Chapter One: Arranged Marriage AU

Author's Note: I don't own Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir. Enjoy!

"...And that's why you must marry Prince Adrien." Queen Sabine finished, biting her lip nervously, eyeing her daughter's face to gauge a reaction.

Said daughter in question, Princess Marinette Dupain-Cheng was currently white as a sheet. "M-marry!" She repeated, her voice trembling. "Oh. I get it. This is a joke. Ha-ha-ha. Very funny." She laughed, a wild, almost feral, look in her eyes.

Sabine looked at her daughter with worry as she tried to figure out a way to approach the subject gently. "Um, not exactly, Marinette. This...this isn't a joke. You must marry Prince Adrien Agreste."

Fear came into Marinette's eyes as the gravity of the situation dawned on her. "Maman, no!" The girl young struggled to get the words out.

"I'm sorry, Marinette. I would never ask you to do this if it was not of the utmost necessity. Believe me, I wouldn't."

"But Maman, I don't even know Prince Adrien! I've never seen him in my life. I have no idea what he even looks like! And you-you want me to marry him?" Marinette appeared to be panicking now, waving her hands around erratically as her words came out in loud bursts.

"That's why I've arranged for you to visit the Kwami Kingdom. You'll be leaving in two days. You'll stay there whole week to get to know your fiancé before the big day." Sabine placed a gentle hand on her daughter's shoulders. "And you might grow to love Prince Adrien. After all, your father-god bless his soul- and I were an arranged marriage, and that turned out rather well, in my opinion."

Marinette avoided her mother's eyes, staying silent.

Her mother sighed. "Please, Marinette. The kingdom is practically destitute. A marriage with Prince Adrien will increase trade and help our funding. The people are relying on this merger. They're relying on you." Sabine placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "I hate to put so much on you. If you feel that you really can't go through with it, I won't force you."

Marinette's eyes darted around her pink room as if searching for an escape. Finding none, she sighed, casting her eyes on the marble floor. "When." She asked flatly. It was barely a question.

"As I said, you'll be leaving in-"

"No, Maman. When am I to marry the prince?" Marinette's lips were pursed, her eyebrows furrowed.

Sabine's eyes shone with sympathy. "Ten days from now."

Marinette bit the insides of her cheeks, willing herself not to cry. Instead, she sucked in a deep breath. "Ten days." She repeated. "Ten days. Okay, I can do that."

"What?"

"I said, I can do it." The young princess squared her shoulders, staring straight ahead.

Sabine could do nothing but hug her daughter, feeling love, pride, and sadness overtake her.

Two days had passed rather terrifyingly fast, in Marinette's opinion. Two days filled with frantic packing and wistful goodbyes. Throughout it all, Marinette remained proud, refusing to break down and cry like she wanted to.

Too fast, the day came. Marinette was awoken at dawn, after a night of restless half-sleep, to prepare for the upcoming day. She dressed in a gown of light pink chiffon, which was high necked, but left her arms bare, a design that she herself had created. She was grateful that the servants had adhered to that last detail, for she was already drowning in the many layers the gown had, suffocating in the fabric. Her midnight blue hair was pinned up in an intricate set of loops and curls. Her eyes had been brushed over with gold dust, outlined with kohl, lips been painted with dark red lipstick, and pale face dusted with rouge. The perfect present, Marinette thought wryly. All wrapped up for the viewing pleasure of Adrien Agreste.

She sat in the bejeweled carriage not an hour later. As the carriage pulled away from the palace, away from the only home she had ever known, she pressed her hand against the glass, watching her home become smaller and smaller in the distance. It hit her then, that when she saw this place again, she would be a married woman. The wife of a complete and utter stranger.

She let a single tear slip down her face. Then another. Then another. Then another and another and another and another. Needing something to do, Marinette picked up the embroidery she had brought with her, intending to finish the design on the ride up. However, as she threaded the delicate needle, she found her hands shaking too much to even think about attempting to complete the complicated design. The princess put it down and huffed in frustration, resting her hands in her lap. Her fingers still twittered nervously before latching on to the edge of her dress.

Despite her best efforts and deepest wish, within minutes, her head was lolling to the side, the world around her fading as she fell asleep.

She awoke to a loud rapping on the carriage door. Moonlight filtered in through the windows, casting the interior in a dark and ominous shadow.

"Princess Marinette? Princess? Are you awake?" A deep voice hesitantly asked.

Marinette automatically straightened up, almost falling off the cushioned seat in the process. "Uh, ah, yes! Yes." She cleared her throat. "I'm awake, Ivan. Is everything alright?"

"Everything is quite alright, Princess-"

"Marinette." She corrected gently.

"Everything is alright, Marinette. It's just that, we're-we're here. At the palace, I mean."

Marinette's world spun around her as she processed the words. She was here. The place she was to live. Her new...home. She suddenly found herself gasping for breath.

"Marinette?" Ivan called. "Are you okay in there?"

Squeezing her eyes shut, Marinette loosed a breath she didn't know she had been holding. "I'm fine." She squared her shoulders before swinging the carriage door open before she could convince herself to do otherwise.

The palace was...big.

No, scratch that. The palace was a monstrosity.

The palace was at least ten stories high. Possibly twelve. Carved out of spotless white marble, it glinted brilliantly in the unrelenting sunlight, forcing the young princess to shield her eyes as she walked closer and closer to the exquisite oak doors. Other than that, the castle remained largely unadorned, by all means plain, save for a large crest carved right above the entrance: a large butterfly, with a peacock on one wing and a cat's paw print on the other.

"Okay, Marinette." She muttered under her breath, even as sweat beaded on her brow. "Let's do this."

She threw her head back and strode into the palace, loud trumpets heralding her arrival. Despite the announcer in front of her blocking her view, she was able to see three thrones in front of her, all seeming to be in that same stifling white everything else was. Two were occupied, though she couldn't see much more than their legs.

As her name and title were announced, Marinette did as she had been coached to do only two days before. It felt like two lifetimes. Curtsying, she kept her eyes on the ground, as the pair of black boots on the right side entered her field of vision.

"Rise, please. There is no need for such formalities, at least not from my future wife." A warm male voice ordered.

Marinette's heart threatened to pound out of her chest as she tore her eyes from the floor.

Standing in front of her was the most beautiful man she had ever seen.

He had golden hair, like the color of sun upon sand. His lips were peach colored, and looked utterly kissable. He was at least a head taller than her. But most devastating of all were his green eyes, which were deep and soulful and looked like uncut jewels.

He stuck out a hand, grinning. "I'm Prince Adrien Agreste. You know. Your, uh, fiance?"

Marinette placed her pale hand into his tanner one. "I'm Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Marinette!" She stumbled over her words, shaking his hand erratically.

"Nice to meet you, Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Marinette." He said playfully before pulling his hand away.

A tall man strode up behind the prince, placing his hands on his shoulders. With his tan skin and long face, Marinette could easily see the resemblance between the two men. So this must be King Gabriel.

"Welcome to our home, Princess Marinette. It is a pleasure to see you, and even more of a pleasure to have you join our humble family." Gabriel said, stone-faced and solemn.

Marinette curtsied politely, smiling behind gritted teeth. "The pleasure is all mine, Your Highness."

"I'm sure. Adrien, you are to spend the rest of the day giving the princess a tour of her new home. I will see you both at dinner." And with that, he turned on his heel and walked away.

"Well, he sure doesn't like to mince words, does he?" Marinette muttered. Then, realizing that Adrien was close enough to hear her, she flushed. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I mean-!"

The prince only threw his head back and laughed loudly. "No, no, don't apologize. Father can be...curt. But he means well. And, most importantly, we should do whatever he says." He offered Marinette his arm. "So, shall we, my lady?"

Ignoring his arm, Marinette nodded. "Yes."

And thus she was brought to the Great Hall, the library, the dining hall, the drawing rooms, the music room, and the gallery. Every square inch of the place was the same bright, imperious, cold, white, smothering and all-encompassing. After four hours of walking around the giant compound of a place, Marinette was done. She was tired, and she was hungry, and she had been ripped from her home to be a pretty present for a man she didn't even know only hours ago. She was done being nice.

Marinette placed her hands on her hips. "Are we done yet?"

Adrien didn't seem surprised by her reaction, only quirking an eyebrow up. "Not quite."

Without saying anything else, he led he to one last room, at the end of the hall on the eighth floor. This room was small, and instead of the door being the same cool white as everything else, it was a warm red. "What is this?"

Prince Adrien gave her a secretive smile. "Go in and see."

Marinette hesitantly put her hand on the doorknob and twisted, before finding herself in a room that she could only describe as pure heaven.

The walls were a light pink that matched her dress, with painted black flowers scattered around the room. Furniture in the same color also littered the room. But it wasn't the furniture or the walls that drew her in.

All around the room bolts upon bolts of fabric from all over the world in different colors and textures were stashed. There was a giant sewing machine-top of the line, Marinette noted-in an off-white, creamy color, resting on top of a desk in the middle of the room. Also on the desk were needles, spools of thread, measuring tapes, pins...you name it.

She spun around the chamber, her mouth opened in awe. Her mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. The prince laughed at her expression, his eyes crinkling at the corner. Distantly, Marinette thought it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen (second most, really, as the room was the first).

"When the...marriage...was arranged, I asked your mother if you had any interests. I wanted to see if we had anything in common. And she mentioned that you liked sewing, so…" He waved his hand around the room, blushing faintly. "I hope you like it."

"Like it? I love it!" Marinette ran to him, sweeping him up in a giant hug.

The prince turned redder, pulling away sheepishly. "It's nothing, really. I just want you to feel at home. I know we don't know each other, so this marriage thing might be a bit...awkward...and I know this was all sudden. I know that marrying me is probably the last thing you could ever want. I don't blame you. I wish we lived in a universe where we could make our own decisions, and have the freedom to choose who to love. And even though that's impossible, I still want you to feel as comfortable here as you can. And if there's anything more I can do to help, simply say the word."

Marinette felt her heart melt slightly at his words. She gave him a smile-not a polite smile, not a demure smile, but a real, genuine grin-and gave him another quick hug. "Thank you so much, Prince Adrien. It-It really means a lot."

"Like I said, it's not a problem. And please, call me Adrien. After all, we are to be wed and all."

"Only if you call me Marinette."

"Well then Marinette, it's a deal."

"It's a deal, Adrien." Marinette smiled, clasping his hand.

This wasn't love yet, she knew. Not even close. Barely even a crush. But all relationships had to start somewhere. And as they grinned at each other over their joined hands, she thought to herself:

Maybe this won't be so bad after all.

A/N: How was it? I hope you all enjoyed it. Comment below if you enjoyed it, if you have any AUs that you want me to explore in the future (I won't do them for specific fandoms, and I won't do any NSFW, but I'll do just about anything else), and please, most of all, make sure you are staying safe and healthy during these trying times! See y'all later!