Marinette stared wistfully out of the window, losing count of how many hours they've been in the car.

Apparently, her relatives' house was in the countryside. That gave Marinette some hope that they were somewhat humble people to have chosen an area to live with such amazing scenery and away from Beijing's bustling suburban life.

From the distancing mountains that were high enough to seemingly touch the foggy morning mist to the overwhelming greenery of shrubs and trees. Since the sun was slowly coming up now, the rivers and waterfalls caught the lights of the sun as well as the colours of the dawning sky; reflecting light pink, orange and violet hues on top of its calm surface. Marinette found a sense of tranquility in the moment and decided to take pictures, both for sending to her friends and to keep for herself as inspiration for later designs.

Marinette sighed and sank into the leather car seat, resting her head on her shoulder and lazily scrolled through her social media, occasionally snapchatting Alya tiredly before sighing again and turned off her phone.

This car ride was really boring.

Marinette hadn't packed her earphones because she thought that she would be too occupied with impressing her relatives to even look at her phone and was berating herself for not thinking about how long the car ride would be. The road was relatively smooth so she was incredibly lucky that her carsickness hadn't acted up and Marinette mentally thanked Tikki's Ladybug magic.

"Your family's mansion is just up ahead miss Marinette." Her bodyguard informed. She hummed in acknowledgement and sure enough, there stood a very large traditionally inspired mansion  a few kilometres away.

"Oh my god." Marinette remarked breathlessly. Just how rich were her family?!

"Yes, it's quite impressive. It took approximately ten years to complete and they are still installing other areas."

"Such as?"

"Libraries, political halls for meetings, more guest rooms, dining rooms, music studios and ballrooms." Marinette was starting to get really annoyed from being so impressed to the point where her jaw visibly dropped.

"So my family has all of this money and yet I could see so many homeless and starving people out on the streets." Marinette asked with measured anger and accusation. As she half expected, Jiānhùrén did not answer her but that was sufficient enough for Marinette to conclude his answer. She let out a disgusted scoff and muttered unflattering things about her relatives under her breath.

"Mademoiselle it's unbecoming of you to mutter."

"Would you like to hear what I have to say then?" Marinette replied in a false sweet tone.

"No, in fact I would not because I have a hunch on what you are saying." Marinette opened her mouth to snap back but Jiānhùrén interrupted her. "Please refrain from muttering in front of your relatives."

"Fine." She grumbled, giving into her bodyguard's request and fell silent for the rest of the ride.

A few minutes later, the limo pulled up to the front of the mansion but unlike the crowds at the hotel, Marinette could see staff lined up at the mansion's front steps, dressed impeccably well while wearing neutral expressions as their heads were bowed.

Jiānhùrén got out of the front seat but didn't open her car door like he usually did. Instead a pair stepped away from the line of staff and helped her out of the car wordlessly.

"Thank you." She told the staff in Mandarin and in return they showed the barest hints of grateful smiles before schooling their features into neutrality when Jiānhùrén to place at her side once again.

She took his offered arms and followed his lead up the stairs, saying greetings in Mandarin to every one of the staff they passed.

"You are awfully calm for someone meeting their long lost relatives." Jiānhùrén commented quietly. Marinette slightly lifted her shoulders in reply, a tense silence occupying the air around them.

Jiānhùrén navigated her around the mansion without fault or hesitation, as if he roamed the halls a million times, before making the pair halt in their movements in front of large oak doors with a pair of curling brass door knobs.

It certainly looked snobby enough for her mental image of her royal relatives.

"I recommend that you cease that disgusted sneer in front of your relatives." Jiānhùrén scolded her. Marinette looked up to him with a confused expression before she realised that she did unconsciously pull a disgusted expression at the assumptions of her relatives.

Marinette shook her head in trying to get rid of any negative feelings and sucked in a deep breath, her eyelids fluttering shut.

"Okay, I'm ready." Marinette breathed out and a split second later, Jianhuren pushed the doors forward to reveal a large office with three figures occupying it.

The first figure that Marinette recognised was her grandmother, who sat in the far left armchair near the window, looking as she always did in the photo albums her maman kept.

Although Marinette remembered that her grandmother was in her eighties already, she obviously aged very well. Changying Cheng looked like the absolute epitome of rustic elegance and wisdom, her pure white hair cut into a bob like Marinette's maman and Marinette noted that her maman must've gotten her petite stature from her grandmother.

Like Marinette, she wore a cheongsam but it was coloured emerald green, silver and black. Her grandmother wore a black blazer over it with buttoned halfway.

Changying sat in the armchair with her hands folded gracefully in her lap with her legs crossed, practically oozing the aura of a collected and experienced queen. Her gaze was fixed on the other female in the room, pacing around in front of the office's glass doors, ranting in Mandarin and looking quite annoyed with Marinette's grandmother's lack of reaction towards the woman's demandings.

Unlike Marinette's grandmother the woman did not wear any type of traditional Chinese clothing, instead dressed in a dull cream coloured pant suit with her grey streaked black hair pulled into a severe bun with a contemptuous look to her expression.

The unfamiliar woman was obviously a very prideful one and Marinette got the sense that that woman looked down on anyone 'lesser' than her by the way she held her nose up high in the air and thrown belittling glares at Marinette's grandmother, who was still smiling at the woman with all the care in the world.

Looking again at the woman's harsh eyes, Marinette could feel that she would hate that woman.

Finally Marinette observed the third person present, a male that looked around her age if not two or three years older.

He had the same dark hair as the unidentifiable woman, looking lanky but tall in stature which only added to his seemingly passive nature. He appeared to be trying to calm down the pacing woman in a pantsuit, using his hands to signify calmness but it did absolutely nothing to deter the slightly annoying woman from talking Marinette's grandmother's ear off.

Grandmother still looks the same... But who the heck are these people? That woman doesn't look like the type of person who would go out of their way to get a five star hotel for a long lost relative and the other guy's about my age!

Jiānhùrén cleared his throat loudly, finally making the duo's presence clear to the occupants of the room except to Marinette's grandmother it seemed as she did not immediately whip her head around to the source of sound unlike the other pair.

Marinette hurriedly bowed in respect once the male and female recognised her presence and bowed once again when her grandmother finally turned around to meet Marinette's nervous gaze.

A beat had passed.

Then, the widest grin Marinette had ever seen on her grandmother was made at the sight of the bluenette and the petite old woman hurriedly got out up her seat to greet Marinette properly.

[A.N: They're speaking in Mandarin from now on]

"Lánméi." Her grandmother said once she stood in front of Marinette, embracing her tightly the second the nickname slipped out from her mouth while Marinette vaguely remembered overseas phone calls her maman would make and Marinette would get to talk to her grandmother.

Unshed tears made Marinette's blue bell eyes glassy but she quickly blinked the tears away and she nuzzled her face in the crook of her grandmother's neck, a comforting jasmine scent filling her nostrils and Marinette sighed in relief of finally getting to meet her grandmother.

"Oh that reminds me." Her grandmother stepped away from the bluenette and reavhed up to her ears, causing confusion to Marinette.

Then Marinette realised that her grandmother had hearing aids and judging by the outraged gape the other woman had, she had no idea about it either and wasted her speech for nothing. Marinette let out a small smile at the sight of the other male fighting back a smile at the woman's furious scowl.

"So all this time you switched off your hearing aids?!" The woman accused indignantly while Marinette's grandmother gave an uncaring shrug.

"Yes, you are correct." The old woman replied unapologetic with a sly smile before gently grabbing Marinette's wrist and led her to the armchair next to her grandmother's.

Marinette set herself down gently and folded her hands on her laps as her grandmother did the same with an endearing smile. The old lady suddenly clapped twice and waved her hands in Jianhuren's position and he swiftly exited the room, the sound of the door shutting resounding in the room while Marinette tried to remain calm and composed in front of her relatives.

She sent a nervous glance at her grandmother and silently observed her other two relatives before she heard her grandmother clear her throat by her side and Marinette met her grandmother's stormy grey eyes with her own blue bells.

"Welcome to your new home Lánméi." Marinette ducked her head in a small bow in reply and plastered a grateful smile.

"Thank you zûmû." Her grandmother chuckled at Marinette's formality, her dainty wrinkled hand hovering in front of her mouth.

"Oh Lánméi, no need to be so formal with me-" Marinette sheepishly smiled but refrained from tapping her fingers on her thigh anxiously. "-nâinai is fine my dear."

Before Marinette could grace her grandmother with a response, a disdainful snort was made and Marinette quickly concluded that it came from the woman she greatly disliked.

"Even if you're family, you should always refer people you aren't familiar with with formality." She commented irrelevantly. Her pompous tone irked Marinette to her core and she had a hard time keeping herself in her seat rather than stand up in fury. Although the second option was very appealing, Marinette didn't want to make a bad impression so she simply sent the woman a polite smile with resentment hidden behind it.

Although she kept herself from being outwardly rude to the woman, Marinette's grandmother seemed to have other ideas.

"Fan speak when you are asked to." Her grandmother snapped back, sending a harsh disapproving glare to the prideful woman however said woman didn't seem all that bothered, instead glaring at the fidgeting male in the other armchair.

"I'm so sorry, where are our manners. Marinette this is your gūmā and biâojie, Fan and Liang Cheng." Marinette smiled and bowed once again in respect (not so much for her guma though) and got up to shake their hands.

She firmly shook her biâojie's, the two making some plans to catch up later, with the same kind smile but once she turned to her aunt she felt her smile grow rigid and cold, perhaps even resembling a grimace now.

She still held out her hand all the same and tried to smile as kindly as possible at the snobby woman before her.

"It's a great pleasure to finally meet you gūmā."

Marinette expected her gūmā to put aside whatever bitter feelings she had against her and be professional but stood corrected as the woman once again scoffed derisively and shot her a belittling glare that made Marinette's blood boil.

"Don't patronise me."

Okay Marinette definitely hated this woman.

She ignored the sharp reprimand her grandmother sent to the woman before her and the embarrassed expression her biâojie held out of her peripheral vision.

She ignored the other occupants in the room because Marinette Dupain-Cheng was not going to let her complacent gūmā to walk all over her and belittle her when she didn't even know what Marinette was capable of.

Oh yes, Marinette was going to spite the hell out of her gūmā and become the best princess this century had ever seen.

[A.N: lánméi: blueberry, Changying's nickname for Marinette
         gūmā: aunt
         biâojie: cousin
         zûmû: grandmother
         nâinai: grandma

Once again, Google Translate and I have a love/hate relationship]