30. Chapter 29

Things truly were better in the morning. Although she was still a bit reserved, Alya wasn't half as pale nor as quiet as yesterday. Marinette would count it as improvement.

After Alya assisted Marinette in her dressing, Marinette shooed Alya down to her own room to get ready for the morning. "And if Ms. Mendeleiev has an issue with where you were," Marinette added, "you tell her to come to me, okay?"

"Okay." After a shared hug, Alya waved her goodbye. "It's nice to have friends in high places," she said with a grin before hustling down the corridor.

Marinette giggled then sent her friend one last wave. While she wasn't all that hungry, Marinette made her way down to the dining hall for breakfast. When she arrived, she caught sight of a single, surprising person: Alix.

"Perfect," the red-head said, setting down her fork. "Just who I wanted to see. Sit."

Marinette didn't argue as she made her way to the seat Alix indicated.

"We have a lot of preparation to do if you want to make a good impression."

Marinette's brow furrowed. "Good impression?"

Alix gave a curt nod. "Absolutely. You told me that you are not royalty. Kim was able to fill me in on the extent of your training as well as inform me that you have never met the king. So, this is where I take over your training so you don't embarrass yourself or Adrien in front of his father."

Marinette felt herself blush in embarrassment.

"Now, go get some food, and let's get started."

"Wait. Now?" Marinette asked, picking up her plate.

"Yes," Alix said, smirking over her cup of tea. "Now."

While it certainly wasn't the worst breakfast of her life, it was close. Alix corrected every little mannerism as well as informing Marinette how a normal breakfast in a king's court would go. While Marinette knew Alix was doing it to help her, every correction was a reminder of just how inadequate she was. By the time Marinette finished her breakfast, she was exhausted.

"Very good," Alix praised. "For someone of your status, you're doing well."

"That certainly isn't how it feels," Marinette grumbled under her breath.

Alix's expression softened. "Marinette, I'm not trying to come off as mean or critical. I'm sorry if I make you feel that way. But I know Adrien's father. These are the things he is going to look for and take note of. He's a harsh man, almost to the point of irrational. I want you to make as positive as an impression as you can, not just for your sake but Adrien's. If you can prove yourself able to navigate high society well, it will reflect well on him as well as on you. You have the makings of a princess. I just want to help you refine them."

Marinette sighed. "I know you want to help. And I appreciate it."

"But?" Alix said, picking up the unspoken end to her words.

"I wouldn't go as far as to say I have the makings of a princess."

The smile that Alix gave to Marinette was almost out of place on the stubborn girl's face: gentle and caring and sweet. "You do. You just don't see it. With a little practice, you'll be able to trick all of society into believing that you were born royal and raised for it. They'll never know you've only had a few months of practice."

"How can you have so much confidence in me?" Marinette asked. "You've barely known me a week."

Alix scoffed. "You are a woman who was brave enough to remain calm when a knife was held to her neck. You are a woman determined enough to become the best lady you can even though you came from a lower station. You are a woman compassionate enough to learn to care for a man whom you were forced to marry. And I heard that it was you who was barking orders around when I showed up unconscious. You, just like myself, are made of something stronger than delicate lace and showy smiles. A good thing considering the world we navigate isn't as easy as everyone seems to think.

"So let this be a lesson here," Alix continued, expression shifting to a more stoic one. "You are a princess. I may have been born into royalty, but even I hold only as much power as my father or husband allows. It's the curse set upon us. Which is why we need to not cower under them, but rise to match them. It's by our own work if we earn it or not. So my advice is that if you are to focus your energy into learning only a few things, let it be confidence and competency. Grace and elegance are fine; knowing how to dance or tell spoons apart at a dinner table are grand; but there is nothing more important than learning how to be the best leader that you can. You are the Princess of Paris, and possibly France, the people of the kingdom will look up to you. Hold your chin high and set the example. Am I clear?"

Marinette swallowed hard, nerves buzzing like bees in a hive.

Alix's smile reappeared. "You have it. Trust me. You faced me off yesterday, didn't you? Calmly and concisely ending my little tirade? Why don't we see more of that Marinette? She's the one who has the potential to be a princess. Am I wrong to think she would have the courage to strive to live up to that?"

Biting her lip, Marinette couldn't help but think about what Alya had told her last night. About her being brave. And then Adrien came to mind. Didn't he deserve to have a wife who strove for the best? He was the prince, a man she had once told would make a great king. He deserved to have a great queen at his side. As his wife, it was her job to become it.

So with new determination, Marinette responded, "I do."

Alix's smile grew. "Good. Now for the next lesson."

It was nearly noon by the time Alix dismissed Marinette, telling her to take a break. She had been working hard to learn all Alix had been teaching her, and it had Marinette missing Tikki's simple lessons compared to Alix's complicated ones. However, Alix was very patient with Marinette and took ample time to explain everything she could to the best of her ability so that Marinette would understand.

And for the most part, she did. She just hoped she would remember it all.

She wandered down the hallway, aimlessly walking anywhere. Wherever her feet took her that was far away from the stress of the lessons was perfectly fine with her.

It turned out to be the gardens that she was led to. In a blink, she was standing in front of the bench under the canopy of ivy. A little secluded, welcoming spot, one that was already taken.

Adrien was lounging on the length of the bench, his legs hanging off over the side of his too-short resting place. Drawn to him, she took a couple steps closer, and his eyes lazily opened.

"Oh, sorry," she whispered. "Did I wake you?"

He shook his head, slowly sitting up. "No. I never went to sleep."

Her brow furrowed as she took a seat beside him. "Have you been awake all night?"

Sheepishly, he nodded.

"Adrien," she cooed, taking his cheeks in her hands and rubbing slow circles on his cheeks. She took in his exhausted state from the way he could barely keep his eyes open to the way he laid his head heavily in her hands. "Did you have another nightmare?"

His expression looked pained. "Of sorts."

"Oh, Adrien." She continued rubbing little circles on his cheeks, and his eyes drifted fully shut. "I'm sorry I wasn't there. Did you knock on my door? Did I miss you?"

He shook his head.

"Ok, good," she sighed, feeling slightly less guilty.

When his eyes opened again, they were dim and dull. "You don't have to let me in, you know."

Her brow furrowed as her heart sank even more. "What?"

"If you don't want me in your room, you don't have to let me in. If I make you uncomfortable, there's no threat any more, so we don't have to share a room."

She blinked, unsure if he had said what she thought he said. She grasped him tighter. "Adrien. No. I love being with you at night." Instantly, her mind raced back to just two nights ago, when they had exchanged kiss after kiss snuggled down in her bed before he cocooned her up in his arms and she settled against him. Then that happiness had to be ruined by nightmares, both imaginary and real. "I loved having you there by my side."

His expression perked up, and a little bit of life returned to his eyes.

And something dreaded clicked in her mind. "Did you think I didn't want you?" Her heart sank and stomach twisted. "Is that why you didn't come to me last night?"

"I didn't know what you wanted," he admitted. "And I didn't want to force anything on you that made you uncomfortable. No matter how far we've come, I have to remember that this marriage was not something you willingly walked into."

Marinette swallowed hard, formulating an answer that would stop those doubts in his head once and for all. "You're right. It wasn't." Her gaze then locked with his, determination blazing in her. "But you never gave up on me, and I chose to stay and learn how to be your wife. Even when I pushed you away, I did it because I had come to love you. Adrien, I am your wife, and I will proudly claim that title. I will proudly state you are my husband. There is nothing that makes me happy quite like knowing that we are married and that my future is with you. So while this wasn't something I willingly walked into, it's not something I regret."

She watched his breathing pick up as his green eyes sparked with life. It still stunned Marinette that they were so green. So striking, so vivid. Lost in their depth, she absently pulled his head forward.

The next thing she knew, his lips landed on hers. Soft at first. Tender. Then desperate. His hands came up to cradle her head, angling it against his own. Again, and again, and again, his lips took hers, and she automatically responded to every touch, every shift, every movement.

They broke apart with a gasp, but they didn't pull away far. He was still right there, his breath rolling across her lips. "Marinette," he whispered, "I can't imagine my life without you, either. I want you as my wife. Desperately. It was all I could hope for last night."

"I am your wife, Adrien," she panted, grabbing his shoulders tight in reassurance.

As he stared down at her, he slowly shook his head. "No, Marinette," he said, his voice husky and low. "I want you as my wife. I want you as mine."

It wasn't his words but the intensity and meaning behind them that made Marinette shiver, an action contradictory to how scorching hot she felt at that moment.

"If, and only if, you'll have me."

He grabbed her hands, forcibly loosening them from his shirt and grasping them tight. Marinette was a bit disappointed when he leaned back, but he never lost his smile nor did the glow in his eyes ever fade. If anything, he lit up like a lantern at midnight.

"Marinette," he said reverently. "You never got a proper proposal, so consider this to be it."

Her eyes widened on their own accord. She gasped, feeling unable to breathe as air suddenly left her lungs. Her grasp on his hands loosened, which allowed him to slip both her tiny hands into one of his. With his freed hand, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a sparkling ruby ring.

She broke eye contact to stare at the intricately carved stone set in a perfect gold ring. Only a mere second later did her clear vision start to swim with tears.

"Marinette," Adrien said. "Will you choose to accept me as your husband?"

She looked back up at him, those tears rolling down her cheeks. "Yes," she managed to choke out, causing him to brighten exponentially. Taking her left hand, he slid the ring onto her finger. While he had done it before at their wedding when he slid the thin, gold ring onto her hand, this felt far more intimate.

The band fit perfectly, and once it was on to join her other wedding ring, he raised her hand up to his lips to press a firm kiss on the back of it.

"Where on earth did you find such a lavish ring?" she asked.

"It was my mother's," he said. "The previous Lady Noir turned Princess of Paris. She wouldn't have wanted anyone else to have it."

Wiping away the tears that still poured from her eyes, she tried to process the fact that Adrien had just truly proposed to her and then presented her with a priceless family heirloom that she truly didn't deserve but would cherish greatly. "I'll wear it proudly. I'll do everything I can to make her proud. To make you proud."

"You already are," he assured before taking her cheeks in his hands and once again bestowing her with kisses.

I know you think I have, but I haven't yet, she thought through her haze of emotions. But I will. I promise.