Chapter Five

Enchanting Pair

As Adrien arrived at the front gates of the castle, entirely disguised and pretending to be a guest, he felt anxiety begin to creep up on him.

What had he actually agreed to do? Find some super dangerous criminal and stop him?

According to Plagg, Hawk Moth was out to kidnap the Prince. Which meant Adrien. What if all of this went horribly wrong?

And then there was Plagg's partner… or, a girl being guided by Plagg's partner. Who was she? Plagg knew they were a girl, and that was all. How was Adrien supposed to find them?

A Ladybug Princess. That meant they were wearing something ladybug-themed. Spots.

Adrien had to focus on finding black-on-red spots.

He stepped out of the carriage, nervous whether or not the staff would recognise him. But, by the way they acted, Adrien could tell they didn't. They weren't truly paying attention to the way the guests looked, anyway.

Lucky for Adrien.

He entered the castle without being recognised. Plagg had done his job well. Now, it was up to Adrien to find his partner in crime and stop that criminal from ruining the ball.

The reason this whole ball was going on right now popped into Adrien's mind. How was he to stop a villain and find a wife all in one night? The boy let out a deep sigh.

He didn't want to disappoint his father. But then again, on the other hand – the whole idea was unrealistic to begin with. He couldn't choose someone to spend the rest of his life with based on just one night. He needed more time than that.

How could he marry someone he'd just met? Or – what if they could spend more time together after the ball, but she turned out not to be right for Adrien after all? Then he'd be back at square one, and the King would not be the least bit pleased.

It was a lose-lose situation either way. For now, Adrien had other things on his mind.

But where could a young Prince, disguised as a cat, find a lady who looked like a bug? A ladybug?

Adrien watched from a corner of the ballroom as more and more people kept arriving, having their names announced. People stood around clapping as attendants to the ball came down the stairs, usually in pairs; Adrien had been announced as the 'Duke of Chessy'. Adrien knew the Duke had sent his father a letter that he would not be able to attend the ball due to illness. The staff, however, had no idea, thus it was the perfect cover for Adrien.

Adrien awoke from his thoughts when the ballroom suddenly went awfully silent. He looked around to see what was going on, but he didn't need to search for long.

A girl had arrived. And literally everyone in the ballroom was staring at her, silently admiring her beauty.

The lackey was too flustered by her appearance to announce her; the girl seemed surprised at the attention she was getting. She was caught off guard for a moment, looked out of place.

And the pattern on the corset of her dress… seemed to resemble a ladybug. Adrien's heart skipped a beat.

It was her. She was the one he was supposed to meet at the ball.

He involuntarily took a few steps forward, towards the stairs, at the top of which his Ladybug Princess waited. He noticed heads turning from her towards him, questioning what he was doing. How dared he approach such a delicate young lady?

"Who is that guy?" Adrien recognised the unmistakable sound of Chloé's sharp voice in the crowd. "And who is she?" That last sentence was filled with obvious contempt and jealousy.

Adrien ignored Chloé's voice, ignored the crowd of eyes staring at him. And the girl? She did the same.

She appeared confused for a brief moment, before she noticed the cat's ears sticking out from the Prince's hair; this caused her to cautiously move forward as she began to descend the stairs and approach him.

"Hello, My Lady," the Prince said, bowing for the girl. "A good evening to you."

"Good evening," the Lady replied. She was nervous. Of course she was. "So… it's you?

"Us? We have to stop him?"

The Prince nodded. "Come with me," he said, "you were the last guest. The King will announce the Prince's birthday in a few minutes."

"How do you know?" the Lady asked as she linked arms with the Prince.

Adrien gritted his teeth. "I have a feeling, since that's the reason as to why the whole ball was thrown, isn't it?" the Prince replied. The Lady nodded.

And Adrien turned out to be right. The doors to the ballroom weren't closed, but the front gates were – and the King appeared at his throne. He did not appeared to be dressed up.

"Welcome," he spoke. "Thank you all for coming tonight.

"Of course, you all know why you're here – your daughters were invited. They have a chance of becoming Paris's future Queen."

Excited cheers came from the audience. Chloé and Sabrina. Adrien couldn't help but roll his eyes.

Was his Lady also rolling hers?

"My son, the Prince, will be amongst you tonight," the King continued to speak, "disguised as one of you. This way, he hopes to find a lady of his liking in private.

"All I can say, is that I hope he finds his happiness here tonight. You may begin enjoying yourself – I must return to my work."

The audience applauded, and the King left the throne room through a door in the back.

"Always working," Adrien mumbled under his breath, as he party came to life around him and his Lady.

"What?" the Lady asked.

"No-nothing," the Prince replied. "The King just always seems so busy. It must be difficult being him."

"I think it's more difficult being his son," Marinette replied, without thinking. When she saw the Prince's surprised face, she corrected herself. "Of course it's not as if the King doesn't love his son," the Lady corrected, "it's just – being royalty seems like such a heavy task."

The Prince snorted. "Yeah. You don't know the half of it."

Marinette couldn't help it. She was curious. About both this Prince, and the actual Prince. The Prince seemed really kind. This one, she didn't know for sure whether or not she was – she'd hardly even spoken to him. She'd decided to trust him because of Tikki and her friend – not that she had a choice in the matter, otherwise. Tikki's friend – or perhaps Mr Fu, who had given her the earrings - had chosen him. Did 'Mr' really stand for 'Mister'?

But Prince Adrien… despite only having spoken to him once, he seemed so kind. She felt nervous about the fact that he was wandering amongst the guests tonight, disguised as a normal person in a mask.

What if something went wrong? How could she and this Prince help him if they couldn't recognise him?

Marinette still felt worried, as if something bad was bound to happen tonight.

"My Lady?" the Prince suddenly asked, holding out his hand in front of Marinette. "May I have this dance?"

"You want to dance?" the Lady asked. "We need to find Hawk Moth before-!"

The Prince smiled. "We need to find him," he agreed, "but not cause any suspicion. We've already drawn enough attention to ourselves as it is. So… I figured it's best we blend in." He smirked.

"Besides, this song is my favourite waltz."

Seeing the Lady's lips curl up in a nervous smile, the Prince took her hand and guided her to the dance floor. Even now, the mysterious duo was once again catching people's attention.

"Don't worry," the Prince reassured his Lady, smiling kindly. "You'll do fine. Just follow my lead."

Marinette tried her best to keep up with the Prince, who was surprisingly skilled at dancing. She nervously counted the steps in her head.

"Don't," the Prince said. "Don't count. Don't fret. Just do. Dance."

Marinette swallowed, and followed his advice. She allowed her feet to do what they wanted, and the Lady instantly appeared as though she had been dancing this same dance with the Prince for ages. Like she had practiced it a million times before.

For some reason, something about the Prince began to feel familiar.

The duo hadn't even noticed that the crowd had ceased to dance, had formed a perfect circle around the Lady and her Prince. They watched as they danced, swirled, twirled. They seemed to float above the dance floor, just mere centimetres above it. The crowd was captivated, enchanted until the song ended and they bowed toward each other to end the dance.

The crowd clapped; Marinette started. But seeing the Prince smirking at her made her feel alright.

"You did purr-fect, My Lady," the Prince said with a laugh.

"Wow," the Lady replied, "that was bad. Really bad."

But still, in her mind, she thought his joke was kind of funny.