I do not own Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir.
Enjoy!
Nino replaced his phone, his hat and his glasses with the excuse that he was getting older so he was trying to mix his lookup.
Unfortunately, he still got insults as usual but he could bear it.
He asked Alya what she would like to do on their next date and her reply told him she still hadn't figured out he had money yet.
On the side of his life, he looked at the rising land value of this country he was apparently the prince of.
The country name wasn't even in the world search ranking but he proudly looked at the gorgeous pictures of him when he saw it was now online.
And unknown to him at the same time, his quality of school work was getting higher and he was gaining some high-class skills overnight.
On the date, Alya was too busy talking about hooking up Marinette with Adrien and finding out who Ladybug is, to notice some of the adults giving her boyfriend surprised looks.
They noticed the fine material that made him look better than normal, a normal person wouldn't have been able to track down why he looked better but they could.
It was at the shopping expo that things seemed to change for him.
Every few months, Paris had this big shopping event where they roll out items costing thousands, for the super-rich while those not watching.
And every few months, Chloe Bourgeois gets to flash her credit card in everybody face and be treated like a queen.
Even Gabriel Agreste attended this event, it was where he got some pretty old things.
And of course, the Mayor of Paris was here to greet the wealthy and smile for the camera as the news came to cover the event.
Nino was dressed in a hoody and jeans as he walked around with Alya, who was trying to snap some pictures and maybe talk to a celebrity.
He was certainly not in a 'look at me, I breathe money' attire.
But he caught the eyes of more than a few workers, however a pair of speakers used by none of then Jaggered Stone caught his eyes.
The speakers were just as crazily looking as the man and there was a picture attached to it showing the speakers at a concert with the man, but the pair was priced at 12,000.
Alya saw her boyfriend had stopped and when she saw what was, she knew her boyfriend was currently drooling.
"I...need... it," he said.
Suddenly they heard a snort and turned around, to see Chloe with her butler who was carrying items.
"12,000? Like you can afford it." Said Chloe. "Oh, please, my coat is worth more than your whole outfit combined"
Both Nino and Alya frowned.
Little did they know, a worker had taken a scan of Nino, having noticed the quality of his clothes.
A few seconds later, Nino image lit up like a Christmas tree when the items he was wearing and in extension his phone came up.
Let's just say, Chloe was not the most expensively dressed teenagers in the place.
Holy mother of god. Thought the worker, seeing what he was casually walking around with.
Suddenly the worker went to another worker and showed them the picture and pointed to the boy.
News spread like wildfire amongst the staff, the labelled photo was sent to all of them and it caused an uproar amongst them.
"Where is this boy?"
"He owns a 10,000 euro phone!"
Yes, the very phone Chloe ridiculed as trying to look expensive days before.
This all happened within a few minutes after Chloe had left.
"Drop it, Nino," said Alya, seeing him not willing to give up. "I'll buy you ice cream later"
Suddenly they heard. "Excuse me, are you interested in these speakers?"
They turned around and saw some staff who were smiling like they were addressing Chloe Bourgeois.
And Nino without missing a beat and not caring about exposing his financial situation because he wanted the speakers that badly.
"Yes, I want these speakers," he said, to them. "What payment method do you prefer Cash or credit card?"
And Alya looked at him wide eyes.
"A-Any method sir," said the one in the middle shocked.
"Great," he said. "I'll give you guys my name and I'll come back in a few days. Let's pay for this"
He took out his wallet and produced thousands of euros like thin air and handed it over to the stunned staff members who took it.
They got his name down and put the sold sign over the speakers and put his name on the sold sign.
"'I'm starving" he then said, then he walked and Alya slowly went after him.
Nino was unaware that his civilian name that was on those speakers was a now a spotlight on him.
Several people had heart attacks when they saw his name on something that was priced at 12,000, including Chloe who previously ridiculed him.
Nino found that the food person was really nice when he approached and he soon sat down with Alya with food.
He began to eat.
"Nino..." She said after a while.
"Yes?" he said, eating a burger.
"Did you just pay for a 12,000 pair of speakers right in front of me, in cash?" She said she needed to check her sense of reality.
He stopped and said. "Yeah..."
They both stared at each other.
She opened and closed her mouth.
"I'm rich, Alya," he said. "Really rich"
They stared at each other some more.
"...How rich?" she said.
He thought about it and said. "If I don't have money for those speakers, I just need to call somebody and the money will be on my card in seconds"
Yep, you've never heard of Royalty not being able to afford something because even poor countries go into bankruptcy just to make sure their Royals are seen with the best in life.
Because a Royal was the face of the nation.
Alya said nothing as she put her head in her hands and she wasn't the only one doing this right now.
Chloe had dragged her father to the speakers.
"Mayor," said the staff.
"Tell him who brought these speakers," she said. "I know one loser with this name and he can't afford it"
And seeing the Mayor, a staff member came and showed the man her phone.
The man looked only to go white as he recognised this boy but the price of the items on the boy was what made him go white.
Chloe came and looked at what startled her father so much, however, when she saw what was on the screen, she too went white as well.
The clothes she ridiculed were actually one of a kind made by top designers and were easily more expensive then her whole outfit combined.
She did not know where to look, because even his phone was shocking.
"Who is that, boy?" Said the Mayor, looking up. "Did he say who he was? Is he still here?"
"I believe he's still here," said the staff. "As for his identity, he didn't really say but he's very rich. He paid the full 12,000 in cash from his wallet, like it was just paper to him. His wallet looked very expensive too. Were even updating the VIP list as we speak. We'll be asking him to take a picture when he comes back in a few days for it"
They were stunned.
Nino, the boy who was always in a t-shirt and jeans most of the time, was actually insanely rich behind closed doors?
This was the biggest shock of their lives.
Later, the event itself managed to squeeze out a few thousand more from Nino at the end of the day.
The way the staff bent over backwards for him and their respectful tone towards him didn't go unnoticed by the elites or the camera.
But what really got their attention was how Nino was actually tipping those who helped him like money grew on trees for him.
He decided to tip because he thought the staff needed something to tide them over because they would be serving the worst of Paris.
The shocked and grateful look when he handed them the money for their service, proved to be the right choice despite the attention he got.
Seeing this his popularity exploded amongst the staff who saw him tipping.
They pretty much abandoned the none tipping elites of the event and went to him.
Nino walked out of there with his arms around Alya and his hand with a gift from the venue.
They began walking, this was more of Nino guided her then Alya brain working.
"Nino...who are you?" She said, who was she dating?
"Alya, if we ever get that serious I'll tell you," he said. "But I just brought the sweetest pair of speakers I have ever seen and I need to celebrate"
Before he said. "Oh, yeah. Now, I'll have to come to school by car for a while. I don't want people finding out where I live. This will blow over eventually."
It was a smart move.
#Esnye#
July looked at Nino reputation skyrocket.
She wondered what happened.
The country of Esyne was now livable for most of the people here.
She often thought of visiting her new son but it was likely that he was still mad at her.
After all, Hawk Moth lived there and if Nino knew she was in Paris.
My god.
She needs to stay away from Paris until she knew he wouldn't get Akumatised because of her.
She hoped the money she was sending him was softening the blow, even if it was only a little bit.
She also wanted to show him this country and have him build pride in it, but it wasn't there yet.
But she will make it ready.
When Nino sees this country it's going to be beautiful, she swore it.