he would have something like that one day.

"This is Vicomte Agreste, he's an acquaintance of Marinette," Sabine introduced with a distinct sly grin. Tom picked up on it and mirrored the expression before turning a jovial face to Adrien, who quickly wiped the wistful look off his face to replace it with a polite smile.

Meanwhile, Marinette had started boxing the croissants with a new fervor. She didn't know how long it would take for her father to say something truly embarrassing, thus she had to move as quickly as possible to get Adrien out the door.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Vicomte," Tom said. "I had no idea you were an acquaintance of our daughter's. Would you like to try one of our cat's tongue cookies? They were just dipped in chocolate!"

"Cat's tongue?" Adrien repeated, his lips twitching until a series of snickers slipped out of his mouth. "Yes, I'd love one. Thank you."

Marinette had no idea of what he found so amusing about cat's tongue cookies. Was there some joke she wasn't getting?

Her parents didn't seem to think anything of it. All they could think of was that there was a respectable man of good standing in their bakery who might be potentially interested in their daughter. A little inside joke of sorts wasn't going to bother them at all.

"You won't regret it," Tom assured with a wink. Sabine smirked at her husband's antics prior to turning to Marinette.

"How about you give the Vicomte the cookie along with the croissants? Your father and I need to be getting back to work, you know."

"We do?" Tom asked cluelessly.

Sabine discreetly stomped on his foot.

"Oh! Uh, yes, we do!" he corrected, managing not to visibly wince. Even though Marinette thought the scheme her parents were trying to pull was beyond obvious, it was still a bit funny. She could laugh about it later though, when Adrien is safely gone.

Adrien stared after them as they disappeared to the back, confused about their sudden departure but appreciative of his newfound time alone with Marinette. He wondered if they were aware of the favor they did for him.

Marinette had finished boxing the croissants by now. All that was left was the cookie. With a pair of tongs she picked it up from the tray and held it out to Adrien. In her other hand she presented the box of croissants.

"Here you are, Vicomte. Five croissants and one cat's tongue cookie-"

He pressed his lips together to restrain more chuckles, something that Marinette caught and still didn't understand. Nonetheless, she brushed it off and kept up the bright smile reserved for customers.

"Will there be anything else?"

"No, this will be all. Thank you, Miss Marinette," Adrien replied, his earlier traces of amusement gone as he took the box and cookie. When he took a bite out of an end dipped in chocolate, his eyes glazed over before they closed and he moaned appreciatively.

Marinette bit her lower lip, trying not to react to the pleasurable sound.

"This is delicious," he spoke through a mouthful of cookie. She had to admit that she was surprised he disregarded good manners if only for a moment, but she found something oddly endearing that he presented himself like that. He wasn't just an untouchable nobleman with the grace of a god; he was human.

Marinette laughed softly. "Thank you. I'll tell my parents you like them. Oh, and speaking of," She lowered her voice so that her parents who were likely listening in wouldn't hear. "I'm sorry about their matchmaking schemes, I promise they're good people. They're just so eager to see me married off." She rolled her eyes. "They mean well, but they can be exhausting sometimes."

"Would it be so terrible, to marry?" Adrien asked, lifting an eyebrow and smiling in a guarded way, trying to gauge her reaction.

Marinette didn't know why it looked like he was bracing himself for her answer, as if it would personally affect him. This nobleman really was strange.

"No, it wouldn't be," she answered slowly, thinking of her words as she went along. "But I have specific tastes for what I want in a potential husband."

Adrien bent down, leaning an elbow on the counter. The box of croissants sat forgotten beside him. He peered up at her with a casual grin, something playful in his eyes as he spoke. "And what are those tastes, if you don't mind my asking?"

Marinette swallowed, not exactly uncomfortable but kind of? Other than her parents and Alya, no one ever asked her what she wanted in a husband. Most didn't care about her opinion, especially Theo. So for a Vicomte to ask was…well, a bit unsettling and new.

Well, she supposed that since they're acquaintances, and that he asked so nicely, she could indulge him.

"For one thing," she started, turning around to grab the tray of the cat's tongue cookies. "He has to be considerate."

Adrien nodded along, watching with interest as she began to put the cookies in the display case. He noticed that there was a lot of space inside with only several pastries to fill it up. He imagined that perhaps at one time, before Matheo was in charge, that the display case was completely filled with all kinds of sweets.

"He needs to be loyal; honest and not afraid to stand up for what he believes in." She paused, her hand hovering over the place she was about to put the next cookie. "He needs to be brave. Responsible and unselfish. He needs to encourage and support me when I need it most."

"And?" Adrien prompted softly.

Marinette closed the door to the display case, her eyes downcast and thus not seeing Adrien gazing intently at her. If she had, she might have figured out that he was listening and remembering her every word.

A corner of her mouth steadily rose in a smile.

"He has to be kind. A good sense of humor would be nice too, but it's not a deal breaker for me, you know?"

She couldn't help but think back on Chat Noir's cat puns, and how they might not be her ideal jokes, but they were endearing, and she could appreciate that he tried to make her smile, which actually happened more often than not.

"Being handsome would be a nice bonus too, but like I said before it's not a deal breaker. His true worth will be on the inside and not on the outside. Intelligence would be good too, enough so that I can hold a conversation about things other than the daily duties of life. I would also like if he was a little spontaneous, living each day like it's a new adventure. And if he could be a little passionate as well, that would be perfect."

She tilted her head, her eyes looking at Adrien with such great hope and fear, it nearly killed him to see it. She looked so afraid.

"Is...am I asking for too much, you think? Am I too picky?" Her fingers started nervously interlacing together, her eyes downcast once more. "Alya says I'm not, but I don't think she'd understand. Am I being unrealistic with my expectations?"

"Not at all," he breathed, causing Marinette to pick her head up with wide eyes. She honestly didn't expect that answer.

"No, it's not unrealistic and you're not asking for too much," Adrien reassured, his gaze imploring her to believe him. "You should get all that you're looking for and more. You deserve more. You deserve the world."

As Marinette's cheeks colored a rosy shade, Adrien had to tear his stare away and down to the counter.

Could he give her all that?

After a few seconds he looked back up, his eyes noticeably sharper.

No, it wasn't a matter of could. He would give her that, and hopefully one day she'll know that.