Note: Okay, so I wrote this all in one sitting pretty late at night. The idea has been sitting in the brain for the past couple of days, and I just had to write it. I don't really have another chapter planned for this, but if lots of people would like one, I'll probably do it. I kinda love the idea of the story. I hope you enjoy reading it, and please leave a comment if you would like this fic to be continued! Thank you! Also, feel free to check out my tumblr: royalrampionengineer !

"It is now time to sign the marriage license, Prince Adrien," Royal Advisor Sancoeur stated, walking into hallway with a bundle of papers.

"Uh, what?" Adrien replied, adjusting a golden pin on his royal suit jacket. "I'm being crowded king, not getting married. You must have grabbed the wrong papers."

"Were you not informed?" Sancoeur asked him.

"Informed of what?" Adrien turned to her. He could already feel his face paling and his hands sweating. Although, it wasn't as if his hands weren't already sweating. Having fifteen minutes to go before you get crowded king of the largest kingdom in the southern providences tended to do that to a person.

Adrien admitted, he was probably more nervous than he should have been. The coronation was simple. Say yes to a couple of sentences, hold the scepter and the golden orb, look composed as the crown was placed on his head, then stand up straight as the kingdom clapped for him. Easy. Except for the fact that he had only just arrived back in the kingdom after a three-month tour around the providence and was completely underprepared to run a kingdom he was out of touch with. It was just like his father to die right in the middle of his trip and cause him to come home to run the kingdom. That was his father for you, always ruining anything fun or independent Adrien tried to do.

Adrien sighed, then turned back to Sancoeur's piercing stare. This was not the time to get lost in his thoughts. "You know I just got back from my trip late last night. I've just been doing what other people told me to. I literally have no idea what's going on, besides the steps during the coronation happening in fifteen minutes."

Sancoeur stared at him, "Prince Adrien, the royal law dictates one must be married before he or she can take the throne."

"Excuse me?!"

"Did the royal tutors teach you nothing about the laws surrounding a coronation?"

"Apparently not," Adrien muttered. Although, Adrien had to concede that maybe this was the teensy bit his fault. So what if he read his favorite adventure novels during the Royal Laws lessons? They were so boring, and he figured he could pick up everything he needed to know by shadowing his father when the time came. But no, his father just had to die and ruin all of Adrien's plans. Figures.

Adrien cast a glance at the papers in her hand, "So you're telling me no one thought to mention that I had to get married to become king before now?"

"Yes," Sancoeur replied, expressionless. Adrien resisted the urge to crawl up in a corner and just die right then.

"And why is this a rule? It seems like, really old fashioned."

"When the first king took the throne and built this great kingdom, he almost went mad with the stress of it. Then he met the queen, and she helped him to find a balance between ruling and fun. He then made it a royal law that the prince or princess must be married before taking on the title of king or queen, to prevent anyone from feeling as he did."

"That is so stupid." Adrien raked a hand through his hair, messing up the two-hours work of three stylists.

"We figured this wouldn't be an issue since you and Lady Rossi were planning on getting married this summer anyway. You can have the wedding ceremony in the summer as planned, you just need to sign the marriage license now to make it official."

Adrien's face finally lost all of its color. "Uh."

Sancoeur looked around. "Where is Lady Rossi? I thought I had someone go fetch her." She snapped her hands, and several of the royal employees running around the hallway stopped to hear her demands. "Someone get Lady Rossi and bring her here immediately."

"Wait! That's not necessary!" The employees went back to their jobs, and Adrien answered the questioning gaze coming from Sancoeur. "It's uh, well, a funny story," Adrien replied sheepishly. "But I don't think Lila is in the palace."

Sancoeur turned to him, glaring. Adrien shrunk back. Dang, she could give his father a run for his money in the glaring department. "And why would that be?"

"We might have, ahh, broken up this morning?"

"You did what."

"Hey, the break-up was not my fault! Well, I did break up with her, but she was the one who was cheating on me! I went to surprise her for breakfast this morning, only to find her lip-locking with my cousin Theo!" Adrien ranted, beginning to pace down the hallway. "Like, I know I was gone for a couple of months, but come on! I wrote her love poetry every single day, and she cheats behind my back! Theo's not even that attractive! And he's a selfish jerk!" Adrien angrily wiped away the tears streaming down his face.

Sancoeur frowned, "I was unaware of this occurrence."

"Yeah, well, I figured I would let everyone know after the coronation. I didn't want to make a big deal about it. But apparently, that's not an option right now."

Sancoeur looked at him, "So you are not currently dating or engaged to anyone?"

"No!" Adrien shouted. "I thought I made that clear with my little rant back there." He waved his hands in the direction he had just paced from.

"Well, it seems we have a problem then."

"Yeah," Adrien ran his hands through his hair again. "Yeah, it does. What happens if I don't get married in the next ten minutes?"

"You cannot be crowned king."

"Can't we like, delay the ceremony a day or something?"

"Royal law dictates that a new ruler must be crowned exactly a day after the death of the old king at noon. If you do not get married, the crown will pass to Theo."

"But he's not married either!"

"It would take no time for him to get married to Lady Rossi."

"This is so unfair. Who in all the providences thought these royal rules were a good idea?!" Adrien muttered.

"I am beginning to think that myself. Are you sure you could think of no one to marry now? Theo would make an awful king, too self-involved and not concerned with what is best for the kingdom, just himself."

"You're telling me," Adrien scoffed. "And no, I can't think of anyone. I couldn't stand to be married to Chloe for the rest of my life, much rule beside her. I'd much rather marry a stranger. And my other friend Nino is already in love with Lady Céaire. I've got no other options." Adrien braced his back against the wall of the hallway and slid down to the floor, running his hands down his face. "I've got no options. I'm not going to be king, and Theo's going to run this kingdom into the ground. This is the worst day of my life."

"No," Sancoeur looked at him. "There must be something we can do in the next eight minutes."

"Like what?" Adrien asked helplessly. "Find a random person around the palace and marry them?"

"Yes," Sancoeur replied unflinchingly.

"Are you crazy?" Adrien gaped up at her.

"Maybe. Now get up and go find yourself someone to marry." She grabbed his arm and pulled him up from the floor. Adrien was so startled, he stumbled too far forward and knocked his head against the opposite wall. He rubbed his head as Sancoeur pushed his back forward. "Hurry. We don't have much time."

Adrien, dazed, hurting, and wondering exactly what his life was coming to, was too distracted to pay attention to where he was going. He was knocked back into reality when he felt his body hit something that was definitely not a wall.

"I'm so sorry!" The not-a-wall screeched out. Adrien blinked, then looked down at the girl staring up at him, wide-eyed.

"No, it's my fault. I was a bit distracted." Adrien looked at her. She was short, with her blue-black hair tied up into a bun and a blush on her face. She was wearing a polo shirt with the royal crest on it. An employee in the palace then, sewing division if the color of her shirt was correct. He remembered her, he thought, from before his trip. She was helping the kitchen staff with their duties, if he remembered correctly. And he swore he saw sketching out in the royal gardens before with a gaggle of palace kids surrounding her. That seemed promising.

It was in that moment, staring into her blue eyes, that the panic about the coronation and marriage flashed bright in his mind. And Adrien thought, What the hell. She's cute and nice. It could work.

"Are you dating anyone?" he asked her.

"Excuse me?"

"Please?" Adrien grabbed her forearms in desperation. "The fate of the kingdom rests on your answer!"

Okay, maybe he was being a bit dramatic, but come on. The situation was pretty dire.

The woman's eyes practically popped out of their sockets. "It does?"

"Yes!"

"No, no I'm not dating anyone."

"Perfect. Will you marry me?"

The girl looked around wildly. "What?" Her gaze darted to his royal jacket, and she let out a little scream, covering her hand with her mouth.

"Like, right now? I'm not joking. Please, I promise I'll explain everything after. I know it sounds crazy."

"You're Prince Adrien," the woman kept staring at him, and Adrien squirmed. How in all the providences did he get himself into these situations?

"Yes I am, and I am begging you to marry me." He almost dropped down to his knees, but thought that might have been a bit much.

"This is a dream. There's no way this is happening." The woman shook her head, backing away.

"As much as I wish it was, this is real life and I need you to marry me within the next five minutes or else I won't be crowned king."

"Huh?"

Adrien waved his hands, "It's a weird royal law thing that I didn't know about until like fifteen minutes ago."

"Why aren't you marrying Lady Rossi?"

"We broke up!" Adrien said exasperatedly. "She was cheating on me."

"And you choose me to marry instead?" The woman's head was titled to the side.

"Well, you were the first person I saw," Adrien rubbed the back of his neck. This was so bad. What was he thinking? He was never going to be king! "And I remember seeing you around the palace. You always seemed nice."

The woman hiccupped looking away from his face, "This is absolutely crazy. I can't be a queen."

"Yes you can! We'll figure out the details later, okay? Or else I have to give away my kingdom to my cousin Theo."

"Duke Theo? He's a jerk!"

"I know!" Adrien cried. "Which is why I can't let him be king and why I need you to marry me."

The woman took a deep breath, looked into his eyes, and said, "Okay. I'll-I'll marry you."

"Thank you!" Adrien shouted, then picked her up, spinning her in a circle. She let out a startled yelp. He set her back down, then grabbed her hand and started walking back to where Sancoeur stood, papers and pen in hand. "First things first, what is your name?"

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng," She replied.

"Beautiful," He smiled at her. "And mine's Adrien Agreste."

Marinette laughed, a hysterical sort of giggle. "I know."

"Right, right." Adrien shook his head. "Well, ready for our wedding?"

Sancoeur came up to the two and asked them to recite a couple of vows. Adrien held Marinette's shaking hand the entire time. Then the two quickly signed, making the whole ordeal official.

"Congratulations," Sancoeur said. "And with a minute to spare. You may now kiss the bride," She nodded at Adrien.

"Um," he replied, looking down at his new wife. "I suppose we should check for chemistry?"

"R-right." Marinette looked up to him, face red.

"Okay," Adrien stated, then leaned down, his hands cupping her cheeks, and placed a kiss on her lips. They both drew back, smiles on their faces.

Maybe this strange marriage wouldn't be so bad after all. Kissing Lila had certainly never felt that good or made his stomach fill with so many butterflies.

"Coronation time," Sancoeur interrupted, breaking the two apart and opening the door to the throne room on her left.

As Adrien stumbled through the door, for some reason he couldn't wipe the smile off of his face. Sure, the day was horrible, but he couldn't help thinking that maybe it was getting better.