Lila stormed into the office of Miraculous Magazine, demanding to speak to the writer behind the piece exposing her "nervous breakdown."

"I DEMAND YOU TELL ME WHO DID THIS AT ONCE!" she shouted at Wayzz, the lead editor, a small, composed man who rather resembled a turtle with sleepy eyes, dressed in green from head to toe. He stared at her, unimpressed.

"I am the daughter of the top aide to the Italian ambassadors to France! Do you understand what this kind of slander will do to my reputation? How dare you write such drivel! I will sue your pathetic little publication for libel!"

"I'm sorry, Mademoiselle, but we have it on good authority from reliable sources that your behavior was exactly as described in the article. Miraculous Magazine only reports the truth," said Wayzz, waving his hand dismissively before looking back down at the article he was editing.

"You don't understand what my father is going to do to me. I am next in line to the Rossi throne! To inherit the responsibility of generations of reputation! Do you have any idea what a story like this will do to me?!"

"I'm sorry, Mademoiselle, but that's not our problem. And if I may say something, you are far from royalty. Please compose yourself, or I will have to ask you to leave."

"I am not a delusional maniac," Lila hissed, leaning over the desk into Wayzz's face.

"Some might say that's a matter of opinion," he replied with a shrug.

Lila's eyes blackened with fury.

"You are going to print a retraction right now, or I am going to rip your guts out one by one if it's the last thing I do."

Wayzz pressed 1 on his phone and leaned into the speaker. "Security, I need your assistance."

Gabriel stormed into the living room just as Audrey and Adrien were about to sit at the piano to play a duet.

"We must go abroad. It is far too risky to stay here. Have you seen all of the papers? They're all leaping on that article in Miraculous Magazine, talking about "hallucinations of a monstrous young man with terrifying ears and the fangs of a werewolf."

Audrey turned to her husband with a shrug. "That could describe any number of young men in this city. What does that have to do with us?"

"Surely you know who they are talking about," Gabriel responded, cutting his eyes at his son as Audrey glared at him, eyes narrow.

"It's just like eighteen years ago," he continued, pacing around the room. "Reporters swarming everywhere, asking questions—at this rate, Adrien will be exposed, and then what chance will we have?"

"We could move to Provence," said Adrien in a droll voice, turning to his mother. "I hear the lavender fields are nice this time of year."

"Provence is good," said Audrey with a nod.

"Or perhaps London."

"Oh, yes, you could practice your English."

"I could practice my English!"

Gabriel blinked at them, imagining crowds of Londoners fleeing in horror from the sight of his son walking blithely down the city streets, ears and tail exposed.

"Never mind. Clearly I overreacted."

He whirled around and rushed out of the room. "Nathalie! Get me a new list of eligible young women right now!"

Lila howled in fury as she was dragged out of the Miraculous Magazine building by security officers for the second time in less than 48 hours.

"I DEMAND A RETRACTION! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! ADRIEN AGRESTE HAS RUINED MY LIFE! HE'S A CAT, I'M TELLING YOU! HE'S A BEAST! HE HAD HIDEOUS EARS AND A DISGUSTING BLACK TAIL! I'M NOT MAD! WHY WILL NO ONE BELIEVE ME?!"

As the security officers pulled her to the entrance, her protests caught the attention of one Master Fu, who peered after her with interest.

"Wait, wait! Hold on there! I believe that young woman has an appointment with me."

Nathalie spread the profiles of several potential matches across the dinner table.

"Okay, well, first, there's Juleka Couffaine," she said, pointing to a picture of a raven-haired young woman with dark eyes, dressed from head to toe in black and purple.

"No, I don't think so," murmured Audrey. "And anyway, I've heard rumors that Juleka has no interest in men as it is."

"Is that right?" replied Nathalie, eyebrows raised. "I suppose I'll have to take her off my list then. A pity, she was so very striking."

Gabriel frowned. "Please do all the necessary research prior to presenting us with any new options. I don't want to waste time on any women who do not have the potential to be the right match. And let us discuss the matter of the financial gift to the bride's family. We should double it."

Adrien walked into the room, twirling a spring of catnip around his fingers as he took in the scene.

"If they don't want to look at me now, what makes you think that giving them more money will change that? They're still going to scream and run."

"Well, with that attitude…" replied Gabriel, curt and dismissive.

"Yes, my attitude is really the problem here," said Adrien with a sigh, slowly pacing around the room and pausing at the large circular mirror near the door.

He gazed thoughtfully at his reflection, raising his hands to cover the soft black ears peeking out of his hair. With them covered, he looked almost like the normal young man his father wanted him to be.

"Oh, mon minou," murmured Audrey. "It's not your fault."

Adrien smiled. "I know. It's not my face, it's my great great great great grandfather's face. He's not me, and I'm not him."

"And don't you forget it," added Gabriel.

Adrien nodded and slowly walked out of the room.

Across town, Lila found herself crouching down in a small and cramped van filled to the brim with newspaper clippings and various mythological memorabilia next to the reporter known as Master Fu.

"I almost gave my ability to walk for that story eighteen years ago," he said slowly, pointing to the cane in the corner of the van that he now used to help him move around. "But I didn't get anything out of it, except a few bad photos and an editorial that sounds more like a conspiracy theory than anything plausible."

"So you didn't actually see him?"

Master Fu shook his head. "Who, the baby? No, I didn't. I only caught a glimpse of him. But it was enough to get me suspicious. I thought my head was playing tricks on me, but they wouldn't have been so scared if they didn't really have something to hide."

"Well, thank god someone believes me," muttered Lila.

"Unfortunately, me believing you isn't going to do any good."

Lila frowned, disappointed. "Everyone in Paris already thinks I've had some sort of nervous breakdown. I don't know what to do."

"Well, we're gonna need some proof to clear both our names. We'll need to get back inside the Agreste mansion. Do you think you can do it?"

"No. There's no way I'm ever going back in there again to face that monster. I just want to clear my name."

"Are you sure? We just need one clear photo."

Lila shook her head vigorously, her eyes bright and frantic. "No. Noooo, no no no. No. No! I am not going back in there."

"Well, in that case, we're going to have to find somebody who can. We can hook her up with the matchmaking agency that connected you to the Agreste family."

"No, you don't understand. They only want to see blue bloods, old money. Common everyday ruffians won't even get through the door. It's part of the whole 'curse' thing. I thought it was just Monsieur Agreste being precious about not wanting Adrien to marry outside his class, but apparently it actually matters. And unfortunately, I don't think we're going to find any blue bloods lining up to help us. It's not like they need the money."

"No…" murmured Master Fu. "Regular blue bloods might not, but down-and-out blue bloods might. And I think I know just the girl."

Lila curled her lip in disgust as Master Fu led her down the back streets of Paris to the doors of a dingy little saloon, where a compact little woman with a face full of freckles and bright red hair was acting as bouncer.

Master Fu waved as as he approached. "Hello, Tikki. Is Lady Coccinelle here tonight?"

"Depends on who's asking for her," replied the older woman, raising an eyebrow as she turned to look at Lila.

"Tikki, play nice," scolded Master Fu. "Mademoiselle Rossi is with me."

"I see," said Tikki, clearly unimpressed. "Well, you'll find her in the bar, as usual. Though I can't imagine what business either of you would have with her at this time of night."

As she spoke, Lila noticed a young woman with bright blue eyes and long dark hair pulled into pigtails striding out of the kitchen, pulling a peacoat over clothes that were beautifully tailored but clearly well worn. She was yawning and rubbing her eyes, obviously exhausted.

"Who is that?"

Master Fu smiled at the young woman, recognizing her immediately.

"Pardon me, Lady Coccinelle, but may we have a word?"

The young woman turned around, confused.

"I'm sorry, but do I know you?"

Master Fu shook his head. "No, but I know you. Did a little research. And it seems like in a few short years, you've managed to spend all the money your family spent generations building, and now you work in a saloon kitchen. Surely you must be frustrated."

Lady Coccinelle whipped her head to look at Tikki, eyes wide with amazement, before bursting into laughter and walking past him and Lila towards the door.

"Hey, hear me out!" Master Fu called after her. "I'll make it worth your while."

"Listen," said Lady Coccinelle, turning around and shaking her head. "You've got the wrong girl."

Lila rolled her eyes and interjected. "Is ten thousand euros worth your while?"

Lady Coccinelle whirled back around, incredulity slowly turning into calculation.

"Okay. I'm listening."