Chapter 2
"I can't believe this is actually happening," Marinette's muffled voice spoke as she sat with her head in her arms.
After she left her father to continue with what she normally does, she ran past her friends who were still chatting in the entryway. Fortunately for them, they knew where she'd be going to. Marinette usually has a spot on the rooftop of the palace. She started off sitting there by herself until Nino day down along with her. That was when she explained the whole situation to the bard who was now providing support as he usually would.
"Well it could be worse," Nino pointed out, "If you weren't a princess, you'd be stuck marrying a random commoner."
Marinette glared at the boy, "That's not helping. It makes me sound pretentious."
"Sorry Mari, I wish I could help you better here," Nino replied, "Though good news is you have an opportunity to marry Adrien."
"What!?" Marinette almost cried out in shock, "You really think I'd marry him?"
Nino simply smirked, "Based on how much you blush and stutter around him, yes."
Marinette's only response was to blush and swat his arm angrily. She knew that Nino was teasing her but deep down she did have a little secret. Despite her protests, she actually did hope that Adrien would make the request. She really did appreciate his chivalry, and found him to be quite sweet when it comes to the people of Paris. And yes the fact that he looked absolutely handsome certainly didn't hurt when it came to how she felt about him.
It was just the other side of Adrien which only she got to experience that was the problem. There were times where she actually humored him and played back but that ultimately backfired. Not to mention he was willing to do anything to get her attention such as cause a little harmless mischief with Nino from time to time. This included a little prank that they pulled on the princess which was due to a dare by Nino, and he endlessly apologized for it.
However, before their conversation could continue, she heard a familiar voice from the balcony, "Princess what on earth are you doing up there? Get down before your father has a panic attack!"
Gazing in the direction of the voice, she saw that the chastising tone came from Nathalie Sancoeur. Nathalie was assigned by Gabriel as Adrien's caretaker of while he was in Paris. However she also tends to act as the caretaker for Marinette as well with the king's approval. Thus the woman tends to use this as an opportunity to remind the bluenette on how a princess should behave. Nevertheless, the strict lady had also proven to be considerate which is why Marinette doesn't often rebel against her.
When Marinette got down to the balcony, she asked, "Did Adrien tell you where I was?"
"No, I overheard conversation from outside, and found you with Mr. Lahiffe," Nathalie answered honestly, "Actually your father was looking for you."
After Nino followed Marinette down, the princess asked another question, "What for?"
"He didn't tell me though I imagine that it would be for dinner at this time," Nathalie replied, "Also I did receive word that Lord Agreste will be making an attendance."
This time Nino decided to speak, "You mean the noble knight, or the worst father ever?"
"It's Lord Gabriel, but you should be mindful of how you speak of a man of his influence," Nathalie warned the young man.
It was no secret that perhaps the most powerful lord of France was also the most disliked noble of France. To the world, he seems cold, shrewd, and distant from everyone as well as his own son. Even Adrien has confessed how he'd rather remain at the palace endlessly than stay with his father. Nathalie was the only one to defend him by saying that he's in mourning for his wife. And while Marinette certainly isn't a fan of the man, she was willing to give him a chance.
"Why would Lord Gabriel come all the way to Paris?" Marinette asked as she began walking towards where her father would be.
The two followed as Nathalie provided another answer, "He never told me. All he said was that he was arriving soon."
"That doesn't sound great," Marinette replied.
It wasn't much of a secret on how Gabriel handles people around him. Almost every interaction with him is a matter of business. And when it wasn't business, he would either walk away from the person out of disinterest, or he would state his opinions of what has gone wrong in the interaction. But say what one will about the man, he's good at what he does, and let's people know what he wants. Of course, he's also not afraid to step on toes to do so.
The three made it to where they needed to and separated with Marinette being with her father, and her companions going their separate ways.
Meanwhile,
"Marriage? Really?" Adrien asked in complete surprise. Unbeknownst to the princess, while she was venting her thoughts to Nino, Alya was listening to the conversation from the balcony before Nathalie showed up. And when she was shooed away by the lady, she immediately told Adrien. Normally she would keep it a secret because she was close friends with the princess but with a matter like this, she couldn't help but tell the one person she was hoping would marry the princess. And boy was his reaction absolutely worth the reveal.
Though it quickly stopped being worth it when Alya has to repeat herself, "For the tenth time, yes."
"But so soon?" Adrien asked this time in disbelief, "She's not even of age yet."
"You do realize she becomes of age soon right?" Alya reminds him, "Not to mention there are many nobles who have wedded their daughters off before their time."
"That's not the same thing," Adrien retorted, "They aren't my Princess."
Alya let out a groan of frustration, "Think about it this way. The marriage is open to all nobles. Knights, lords, and royalty all have a chance to marry the princess. This includes you."
Adrien's mood slowly began to shift into hopefulness, "Really?"
"Yes you dunce," Alya replied, "It's probably why your father is coming over."
That was when Adrien froze in place, "Father is coming here?"
"That's what I heard," Alya answered honestly, "Sorry friend."
"Well I guess I can kiss my freedom goodbye," Adrien complained.
"I'm sure it'll all work out," Alya said reassuringly.
However, rather than respond, Adrien simply began walking to his room. Alya decided to let him go and give him some time to himself. She wanted to make him feel better more, but in all honesty, she wasn't sure what more she could do. At least not beyond what she had already done to help so far. All she could do was watch as he walked away before returning to her room to rest.
Meanwhile,
Marinette had finally made it to her room to rest. Though she didn't have a lot of opportunity for it after what had already occurred. First she was reminded that she would be turning 16 years old in a week and told that her childhood would be ending soon. Then she was forewarned that nobles would be visiting to offer their hand in marriage. "What else is new?" Marinette said as she plopped onto her bed.
As she dropped on her bed, she heard something fall on the ground. Looking around for the source, she found a small red box wrapped in a ribbon. Inside the bow of the ribbon was a note rolled up in the knot. She pulled out the little note and saw that it said 'Happy birthday princess.' Rather than open the box, she decided to confront who she thought it was from.
After arriving at the door, Marinette knocked on it, and waited for someone to answer. When the door opened, she saw Adrien in casual clothing, saying with a smile, "Princess. I didn't think I'd see you stop by. Please come in."
The knight moved out of the way allowing the princess to enter. Once she was inside, she asked, "Did this come from you Adrien?"
When Adrien looked at the box in the lady's hand, his smile slowly faded. He then walked over to his end table, and grabbed an object from the drawer. Walking back over to Marinette, he showed her what he grabbed, and she became surprised. It was a small box much like hers but with a black ribbon wrapped around it. "I thought this was from you," he said still holding the box.
"So What's in yours?" Marinette asked as she sat down in a nearby chair.
"I don't know," Adrien answered as he sat in a chair across from her, "I just found it a minute before you arrived."
Marinette briefly glanced down at her own box, and said, "If this is a joke from you, I promise-"
"Princess, If it was from me, you'd know because a note would say so," Adrien interrupted, "Where did you find yours anyway?"
"It was on my bed," Marinette answered, "I thought it was a ring for marriage."
Adrien paled at the response, "Shall we open them to find out?"
"Fine," Marinette said as she pulled off the ribbon.
Slowly the princess opened the box while Adrien did the same with his, and the two peeked inside to see what it carried. It turned out to be two garnet earrings in Marinette's box, and a platinum ring with an onyx on top in Adrien's box. They both glanced at each other's box, and Marinette began to giggle a little while Adrien frowned slightly. "While I do enjoy hearing the pleasant sound of your laughter, might I ask why I'm hearing it now?" he asked.
"Because it's the exact type of thing I thought was in my little box," Marinette replied.
Before either one continued, they noticed two bright flashes from the boxes. Red from Marinette's and black from Adrien's. The flashes were bright enough that the two had to look away. When their gazes returned to the jewelry, they noticed two small creatures floating before them. One of them appeared to be red with black spots, and the other looked like a black cat. Both looked at the humans in front of them as the red one spoke first, "Are you our new chosens?"
Neither teen spoke to answer the question. Mostly because they were still trying to process the fact that two tiny creatures appeared from their boxes. The fact that they were able to speak was secondary at this point. In a moment of instinct, Adrien moved Marinette behind him and grabbed his sword from the chair, saying, "Who, and what are you?"
The cat creature simply gave a light chuckle, and said, "We're beings that can't really be killed so easily with a simple sword like this."
The red creature gave her companion a shove, and said, "I do apologize for this. We aren't here to cause you any harm. My name is Tikki, and this is Plagg. We're known as kwamis. And you two were just granted the responsibility of bearing our miraculouses."