Hello! New story. This is also chapter 49 of my Snippets collection, but I really wanted to ocntinue it here. Notice that this follows episode 1 pretty accurately, but since Marinette is a fighter some things will be changed up in the future!

You don't need to see it to read this, but I highly recommend watching Akagami no Shirayukihime. ALL TIME FAVE! 3

Anyways, enjoy, read, review, follow, favorite, do your thing! I love comments and suggestions :D

Marinette could feel the dread in the pit of her stomach crawling up her neck as she stared down at the letter clenched in her hand. Yes, the paper was very fine quality, the kind that she'd only dream of sketching on, and it was closed with a seal of the most expensive wax, and the smooth ink was written into cursive words beautiful to look at, but-

They became less beautiful when read.

There wasn't anything glamorous about any of this other than the outward appearance.

You have been summoned to the Barbot castle tomorrow sharp at high noon. Prince Theo has considered taking you as his concubine. Take consideration and dress appropriately. You are lucky to have received such an offer. Any resistance will be futile.

The dread in her stomach slowly gave way to rage, causing her shaking fingers to clench around the parchment. How dare that no good fool of a prince-!

Marinette took a deep breath to settle her mind and simmering rage, setting the letter down on her workshop counter. A determined expression set upon her face as she looked around, mentally making note of everything she had to do. The sun was still high in the sky; she could finish all of her commissions by sunset, pack all the money and essentials she had, and high-tail it out of the place in the midst of night.

Dangerous, yes, but there was no way she would just give in with a smile like a pretty little doll and be taken to that fool's castle. Especially to marry him.

And she knew why the letter was even sent, why the Prince of the land had gone sifting through millions of names to find a commonplace tailor like her and offer a marriage proposal. Offer- more like force upon.

It was because of her eyes.

All the people who came into her shop kept telling her how beautiful her bluebell eyes were, how they were a sight for sore eyes, how eye-contact with her would brighten their day. Heck, some had even gone so far as to visit her shop just to look at her eyes. In the beginning she found it kind of odd, but had quickly learned that all the people in the Barbot lands were good-natured and meant no harm. And, well, it helped her designing business, too! No complaints there.

In the time and age she was in now, any eye color other than the standard dark, dark brown was seen as an oddity- a rarity. Blue eyes were even rarer than green ones; and within those, blue eyes which weren't dark were even less likely. She'd heard some rumors that the Princess of the neighboring Bourgeois lands had striking blue eyes, but then again, rich people found all kinds of ways to change how they looked. Marinette had seen her parading through the streets once in a fancy horse carriage to make a deal with the Barbots, and instantly a twinge of irritation had flared through her. Something about the girl just annoyed her to no end, and it wasn't just the artificial-looking blue eyes she fluttered at every boy she deemed "worthy".

And so, Prince Theo- notorious for liking pretty things as a fellow artist, and always getting what he wanted- now wanted Marinette by his side. A pretty trophy.

Well, not today! Resistance will be futile? Ha!

Marinette tied an apron around her waist and immediately got to work, pulling out fabrics and dyes from her cabinets and sewing them together at a pace she'd never sown before. Even though she was going to run away, her clients didn't deserve any of this, especially when they'd already paid. She wasn't going to become a thief today and run off with the money they'd given her for commissions without finishing her job.

"A purple evening gown for Mme. Chamack," Marinette murmured, spreading the deep violet cloth out and cutting it. She took out another separate bolt of blue silk and cut into that as well. "Another doll for Manon." Yellow satin. "Mythological tapestry for Mr. Kubdel."

On and on this process went for hours, until Marinette had finished every one of her thirteen projects. The sun dipped down in the sky. She wiped sweat off of her brow and her dye-stained hands on her apron, proudly eyeing her work. Had it been under better circumstances, she'd dance in joy at her progress.

Carefully, Marinette placed name tags on each of the finished projects, each one containing a smaller apology at the bottom. She sighed, looking out the window to her workshop. The sky outside was dipped in deep oranges, purples, and pinks, the same ones that inspired her to be a tailor. The Barbot lands had the most beautiful views no matter where you went.

A frown tugged at the girl's face as she walked forward and placed a hand on the cool glass. "This is the last time I'm going to see you," she said into her quiet and empty workshop. She loved her home. It wasn't fair that she had to do this.

But she did, that was fact, and moping would do nothing about it. The same determination coursing through her again, Marinette pulled out a large knapsack from one of her cabinets and stuffed it with all the essential things she could find around her little shop. While she dearly wanted to bring all of her fabrics with her, there were just too many, and it'd slow her down. She opted on just bringing her basic sowing kit and her favorite shade of green silk. The girl paused in the middle of her packing and lit a candle when the room turned too dark from the setting of the sun, causing a soft orange glow to highlight her little shop.

In went all of her savings, a canteen of water, and a bag of nuts. The way she was going to travel, she'd need to keep her energy up. Riding at the back of a wagon wouldn't exactly ensure top-class catering.

Marinette dusted her hands off, sighing. Her pack was stuffed to the brim, a healing kit putting on more added weight. She called it her Miraculous cure. While she didn't pursue medicine, many people had made it a point that she definitely could have. Her Miraculous cure could quickly heal any sort of bruise, cut, fever- anything physical at all. When people asked her how it was made, Marinette always smiled and said "magic". She might need it on the trip- who knew?

Marinette closed up the leather sack and reached over in one of her cabinets again, this time much more vacant than before, and pulled out her hoodie. It was red with black spots. While it wasn't an ideal color for most people who'd, well, run away, it was dear to her. She'd wear this to keep from the cold- and to hide her eyes.

Marinette slipped the hoodie over her head and looked over her shop one last time. The worn down sewing machine; the cushy seats at the front; the wooden floorboards, homey cabinets, and glowing yellow lights. The same shop her parents had helped her open up years ago. The same shop which her patrons frequented, in and out, and where the customers she was on more personal terms with had thrown her a surprise birthday party last year. The memories danced around her shop as if she was reliving them. She'd remember it all.

Marinette began to leave, but started as another idea entered her mind. Hurriedly rushing back into her shop and reaching into a drawer for one of the white silks she was going to abandon, along with a bluebell dye, Marinette set on coloring the cloth one last time.

It was nearing midnight when Marinette finished her work. She folded up the cloth that matched the color of her eyes and set it apart from the commissions on her table, tying a red bow around it with a snarky note on it.

For the Prince. The color you love, by your side forever.

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"Hello? Anybody there?" Marinette peered into the large home through one of the windows, knocking two more times. She could barely make out the silhouette of a staircase through the darkness, but that was it as far as she could tell. The inside of the house was completely dark. It could be the fact that the homeowners were asleep, or maybe the house was empty altogether. In any case, she wasn't getting in. The girl irritably sighed and plopped down on the grass outside, against one of the walls. Judging from the position of the moon in the sky, dawn was near. She could get a few hours of rest, and then figure it out in the morning. After all, she did deserve to rest; a four hour ride on the back of a wagon was tiring.

Marinette took her knapsack off of her back and snuggled up against it, yawning. Yes, that seemed like a good plan. Morning… it could wait until morning… and she did deserve it…

Sleep took her fast.

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Marinette groaned as sharp, bright rays invaded her eyes, poking and prodding. She turned her head away and was only met with more sunlight. As if on cue, a bunch of birds started chirping, too. Usually she found it endearing but now she was wishing the feathered devils would just shut up.

The chirping grew louder, the sunlight brighter, and Marinette suddenly became aware of a hard wall at her back and a cramp in her neck. Groaning again, she pushed herself off the brick wall and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, cracking her mouth open in a yawn. As she opened her eyes, she was met with what she couldn't see the night before due to the darkness. She seemed to be in the middle of a forest, resting against the wall of a house- a fairly large house, at that. Even though it was probably empty, it seemed well maintained. The forest itself was lush, bursting with different shades of green, and the chirping birds were there fluttering amongst trees along with more silent butterflies and bees.

Marinette was stretching when a voice suddenly shouted out from above, causing her to gasp and scramble around to see what it was. A second thought in the midst of the shock reminded her to whip her hood up over her eyes.

"Jeez, do you have to go from such a spot!" The voice shouted again just as a boy launched himself off the roof of the house. That was when she saw his eyes.

Emerald. A striking color. Just like the color of the silk she'd packed- maybe even bolder. And, despite jumping off of a roof, the boy did it as though he had practice, like he'd done it many times before. He wore clothing that was obviously expensive to her sharp tailor's eye, even though it was scuffed up in places and the sleeves were haphazardly rolled up. His hair was wild, blonde locks all over the place, and was only getting wilder as the wind from his jump ruffled it up more. On his face he wore a confident, carefree grin, showing perfectly straight and white teeth. He turned his head towards where she presumed was his landing spot.

…Where she was sitting.

Marinette gasped and scrambled back, but the boy twisted in midair anyways, landing on the ground a few feet away from her on his arm with a painful thud. She winced from where she was sitting. The boy immediately sat up in a catlike, comical (she felt bad for feeling sort of amused, really she did) crouch and clutched his right wrist.

"Ow…" he groaned. From around the side of the house came two dark-skinned people, one boy and one girl. They were both wearing glasses and high-quality clothing as well. The girl had bouncing scarlet curls and the boy, in turn, had a red hood on top of his head that was set back.

The boy with the red hood ran forward first, standing over the green-eyed one. "Are you injured? Did you hit your head? What's one plus one?!"

"Eleven," the green-eyed one groaned back. Then he blinked. "Huh? Who are you?"

The one with the red hood fell to his knees, pointing at his face. "IT'S ME! NINO!"

The girl with the scarlet locks snickered. "So that's your name?"

"ARE YOU FOR REAL ALYA?!"

Marinette jolted as she realized this was her chance. While the three of them were busy, er, conversing, she pulled her spotted hood down a little lower over her eyes and attempted to crawl away.

Key word being attempted.

The green-eyed one suddenly turned his head and pinned her down with his one eyed stare. "Well?" She paused in her crawling.

"Who are you?" He swung up his sheathed sword, one she didn't notice before, over his shoulder blades with his left hand. "What are you doing so deep in the forest, hmm?"

Marinette sat up and waved her hands in front of her, trying to think of a plausible excuse. "Uh- I was just, following an unused road while running away-" Running away? You just had to mention that, Marinette! "-uh, and I got lost!" She awkwardly laughed and tried to discreetly pull her hood down over her eyes.

Key word being tried.

The boy took notice and situated the tip of his sheathed sword under the edge of her hood before- nononononononono- throwing it back over her head.

She blinked and looked up at him. He and his two companions looked surprised to say the least.

"Your eyes," he said, completely and utterly straightforward. "They're light blue."

She looked down. "Yeah. I know." She peeked up again and saw that his right forearm had a large, angry red mark on it. "Your right arm! It's hurt!"

He looked down to his arm with an air of indifference. "So what?"

Marinette pulled her knapsack towards herself and began rummaging around in it, looking for her Miraculous cure. While she didn't initially plan on using any of it on an overconfident boy, it was her fault he got hurt in the first place. "I have a poultice," she explained as she moved fabric around. "It can help a bruise like that…"

"No thanks."

Marinette blinked, pausing in her rummaging. "What?"

The boy pointed his sword at her, still sheathed. The morning light bounced off of it. "How can I trust you so easily? It could be poison for all I know. I have no real business with you."

Marinette narrowed her eyes. "Right…"

He lowered his sword just a fraction of an inch. "If you understand, then you should get going."

Marinette looked back to her sack, eyes still narrowed. Supposedly there were cocky people everywhere. But still…

Marinette grabbed the end of his sword, startling him. "Wha-"

With resolve simmering in her blue eyes, she pulled on the sheathed sword and brought it down on her own arm, hard. Immediately the skin turned an angry red and the pain pulsated throughout her arm. However, Marinette simply gritted her teeth and, with shaky hands, opened her Miraculous cure bag.

The green eyed boy and his two companions watched on in surprise as she spread the poultice on a bandage before laying it on her wound. She held her arm up for them to see and donned a smug smirk.

"Sorry, but I don't make a habit of carrying poison around. Had a rough experience before?"

The boy dropped his sword.

Not more a second later, both his companions burst out into laughter. The girl wiped a tear from her eye. "She sure got you good, eh Adrien?"

Adrien. So she wouldn't have to think of him as green-eyed boy anymore, what a relief.

Adrien himself chuckled a little, eyes smiling too, and then crouched down in front of her, sighing in relief.

"Sorry about that. I have had rough experiences, you could say. My name's Adrien."

Marinette blinked, already having deduced this for herself. "My name's Marinette."

Adrien held up his injured arm in front of her as if for greeting, causing her to reel back a bit. "Nice to meet you! You sort of owe me a patch up, though."

Marinette gave him a deadpan stare. "Phrase it differently next time."

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As Marinette worked on bandaging his arm, Adrien talked. They'd gone inside the house and sat in the living room. It was nicely furnished, with a colorful rug, a quaint fireplace, and two large chairs seated across a coffee table as well as a sofa near the back. All the furniture had bright, bolder colors and the inside of the house had warm lights. Marinette was correct about there being a staircase; it led up to a room she had yet to see.

"This house is unoccupied, but we come here often," he explained, then used his free hand to gesture behind him where his companions were sitting playing chess. "The one losing the game is Nino. Alya is soundly beating him."

Marinette raised her eyebrows. He was completely right, but didn't even look behind him.

Nino voiced her very thoughts. "H-How do you know for sure if you didn't look at our game?"

Marinette watched in amusement as an all-knowing grin formed on Adrien's face. "I just know." Nino huffed while Alya laughed at him.

"All right, done," Marinette said, letting go of Adrien's arm. The boy held it up and looked it over, raising his eyebrows.

"Wow, you're pretty good at this, Marinette!" he said, surprising her a little. Usually people messed up her name, or shortened it altogether since apparently it was too hard to say: Mari, Marien, Mariet, Marine- she'd gone through it all.

"Well, it's not my profession, but someone told me how to make this who was really good at healing," she said, remembering Tikki with a smile. She'd left a few years back to do castle work- that much Marinette knew, but she didn't remember the name of the lands Tikki was traveling to. They'd departed with lots of hugs and smiles and good memories.

"I see," Adrien said. His gaze switched from his arm to her. "So why did you run away from home?"

Marinette's eye twitched. Of course this guy had to remember that detail. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them again. "It doesn't matter," she said, choosing not to look at him. "I'm going for a walk."

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Marinette looked up at the sky as she walked with her left arm lightly clasped around her injured forearm. It really was a nice day. The path she walked on was riddled with fallen leaves from the trees around her. Wildlife pulsated everywhere, from the chirping birds to the jumping rabbits to the faint breeze. Marinette looked over her shoulder with a mild seedling of annoyance.

"Why'd you follow me?"

Adrien was walking behind her, casually looking off in every other direction. He shrugged. "I can't let an injured girl go into the forest by herself. It's not gentle-meown-ly."

Marinette groaned. "Seriously? You make cat puns? I feel like you make lots, with how smoothly that came out…"

Adrien grinned, unbeknownst to Marinette. "I have a tie to cats, I guess. But this place is a lot different from the town, so I'm more relaxed."

Marinette nodded, leaning back against a tree. "I know what you mean. The air is different." Marinette then gave him a sly smile. "You just revealed your honest feelings, didn't you?"

At Adrien's reddening face, she laughed. "How cute." Her laugh was immediately cut off with a hiss of annoyance as she tried to move forward and was roughly yanked back.

Adrien walked over to her side and observed what had happened. A jagged piece of bark had thoroughly snagged her hoodie from a few loose stitches, causing a tangled mess.

"Your hood is stuck," he said, and Marinette sighed.

"I guess I didn't check to sow it up before leaving," Marinette said. "Sorry, but can you cut it for me?" At Adrien's confused glance, she added, "It's okay if it tears. I can sow it again."

Adrien was about to oblige, but blinked and beamed as he saw a golden opportunity. He hopped back and looked into Marinette's bluebell eyes.

"I will, if you tell me why you ran away," he teased. Marinette gaped.

"You're not looking like a great person right now. I hope you know."

Adrien simply shrugged and grinned wider.

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"He ordered you to what?!"

Marinette clenched her fists on her lap as she sat on the overgrown tree root next to Adrien.

"Become his concubine," she dryly repeated. "And for a boy who grew up eating silver coins, he always gets what he wants. He wanted to keep the color of my eyes next to him." Marinette clenched her fists tighter. "If I let him have his way, it'd be like he was buying a pretty colored cloth from the market."

"Marinette-"

"So," Marinette continued, standing up and looking back at Adrien. His eyes were slightly widened, completely matching the color of the forestry around him despite being dappled in mild sunlight. "I left a piece of dyed cloth behind to hopefully make him tire of me."

Adrien blinked and then burst into laughter, slapping his knee. He looked up again and grinned at her, not bothering to swipe away the multiple locks of hair between his eyes. She fought down the urge to do so.

"That was great!" He said cheerfully as he got up. "A good way to teach a pompous brat a lesson. It is your blue, after all."

Marinette followed him with her eyes as he walked forwards, confused. "My blue?"

"Well, yeah," Adrien said, looking up at the vibrant sky. "Blue represents truth, right? You'll find your right way because of the blue that seems annoying right now." He looked back at her with a cheeky grin. "Besides, there's no point in stealing a true blue."

Marinette gaped at him, astonished. "I thought you were just arrogant- but that's an amazing way of thinking!"

Adrien sweat dropped. "Is that respect, or not…?"

From a couple of yards away, comfortably nestled in their own trees, Alya and Nino watched on.

"She's not suspicious after all, huh?" Alya said, smiling at the sight. Nino also smiled, petting a rabbit in his lap.

"Not only that- Adrien seems to really like her."

"Mm."

Adrien and Marinette were walking towards the house together when the former noticed something, narrowing his eyes and running forwards. Marinette confusedly followed him, until she saw what was on the doorstep of the house. The same feeling of dread from before suddenly chilled her bones.

A basket sat on the doorstep, something inside it covered with a rich purple cloth. A red bow was tied around the handle.

"That's- that's the bow I tied the cloth with!" Marinette said as Adrien picked up the basket. Dread formed a lump in her throat as the wind gently lifted the purple cloth off of the basket, revealing expensive silks piled up inside with several yellow roses.

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"So you came from the Barbot lands?" Adrien asked as he read the letter that came with the basket. Marinette absently unwrapped and rewrapped the ribbon around her palm and nodded.

"The person who sent this somehow tracked you from all the way across the border," Adrien pointed out as he waved the letter in the air. "He seems pretty spiteful to me."

Marinette forced out a laugh despite the dread she felt. "Right?"

"Don't laugh, this is serious!" Adrien said, leaning forward. "Was it so bad that you had to cross the border?"

Marinette looked down at the red ribbon resting in her palm and back to the basket of silks. A blue colored one rested on top. "Well, it's because of who he is…" At Adrien's prompting silence, she sighed. "It was Prince Theo-"

Adrien choked, lurching forward and slamming a hand on the table between them. "Th-Theo?! That- that… royal idiot?!"

"Yeah. Rumors of him spread to other countries, too?" Marinette sighed.

Adrien sat back in his chair, bristling. "He probably sifted through all the border crossing records just to find you."

Marinette looked down at her lap. "He'd go so far… no way…"

"He probably thinks you're his already," Adrien said.

Marinette swallowed a lump in her throat and reached forward for one of the pieces of cloth. The dye was exquisite. Tikki had shown her this kind before- it had a distinct scent which had people paying extra for it. But at the same time, this piece of silk was fraying at the edges.

"It's fraying," Marinette murmured. "Even though the dye is the expensive scented type, nobody will want this blue…"

Marinette gave a start when Adrien got up and walked over to her, taking her hand with the cloth in it in his own, encircling her wrist. Her eyes widened as he buried his nose in the soft cloth, inhaling. "Adrien…?"

"How rude," Nino called from the staircase, having long since given up at chess. Adrien choked and jumped away from the cloth. "If you wanted a sniff so badly you should have gotten one for your own."

"I-I didn't call to you!" Adrien spluttered as he marched up to Nino. "Stay out of it!"

"Ouch, dude!"

"Adrien!"

"What?" He asked, sharply turning around. Marinette stood there, looking at the cloth in conviction.

"Sorry. I said something stupid," she said, and Adrien's face immediately softened. And then his brows furrowed.

"Marinette… don't sniff the cloth," he said, and Marinette blinked in confusion.

"What-?"

Adrien abruptly swayed and fell to his knees, pitching forward. Alya and Nino leaped over the stairs and caught him before his head could hit the ground.

Marinette's eyes widened and she hurriedly rubbed the cloth on her bandaged arm. Just as she suspected, a light bluish substance rubbed off onto the white bandage that most definitely was not dye.

"It's poisoned!"

Alya's head snapped to hers, her hands currently cradling Adrien's head. "What?! Do you have an antidote?"

Marinette thought back to her knapsack, panic slowly filtering her system. "N-Not for inhalations-"

"Oh," a new voice said, and three heads in the room snapped to the front door where an unfamiliar man stood. "Miss Marinette was not the one who sniffed the cloth?"

"Who are you?!" Marinette spat, keeping no amount of venom from entering her voice. The monotonous man turned his head to regard her.

"I am Prince Theo's guard," he said. "Do not worry. I have an antidote." Marinette jerked back as he met her eyes again, this time with some sort of victory. "I trust you will come with me?"

Marinette took one look back at Adrien lying on the ground and clenched her teeth, glaring back at the man.

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The horse ride's luxuriousness couldn't hide the hateful atmosphere Marinette made sure she was putting up, but if thought what she was emitting back then was a hateful aura, she'd laugh now.

"So you're Marinette? I see," Theo said as he looked at her from every angle as if she were cloth at a market. She stood stock still, her shoulders squared and her eyes burning. "I'm surprised," Theo continued. "The cloth you left behind was the same exact color!" He walked around her once more and then towards his chair a little ways ahead of her, in front of two large windows which were doors leading out to a balcony. The room was large and with plenty of light, the windows behind Theo having rich red curtains. A table was placed next to his chair, containing a bowl of fruits and a box of something else she didn't know of as well.

"Um, what about the antidote for my friend?" Marinette asked, and Theo held a hand up.

"Hang on a sec!" He turned around and sat down in his chair, crossing his legs and leaning an elbow on the table. "See, offering a proposal and being rejected is humiliating for any man," he began. "For me, even more so! Public rating has dipped for me." Theo dramatically sighed and turned in his chair, placing the back of his hand on his forehead. "So, to bring the ratings back up, I'd have to have you become my concubine."

Marinette froze in place, no thanks to the chill that suddenly invaded her body. She narrowed her eyes. "What about the antidote?" She pressed on, and Theo waved his hand.

"Oh, I can have it delivered to him easy if you just say yes," he said, and then pulled the box from the table. He unlatched it and picked up a piece of blue silk from the inside, letting it hang from his two pinched fingers. "Or should I send him this instead?"

Theo reached for the cloth with his other hand and easily teared it from the other end, letting go of the two ragged pieces and letting them flutter down to the ground. Marinette shakily followed them with her eyes, fists clenching in rage.

'Blue represents truth, right? You'll find your right way because of the blue that seems annoying right now. Besides, there's no point in stealing a true blue.'

Some path she'd found.

Theo walked forwards and she could tell he was looking at her eyes, even as she looked at the ground. He reached out with one hand and angled her face so he could see better.

"For me, I know your eyes are very pretty," he said with a smile. "So you'll stay in my sight."

Marinette stared up at him and clenched her teeth in resolve. Closing her eyes, she slapped his hand away roughly, causing him to keel back. He stumbled, but found his footing. "Wh-what-!"

"Fine, Prince Theo," she said his name like a sneer. She finally opened her eyes and glared at him viciously, inwardly cheering when she saw him sweating. "Take me if you dare."

A muffled commotion outside caused both of the parties to look towards the door.

"Hey! Hold on-!"

A couple of clashing sounds later, the doors suddenly bursted open, causing Prince Theo to jump back. In the doorway stood Adrien with his sheathed sword.

"I BEG TO DIFFER!"

Marinette floundered, her mouth opening and closing like a fish's. "A-Adrien!"

"Why, you-!" The same emotionless guard from before now, lo and behold, angrily unsheathed his sword and lunged at Adrien. Said boy simply narrowed his eyes and smoothly blocked without unsheathing his sword, sidestepping the man and knocking his feet out from under him with one strong stroke. The guard fell and landed towards two other guards, unconscious under Alya and Nino.

"Would you stop making such dirty jokes?" Adrien said, glaring at the spluttering Theo. Then, to Marinette, he smiled, holding up his arm with the bandage unraveling from it. "Tie this for me?"

Marinette rushed forward. "Wait- what about your body?"

"I've been building up immunity to poison for a while now," he said. "No worries."

"But-"

"I see!" Adrien and Marinette turned to see Theo standing now with his hands at his hips. "So you're the one who accidentally poisoned himself. What a shame," Theo shook his head as Adrien bristled. "I was meaning to immobilize Miss Marinette and take her home."

"So you sent those poisoned cloths," Adrien snapped, and Theo bared his teeth in a snarl.

"Watch how you talk to me! You and I live in different worlds, you should know. I could have you soundly imprisoned."

"Well, I apologize, First Prince Theo of the Barbot lands," Adrien said, beginning to pull out his sword. Marinette watched on in confusion as Alya and Nino moved forward and flanked his sides.

Adrien held out his sword. On the hilt was an elaborate marking with a bold green paw print in the middle. Theo narrowed his eyes. "That crest…?"

"Let me introduce myself. I am Adrien Agreste, Second Prince of the Agreste lands!"

The bold declaration echoed in the room for a few moments before Theo visibly began to freak out.

"Second…" He spluttered. "Prince? Agreste?"

Marinette's jaw also dropped. "What?!"

"It's true," Adrien said to Marinette. "But I didn't think the First Prince of the Barbot Lands would try to poison me."

Theo fell out of his chair. "You-! You have no proof that it was me!" He gestured wildly around him. "It could have been anybody!"

Nino narrowed his eyes. "There's plenty of evidence in my eyes."

Alya mirrored Nino's expression. "We could have you soundly imprisoned," she said, imitating his words from before. "And your social status would reach a new all-time low."

Theo was having difficulty breathing. He fell out of his chair and began to scramble backwards when Adrien walked towards him.

"We'll keep your deeds a secret if you agree to leave Marinette alone," Adrien firmly said. Then, as an afterthought, he added, "And never say her name again."

Theo confusedly cocked his head. "How do you know Marinette-"

Adrien swung his sword towards Theo's chest. The prince shrieked and scooted back farther, causing the doors to his balcony to swing open. He fell onto the balcony.

"What did I just say about her name?" Adrien narrowed his eyes.

"Okay, okay!" Theo cried. "I promise, geez!"

Adrien lowered his sword and looked back to Marinette. "Any words you want to say to him before we leave?"

Marinette narrowed her eyes and walked forward, crouching in front of Theo.

"I can sow this for you," she said, holding up the two pieces of the blue cloth he'd torn. Theo gulped and backed against the railing. "It looks like there's a little tear. Also…"

"Wh-what?"

Marinette glared up at him through her bangs. "Hurry up and give Adrien the medicine."

MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB

Adrien tilted his head back as the vial's contents were emptied into his mouth. He swallowed and sighed with relief, setting the vial down.

Before he could utter anything, though, Marinette beat him to it.

"Sorry."

He blinked, surprised. Marinette was standing a couple of feet away from where he was sitting. They'd gone back to the house in the forest, and the setting sun was causing the place to be bathed in an orange glow.

"Huh?"

"I'm grateful you helped me. But at the same time, I just managed to cause you trouble…"

Adrien snorted a little, standing up next to Nino and Alya. "Come on, don't be like that. It wasn't your fault."

Alya nodded, crossing her arms. "It was Adrien's fault for trying to be macho and sniffing the cloth." Adrien spluttered but he went ignored. "Besides, us three-" She gestured to herself, Adrien and Nino. "-we should have been more careful." Nino and Adrien nodded in agreement.

Marinette twisted the cloth of her hood in her hands. "Still…"

Adrien walked over in front of Marinette. She looked up. "You could think of it as trouble, or you could think of this as the path that your blue led you to," he said, and Marinette's expression turned surprised. "This is fate, isn't it? We sure met under the most coincidental circumstances."

Marinette finally smiled at that. Adrien offered her his hand with a smile.

"So, you can come with us?"

Marinette's eyes flickered from Alya, to Nino, to Adrien. They all smiled at her.

It reminded her of her shop. Of her parents. Of Tikki.

Marinette gingerly took his hand.

"Sure."

heck if im not continuing this im making a new story yall