Chapter Nine

The Stroke of Midnight

The Moth grinned at the current developments. He'd let the little Bee carry out her plan – as of right now, it seemed as though the girl was doing everything just right. By midnight, she'd have both the Lady's and the Prince's Miraculous, and she'd come to deliver them to him.

And then he'd make good on his promise. The Moth felt bad for his son, but the Moth was sure the boy would understand once his father explained everything. The Prince had to marry someday anyway, and this way, at least the future Queen would be one of noble blood.

If the Prince was to truly follow his father's footsteps to every detail, then the young boy would eventually grow to deeply love the wife he wed in an arranged marriage. The same had happened for the King and his Queen.

The Moth was convinced his victory was secured. As long as Queen Bee didn't fail him, the night's outcome would be perfect.

She was on her way to Prince Noir. Now, the chance of success depended on Noir's ability to pay attention. Would he notice the slight changes? The inversion of the colours on the Lady's dress, her 'slight' change in personality? Perhaps.

But what would it matter? The Lady had been easily apprehended – Prince Noir would be no different.

The Moth wasn't in the gardens, or at least for as far as Adrien could tell. In fact, there was no one in the garden at all. Adrien noticed that the gardens were usually quiet whenever his father threw parties and balls, but this was a new kind of quiet. It was as if there was something in the air outside that kept the guests away.

The Prince had decided to wait for his Lady, right in the spot where they'd decided to split up. If she found something, she would probably come find him first. It simply wasn't safe to take on an enemy alone – especially not while they were dressed the way they currently were.

Adrien sighed. He had to ask Plagg if there was something more comfortable to wear in his kwami-wardrobe. A suit like this wasn't quite the ideal garment to fight crime in.

The sound of a voice calling him drew his attention. The Lady had returned! But… from a distance, she might've as well been a stranger. What had happened to her? Adrien could not help but feel suspicious as the girl approached him.

Something was off.

Adrien decided to pretend as if he hadn't noticed that something was going on, and wait and see how things would turn out. Adrien was convinced this change was the Moth's doing somehow.

"My Lady," he grinned, "I'm glad to see you return safely. Did you notice anything odd in the gardens?"

"No, I didn't," the 'Lady' said. Queen Bee grinned in her mind; this cat-boy was even dumber than she'd thought. He didn't notice that the girl in front of him was entirely different from the one before at all. This assignment would be a piece of cake. "Did you find anything, Noir?"

The Prince shook his head. "No I didn't, Ma'am," he said. "It seems all too quiet outside."

Queen Bee carefully stroked her chin. How was she to get this oaf to follow her to the Moth? Sabrina would take care of that Lady and her earrings, but Queen Bee had to take care of Prince Noir. She knew he'd be too clever for her to be able to just strip the ring right from his gloved fingers, and thus she had to come up with a more sophisticated way to relieve the Prince from his Miraculous.

"So, where do you suggest we search for the Moth next?" Queen Bee asked. If she could manipulate him into following her, then she could lead the Prince right to the Moth. She had to make sure the Prince absolutely trusted the Lady for one hundred per cent, no doubt. Otherwise, her plan wouldn't work.

"Uhm…" the Prince scratched the back of his neck absentmindedly as he mentally scanned for a place to check. Of course they could not go into the castle's private chambers without looking suspicious, but if they wanted a shot at finding the Moth, then perhaps there would be their best shot at finding him.

"The Moth could be hiding out in the Prince's private chambers," the Prince said. "Plagg told me that the Moth would probably try and kidnap him. Perhaps he's simply waiting for the ball to end, for the Prince to return to his chamber. That way, he can take him away without making a fuss at the ball, and make his intentions and demands clear once the entire Kingdom goes out to search for the Prince."

"What!?" Chloé shouted. The Moth wanted to kidnap the Prince? This wasn't part of the plan! The Prince should stay at the ball, and announce Chloé as his Queen later that night!

Or did the Moth set up a diversion? Was the 'kidnapping the Prince' merely a way to distract the Miraculous-bearers, so he could catch them in a trap?

Chloé tapped her lips, instantly regretting it – the red lipstick left a bright mark on her black silk gloves. But yes, that had to be the case. She quickly had to snap back into character; obviously, the Lady had been briefed on the same story as Prince Noir had, and thus Queen Bee had to act as if she knew about this.

"I mean – what? You want to sneak into the Prince's chambers? Without permission?

"Noir, what if we get caught?"

The Prince shrugged. He hadn't thought of that himself yet, but he assumed most of the guards were either guarding the gates or on leave for the night and were enjoying the ball themselves. The chance that they would actually be caught by a guard was small, but then again, there was Adrien's father…

He still had no idea where his father had gone, and thus the King could be anywhere in the Castle. Running into him dressed like two royal vigilantes would be the worst idea Adrien could possibly think of. If the King caught them, they would be kicked out of – if not banned from – the castle for sure, and then the Moth would have free play. But still, the Moth had to be caught, and the entire castle had to be taken into consideration as a possible hiding place. Besides, Adrien still had to unmask this obvious impostor, and the ability to sneak off into his chambers gave him an idea.

"We could always try," the Prince suggested. "I mean – I'm pretty good at sneaking about unnoticed. What about you?"

Queen Bee shrugged. Chloé always wanted to be the centre of the attention no matter what happened or where she went, so 'sneaking about unnoticed' wasn't exactly part of her list of skills. But for now, she just had to pretend that it was.

"I guess it's worth a try," Queen Bee lied. "I mean – we have a solid reason, with plenty of proof."

The Prince nodded approvingly. "That's the spirit," he said, and approached one of the castle walls. Strong veins grew across the castle's exterior, and one of the branches just so happened to pass right by his chambers.

Lucky Adrien hadn't closed his window that night.

"I'll climb up here," the Prince said, "and check if anything's going to get us into trouble. Once the coast is clear, I'll call you up."

Queen Bee bit her lip. She was going to have to climb up a castle's wall, and had to do so with nothing but a bunch of plants to help her? This was ridiculous! What if she fell, or her dress got damaged, or her hair got messed up? How was she to return to the party? Would her actual, non-enchanted-akuma-dress be affected by any damage caused to the akuma-dress?

But, if Queen Bee wanted her plan to succeed, she had to comply to everything this baboon of a boy came up with. At least, until the Moth gave her the signal to act.

He better hurry up with that signal, Chloe thought. I'm losing my patience here.

She gave the Prince a quick, stiff nod of approval, and he set off to climb to the open window.

Adrien climbed up to his window as quickly as he could, but he still couldn't help but feel tired when he got there. He wasn't used to vigorous exercise.

He had to act quickly – this Lady-impostor would probably quickly run out of patience, and Adrien preferred not to let her out of his sight. Besides, his real Lady was still out there, waiting, possibly in danger. And he had to find her. But that meant he'd have to expose this impostor first.

Adrien quickly slipped off the ring, calling off his transformation. Plagg appeared, looking tired.

"Whatcha doing that for?" Plagg asked. "There's still an hour left until the stroke of midnight. You haven't even found the Moth, let alone stopped him, and seem to have lost your Lady somewhere.

"Great going, Kid."

"Yeah, yeah, spare me the insults for later," Adrien said, checking if the suit he'd put on before transforming was still proper. Of course it was – he almost looked just like a white version of his Miraculous suit – something he'd done on purpose, because he did like the way the suit looked, and thus had asked his tailors to make a similar design. Now, where had he left the mask?

"Alright, Plagg," Adrien said, as he grabbed the white mask from his desk, "I need your help."

"What is it now?" Plagg asked, sounding slightly annoyed. "I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I've been helping you all night long, Kid."

"It's an emergency, Plagg," Adrien snapped at the Kwami. "I need you to take your ring back and transform – shapeshift, whatever - into Prince Noir. That girl I left waiting down there is an impostor, probably sent by the Moth, and I need to expose her in order to find out what happened to the real Ladybug."

Plagg raised an eyebrow. "Transform into Prince Noir?" he asked, almost mockingly. "And you think I'm capable of doing that because…?"

"Oh for goodness' sake, Plagg!" Adrien cried out. "Don't tell me-!"

Plagg burst out in laughter. "I kid, Kid!" he chuckled. "Of course I can do that. But it has nothing to do with transforming by ring. I'll become your black-suited doppel right here and now."

Adrien still handed him the ring; he could not be caught carrying it around or wearing it. It was too suspicious, and perhaps the fake-Lady would not be fooled if she noticed the ring on Adrien's hand.

"Alright, Plagg, just pretend you're Prince Noir," Adrien said, fastening the mask behind his head. "Call that girl up here, like I'd just promised I'd do. I'll come walking into my chambers, pretending to be retreating from the party because of dizziness, and I'll then take it from there."

Plagg nodded. "Now, shoo," he said. "Watch the master actor at work."

Adrien snorted as he left the chambers. Oh, Plagg. As modest as ever.

Adrien checked the clock that hung in the castle's grand upstairs hallway. That whole ordeal, from climbing up to setting up his trap, took ten minutes clean off of his time. Fifty minutes until midnight. Fifty minutes until the Moth would disappear, until Adrien and his Lady were exposed.

Well, Plagg would vanish, and Adrien would be fine. The Lady would simply revert back to whatever she'd been wearing before transforming. As long as she was safe when she detransformed, no harm would be done.

Marinette had also noticed the time. Fifty minutes until midnight. Sabrina had not moved from her post in twenty minutes.

Marinette had to act quickly. She'd noticed Noir climbing up to one of the windows from afar, but had no idea what he was actually planning. Chloé followed him about five minutes after he'd entered the window. She took much longer to climb up than the Prince had, partially because her dress wasn't exactly fit for climbing. According to the clock, Marinette had spent twelve painful minutes looking at the ordeal before Chloé finally climbed into the window, the Prince helping her inside. Now there were only thirty-seven minutes left until midnight.

Time was running out.

"Sabrina, what is Chloé up to?" Marinette did not see the harm in letting Sabrina know who she was. Sabrina genuinely liked Chloé, despite being her servant, but Sabrina was nothing like Chloé at all. She wasn't a mean-spirited girl, just afraid of rejection – and of Chloé's ever-changing moods.

If Marinette showed her kindness, then perhaps she could motivate Sabrina into letting her go.

"I- I don't know," Sabrina said, turning to face Marinette, who was still sitting on the ground, skirt and arms bound. "I'm not supposed to talk to you." Then, her eyes narrowed. "How do you know my name?"

"We know each other," Marinette said. "From the town. We… we don't talk much, but I bet we could be friends if it wasn't for Chloé constantly mocking about."

Sabrina nodded. "Really?" she said. "You'd want to be friends with me? Chloé always tells me no one would want to be friends with me, because I'm a servant, and servants aren't supposed to speak to people unless they're ordered to."

Marinette couldn't help but grind her teeth. Chloé treated Sabrina even worse than Marinette already suspected. Sabrina needed to learn to stand up for herself, beside the fact that she was paid to serve Chloé and her family.

"Then Chloé is wrong," Marinette stated. "You too have the right to speak, Sabrina. Don't let Chloé tell you otherwise. Chloé is just using you and treating you poorly."

Sabrina's eyes widened. "Oh, no!" she said. "She's not always mean! She can be kind sometimes, really. She's even told me because I would not ever have anyone else, she'd be my friend, so I wouldn't be alone."

Marinette rolled her eyes. If that had to be an example that displayed Chloé's kindness, then it was a very bad example.

"Chloé's not always right, Sabrina," Marinette told the redhead. "It's important that you become your own person. Stand up against Chloé sometimes! If you don't like something she does, tell her!"

Sabrina tilted her head. "Well, she often does do things I'm not always happy with…" She scanned Marinette's body. "Like… like this. It's not fair to you. Love should be fair game."

Marinette smiled. "Then take a stand," she said. "Express your opinion. Make it loud and clear."

Sabrina was hesitant. Her feet shuffled underneath her heavy purple dress, and her eyes were locked on the ground.

Then, her head moved up. Sabrina had made up her mind.

"Thank you for your advice," she said. "You remind me of our town's baker's girl… she's kind."

Marinette smiled. "Then talk to her," she said. "She'd probably not mind at all to be your friend."

Sabrina nodded. "I- I'll try," she said, as she knelt down to release Marinette's arms. Then, she untied the rope around her legs and helped the Lady stand up.

"Thank you, Sabrina," Marinette said. "Now, I have to go – Chloé may be putting Prince Adrien in great danger.

"Oh, my," Sabrina gasped. "She probably doesn't know that… she'd never want to hurt Adrien."

Marinette nodded. "I'll take that into account," she smiled, and ran off, making sure to lift up the hem of her dress as she went. She had no time to tear her dress and twist her ankle.

The Lady Impostor had taken twelve minutes to get up to the Prince's chambers. Adrien was frustrated beyond measure. Thirty-seven minutes to expose this impostor-girl, find the real Ladybug, track down and stop the Moth! It was a mission impossible, and Adrien feared he'd have to accept defeat – and his possible kidnapping.

As soon as he heard the Impostor's voice on the other side of the door, Adrien entered the chambers, pretending to be surprised to see the two fake superheroes in his room. The girl was locking the window, and Plagg pretended not to notice.

The Impostor probably intended to trap Plagg in the bedroom so the Moth could come in and steal his ring.

"Excuse me?" Adrien asked. "Who are you two?"

Chloé's heart skipped a beat. Adrien. Right in front of her. She instantly forgot about her mission, and nearly fell over her own feet and the hem of her dress as she hurried towards him.

"Good evening, Your Highness," she said, "I am here to save your life. This boy here -" she pointed at Plagg, disguised as Prince Noir – "wanted to kidnap you, in the name of a notorious villain, who is rumoured to be hiding somewhere in this very castle."

Adrien raised his eyebrows, quickly eyeing the clock. Thirty-two minutes. He had no time for this charade.

"Well… thank you," Adrien said. "I suppose I should tell father and have the guards take this man outside."

"And I will stay by your side," the Impostor said. "No harm will come to you, I promise. I possess magical earrings, and their magic will protect both of us."

Adrien nodded. "Right. Great."

And of course, the Impostor locked the chamber door on their way out.

Thirty minutes. The Lady had less than thirty minutes to make her way up to that window and expose Chloé.

Then again, there wasn't really a point in going up there. The Prince and the Impostor were probably already off to somewhere else in the castle. The Lady decided to try and find the Moth on her own, and hope she'd run into Noir as she went.

By the time Marinette entered the ballroom again, nobody paid any attention to her. Everyone was drunk and too busy with themselves to pay attention to anyone sneaking off to someplace they weren't supposed to be.

There weren't even any guards guarding the doors that lead to other places in the castle. This was almost too easy.

Twenty-five minutes. Marinette really had to hurry – she'd promised Tikki she'd leave fifteen minutes before midnight.

She heard voices coming down the stairs and quickly ducked for cover. It was the Impostor and the Prince – the real Prince.

"Your Highness, You're safe now!" the Impostor said. "You can't spare five minutes for a dance?"

The Prince's eyes shifted to the corner where Marinette was hiding; he noticed something from the corner of his eye, and when he gave it a better look, he was relieved to find the girl he'd been looking for. She was safe.

"You know what?" he told the Impostor. "Give me ten minutes. Wait in the ballroom. I'll be right there to dance with you."

Chloé couldn't help but let out an excited squeal. "Yes!" she said. 'Thank you, Your Highness!" She then ran down the stairs, off into the ballroom. The Prince headed for his Lady's hiding spot. He quickly figured she wouldn't recognise him as Prince Noir but as the actual Prince, and thus he decided to stay in that persona.

"Hello there," he asked the Lady, "what are you doing here by yourself? Are you hiding from someone?"

"I…" Marinette mumbled. "Well… I was looking for a friend. I can't find him anywhere, and I have to leave soon."

The Prince smiled. She was looking for him, too. Again, he remembered Marinette. Had she accepted his invitation or not?

Could this girl be her? Or was the Impostor Marinette, and were their dresses just very similar, and had he misjudged her?

"I had a mission," the Lady sighed, defeated. "And I failed."

"Are you talking about the Moth?" the Prince said. "I heard the rumours… are you the one trying to catch him?"

Marinette's eyes shifted upwards. He knew?

"Yes," she said, "and the boy I was with… I'm afraid we were both compromised at some point. By… that girl you just sent into the ballroom."

Adrien raised an eyebrow. The Impostor was the one who'd apprehended his Lady? Then there was no way the Impostor could be Marinette. Could she be?

"The Moth will be back another night," the Prince said. "I don't think he'll be striking tonight… not if he's dependant of that girl.

"He knows he's not getting what he wants tonight, so he'll try again tomorrow."

"But there won't be a ball tomorrow," the Lady said. "Why would he come back?"

The Prince smiled. "The ball will last three nights," he said. "I haven't had a chance to find the right girl – or at least, I think I have, but I need to spend more time with her to be sure."

Marinette nodded slowly, feeling her heart sink. He'd found a girl, and it wasn't Marinette.

The clock struck. Eleven fourty-five. Fifteen minutes.

"Go," the Prince said. "You said you had to go, so go. Your friend won't mind."

"Are you sure?" Marinette asked. The Prince nodded.

"I'll find him and tell you you're safe," he said. "You'll meet up again tomorrow, and then you'll stop that Moth. Promise?"

Marinette nodded. "Promise."

"Now, then, go!" the Prince shouted, taking Marinette's hands as he guided her to the castle's grand exit. "And be well!"

Marinette nodded, thanked the Prince, and hurried to her carriage.

Tonight had been special, but her mission hadn't been completed yet. Tomorrow, she'd try again.

The Prince reluctantly made his way to the ballroom. Ten minutes. Ten minutes until the Impostor would reveal herself.

Part of Adrien hoped that it was Marinette, that she'd come to the ball, but the thought of the girl having such an awful personality deep down hurt him deeply.

The Impostor was waiting for him by the ballroom's entrance. She dragged him onto the dance floor and the two danced, but it was nothing like the dance the Prince had shared with the Lady earlier that night. Everyone seemed to know that he was the Prince, and thus everyone had stopped to look at them – but the Prince wished they hadn't.

The Impostor had no sense of rhythm. Her footwork was clumsy and she got easily agitated, the Prince could tell.

At long last, the moment the Prince longed for came – the song ended. Five minutes.

"Well?" the Impostor said. "Don't you have something to say to the ball attendants, Your Highness?"

"I do," Adrien said. "I do." He walked towards the steps that would lead to the elevated platform where his and his parents' thrones stood, catching everyone's attention for sure now. The Impostor followed her eagerly.

Suddenly, the Prince noticed his father sitting in his throne, not looking too happy.

"Father?" Adrien asked. His father nodded stiffly.

"Go ahead," he said. "Is this the girl you've chosen? Announce her to the audience." He glared at the girl, and she couldn't help but feel as though the King held a grudge against her.

Adrien turned to the audience and eyed the grand clock. Three minutes.

"Ladies and gentlemen, my future subjects," the Prince spoke. "Tonight, I was tasked with finding a Queen. And I found her."

The audience clapped and cheered. They seemed truly happy for Adrien – despite the fact that most of the attendants were candidates who were let down that they weren't chosen. The Impostor smiled arrogantly, and Adrien couldn't help but smirk too. Oh, if she only knew.

"Unfortunately, this girl beside me is not the girl I am talking about," he said, secretly hoping that the Lady had stayed behind to hear his speech. The audience gasped in horror, and the Impostor threw him an angry glare. "The girl I am talking about is no longer present tonight. This girl by my side, however, pretended to be that girl. Tried to take her place… and now she will reveal her true identity.

And the Prince was right. The clock struck for the first time, and the Impostor was surrounded by dark sparkles. By the sixth strike, the sparkles vanished, and by the twelfth strike, a white butterfly flew up into the ballroom, originating from the Impostor's hairpiece. Adrien instantly recognised her as Chloé.

"Chloé Bourgeois," Adrien said, "I retract your invitation. You are not welcome tomorrow night and the final night of the ball."

Chloé's eyes began to water. "No!" she yelled. She stared at the crowd below her, who couldn't help but snicker and laugh. Chloé did not know whether to be sad or angry, but she did know that she had to get out of there – which was exactly what she did.

The other ball attendants laughed at her as she ran past them. That was a mistake she wouldn't make twice.

Adrien smiled at his father. "Justice has been served, father," he said. "Don't worry, I've found a girl… I'll keep talking to her tomorrow night. I'm nearly sure she's the one."

His father nodded approvingly, although his mind was somewhere else. His mission hadn't been completed tonight; recruiting that girl had been an obvious mistake.

He'd have to try again tomorrow.