Adrien reached the palace in record time. He quickly pulled the rope from his bag and looped it around the conveniently placed outcropping, climbing up as quickly as possible. He reached his open window and climbed in silently, pulling the rope in after him. Then he turned and sighed.

"Plagg, I know you're in here. Come on out."

Plagg's voice came from the darkness.

"Nice to know you're finally picking up on it."

Adrien watched as Plagg lit the candle he was holding, a wry smile over his face.

"How'd it go?" he asked as he set the candle down on the side table.

"Perfect, actually. Nothing went wrong at all - and that's a first. No law enforcement, no crimes to stop, just a night of being able to be myself."

"You do know that as Adrien or Chat Noir, you're still the same person, right?"

"I know," Adrien sighed, a dreamy smile on his face. "It's just not the same. But I don't think I could have asked for a better night."

Plagg looked at his pupil's face and gave a small sigh and smile of his own.

"So there's no village boy in the picture, I take it?"

Adrien could hardly contain his delight. He wanted to do something outrageous, something crazy, but he contented himself with regaling Plagg with the entire story of the evening. He explained everything to his tutor, glad to have his support, until Plagg finally interrupted him.

"I get it, you're over the moon about this girl. Heaven help us all when everything hits you. You do remember you're supposed to be proposing to someone else within the next few days?"

Adrien's bubble of happiness was weakened, but he chose to ignore that for the moment. Instead, he flopped on the bed, still clad in his black costume, and laced his hands behind his head.

"Yeah, sure, Plagg. I'll talk to Kagami tomorrow. I just can't believe my luck - seriously, she's so wonderful! She's funny, and kind, and hard working, and she's just so creative! She's making both of those stepsisters of hers dresses by herself, and she even said that she enjoys it!"

Plagg walked toward the door.

"Sheesh. This is going to be painful to watch when it all finally hits you like a ton of bricks. Well, I wish you and your mystery girl the best of luck. And if you ever find out her name, do let me know?"

"Huh?" Adrien said, sitting up in confusion. "Her name?"

"Yeah. This whole night you've just referred to her as 'she'. I assume 'she' has a name?"

Adrien looked up at the ceiling with a smile that he knew looked lovesick, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

"Yeah. It's beautiful. And it's just perfect for her, too. Marinette…"

Plagg faltered in his steps, coughed, then kept walking out the door.

"Mari-. Yeah, it's… nice. Erm… Night, Adrien."

Adrien could have sworn that he saw his tutor's smile broaden and shoulders shaking with laughter as he left the room, but then the door closed softly and he was left alone to reflect on the night's events - and plan for his confrontation in the morning.

...

Princess Kagami was sitting in the library when Adrien found her next day. He mentally steeled himself, then conjured up a picture of Marinette's enchanting smile. This memory gave him the courage to walk up to the girl in front of him, whose face wore an expression of utter serenity.

"Good morning. May I join you?"

Kagami simply nodded, watching him as he sat next to her, holding his hands tightly together. Adrien finally opened his mouth to speak when she beat him to it.

"You don't want to marry me and you're trying to find a way to break it to me gently."

Adrien closed his mouth again, staring at her. Then he said quickly

"I- No! That's not exactly what… I just…"

He shut his mouth before he could babble on any more. Kagami spoke again, her voice low and even.

"I know you don't want this. It's not what either of us want, in full honesty. But we have a duty to our kingdoms. It's not our place to choose what we want. We were born into this, and we must take the hardships as they come."

Then she suddenly looked up at him and her cheeks flushed slightly. Adrien smiled at her, realizing that this was the most emotion she had ever shown him, and finding her the more approachable for it.

"Please, don't apologize. I'm not offended. In fact, I should be apologizing to you for how I've been behaving the past few days. I've been… confused. But I think I understand now."

He gently placed his hand on hers, hoping that the gesture wouldn't be misinterpreted as he continued.

"You are a wonderful person, and I understand that this isn't fair to you. I know that this is all my fault, and I don't want to hurt you. But if there is any way for us to… form an alliance without…" he gestured between them "... this, I would rather find that way."

Kagami gently pulled her hand out from under his and nodded.

"I understand completely. I also would rather find a different way of joining our kingdoms. I hope you won't find this insulting, but I would rather not marry you."

Adrien almost laughed out loud.

"Considering that I just rejected you before proposing, I don't think I have any right to be offended. And it's probably more that I deserve that you continue speaking to me after that. But thank you."

Kagami looked him dead in the eye for a moment, the look making Adrien squirm, then she seemed to relax.

"I see. Who is she?"

Adrien felt his heart stop for a moment.

"S-She?"

Kagami gave a low chuckle.

"I've lived with my mother for my whole life, and one of the things she trained me in was identifying emotion in others. Ironic, isn't it? I can tell exactly how you feel for someone. Who is she? Is it one of the girls here?"

Adrien cleared his throat.

"I… don't know what you mean. I-"

"Would it help you to know that I'm in the same position?"

Kagami was still staring at him, her eyes not leaving his.

"You are? I mean… err, I'm sorry?"

Her eyes suddenly left his face and searched through the crowd as she said

"Yes. One of my mother's courtiers. He's… different. A bit like you, but not quite. He understands me."

Adrien nodded, beginning to understand.

"Is he here with you?"

Kagami nodded slowly.

"Yes. It hurts him to see us together, but he knows where my heart lies. And he knows that unless you outright propose to me, there is still a sliver of hope for us."

Adrien gave a delighted grin.

"Well, you don't have to worry anymore. In the kindest spirit possible, I'd rather make my own choice. Thank you. And I hope you'll be happy with him."

Kagami gave him the first real smile he'd seen from her. Adrien sighed, looking away.

"That only leaves one problem. Or rather, two problems. Your mother… and my father."

Kagami nodded, solemn once more.

"Indeed. My mother may be easy enough to convince - she's not unreasonable, just determined. And she will understand if your father explains it to her. But what about him?"

Adrien shook his head.

"I don't think he'll be easy to convince. He's… not the easiest man to argue with. I ought to know. And he already knows how I feel about this, too."

"I see. Does he know about the other girl?"

Adrien knew that his face was reddening under her scrutiny, and he looked away in embarrassment.

"Uh… No. The girl in question isn't exactly… noble. Or rather, she's not nobility. And it's a rather recent attachment as well… I haven't mentioned it to him. There could be complicated questions to answer."

The two of them sat together in silence, hoping for inspiration to strike and save them from their fates. Suddenly, Adrien sat up.

"What if… What if we didn't tell anyone until the festival?"

"But we'd still have to announce something about our alliance. What do we tell the kingdom? Gossip spreads, and everyone already expects to hear about an engagement. How do we avoid that?"

Adrien felt a Chat Noir grin sweep over his face.

"We pretend. We refuse to confirm or deny anything until the last possible moment, then we tell the truth. That we're proud to be representing our kingdoms and we're glad to have come to an agreement on the alliance, but that vicious gossip has spread saying that we're getting engaged, and we refute it."

The girl beside him considered the plan. She considered for what Adrien felt to be an ominously long time before deciding.

"I suppose it could work. But we'd have to be very careful about it. Any number of things could go wrong. Including your father refusing to accept it."

Adrien's Chat Noir grin became hard.

"If there's anything I know about my father, it's that he won't make a scene in public. If we've announced it to the entire kingdom, he won't come back and make a fool of himself - and us - by insisting that we are engaged."

Kagami nodded.

"Then that's our best option. And I hope it works. Otherwise, we could be stuck in an awkward relationship for the rest of our lives. And in all honesty, Adrien, I don't think I could handle that. I'd much rather not take a lover."

Adrien's face burned with embarrassment again, but Kagami just laughed.

"I kid. I understand that jokes are a good basis for a friendship, correct? And if we're going to make this work, I think we should at least be on friendly terms."

Adrien flashed her a grateful smile as she stood and walked out of the room.

Hello, my lovely readers! Unfortunately, I was having some issues with the website, so the last chapter took longer to update. I think the issue has been resolved, however, if this happens again, it is up on AO3, and you're welcome to check it out there. It's the same story name and username, so it should be fairly easy to find.

Sorry again for the delay - I really am trying to get this story out ASAP! I hope you enjoyed this chapter - again, not one of my favorites, but I do enjoy the relationship between Kagami and Adrien once they get their awkwardness sorted out. And writing Kagami is always fun.

As always, thank you so much for reading and enjoying! I love all the reviews I get, they make my day, but just knowing that there are people out there who are loving what I write is enough.