A/N: I stared at the picture for, like, ten minutes before writing this chapter. Oh, how I love season 2 😭😭

~~ Recap ~~

The princess looked up at him immediately, widening her eyes in surprise at the sight of Prince Adrien himself. He inhaled a sharp breath before saying, "Princess Marinette... We meet again."

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Marinette stared at the prince in shock with a small blush falling upon her cheeks, mouth a gape. A series of questions were running through her mind that she was unable to answer for herself. Why is he here? Why did nobody tell me? Is this yet another dream?

Bright green eyes met her own and a moment of recognition subsided before she stepped back abruptly, blinking fast as if to clear the hallucination in front of her who just so happened to be Adrien Agreste, the soldier she had fought besides in battle.

Adrien's eyes fell down to her rose pompadour and lavender pink dress, decorated with silver lace. He probably expected her to wear armoury like the first time they had met on the battlefield. It must have been completely unsettling to the prince from seeing her in something other than men's clothing and metal.

For a moment, the pink dress Marinette was wearing seemed to feel so much smaller while the scar above her breast had felt so much bigger, the world seemed as if it was somehow caving in on them. Uncomfortable at the feeling, she finally managed to speak, "What are you doing here?"

Prince Adrien looked down at her with a confused frown. She felt herself freeze again when he asked, "You did not know I was coming?"

"I have not been told..."

There was a moment of silence before he smiled at her and said, "If you did not expect me, then this is not a proper greeting."

Adrien took her hand and bowed down, placing his lips upon her hand softly and caressing her skin.

"Prince Adrien of the Agreste Kingdom," he introduced, "It is an honour to finally meet the woman who saved my life."

Marinette felt a shiver up her spine before someone cleared their throat beside her. Only then did she notice another well-dressed boy who was almost as tall as the prince and had a monocle strapped to his suit. Behind him stood two, lightly-armoured guards.

"Not to intrude this moment..." the prince's royal chancellor said, "but we exist."

[A/N: this literally happened to me once.]

Adrien stood back up again with his arms behind his back, partially glaring at his companion. The prince introduced him to Marinette, "This is my chancellor and advisor, Nino Lahiffe. He and a few of the Agreste soldiers will be staying with me during my visit."

A harsher blush came to Princess Marinette's cheeks in embarrassment of not noticing the guards' presence before bowing down to them all in a gracious curtsy.

"The honour is all mine," she said in an apologetic manner, "I am truly sorry, but I was not informed that anybody from the Agreste Kingdom would be arriving today. However, we will ensure that you get the best welcome here and will be satisfied by the time you leave our kingdom."

Before Adrien could reply to her, one of the Dupain guards appeared from around the corner, walking their way. The prince's blood ran cold for he recognized the guard as the soldier who hugged the princess after the battle a few days earlier.

Of course, Adrien thought, this soldier and the princess is probably madly in love with one another— a knight fit to protect his beloved. The soldier bowed down to him respectfully. Adrien resisted the urge to glare at the guard, dismissing him.

Nevertheless, the princess still saved Adrien's life and he would forever be grateful for act of bravery so he would pretend to be kind to every soldier in her presence...for now. When he arrives back home a few days later, he aimed to drop his facade of kindness and become his cruel self once again. Nino stared at Adrien in confusion— he had never seen the prince act so benevolently toward anyone in his life!

"The king wishes to see you, Your Majesty," Louis told him before facing Marinette with a smile, "and it's now your training time, Marinette."

The prince folded his arms and clenched his jaw in irritation. He was not there to watch as other men marveled at the princess— he was there to make an alliance official. But even as he thought that, the prince could not help but develop a small smile after Marinette replied, "Thank you for the notice, Cousin."

Only then did the prince realize that the knight was, in actual fact, related to the princess as well as the entire Dupain-Cheng ancestry. Not to mention that, besides Marinette, Louis was next in line for the throne. Adrien mentally hit himself for jumping to conclusions in the first place.

Marinette asked her cousin to give her time to get dressed in the proper attire, which he allowed. A part of Adrien did not want the princess to change clothing because the dress truly did emphasize her royal beauty, whereas armoury emphasized violence on a battle— there was no beauty about that.

He watched as the princess curtseyed to them one last time before leaving to her dressing quarters. Nino sighed, "The rumors are true, I see. The princess' aura is more beautiful than the most fashionable arts in Paris."

Adrien glanced at his adviser quizzically. Nino seemed to give off a sense of admiration to the princess, although Adrien had to agree that her aura was truly fascinating. The presence of the princess herself was enough to lighten up a room full of people.

Louis guided the two to the hall, asking questions about the group they had arrived with and how long they were hoping to stay. The rest of the Agreste soldiers were waiting outside for orders from the prince. Some were even walking around the castle in order to make themselves familiar with their surroundings just in case problems arose in the kingdom.

They made their way to the grand hall where King Thomas was waiting for them. The second Adrien stepped in sight of the royal giant of a man, he squared his shoulders more firmly, his chin lifting higher in pride and respect towards the opportunity to be there and make amends with a past enemy.

"Adrien Agreste!" the King boomed gleefully, striding towards him, "It is such an honour for us to have a young, successful and talented prince in our palace for a few days. How are you feeling?"

Adrien was caught off guard by the question, nevertheless the kindness in which was directed towards him. The prince had noticed civilians, soldiers and even peasants from the Dupain Kingdom glare at him from a far... So how was it that King Thomas acted so differently to him, just like Marinette had?

"I am feeling well, Your Highness," Adrien managed to reply.

The king laughed, "Please, that's not necessary. Just call me Thomas."

Never, Adrien thought, slightly disgusted at the idea of being on a first-name basis with the leader of his past enemy. Meanwhile, Nino took a few steps back, resisting the urge to blurt out something as silly and disrespectful as 'we still exist'.

Louis was a bit shocked to see the king treating Adrien Agreste so well because Thomas had always despised the Agreste Kingdom and anyone who lived in it. But Louis knew exactly what this was about and the reason as to why the Agreste's were being treated like superiors so he was quick to stop himself from judging.

"Let us take small walk together around the gardens, shall we?" King Thomas asked Adrien.

Hell no, the prince silently pleaded once more. It appeared that the Agreste guards had that same thought, glancing at Nino for more orders. The chancellor just shook his head, indicating that they should trust their new allies, especially with Adrien's safety.

* * *

"That is quite impressive of you, Adrien," Thomas complimented for the eighth time since they had first spoken— yes, they had both been counting, "Three wars in your entire life and you are only seventeen years of age. Marvelous."

"Thank you, Sir," Adrien repeated, once again, "I am more than proud, knowing those words are being spoken by you."

The king noticed the boredom almost radiating off of his guest and decided to give up with his attempts at flattery. He patted him on the back before facing him, eye-to-eye. Adrien froze up, ready to apologize for his lazy replies in the conversation, until Thomas sighed, "Okay, I see you are uncomfortable so I am going to stop my digression."

Adrien was about to shake his head and defend himself, but King Thomas interrupted, "I am sure that you are wondering why on earth you are here, Adrien."

Adrien stayed silent. No, he had been wondering that at all actually. In fact, he was convinced that his mother forced him to go just for the idea of seeing her son with a warrior princess. Until now, he had gotten the impression that Thomas Agreste was only being kind to him so that he could marry his daughter.

That would have made a lot of sense, would it not? The reason for the king's kindness towards him, his mother's eagerness to get him out of his country, jealous looks from many Dupain soldiers... To Adrien's surprise, that was not the case.

"Our kingdom is struggling, Adrien," the king explained, placing a hand on his shoulder.

The prince felt tension weighing onto his shoulders. He furrowed his brow in confusion, "Struggling?"

"Yes. You see, some of our people are still affected from the war. Our soldiers need medical attention and we cannot pay the proper amount our fighters deserve. Our most trusted Constables and Chamberlains are trying to fix the matter, but we are running out of options..."

Something clicked in Adrien's head and the realization slapped him faster than a Front Iron Guard to the face. Adrien spoke, "You want me to rethink my request about recieving all the riches from the battlefield."

It was no question. He knew exactly that that was the case. King Thomas nodded slowly. He wanted to talk directly to Adrien because he wanted a direct answer. They needed to do it face-to-face because Thomas knew that he would reject it immediately if he were to reply through a letter. Wise move.

"Of course," Thomas continued, "I cannot ask you to reply right away. So until your last day in your stay with us, I'll give you time to decide— get you to understand our people and traditions better."

Adrien inhaled a large breathe of unease, retrieving all his information at once. He could not get through the thought of the King of Dupain Kingdom asking the Agreste's for financial help.

"That is all," Thomas concluded, "If you have any problems, let me know."

* * *

Adrien strode through the corridors alone with Nino. The two soldiers who accompanied them had been excused because their prince had assured them that they were all safe until further notice.

"Are you going to rethink your request, Your Highness?" Nino asked him, I am quite nervous for you, actually. I mean, if you say no, would the King be accepting to that decision?"

Adrien had to tell his chancellor about his conversation with the king. Who else was he to trust in that castle but his only friend? The prince shook his head and shrugged uncertainly. What was he to do? What if his people disagreed with his decision in sharing wealth? Would his parents be furious with him?

"I apologise. Let us not over-complicate the situation," Nino said, reaching his hand out before immediately snatching it back again.

Adrien noticed the sudden gesture and smirked at Nino's fear towards him. They passed a library and heard a series of laughter coming from the open door. Adrien paused for a moment, turning to the familiar sound.

"Your Majesty?" Nino asked hesitantly.

Adrien ignored his advisor, stepping into the library without a second thought. After passing shelves full of ancient books and relics, he had found her. Princess Marinette was speaking to a nursemaid roughly the same age as herself. Marinette was wearing ber training uniform: attire similar to what he would wear, but much smaller and fitting to her size.

Her hair was tied in two pigtails in order to prevent her hair from irritatingly touching her face while she fought. In a way, it gave her an appearance of innocence. Adrien had seen Emma wear her hair in pigtails so many times, he had lost count.

Adrien cleared his throat and the two ladies stared at him in shock. The nursemaid, who had previously been sitting on the table, jumped off in embarrassment before curtseying.

"Your Highness," she greeted, her skirt ruffled and creased from comfort, "Alya Césaire at your service."

"There is no need for that," Adrien said, surprising himself again with the burst of kindness towards someone inferior to himself.

The nursemaid glanced in Marinette's direction, who had already stood up from her own comfortable positions on one of the chairs and walked up to the prince. The distance between them was so close that Adrien could not help but imagine himself reaching out to her. But he pushed that idea from his mind immediately in case it led to something he'd regret later.

"How was your meeting with my father?" Marinette asked monotonously, "if he had said anything hurtful then I apologize on his behalf."

Marinette's actions seemed almost robotic to Adrien while she spoke— as if she rehearsed it thousands of times before. The princess must have  apologized to many people about her father's actions.

"He did not say anything hurtful to me," Adrien admitted, "but thank you for the concern. How was training?"

"Oh, I was not focusing that well today," Marinette sighed, looking away and folding her arms, "My moves were a bit off because my mind was distracted on...something else."

"And that may be?" Adrien asked, folding his arms, likewise.

Marinette glanced at Alya who was staring at the two in awe. The nursemaid quickly smoothed out her dress and turned to the exit.

"I think I'll be making my way to the kitchen," Alya said, turning to Adrien's chancellor, "Would you like to join me?"

Nino stared at her in shock, looking between her and the prince but Alya gave him a daring look almost as if to force him to follow her out the library. Adrien gave him the same look. The chancellor sighed in defeat and forced himself to walk with the nursemaid, leaving the prince and princess alone.

Marinette lifted a few books from her desk while Adrien properly took in the sight of the entire library. Many of the covers were red, giving the room a bright and warm atmosphere. There were ladders leading to a series of bookshelves which Adrien vowed to get in his room someday. Chandeliers hung from above, sparkling as bright as stars in the dark. However, that library was still not as big as the one in the Agreste Kingdom.

"Do you enjoy being in this library?" Adrien asked her suddenly.

Marinette turned to him and replied, "Yes, I do. I'm here too often, in fact. If only I had more time."

"What do you read?"

The princess shrugged, holding the few books from her desk close to her heart, "Everything, really... Mythology, Romance, General Dupain Obligations..."

Adrien scoffed, "You have a complete book of your Kingdom's rules and laws?"

"You do not?"

"Every Agreste citizen is to know all the obligations of the country by the age of thirteen," Adrien explained, "off by heart, without a book. We're brought up that way."

Marinette shook her head in disbelief, "It has only been one day and I have already learnt that everything I thought I knew about the Agreste Kingdom was a lie."

Adrien smiled at her, "Everything?"

"For one, I did not think anyone from your country would have the bravery to enter our land through the wall," she said, "Also, your people are brought up in a completely different way to ours and, apparently, you don't have a heart of rock."

Prince Adrien stared at Marinette who laughed before putting her books down, "I take it you don't receive compliments quite often?"

Adrien did not reply to that. He received many compliments in his life, but he rarely gave a compliment. The prince did not have a heart of rock. Some of his people believed that he had no heart at all. Marinette rubbed her arms nervously at the unanswered question. Did she say anything wrong? Did she make him uncomfortable in any way?

"Sorry for my silence," Adrien apologised, noticing her uneasiness, "I do. Receive compliments often, I mean."

Marinette gave the prince a small smile before he mentally hit himself. Way to sound arrogant, he thought. The princess gestured to the open door before pointing in the direction of the training  room.

"I should probably be on my way," she said, "to train myself and get the distractions out of my head."

Adrien's eyes widened as he echoed, "Training room."

"Yes, just a few doors from the library, actually..." Marinette rubbed the back of her neck, "Would you...like me to show you?"

~|~|~|~

A/N: At one point in this chapter, I wrote 'Marinette bit her lip' and I scratched it out immediately because I'm so scarred with the amount of lip biting in some books😂 (#50 shades) so that ain't gonna happen in this fanfic. Sorry.
Anyway, how did you like this chapter?
Do you like the idea of a little fight session with Adrienette?
LadyNoir or nah? Let me know in the comments below👐

9~~ Confliction