Chapter 4

The next morning, after Marinette had put on one of her better dresses and pinned up her hair, she deemed herself ready for the day's outing. Grabbing her satchel, she moved to leave her room, but not before giving Tikki an affectionate scratch from inside her cage. She had already made sure the hamster had enough food and water for the duration in which she would be gone.

When she walked downstairs, her parents looked her up and down with smiles etched onto their faces.

"And where are you going on this lovely morning?" her mother inquired with a sly twinkle in her gray eyes, her father mirroring the expression.

"The Baron Barbot is hosting a game of jeu de mail at his estate today and has invited me. I was planning on going and-"

Her parents suddenly frowned, all traces of their earlier smiles completely vanished.

"Will the Vicomte Agreste be there as well?" Tom interrupted, his tone strangely curious.

At this, Marinette furrowed her brows and tilted her head in confusion. What did Vicomte Agreste have to do with anything?

"I'm not sure. Why?"

"No reason," he answered nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders. "Have a nice time, cupcake."

"I will," she replied, still curious but trying to let go of it. "I was hoping I could go and socialize while selling some of our pastries-"

"Oh no, dear!" Sabine quickly admonished. "You were invited as a guest, you're not going to sell pastries. You're going to have fun and relax, while not doing any work."

Marinette protested, insisting that she should sell some pastries and make extra money for the bakery, but her parents were adamant on their refusal. At one point, Sabine started to gently push her daughter out the door. Eventually, Marinette understood that she simply wasn't going to win this time, and so resigned to bid her parents a good-bye, but not without giving them a displeased scowl.

From there on Marinette began the trek to the estate. It wasn't a far walk, though still a considerable distance for her. She thought that since Theo invited her and knew where she lived, not to mention that he was interested in courting her, that he would've sent for a carriage. Apparently not.

She picked up her dress's skirt and tried her best to not get dirt on the hem from the road as she walked. Closing her eyes, she inhaled a deep lungful of the fresh summer air, tilting her head up to the sky for the gentle breeze to play with and tousle her locks.

Unfortunately that would be the last breeze for a while. With the sun beating down upon her, she could already feel the trickles of sweat beading across the top of her forehead. She wiped it off with the back of her hand, careful not to accidentally touch her hair in the process.

She made it about a quarter of the way there when she heard the tell-tale sounds of a horse pulling a carriage along. She simply moved closer to the grassy edge of the road to let it pass, head brought down and minding her own business. It wasn't really polite to gawk at passing carriages, in her eyes.

Marinette was content to stick with her leisurely pace, until her ears picked up on what sounded like the horse slowing down. Why would it do that? There wasn't another road it could turn to. None of her friends owned carriages, so it couldn't be one who happened upon her and offer to take her to the estate.

"Miss Marinette? Is that you?"

She stopped at the calling of her name. Turning, she locked eyes with Vicomte Agreste, who had his head poked out of the window peering down at her with an intrigued stare. She hadn't seen him ever since he stopped in the bakery and requested to speak with her parents, then only mumbling a quick "just Adrien" to her before he left.

He was still as handsome as ever. While the sun was rather harsh to her, for Adrien the rays seemed to create a golden halo around his head. The corner of his lips turned up in a smile, and it was then that she remembered that he just asked her if she was indeed who he thought she was.

"Yes, it's me, Victomte." The words sounded awkward to her ears as she dipped into a quick curtsey, showing him the proper respect for his title. "Did you wish to speak with me?"

"There's no need for such formalities," he said, still wearing that friendly smile. "I presume you're going to the Baron Barbot's estate, yes? Would you be interested in accompanying me there?"

Marinette blinked, surprised by his offer.

"You're asking me if I want to ride with you in your carriage?" she asked for clarification. Why would he offer a peasant, a person who hardly mattered to someone of his status, transportation?

He grinned.

"Yes, if you would like to."

"I'm afraid I have no money, sir."

At this he laughed.

"I have no desire for any payment, Miss Marinette. So, will you join me? I can't imagine the sun being very kind for anyone walking today."

His statement reminded her of the very source for the cause of the sweat still dotting her forehead, and now trickling down her neck. However, she wouldn't jump right into accepting his offer. She was still skeptical, it seemed too good to be true.

Then again, he didn't seem like a manipulative cad. She never heard any particularly scandalous rumors about him. And those green eyes just looked so earnest…

Not to mention, just the slightest bit familiar.

"W-Well, if you insist," she accepted, shrugging off the nagging feeling inside her and walked to the carriage door. Adrien opened it and offered his hand, prompting Marinette to pick up her head to look him in the eyes with a faint smirk dancing on her lips.

"I appreciate the gesture, but I am perfectly capable of getting in on my own, Vicomte."

Adrien responded with a grin, backing away with his hands held high in the air as she climbed in the carriage and sat across from him.

"I have no doubt you can, as you just displayed. However, I'm afraid the imposed rules of society dictate me to offer a lady my hand for assistance when it comes to things like stepping into carriages."

Marinette scoffed lightly in amusement mixed with a bit of wonder. Most men wouldn't say those kinds of words. Most men tended to think that women were fragile and dainty creatures that needed their help with everything, and were all too eager to let that mindset show at every opportunity.

Adrien matched her smile with one of his own before lightly rapping on the wall and telling the driver that he could resume the journey.

Marinette felt herself relax in the plush, not to mention doused in cooling shade, cushion. Yes, being inside here was much better than walking outside with the hot sun beating down her back.

She directed her focus on the man in front of her, who was studiously staring down at his knees with his lips pressed into a firm line. She couldn't blame him for possibly feeling awkward, there was practically a stranger sitting across from him, after all.

Little did she know that he wasn't feeling awkward from her presence at all; he was just mentally searching for something interesting to say.

"Thank you for doing this for me, Vicomte," she spoke, breaking him from his thoughts. He blinked and stared up at her, her words bringing a half-smile to his lips. "How can I repay you?"

"Well, you could refrain from calling me by my title and instead refer to me by my name," he suggested with a slight chuckle.

Marinette shook her head. He was nice, and even though he offered casualty, he was still above her station. Ironically, him being so nice only helped to solidify her decision to treat him with the courtesy he deserved, as Marinette was a firm believer in that respect was earned and not to be given. If someone treated her with good manners and kindness, then she would offer the same to them.

"You're above my place in society, Vicomte. You deserve to be called by your proper title."

He appeared unbothered by her refusal. Instead, he leaned forward with a lopsided smirk.

"I think I deserve to be called by my name if it's what I prefer, don't you agree?"

Marinette leaned back, carefully folding her arms together, regarding him with a raised brow.

"You're not like the other gentlemen of high society. What person of your class gives such permission to practically a stranger?"

"I'd hardly call us strangers, Miss Marinette." He grinned broadly, as a peculiar twinkle took over his eyes.

She deemed his sly expression nothing of consequence, deducing it to be only another trait of his apparent oddness.

"Yes," she sarcastically agreed, rolling her eyes with a faint smile. "Because speaking only a few words to each other in my parents' bakery deemed us the best of friends."

"And you're riding with me in my carriage," he pointed out, completely self-satisfied. "So we can't possibly be strangers."

She let out a short laugh, both bemused and mysteriously charmed by him.

"If you say so."

"I'm glad we could agree," he returned, just the slightest bit smug. However, his smile began to fade as their conversation lulled into a silence. He wanted to keep her interested; he didn't want her to be bored with his company.

After all, if she never at least came to tolerate Adrien, how could he expect for her to return his affections when he would eventually reveal himself?

Speaking of which, this whole reason why he decided to romance her in secrecy…

"So, you were invited to the Baron Barbot's estate," he began, careful with his choice of words. He didn't want to seem like he was prying. "You must be pretty special to receive an invitation from a Baron."

The woman before him shrugged.

"I guess. He only invited me because he's trying to court me."

"That's a good thing, right?" he asked, even though inside he thought the exact opposite. "Marrying someone of his status could mean a future with practically no worries."

"Yes, I will live a life of comfort, but that wouldn't exactly guarantee my happiness." She frowned, not liking where this conversation was going. She didn't want to have a heart-to-heart with someone she barely knew. "I assume you're friends with the Baron to get an invitation as well?"

Honestly she hoped that he wasn't friends with Theo. So far, Adrien seemed just too nice and polite to possibly be around someone like him.

Adrien, not willing to push yet not exactly satisfied at the small amount of information given to him, smiled as if nothing was amiss.

"Not quite." His smile stretched into a devilish grin. "Are you aware of the practice of 'gatecrashing', Miss Marinette?"

She blinked, struck dumb by his question. Was he really-?!

"You're…you're attending the event uninvited?"

Not only was he strange, but he was reckless as well.

"Of course. It seems like it's going to be a very agreeable day, and I know plenty of people that are going. Besides, I'm always one for a game of jeu de mail. I was the best during my school days, you know." He winked.

That, combined with the roguish curl of his lips, had her stomach doing an uncanny set of flips.

"Do-do you know why the Baron hasn't invited you?" she asked with a slight stutter, wanting him to cease with that mischievous expression already.

Thankfully, he did, settling with an indifferent smile.

"We've never seen eye to eye with each other, to put it simply, so I'm not surprised that I didn't receive an invitation."

"But why do you want to go if you don't like him?" she questioned, her curiosity piqued.

"Let's just say," he paused, thinking over his next words. "That we're both after something right now and I don't want to allow him another opportunity to have it, not while I have a chance to stop it from happening."

This time when he gazed at her, she couldn't discern the new emotion shining in his eyes. The longer she spent trying to figure it out, the more she grew unknowingly lost in the depths of his mysteriously-familiar green eyes.

It was only when the carriage abruptly halted that the two were jolted back to reality. Marinette shook her head to clear it, mentally scolding herself for staring at another gentleman when she already had one (who was not Theo) trying to claim her heart.

Meanwhile, Adrien was trying to calm himself to reduce the blush he knew had to be staining his cheeks. For a wild moment, he considered telling her exactly who he was, that he was the masked rogue coming to her balcony under the moonlight trying to woo her into marrying him.

He was quick to stop that idea as soon as it had come. Suddenly dropping that information on her would undoubtedly scare her away, which he had absolutely no intentions of doing if he wanted her to love him one day.

He cleared his throat before he spoke.

"Well, it seems we have arrived." He opened the door, stepping out and immediately offering his hand for hers before remembering her earlier words and taking it back. The corner of Marinette's lips arched in amusement as she stepped out onto the smoothly paved walkway.

"Now, I do believe we have a function to crash," Adrien said with humor lacing his tone, offering her his arm in case she wanted to take it. To his surprise, she did, regarding him with teasing intentions in her sparkling blue eyes.

"We? I have an invitation, Vicomte. You don't. The only interloper here, is you, sir."

Thank you for your continued support, even when I update so slowly. Lately it's been hard for me to feel inspired but I think that's starting to change :)

Also, I know 'gatecrashing' sounds really informal and honestly out of place for this story, but I couldn't find any solid history of the term so I could name it something more fitting.