3rd POV
The night guards at the gate were standing at attention when a stranger in a ragged blue cloak approached the castle gates. One of them drew his sword and called out,
"Stop! Who are you?" the stranger hobbled forward another step and weakly croaked out,
"H-help me......" Before collapsing onto the cobblestones. Her hood fell off allowing her dirty, snarled golden blonde hair to spill out over the ground and her bruised and beaten face to be seen by the guards.
"Is she.....? It can't be...." The first guard said sheathing his sword. The second guard walked over to her and placed a hand on her neck to check for a pulse. He looked up at his partner and said,
"We need to tell the king, she's alive."
(Switch to Adrian POV)
I was sleeping more or less peacefully when I was roused by a banging at my door. I groaned and sleepily made my way to the door and opened it slowly. I leaned on the door and yawned as I looked at the guards standing in front of me through bleary eyes.
"I'm pretty sure I made it clear that I would personally execute the next set of guards who woke me in the middle of the night." I said glaring at them. This time they sent Ivan and Max to pick me up, which when I thought about it was probably a good idea considering.
"Prince Noir the king has immediately ordered for you and your betrothed to be brought to the castle physician's chambers. If you do not come willingly we are to bring you both by force." Ivan said in an official, and annoyingly loud, tone.
"All right, just let me make myself a little more present- did you say me and my betrothed? As in Mari-er Ladybug?" I asked suddenly feeling very much awake as I looked down at my appearance. I was wearing a pair of loose pants and I didn't have a shirt on at all. Oh Nooroo......please tell me she isn't........ I looked past Ivan to see a tired, and angry looking Marinette who was shaking out her fist and a bent double and wheezing Max who was clutching his stomach. I was about to retreat back into my room for a moment when Marinette's eyes flicked over to me and both of us froze. I could tell that we were both blushing and I quickly retreated behind the door and stuck my head out from behind it.
"I'll go in just a moment, I just need to make myself presentable." I stated with a panicked smile as I slammed the door and rushed around the room to fix my appearance and put on a shirt. I came back out wearing a loose black shirt. Marinette was still blushing slightly and I chuckled nervously and asked,
"Should um, should we be going?" Ivan nodded and Max coughed, still clearly in pain. We started walking and unfortunately I ended up next to Marinette.
"Look don't take this the wrong way or anything but your father can be a real chest-er pest! Sorry I'm still half naked-I MEAN ASLEEP!" She exclaimed grumpily and laughed nervously looking anywhere but at me as her face turned bright red. I chuckled nervously and said,
"Sorry you had to see me like that......I wasn't expecting visitors." She giggled and I found myself relaxing slightly. I looked at her nightgown and maybe it was because I was still half asleep but I gestured to it and asked,
"Can I assume that this is another Marinette original, purrincess?" She blushed again and stammered for words when the four of us stopped.
"Prince Noir, lady Noire before you go in..... the king is under a lot of pressure and this came to him as a shock so if he seems odd please give him some grace." Max said empathetically. Marinette and I exchanged looks before nodding hesitantly. The four of us went inside and I immediately noticed the fact that my father was sitting by a bed. The physician was standing on the other side of it looking uneasy. The guards motioned for us to approach them and as we did I saw the woman lying in the bed. She had long knotted blonde hair and she was covered in bruises and cuts as well as dirt. She appeared to be unconscious but I noticed the fact that she was holding my father's hand. I frowned in confusion just when my father looked up at us. I saw tears in his eyes and suddenly I realized who this woman was.
"M-mother...?" I asked tentatively taking a step towards the bed. My father nodded silently as he smiled tearfully. I took a half step forward but hesitated. Marinette took my hand and whispered,
"Let's go together." I nodded and we walked up to stand next to my father and my mother's eyes fluttered open.
"Adrian.......?" She asked in a weak, cracking voice. I nodded and tears started to prick at the backs of my eyes.
She managed a weak smile and said,
"You've gotten so big." I smiled and looked over to Marinette who was smiling with me. My mother's eyes drifted over to her and she asked,
"And who is this lovely young lady?" Marinette curtseyed and introduced herself,
"My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng you highness, I'm Prince Adrian's betrothed." My smile widened dramatically hearing her introduce herself as my betrothed so easily, even though we didn't need to keep appearances around my family. My mother tried to sit up and my father immediately jumped to help her. Once she was upright she looked at Marinette with a curious expression and asked,
" 'Dupain-Cheng', I don't recognize the name, what bloodline are you from?" Marinette shot me an almost panicked look and I nodded encouragingly.
"I'm of the...... Coccinelle bloodline your highness." She responded hesitantly as she tried to think of a better way to introduce herself. I gave her a bemused smile and she whispered,
"It's Ladybug in French, I thought it would sound more official." I chuckled quietly and we looked back at my mother who was inspecting Marinette with an odd look in her eyes. For a moment I had felt,ever so slightly, uneasy but it went away almost immediately.
"'Coccinelle' as in Ladybug? My, my Gabriel, you've been busy I see. Now why don't we tell them the good news?" She replied suddenly sounding much stronger than she had even a moment before. My father straightened and I couldn't help but notice that he had a strange look in his eyes as well but I wrote it off as me not being used to seeing him happy.
"If you think you're able to Emilie." He responded and she nodded encouragingly. He turned to us and stated,
"Adrian, when you were born a group of evil people captured your mother, ever since they have been forcing her to use her power to create the monsters of the Mayura scourge. Now that she is out of their clutches we can send your Ladybug home." His words hit me like a blow to the stomach. I stared at him and struggled for words.
"F-father, are you certain that it's wise to do that? I mean, what if the people who captured mother come back for her? We may need all the help we can get. Besides do we even have a way to send her?" I gasped breathlessly. I can't lose her.... not when everything is finally starting to go right..... I thought desperately. He smiled strangely and replied,
"Emilie was able to subdue her captors so they won't be back for some time and if they do return I'm sure our allies will be willing to help us. As for the way to return Ladybug, Emilie gave me a brilliant suggestion, I will use my power to enhance the guard Max's ability to transport objects so that he can transport people as well and of course I would have to increase his range as well." My eyes widened in horror as I realized that he was right. If Max had the ability to transport her there would be nothing keeping her here..... I thought beginning to feel hopeless.
"Your majesty, your highness, if I may have a say in this, I don't know that I want to leave just yet." Marinette suddenly stated sounding more confident than she had since coming to Miraculous. I found myself blushing slightly as she continued,
"I've been here for about a month, and I feel more at ease here after a month than I did after living in Paris for my entire life. I love this world and the people who live here,I even feel closer to Kagami who clearly hates me than I ever did with Chloe and Lila. Not to mention......." she faltered and I noticed a clear blush spreading across her face. I found myself grinning and I gripped her hand tightly for strength before saying,
"Marinette is right, I can't speak for her life back in Paris but almost since she arrived Marinette has brought more life to the castle than I can recall there ever being before her arrival, I honestly think that she belongs here with us." My father smiled and looked at my mother before saying,
"He's just as stubborn as you ever were, and Marinette here is just as much of a spitfire. She never seems to stand down when she believes in something, and in the case of our son, I think the only person who could ever talk him out of an idea is our dear Ladybug." Marinette and I blushed and my mother gave us a strained smile.
"Well if that's the case then I suppose we will have to keep her around after all." She said sounding almost pained. I wrote it off as her injuries but couldn't ignore the nagging feeling that something might be wrong. The physician finally told us that my mother needed her rest and that my father would be notified of any changes and sent us back to our rooms. I chose to walk Marinette back to her rooms and we walked in a comfortable silence.
"Did......did you mean what you said, about me belonging here?" She asked timidly as we stopped in front of her rooms. I smiled softly and replied,
"That depends, did you mean what you said about wanting to stay?" A small blush made it's way across her face and she nodded mutely. I smiled and kissed her cheek before saying,
"Then you have your answer my lady, goodnight." I left quickly before I could regret my actions and rushed to my rooms. I went in and slammed my door shut. I covered my mouth and thought, What was that?! I went over and collapsed onto my bed with a happy sigh.