A/N: exams are a pain, guys😭😭 I might be skipping another week (and maybe a few days after) of updating for study month. But don't worry, I'll keep writing in my free time until a few chapters are finished. I have already written the end so I guess that's something I don't have to worry about...

Sorry for the cliffhanger. Here's some Adrienette. If you find links for the next episodes of Season 2, please do share (because I'm one desperate author).

Also... I'm convinced that I can tell the future 😏 Adrienette fight sesh! En guarde! Ready! Go!

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Marinette started to pace around her room worriedly. Adrien had returned to the Dupain Kingdom a few hours earlier and she was told (by her father, of course) to avoid him at all costs because loving another man would get in the way of the wedding.

Her father was already stressed enough because he had heard from leaders of other countries that some of their prisoners were being set loose by groups of unknown soldiers. According to King Thomas, they needed the wedding now more than ever because no wedding meant no money, which Marinette understood, but she could not help but wonder if maybe that was Adrien's purpose in returning— to stop the wedding.

Tikki had a headache from watching Marinette pace so frantically. The Kwami rubbed the temples of her head and asked the princess, "Why do you not just talk to him? Nothing bad will come of confrontation."

"Because my father told me to avoid him," Marinette answered with a hint of irritation in her voice, "Each day that goes by with my hand in Nathaniel's possession is another day I have to live without Adrien."

"You are anxious about not seeing him. Do you not want to know the reason why he came back?"

The princess hesitated and a terrible thought appeared in her head. She gasped, "Adrien's sister! Oh, by the stars, is she okay? Why would Adrien possibly leave her during her sick state?"

She hoped that Emma Agreste was alright and that Adrien did not leave his sick sister for the sake of stopping the wedding. Marinette had never seen Emma in person, but she had always wanted to. She had been told many adorable stories about the young princess which reminded her of herself sometimes.

Marinette threw herself onto her bed and buried her head deep in her pillow, frustrated. She began to moan, "What am I to do, Tikki? Why had Adrien returned?"

"Marinette," Tikki said, "you're a leader, artist, superheroine and a fighter. Do the right thing and go talk to him because I do not have any answers to your questions."

Marinette considered her words and breathed heavily for a moment. Of course she wanted to talk to Adrien. The idea of his very presence in her castle again had sent shivers down her spine. But she would have to do it without getting caught because she knew how upset her father would be if he found out.

The princess slowly got up from the bed and looked to the window where moonlight was just beginning to seep in through the curtains. She commanded her Kwami just before she was stopped, "Tikki, spots—"

"Wait," Tikki gasped, holding her hand out.

Marinette froze and realized that Tikki had heard footsteps coming from the end of the corridor. She reached her hands quickly to her earlobes until, Tikki stopped her once more.

"Don't. It's him," was all the Kwami could say before Marinette ran to the door and opened it, revealing a hand held up, millimeters from knocking.

That hand belonged to Prince Adrien. They stared at each other for what seemed like eternity before the prince reached back to scratch his neck. For that eternity, Marinette's heart stopped— no it was racing! Emotions were running through her uncontrollably, urging her to make the first move.

How long had it been since they had last seen each other? A week? A few days? All she knew was the it was much too long. Adrien began to speak, "Good afternoon, Prin—"

He had been interrupted by Marinette's smothering hug, pulling him into her room and holding on for dear life. It took the prince only a split second to recover and retaliate her love, kissing her forehead and picking her up from the ground in an equally smothering embrace.

This was what he came back for and he did not regret anything he had done in order experience this moment in her arms after a temporary parting. He held her the way he had did when he was Chat Noir carrying her back to the castle, bridal-style, a spark of affection in his eyes.

"I missed you," Marinette greeted, arms around his neck.

"Likewise, M'lady," Adrien replied, forehead against hers, "The second I was certain that Emma was in good hands, I ordered my group to set another visit to the Gollieb Country so that I could see you again."

Marinette's smiled wavered just a bit and Adrien lowered her down onto her bed, cupping her face in his hands, "What is the matter?"

"The wedding," she admitted, hands over his, "Adrien, I was told to avoid you because of Nathaniel's proposal. Once people realize why you came back—"

"Nathaniel won't be a problem to you anymore," he said finally, lightly kissing her cheek.

Marinette stared at him with shocked eyes, ideas running through her head. What did Adrien mean by that? What ambiguous phrases was he trying to indicate? Nathaniel 'won't be a problem' anymore was practically Adrien talk for 'I had rid this castle of Nathaniel's existence'.

Noticing her worried expression, Adrien laughed, "No, I did not kill him, if that is what you are concluding. I just had a little talk with him."

Before Marinette could ask what the 'little talk' was about, Tikki cleared her throat in the corner of the room. Adrien let go of Marinette, startled at the oblivious presence of another person in the room.

"I still exist," the Kwami said, matter-of-factually.

Adrien noticed Tikki's red and black dress, decorated with black spots.  Her red streaks highlighted her hair, black fringe shaped like a rose, which seemed to compliment her dark irises.

"You must be Marinette's Kwami," he acknowledged, nodding respectfully, "It's an honour to finally meet you."

"Your Majesty," Tikki greeted with a curtsey as she looked down upon his hand, "Your ring?"

Adrien took out his Miraculous from the pocket of his coat, sliding the ring onto his finger. Green light illuminated the room and the cat-like Kwami appeared in front of them. Plagg stretched before staring at the familiar figure before him.

"Tikki?" he asked incredulously.

"Plagg!" the Ladybug Kwami cheered, running towards him.

They hugged tightly whilst Adrien looked back at Marinette as if to say, Did you know that Kwamis were close to one another? The princess just shrugged, smiling at the joy that was radiating from her Kwami.

"It's been centuries since I last saw you!" Plagg exclaimed excitedly.

"Much too long," Tikki agreed, returning her attention to the two Miraculous Holders on the bed, "Well, won't you look at that. We are all in the same room."

"Technically," Plagg remarked, "we were already in the same room when they were doing— ouch!"

Tikki grinned innocently— she surely missed Plagg as much as she missed pinching him. Marinette blushed ferociously, remembering the time they made love with their Miraculouses discarded on the floor. She did not register that the Kwamis were able to determine their surroundings without having to be in full form.

"If you both don't mind now..." Adrien said, noticing her embarrassment, "We need our privacy."

Tikki and Plagg both held their hands out, gesturing for them not to take their Miraculouses out, but Marinette had already removed earrings from her earlobes and Adrien did not hesitate slipping the ring back into his pocket. After a moment of silence, Adrien held her hands tightly in his own.

"You were right before," Adrien began, "About everything."

"I know," Marinette said with a proud smile.

Adrien shook his head, amused, and continued, "I was being selfish and unfair to you. I was the one who caused you pain because it was me who requested that the money be distributed to the Agreste Kingdom only, even though you were the true reason we had won."

"I know."

"And, yes I am known for my hard heart but I had never intended for you to see me as the type of person who neglected the people I love. And we should stop fighting this love."

"I know."

"And I want to marry you."

Marinette gasped before letting go of his hands to cover her mouth. She definitely did not expect that. The corner of Adrien's lips tilted upward in a smirk, challenging her to say 'I know' after he spoke those six words.

He got up from the bed and got down on one knee in front of her. The princess' blue-bell eyes grew wide. No way was this really happening! Prince Adrien of the Agreste Kingdom was proposing to her in her room.

"Marinette, you are the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with," Adrien admitted, retracting a velvet box from his shirt pocket and holding it out to her.

He raised the lid to reveal a beautiful, emerald ring with gold lining and molten with silver patterns. It was the most expensive piece of jewelry she had ever seen in all her life. Looking up to her hopefully, Adrien asked, "Will you be my bride, Marinette? Will you accept this ring, happily knowing that you will be marrying someone you love who loves you completely?"

Marinette's eyes started to fill with tears of joy, slowly nodding before coming to an answer, "I a-accept your proposal."

Without hesitation, Adrien gently removed the ring from the box, sliding it onto Marinette's ring finger. Once the accessory was settled on her finger entirely, Adrien found himself heaving a sigh of relief as if to say finally. At that moment they both realized that they were now connected to one another for life, to spend eternity together until death do them part.

"It's a priceless Agreste jewel, passed down from generations," Adrien said, kissing the knuckle of her ring finger, "I knew you would love it."

"Is this really happening?" was all Marinette could manage to say as she stared into his green eyes.

Adrien responded with a kiss, pressing his lips onto hers. Marinette's hands reached up to his hair and she pulled him closer to deepen the kiss, urging her tongue to dance with his. A wave of satisfaction passed through her body and she could not stop smiling because she knew that they were now inseparable.

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Nathaniel Kurtzberg returned to his own country the next morning. He did not speak the entire day, nor had he given any direct orders. Le Chién just ordered the Kurtzberg soldiers to escort the Prince back home safely.

Each night passed with a painful reminder of his defeat, every rose in the garden forcing him to remember Princess Marinette's kind and innocent smile. Nathaniel shook his head furiously— no, the smile was not innocent. She had been sleeping with another man behind his back even after he had asked for her hand in marriage.

Adrien Agreste. Nathaniel despised the name with all his heart. The one that used to love the Princess who was taken from him the second he saw her. He vowed to get revenge on Adrien for taking her away from him— from daring to touch her until the point of no return.

They were standing in the Kurtzberg Meeting Room— Prince Nathaniel and Le Chién Kim. Nathaniel had wanted to speak to him about something urgent that he could only trust in him to complete.

"I want Adrien Agreste dead."

Le Chién Kim stared at the Prince's back in surprise. Did he hear wrong perhaps? Did Nathaniel Kurtzberg, the boy who Kim grew up to understand for most of his life, really order him to kill off a man of higher power? Kim shook his head, frowning at the comment.

"You are not a murderer, Your Majesty," Le Chién said, clearing his throat uncomfortably.

"But you are."

Kim did not expect that Adrien Agreste's proposal to Marinette would go so far as to Nathaniel wanting Kim to kill off the groom for the sake of revenge. Nathaniel had not been the same ever since he spoke alone in the corridor with Adrien.

The Agreste heir must have said something to trigger the brutal behaviour Nathaniel was going through. Each time Kim wanted to speak to him about it, however, he was immediately shot down with a silencing glare.

"Chloe Bourgeois requested I become allies with her," Nathaniel continued, "along with Prince Ali and Lila Rossi in the war against the Agreste Kingdom."

"You said yes," Kim acknowledged.

"You know me well," Nathaniel said, turning around to face him.

Kim almost jumped out of his skin after noticing Nathaniel's blood-shot eyes and red nose. The soldier frowned sympathetically at the prince, wanting to understand wanting to help.

Nathaniel, however, ignored the look of sympathy and continued to speak, "I also do not want you to be the leading knight for this fight."

"Excuse me, Your Majesty?"

"You shall wait until the very end of the battle when Adrien Agreste is weak. Then you will kill him."

Soldier Kim did not know what to say or feel. He felt as if he was being ordered by a complete stranger. How could one person he knew for most of his life turn into something that resembled a monster in one day? How was he able to gain him back?

On the other hand, Le Chién understood why Nathaniel was acting that way. If another Prince were to force him away from Alix, he probably would have felt the same about wanting revenge, would he not?

"Who will take over from me?" Kim sighed hopelessly.

"A strong soldier who was once rejected by the Agreste family himself. Soldier Bruel!"

At the mention of his name, Ivan Bruel walked into the hall with proud strides, standing besides Kim with an excited smile upon his face. Ivan did not give a second thought to Nathaniel's tearful eyes and red nose— he had immediately decided that that was his natural look the second they had met.

Besides, appearance was not the true reason as to why he was there. Ivan raised his hand to his head and saluted to his new leader honourably. The soldier spoke, "Before I begin, I would like to thank you for ordering some of your men for freeing me from my country's chains, Your Highness."

Kim shut his eyes tightly in disbelief. He had been hearing about a group of unknown soldiers freeing prisoners from the dungeons of the Lavillant, Kubdel and Agreste Kingdoms but he was not told that soldiers of his own country was initiating those cruel releases behind his back!

"We also managed to get in contact with the Vanisher," Nathaniel added.

"Impossible," Kim breathed.

The soldier held his hand to his head, but not in a salute. His head was pounding from the attempt at taking in all the information at once. He felt like a small cog in a system so much greater than him, oblivious to what was going on around him.

"Oh it is, my friend," Nathaniel said, grinning wickedly, "Soon, we will get our revenge. All of us..."

Head pounding. Confused. This mad man was definitely not his friend.

"We will be fighting the Kubdel Kingdom again," Kim blurted, not thinking straight.

"Enough of this weakness, Le Chién," Nathaniel growled, "You are my most loyal soldier so you will act like it. If I could trust anyone with destroying my worst enemy, it would be you."

"If you do not want to do it, I gladly will," Ivan interjected as he raised his hand.

Le Chién was already puzzled about everything else he had just been told. If he could do one thing right— if he could understand one thing out of a large system much greater than himself— it would be to follow important orders from Prince Nathaniel, no matter how risky it was.

"No. I shall do it," Kim insisted, forcing himself to do his job.

Nathaniel turned his back to them and chuckled with satisfaction, "Adrien Agreste won't see what hit him."

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"Adrien," Marinette laughed before pushing his hand away from the skirt of her dress, "Not here."

The princess would have agreed to Adrien making love to her in her room, the library or even the training room, but never would she ever allow the prince to make the first move in the open space of the royal garden.

"Why not?" Adrien asked, narrowing his eyes challengingly.

For one, there were no walls to act as barriers for their privacy, there were too many possible areas present for her people to spy on them and she was feeling shockingly uncomfortable pressed up against the vase from a bush of sunflowers.

Instead of mentioning all those reasons, Marinette answered simply, "Rumours will spread."

"And all the rumors will be true," Adrien retaliated.

The princess gripped his hand and pulled him towards the castle. They had both agreed to walk around the garden before watching the sunset together. It had been a romantic experience; his arm around her hips, chin resting a top her head, a perfect kiss...that eventually lead to her being cornered against a pot plant (but that was besides the point).

"My room or yours?" Marinette asked in a nonchalant manner.

"Mine," Adrien replied, "It's the one furthest away from the occupied rooms in the castle and I like the idea of there being space between us and anyone else. Just you and me..."

As well as Plagg and Tikki, but Marinette did not dare say that aloud. They walked hurriedly to his room together, hands intertwined. They glanced at one another giddily along the line like two children who were just about to do something naughty which was not entirely wrong.

Alya, Nino and Louis were the first people to be told about Adrien's marriage proposal. They all beamed with joy at the great announcement, especially Louis who even shed a tear at the thought of his cousin spending eternity with the one she loved.

They were going to let the rest of the country know the next day when they were ready. At the moment, however, Adrien wanted to show his princess what she would be expecting from him for their honeymoon.

❤️ (<3)
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A/N: that was the longest chapter of this book so far to keep you satisfied because I will not be updating for a while so I hope you guys appreciate it👐

In the meantime, please let me know if there are any flaws from this rushed chapter and comment on a few things you would like to see happen in the next update. I would love to know your ideas and opinions.

17~~ Barriers

Spoiler alert: there are five chapters left of this book.