For the next few days, palace officials swarmed in and out of the bakery to help prepare Marinette for the Selection. She had worried the girls that didn't get chosen in the Selection would have been akumaized at this point due to disappointment and devastation knowing many of them gave her dirty looks whenever they passed the bakery. But since it didn't happen, Marinette was grateful she able to listen to the officials without any interruption especially one woman who she learned was the king's personal assistant and gave her the rules of the Selection.

"The rules are simple enough to follow. For starters, you cannot leave the palace of on your own accord, only the prince can dismiss you. Not even the king can force you out even if he does not approve of you. You can't arrange your times with the prince one-on-one, unless it is a large social gathering. But otherwise you not permitted to go near him without invitation. This next rule is very important for you and your fellow contestants as you cannot fight or sabotage each other's chances with the prince, is that clear?"

Marinette nodded and stated, "Yes, ma'am."

"Very good. Now from this point on your only relationship is with the prince, if you get caught writing love notes or are caught having a relationship with someone at the palace, it is considered treason and punishable by exile."

Marinette was a bit disturbed by that rule. It's not fair to force someone to stay in a relationship they're not happy with. True, anyone would be crazy to not want a relationship with the prince but if someone ended up loving someone else instead… She shook her head, she didn't know what to make of it.

"Which brings us to the last rule. That if you break any of the written laws of our country, you will receive the punishment tied to that offense. We want to make it clear that your status as one of the Selected doesn't put you above the law. Is that understood?"

"Yes."

"With that say, your new status is now a Three."

"Three?!" Marinette and her parents exclaimed.

"Yes, for after the Selection, it's hard for girls to go back to their old lives. Twos and Threes do fine but Fours and below tend to struggle. You are a Three now but the rest of your family remains Fours. But should you win, you and your family will be elevated to Ones and become members of the royal family. Does that make sense?"

She nodded while saying, "Hm-mm!"

"Very well, then. Come Friday morning, a limo shall be waiting to escort you to the palace where you will meet your fellow contestants and the prince."

Marinette was on the verge of excitement, realizing this was really happening to her and couldn't wait until the end of the week.

It was the night before the big day, as Alya and Marinette were in bed on the phone together going over the recent events.

"Can you believe they have a rule that says you can't have a relationship with someone else while the prince himself will be dating other girls?!"

"I know… but we will be there trying to compete for him… so it's not too unreasonable…" but Marinette was unsure about that but kept saying, "It's to show we're committed to him, right?"

"RRRight… So you keep telling yourself… Face it, girl, you just don't want to see anything bad related to him. Looks like it's a good thing I got in the Selection after all, so I can make sure you don't do something foolish. And that's another thing, I won't be trying to get the prince to like me which means I'll likely get kicked out within the next week so you'll have to promise me that you'll be able to hold your own when I'm not there."

Marinette gulped as she realized her friend spoke the truth, she'll be on her own if Alya was gone which means her best friend and support system won't be able to help her get through the Selection. Once again, worry overwhelmed her.

Alya yawned, "Well I think it's time we call it a night, after all we're going to need to be rested and ready tomorrow, wouldn't you agree?"

"Uh, yeah! Totally! You're right!"

"Alright, night Mari…"

"Night, Alya." and she hung up and pulled the covers over herself.

Tikki told her, "Don't worry, even when Alya is eliminated, you'll still have me."

That brought Marinette some comfort as she held her hands out for Tikki to land in and held her close. "So I will… Thank you, Tikki."

Then the two fall fast asleep.

The next morning, Marinette had her last breakfast with her parents before she would have to leave for the palace. Outside the bakery, police officers have put up fences to block civilians from getting in the way of the limo coming to pick up one of the Selected. When the limo had arrived both Marinette and her parents went outside as the chauffeur came out and opened the car door for her.

Marinette got teary-eyed and so did Tom and Sabine as they did a heartfelt hug and goodbye.

"I'll miss you." she told them.

Sabine said, "We'll miss you too, sweetie."

Tom added, "We are so proud of you."

Once she let go of them and headed into the limo with her parents waving her off, the limo drove on with the crowd cheering on.

The sights of Paris passed by her window and she snuck a quick glance down to her purse where Tikki was. Soon after the limo stopped in front of large gates before they opened up. Marinette was in awe of seeing the grand palace up close. The limousine came to a stop at the front entrance where Nathalie was waiting and greeted the girl as she came out, "Welcome, Miss Marinette Dupain-Cheng. You'll be escorted to the foyer where you'll meet the other girls and then be escorted to your rooms. Alright?"

Marinette nodded and was lead through the palace doors. And just like seeing the palace, she was in awe of everything around her; then up ahead she saw a group of five girls standing around talking and among them was…

"Alya!"

The teen saw her in turn and the two friends hugged.

"Can you believe we're actually here?!"

Marinette excitedly replied, "I know! I still think I'm dreaming all this!"

Alya then introduced her to the others, "This is Juleka, Mylene, Rose, and Alix."

"Hi! Nice to meet you!"

The girls exchanged similar greetings and they started to lively chat until a haughty voiced called out.

"Well, well, isn't this sweet? All of the soon-to-be losers have formed a bond. But It's just as well, you're going to need to throw a pity party for yourselves once I have won!"

The girls have turned to see a blonde girl but they all knew her as the prime minister's daughter, Chloe Bourgeois.

Alya scowled at her and pointed, "Who says you're going to win?"

Chloe did a mean laugh, "Because, it is so obvious! I have known Prince Adrien since we were tots! I know everything about him! So I have an advantage over the rest of you!"

Marinette gulped. She didn't like how this girl just practically declared herself the winner but at the same time… Did she really have a chance with Adrien if Chloe had known the prince her whole life?

Suddenly getting Adrien's love was going to be way harder then she initially thought.

By then the rest of the ten girls showed up. Sabrina Raincomprix came next and it turn out she and Chloe had known each other since they were young too making Marinette more nervous even though she had her own friend with her. Kagami Tsurugi showed and gave off a cold presence that made Marinette shiver and it even made Chloe frown at the newcomer, as it seemed she would actually be a threat to her standing. That is until the last girl, Lila Rossi made her appearance.

The competition was definitely stiff in Marinette's eyes.

Just then Nathalie came up to them and announced, "Ladies, you will now be given your room assignments. You'll be requested to have lunch and dinner in your rooms and we'll have someone giving you a tour so you know where everything is at. And then tomorrow you'll have breakfast in the main dining hall where you will meet the prince afterwards."

Excitement ran through the girls after hearing that then settled down to hear where they had to go for their rooms. Once Marinette and Alya got theirs, they headed up the stairs to the second floor. Where they exchanged a quick parting and went into their rooms.

Marinette was stunned by how large her room was like it was made for a princess. Which would actually be fitting should she win and she was provided with all the things that held her interest like a sewing kit and sewing machine along with some patterns and fabrics. Like she was told to, Marinette stayed in her room until the tour and then when she got back she had dinner.

Slowly doubt crept back into her mind when thinking of the other girls especially Chloe.

She told Tikki, "What chance do I really have to get the prince?"

"You have the same chance as everyone else! Adrien hasn't made a choice yet! Don't let that mean girl's words get to you!"

"I know you're right but at the same time… What reason does Adrien have to choose me?" she sighed and went toward her balcony, "I need some air. Tikki, spots on!"

Marinette transformed once more into Ladybug.

Meanwhile, Adrien was having his own troubles knowing the girls have all arrived with his future awaiting him. He needed to take a breather and said, "Plagg, claws out!"

He transformed into Chat Noir and at the exact same time both he and Ladybug were about to leap off their balconies till they noticed each other much to their shock.

"Ladybug?"

"Chat?"

Both shouted, "What are you doing here?!"

Chat answered, "I live here."

She gapped, "You do?!" and assessed he had to be a servant of some kind making her say, "Are you an apprentice?"

Chat chose his words carefully, "Of a sort." It was technically the truth as he was still learning to be king. He could reveal himself to show her who was but he wanted Ladybug's love for who he was as Chat Noir. Then he said, "What about you? I haven't seen you around here before so… am I to assume…?"

She sighed, "Yes, I am part of the Selection."

"You are?!" he shouted out feeling pure joy.

Ladybug realized the risks of giving too much about her identity in this moment. But there was no other explanation she could give about being there. She could have claimed of a possible threat but even then that would have been misleading Chat into thinking there was a problem when there wasn't. Something Ladybug would never do.

She could see the smirk on his face and scolded him, "Chat, I know what you're thinking and don't you dare try to guess which of the girls I am."

"Aw, but Bugaboo! It's obvious that a part of our lives have been exposed because of this! There's no point in hiding it!"

"No! There's been enough damage as it is!"

He sighed and there was a pause until he slowly said, "So… you must have a thing for the prince otherwise you wouldn't be here…"

Ladybug blushed and uttered, "It's true… I… I've had a crush on him since I was young."

Chat's heart thumped like crazy until he realized that she had a crush on his perfect self.

So close… so close to having my lady's love…

She spoke with remorse, "Chat…I… I know… you have feelings for me and I'm sorry you had to find out this way."

The superhero knew he needed to act disappointed in order to avoid suspicion.

"It's… it's fine, milady, I'll just have learn to live with it…"

"Thank you, for understanding…"

He nodded and they stood there in silence until he broke it.

"I should… go back inside."

She nodded, "Me too, I need to get my rest for when I meet his highness tomorrow."

He joked, "Going to show up in costume?"

"Of course not!"

He laughed then they exchanged good nights before going back inside.

He said, "Claws in." and detransformed.

Plagg commented, "What a stroke of luck! Ladybug is actually in the Selection!"

Adrien sighed tenderly, "I know, obviously fate is intervening on our behalf even though she's in love with the wrong me. I've been given a gift and I don't intend to waste it! I will find out which of those girls is Ladybug even if it takes an entire year!"

"Your dad won't like that."

"At this point, I don't care. Besides he's the one who gave me this responsibility to begin with so he has to deal with it! This is my life and my future wife we're talking about here and that's how it's going to go!"

He made a determined look, set on doing this.

Tomorrow… Everything changes…

AN: I am so happy of all the favorites and follows this story has been getting so far, but some reviews would be nice too since I always love hearing from readers on why they love a story I wrote.