19. A dance
The carriage stopped and they descended. The event was hosted at madame Rossi's house. Everyone was running from one point to the other, dancing and singing, as if the threatening aura that had descended upon them was suddenly gone.
He led Marinette to where he spotted Nino and Luka. He knew that their girlfriends were nice to Marinette too.
Alya ran to briefly greet Adrien and take Marinette away by the arm.
"Adrien Agreste? That is your companion? Girl, you are stepping into the lion's den!"
"It is not me, it was an arrangement between him and my grandfather."
From afar, Marinette spotted Kagami Tsurugi smiling discreetly to her.
"Either way, I think I should be going back to his side. After all, I am not supposed to wander around without a man."
She walked towards Kagami and greeted her with a respectful head motion. Kagami imitated her and they kept the distance and body language that two strangers were supposed to have on their first meeting.
"What are you doing here with Adrien Agreste?"
"My grandfather believes that he has a sort of infatuation with me that should come in hand in the times to come."
Kagami's cordial smile fell off.
"What? Is he engaging you?"
"What? Like, betrothing? Of course not!"
The other girl grimaced before taking a deep breath.
"He is a decent man, my father used to say that as long as Adrien took part in the politics of town someday, there was hope for Saint Emilie."
"I know that he is a good person and so does my grandfather, but he states that we can control the father through the son."
She took Marinette's arm and walked around with her.
"That seems reasonable."
Marinette unheld her arm.
"It does not! I will not punish a son for his father's crimes, ever and under no circumstances."
Kagami's eyes were accusing.
"I do not wish to be harsh and I do believe he is a decent man, but he is still going to take him father's place some day: he is an enemy."
Adrien greeted them from a few feet afar.
"I've been looking for you, Marinette. Hello, Kagami, I see you already met Marinette?"
Kagami nodded.
"A charming girl," she turned to Marinette, "a pity that charm alone cannot protect the ones you care about. Have a nice time, Adrien."
Marinette sighed. She knew that she was right, and she hoped that it never came the day to test her principles against her duty.
"What was that about? Did you have a fight or something of the sort?"
She smiled and shook her head.
"No, she was perfectly amicable. And I hope I was too. Do you want to dance?"
He grinned.
"I would love to."
They moved to a place in the parallel lines of people waiting for the dance to begin. Marinette smiled broadly as she took the first hopes around the people, she really enjoyed dancing. She quickly realized that Alyx wasn't being modest when she said that the girls there didn't learn to dance properly: they had the basis, but clearly were not graced with practice.
Adrien took her hands and spun around with her. His skill was noticeable by the graceful balance he held them both with. He smiled at her merry fleurettes and graceful hops, she was like a bubble floating around in a crimson dress. He lifted her by grabbing her waist and spun her again to finally let her little feet settle in the ground to finish the dance.
She grinned at him and looked around to find Madame Tsurugi and Kagami glaring at her. Was Madame Tsurugi angry because she was enjoying being with their enemy? Was it so with Kagami, or were else thoughts that ignited her gaze like that? For that glare, she would've believed herself a murderer.
"Is something the matter?"
She took her blue eyes back to Adrien and forced a little smile.
"I find this place rather…"
"Suffocating?"
He tried to find her gaze, but she seemed very interested in something at the other corner of the room.
"Something close to that. Please, do not believe for a moment that it is your company what bothers me, it is just that…"
"Believe me, I understand. Gatherings can sometimes be the heaviest of my responsibilities. If you like, and it doesn't offend your principles, we could go for a night walk around the city. There will be, I assure you, plenty of eyes to confirm that we don't do anything wrong."
She smirked.
"That is not the same as a chaperon, you agree."
"Do you doubt my intentions?"
"Of course not. Let's go for that walk, we still have an hour before the curfew."
She took Adrien's arm and walked out of the house. Marinette was confident that no one would pay any looks to them, crowded as the room was. But Adrien was well aware of the looks and eyes that had been following him all night, and smirked proudly as he abandoned the house.