A/N: Fyi, the prince and king are made up but Xavier is Mr. Pigeon's name ;) Also, thank you to everyone who wished me well on my assignments, I did well on them :)

Chapter 4

"Where the hell were you?!" Nino whisper-shouted in Adrien's room when the blond finally returned. "Do you know what time it is?!"

Adrien chuckled as he took off his mask. "No, I don't, actually. Care to enlighten me?"

"One in the morning. I thought you got your ass killed out there," Nino growled.

"Well, as you can see, I'm purrfectly okay," Adrien replied teasingly, even performing a mocking bow for him.

His best friend rolled his eyes. "You're foolish, you know that? Do you know how hard it was to cover for you today? I had to tell your dad that you took a walk, then went shopping, then visited some old friends."

Adrien turned to him, confused as he pulled off the cat ears on his head. "How was that hard?"

"Because I don't know if you actually take walks, go shopping, or have friends! I had to name a bunch of stuff up and I can only hope he bought it."

"Lord knows I didn't."

Both men stiffened at the new voice. Plagg walked into the room, still clad in his formal attire, his steps smooth and not faltering for a second. His piercing green eyes locked on the blond, who still wore the all-black outfit of Chat Noir.

"P-Plagg," Adrien stuttered, nervous about how the servant would take this. Plagg was his most trustworthy friend growing up, yes, but he still worked for his father. Adrien couldn't afford to have the servant tell on him, Gabriel would end his escapades faster than he could blink.

"Adrien," he returned, face betraying no emotion. "Based on your clothing, I assume you're just back now. I wouldn't doubt it's because you had a very busy day, Chat Noir."

Adrien gulped. Nino winced.

"So," Plagg drawled, "care to tell me why you're doing this?"

The blond swallowed nervously. "I-I just want to help the common people. Prince Matheo shouldn't be taxing them like this, I'm going to stop it."

The black-haired servant rubbed a hand on his chin as he contemplated the young man before him. Adrien stood his ground, refusing to cower and beg for Plagg's secrecy. Nino's eyes anxiously darted between the two of them, wondering who was going to crack first.

At last, a grin pulled at a corner of Plagg's mouth. "Well, hopefully your visit to the castle tomorrow will help you with that. Good night, Adrien. Oh, and, be a little quieter next time you're sneaking in. If your father heard you, 'Chat Noir' wouldn't exist anymore."

With that piece of advice, Plagg turned around and walked out of the room, presumably to get more camembert. His hunger for that cheese could never be satisfied, Adrien thought.

"How did he even hear me?" The blond groaned, sitting on the bed. "I thought I was pretty quiet."

"Guess you have to be quieter next time," Nino quipped with a snicker.

"And what's this about me visiting the castle tomorrow?" Adrien asked, furrowing his eyebrows. "I never agreed to visit, in fact, I don't even remember being offered to go."

"The invitation came at dinner," his best friend explained. "Prince Matheo wants to meet the 'newly-returned young Agreste gentleman'. Lady Chloe and Captain Theo Barbot are supposed to be there too, whoever they are."

Adrien scowled at the little bit of information tacked on at the end. He really didn't want to be in the same room with a corrupt prince, a vain girl, and a Captain who was trying to steal Marinette's heart away from him.

"You okay?" Nino asked, raising an eyebrow and resting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Who are those people, anyway?"

Adrien grimaced. "Lady Chloe is a childhood friend, but she's been wanting to marry me for a few years, now. She doesn't get the hint that I'm not interested, and I can't just outright tell her I'm not. I'm not that mean. And Captain Theo is...well..."

Honestly, Theo had done nothing really wrong, aside from flirting with Marinette. So he shouldn't have that big of a problem with him. Although...

He dragged a hand down his cheek, just wanting to stop thinking of it.

"Well?" Nino pressed. "Captain Theo is what?"

God, this was going to be embarrassing.

"Theo is...um-trying to woo a girl." Adrien didn't meet his friend in the eyes, mentally bracing himself for the laughter and jokes.

But his friend didn't seem to understand. "So? What's wrong with...oh." Nino suddenly gained a purely wicked smirk. "Oh! I get it!"

"Please don't," Adrien groaned in misery.

"Are you kidding?!" Nino let out excitedly and laughed, though keeping mind to not let his voice get so loud as to wake up Gabriel. "You're actually jealous! I've never seen you jealous before. So who is she? What's she like? What's he like? Tell me everything."

Adrien didn't exactly appreciate being informed of the fact he was jealous from another person, despite it being his best friend. He hated how he felt, why was he envious in the first place? He knew Marinette didn't like Theo and yet he still felt like bashing the man's face in.

It was truly a wonder in itself how he felt like this after only knowing Marinette for such a short time. Yet somehow she enchanted him, just the same.

"Her name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I believe she works for a bakery or is a baker, herself. I saw her when we first came in and I saw her again in the forest when I was Chat."

Nino's eyes almost seemed to bulge out of his head. "You saw her as Chat?! What happened?"

Adrien shrugged, trying to act indifferent, but couldn't stop the blush flooding to his cheeks. "We introduced ourselves and talked a little bit. That's it."

Nino grinned widely, eyeing the redness in his friend's cheeks. "That's it? Is there more?"

Adrien shook his head. "No, that's it."

"Alright," Nino relented, knowing how pushing him wasn't going to help. "So tell me about Theo and Marinette. What's that about?"

The blond glowered, looking down at the floor. "Theo is trying to pursue Marinette but she doesn't like him. I don't know why I even feel...jealous," he murmured the last word. "It doesn't make sense."

"Sure it does," Nino reassured, wrapping an arm around his best friend's shoulders. "You don't like another guy trying to flirt with the girl you like. It's perfectly normal to feel like that."

"I guess."

Nino yawned. "Listen, I think it's time we go to bed. You have to go to the castle around noon."

"Me?" Adrien asked. "What about you?"

Nino's hazel eyes awkwardly looked around. "I wasn't invited..."

Adrien smiled. "You're my guest and my best friend. You're coming with me. Besides, what kind of friend would leave me alone with those kinds of people?"

Nino just laughed and bid him good night before retreating to his own room.

...

The next day, Adrien and Nino set off on two horses, intent on going to King Alexandre's castle to meet with the Prince. Adrien was a bit nervous, hoping no one would recognize him, but Nino reassured that the mask concealed his identity really well.

As they were passing through the village, Adrien spotted the same bakery Marinette had come out of just the other day.

He shouldn't go in. He should just continue on his way towards the castle. Just keep going.

.

.

.

"Hey, Nino, are you hungry?"

...

"Girl, did you hear what happened yesterday?" Alya squealed mischievously, smiling so wide Marinette thought her lips would crack.

"No," Marinette replied, shrugging as she cleaned the counter. On the inside she was panicking; did someone see her and Chat Noir talking and Alya found out?

She quickly dismissed the notion, knowing if that was the case, Alya would've definitely said something different. She probably would've run in here and demand to know the details and reprimand her for not telling her sooner.

The blackette idly thought if perhaps she should tell Alya about the meeting, they were best friends, after all.

No. Alya was the source of the juiciest gossip in Paris, there was no way she could keep something like that a secret.

"Lady Chloe got robbed by Chat Noir!" Alya squealed, laughing. "He took all her father's money and her jewelry!"

While she knew Lady Chloe to have the reputation of being selfish and conceited, she was still concerned for her well-being. Sure, Chat Noir didn't hurt her, but that didn't mean he extended that generosity to everyone.

"Are they okay?" She questioned, stopping her cleaning and glancing up at Alya.

Alya waved her hand dismissively. "Yeah, they're fine. I'm just finally glad Chloe got a reality check, maybe she won't think she's better than everyone else anymore."

Hm, she had a point. Hopefully Chloe would gain some humility after this.

"Maybe."

Her best friend opened her mouth to say something else but her speech was halted when the bell above the door chimed, signaling a customer. Marinette's eyes shifted from Alya towards the front door, seeing two men walking towards the counter.

The one on the left had to be the most handsome man she'd ever seen. Sunshine gold hair, apple green eyes, and a warm smile lighting up his features. He was dressed nicely, in clothes she'd only ever seen noblemen wear. That would explain why she hadn't seen him around the village.

However, she wasn't swayed by just a pretty face. Theo was handsome, yes, but he had a disgusting personality.

Alya moved over to let the two men get to the counter. The blond's darker-skinned friend made eye contact with Marinette and smiled, until his eyes glanced over in Alya's direction.

The man tensed and froze...literally. His eyes remained unblinking as he stared at her with his mouth parted.

Marinette quirked up an eyebrow while Alya raised both of hers in concern. His friend looked at his friend with an utterly befuddled expression on his face.

"Uh, Nino?" The man asked. "Are you okay?"

'Nino' blinked and his eyes darted from side to side before they stuck to the ground. He bit his lip and refused to say anything.

The blue-eyed girl looked over to Alya for any explanation. She simply shrugged and didn't offer anything helpful.

"Ah, sorry about that," the blond said with an embarrassed smile as he rubbed a hand along the back of his neck. She also noticed his cheeks held a pink tint. "I don't know what's gotten into him-OW!"

Marinette blinked in bewilderment at the man's sudden cry of pain. He angrily directed his glare to his friend while his left foot was lifted in the air.

Good thing she wasn't only affected by good looks, because these customers were the weirdest she'd seen in awhile.

"Um, can I help you?" She inquired uneasily, wanting to just get them out of the bakery.

The blond snapped out of whatever annoyance he had previously been in and flashed her a sheepish smile. "Uh-hi! Um-yeah, can I have-uh-two croissants? Please?"

The aspiring designer slowly nodded. "Yeah, sure. I'll get them for you."

The bakery was plunged into uncomfortable silence as she got out the desired pastries. Alya peered at Nino curiously, yet he insisted on keeping his head low to the ground and didn't speak a word. The green-eyed man patiently stood in front of the counter, trying to look every bit at ease and not like he wanted to run out of there.

Adrien mentally sighed. He expected to go inside, charm Marinette a little bit and buy a couple pastries, then be on his way. He didn't expect this outcome at all. Dammit why did Nino have to freeze like that? He still didn't understand what happened to him.

The pretty girl came back in front of him and held out a paper bag with the bakery's symbol on it. "Here you go!" she said cheerfully.

As Adrien was about to take it, the bell above the door chimed again. On instinct, he inclined his head to glance over his shoulder and was surprised to see Captain Theo standing there.

He strode towards the counter, eyeing the beautiful girl with a predatory look in his eyes. Adrien clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes.

Alya's hands curled into trembling fists as she gazed at the Captain in anger. Marinette's peppy expression fell at the sight of him, but she managed to somewhat bring it back. She could never be rude to a customer, even if they were giving her unwanted attention.

Theo's arrival was enough to snap Nino out of whatever had happened to him and he politely moved to the side to let Theo through. Adrien didn't move an inch, resulting in getting him not-so-subtly pushed to the side, closer to Marinette's friend.

He let out a quiet growl of anger.

"Hello, Marinette," Theo greeted flirtatiously, leaning an arm on the counter. "How is your day so far?"

The girl fought against the scowl threatening to break out on her features. "It's fine. How are you, Captain?"

Nino twitched at the sound of the title, prompting him to shift his eyes to look at his best friend. Was this Captain Theo, the same one who was after Marinette as well?

Judging by Adrien's budding fury, he could assume it was.

"I am well, thank you. I'm actually on my way to the castle, we're having tea with Lady Chloe and the Prince, along with another man. I think his name is Damien Grass or something."

Damien Grass? Nino bit back a cackle at that, he knew he would definitely be using it as ammunition against 'Damien' later.

But his friend didn't look amused at all by the mistake. His emerald eyes only narrowed further.

"It's Adrien Agreste," he bit out.

Theo, acting shocked, turned to look at the bristling blond as though he had no idea he was standing there. "I'm sorry, are you Adrien? My apologies."

Adrien saw right through the faux concern, noticing the man's lips twitching in barely-concealed mirth. He would love to tell him he wasn't forgiven, but it wouldn't do to look like a rude snob in front of Marinette. He wanted her to have the highest opinion of him, and Chat Noir.

"It's alright, Captain."

"I'm glad. I hope this little mistake won't affect our time together at Prince Matheo's castle?"

"Isn't it King Alexandre's?" Adrien asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Marinette held back a surprised gasp while Alya didn't hold back her reaction, letting her jaw drop. That remark could almost be considered treason, and to hear a nobleman say it? It was unheard of.

Theo glowered, the friendly expression he had earlier plastered on melting away. "I suppose that's true," he murmured slowly, the silent threat hanging in the air between them.

Marinette cleared her throat to distract the men from each other. She didn't want an arrest to happen in here.

They blinked at the same time and directed their attention on the nervously smiling baker's daughter.

"Well, it was nice seeing you, Captain, but I'm very busy today and I'm sure you need to be heading to the castle now. And here are your croissants, Monsieur!"

Adrien took the bag, stealing a peek at the stiff Captain. He was looking between the two of them in suspicion.

Seizing the opportunity, Adrien lowered an arm to the counter and leaned closer to the startled blackette, whose cheeks started to darken at his close proximity.

"Call me Adrien," he insisted with a low tone, hoping it sounded attractive to her ears.

Her small intake of breath and reddening cheeks confirmed his hopes. He pulled back and gestured with his head for Nino to follow after him.

"Captain, since we're going to the same place, we should ride together," Adrien suggested brightly, acting like nothing was wrong and ignored the way Theo looked ready to take out his sword and stab him.

"That would be wonderful," he ground out.