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Prince Adrien The First never really wanted to marry anybody. His father had grown impatient, saying and blaming every problem in the kingdom on the absence of a queen.
" Adrien, in god's name, get married, it the only right thing to do." He had said multiple times. But Adrien never listened. That angered his father, since he was already nineteen and Adrien thought he would never marry.
Up until Hawkmoth, a feared man with power and an army named the Scarlet came to the kingdom. Hawkmoth had destroyed many kingdoms, bringing them to the ground. The Agreste Kingdom wasn't strong, and they knew it. A nice little catch for Hawkmoth.
One day, he and his father were confronted by the man himself.
He didn't seem particularly interesting. Flesh and bone made him just like all, but his eyes. Oh, those eyes, filled with malice, anger, and chaos said otherwise. He talked and talked about grandeur and himself. Quite the ego and greediness for someone so foolishly incorrect.
" Do you know by any chance what happens to people like you? Royalty." Adrien shook his head, lying.
" I decapitate them in public, my power being present on everybody."
The man had talked so much that by the time the Scarlet came they were bored out of their minds. Hands tied behind their backs, Adrien and his father didn't know their future with certitude. Death probably, but a flash of metallic red begged to differ. The ring and sound of a sword loud and strong all around him. Suddenly the Scarlet had fallen like the kingdoms.
" Thank God for sending you our way Miss-"
"Ladybug the 13th, my name's Ladybug, your highness." And she bowed before getting out something metallic red like her knightly gear and throwing it to make her escape.
All Adrien could do was stare from where she had just been, awe clear in his face wondering when they would meet again.
A few days after the attack, his father had set a meeting with his new royal guard. When he entered the room he expected at least three people there. There was only one. Ladybug.
" Pleasure meeting you again, your highness." She said with a bow.
" The pleasure is all mine, after all, you saved my life." She smiled and straighten herself up.
" Ladybug here is going to be your royal guard, she will be with you everyday afternoon, meanwhile Sir Lahiffe and Lady Cesaire will be with you in the mornings, coupled with Augustus." His father finalized. This would be fun, Adrien thought.
"So what do you like to do on your free time?" He had asked to get to know her.
" I use to make clothing and work on my family's business, and you?" She replied as she stood nonchalantly on the balcony's railing with perfect balance.
" I play the piano, read, and study."
She sighed.
" That's boring, want to do something fun?" She proposed, a smirk on her face, as she extended her hand towards him.
" Yeah."
Riding a horse always seemed exciting to Adrien. He'd never done it but it looked so much fun.
"Hold tight, I don't want you to fall and get hurt." Ladybug whispered to him in the cold night. Adjusting his cape's hood, he grasped tighter to Ladybug. He couldn't feel her skin, only the tough metal and chainmail that made her armor.
As she ordered for the horse to move his hair moved with the passing wind. And he laughed.
For the first time since his mother's passing, he genuinely laughed. And Ladybug laughing just made it a little sweeter.
By the time they returned, Adrien's lungs and face hurt.
" Goodnight Prince, dream with the angels." She said as she tucked him in to his luxurious bed.
Ladybug was the last thing he saw before falling asleep.
" Does your family know you are here?" He asked whilst looking at the moon.
" No, they can't." She answered simply, a sad look in her eyes.
" Bet they would be proud of you if they knew." He said. She propped herself down from the railing and stood infront of him.
" Let me take you somewhere, my prince." She asked, a bright light of mischief setting in her eyes.
" Where?" He asked, curious as a cat.
" The town, prince, my town." She replied humbly.
They were riding her horse full speed. The horse's name was Tikki. It was reddish with spots of black all around in a symmetrical pattern.
He was dressed in a black cape with a cloth mask similar to Ladybug's on his face, hiding his identity from the people. They rode the horse so fast, the wind making his hair go back, setting it away from it's usual perfect look.
" My lady, where are we going specifically?" He asked as he tightened his grip on Ladybug's torso.
" You always tell me how much you want to see the world, so let me show it to you." At that his nerves were placed in the back of his head. F
As fear was being quickly replaced with excitement, he looked around at the blurry landscape. They had made it to the town in record time. He was dressed in completely black clothing; a pillowy shirt, baggy pants, and leather boots. Some of it was accented in green, completing the outfit.
" So, where first?" He asked with a smirk.
" The shops around, perhaps a bakery, and a surprise after." A surprise seemed exciting.
" Alright, my lady." He finished with giddiness clear on his tone. They had gone to various places, gotten some things, placing them in a brown leather backpack they had bought first.
As they walked around, people seemed to stare at them. Stare at Ladybug. They stared with a mix of respect, adoration, and much more.
" After the bakery, we leave, alright?"
" Yes, ma'am." He replied boyishly.
Walking by he could see missing posters with the same face. A girl with jet black hair, blue eyes, and freckles. She was slightly younger than him. Where could she be? He quickly brushed it off as he entered what could be heaven. The smells of bread and such filled him with a warmth that seemed to ignite his hunger.
" Welcome to the Dupain Cheng bakery, Ladybug, how may I help you?" So Ladybug was either well known or a regular. Maybe both.
As Ladybug ordered he looked around, curiosity eating him away. He looked at the food, at the flour visible on the floor. What a fascinating place!
" Chat, let's go." It was a weekend, hence the amount of people.
As Ladybug got on the horse he could see the people staring. She was known, if the exchange between some group of kids his age was anything to go by.
" Didn't know you were famous, bugaboo." He stated, discreetly asking without asking.
" Comes with the job and the ' mystery'." She replied as she ordered Tikki start moving. They rode slower this time.
Apparently Tikki needed some minutes to digest her dinner. Coming to a stop as soon as a table and bench, both made by wood, came to sight.
Their dinner was great. The bread soft and airy in that one specific way that he so loved. It was perfect. At some point Ladybug had taken out a bottle of wine. Giggly and giddily, they spoke to each other's ears.
He told her his memories and she her dreams. She never spoke of the past or herself. She kept saying starting again was better. She asked about his mother and so he answered. He asked about her family and so she didn't answer.
At some point they had laid down on a pocket garden outside his window when they had gone back. Since the beginning of the attacks by Hawkmoth, the flowers seemed to be dying and dimming.
" Do you really wish to be the king?" She asked slurring over her words.
" Not really, you know, I don't feel ready. I'm not ready." He answered looking at her. And when she looked at him they got lost in each other's eyes.
" Then you'll never be my king, only my Chaton." They gotten closer. Then, a little bit more closer. Their noses touching and eyes that asked for permission being the only thing around. And then they kissed.
He'll say she kissed him first, but truth to be told, it was she who caressed his cheek with her gloved hand. It was sweet and soft. It was surrounded by such warmth they missed that they dissolved in the kiss. They had stayed like that after, close, until the sun rised meaning their time was up.
For months on end as Hawkmoth stroked again and again, Adrien was forced to stay inside with Ladybug. His brave guard. His lover.
" If I weren't Ladybug, I'd marry you on the first chance I'd have." She had said in his ear after a close night. She didn't have her armor and the only thing on was that mask. The soft covers and the candle light made the room look like paradise.
" Why do you not marry me like that? How I love you." He asked at the statement that had made his heart skip a beat.
" I'm cursed, Adrien, that's the truth. The only way I'm not Ladybug is by dying. That's the way things are and nobody can do anything. I can't do anything." She replied, hopelessness clear in her voice.
" That's alright, I still love you, I will always love you." He said as he got a little closer.
Hawkmoth made truth to his promise.
He killed Adrien's father infront of him.
The closest empire, great friends with the Agreste, had offered a deal. They would help the Agreste and it's people if Prince Adrien married their daughter, Kagami. He'd known Kagami. She wasn't to fond on the idea of marriage just like him. She was a warrior like his lady.
" We need to... Talk." He said as soon as Ladybug entered his room by the balcony.
" What do you need, Chaton?" She had questioned, a worried tone in her voice.
" I am going to make a deal, a really good one at that, with the Tsuguri Empire." Ladybug piped up, a small smile setting on her face.
" And what is wrong with that?" She had asked after his frown persisted.
" They will help only if I marry their princess, Kagami." The tension and cold that washed the room made it feel as if it were winter.
" I...get it, Adrien. This was bound to happen," she said as she turned towards the balcony, her back to him, " you can't marry me, even if it were and option, and Princess Kagami is a beauty, trained swordfighter, and so much more. She'll help you in more ways than one." Adrien sighed.
" My lady, the only thing is that she may be perfect, but she is not you, and you is what I want. You and me; we are made for each other." He said as he held to the cape that was attached to her armored shoulders.
" I-just... Please tell me something, stop me, make me run away with you, please." He begged as he fell on his knees, grip tightening on the dark red cloth.
He looked down and all she said was, " I can't because you need to remember, Adrien, your a king first, my Chaton second."
And with the breeze of the wind she left him as he was on his hands and knees, tears slipping from his eyes.
The ceremony was celebrated in the Agreste castle. He was now husband of Kagami Tsuguri, until death do them apart. He was sitting on his throne, Kagami next to him in her own.
Suddenly he felt heavy and as he got up, excusing himself to the bathroom, he knew where to go.
The balcony of his room had a great view, his mother herself had chosen it just for him. So when he looked out and then down, he saw something so sour it took away it beauty. Or maybe it hightened it. Ladybug was standing there, blood on her sword, armor scratched and her cape was slightly torn. He quickly went down the way she had showed him: a rope tied to the railing and escalated down in small jumps.
When he made it to the ground, he didn't waste a minute and ran towards her as he saw she collapsed.
" Ladybug... Ladybug! LADYBUG! LOOK AT ME!" He said as he held her. Her blue eyes looked at him and she smiled.
" Hey, Chaton, how a-are you?" She said as blood spilled from her mouth. He examined her and saw she had been stabbed by something.
" Yeah, Hawkmoth, he is de-dead, you d-don't have to worry, you can b-be ha-happy now." She said so nonchalantly like always.
" What did you do? What did you do?!" He asked her as her eyes seemed to pale just like her skin. He removed the hair around her face and held her even tighter.
" I will go get help just wait, alright, my lady?" He whimpered as the tears on his eyes began to spill.
" No, s-stay with me, it's too late, my p-prince, too l-late..."
She stopped him.
And he stayed there with her in the pocket garden.
By the time her heart stopped, the flowers seemed brighter and more alive.