(Thank you all for your patience. Life circumstances are still hard but I'm hanging in there. Your positive comments and love keep me going ❤️)

* Music glossary:

Scherzo - fast-moving humorous composition, from the Italian word meaning 'joke' or 'jest'

* French glossary:

La/ma princesse - the/my princess

Coucou - Hi/peekaboo

Ma Mignonette - My little sweetheart/cutie

Voilà- Here they are/here it is, used to call attention to something or someone

~*~*~*~

(Mood Music: "Patches of Light" - Child of Light OST)

Adrien Agreste did not show up for school the following day.

Or the next.

Or the one after that.

The only news from the Agreste family concerning the absences was that Adrien had switched back to homeschooling and would turn in his assignments remotely. In truth, Adrien had called on behalf of his father and apparently that had been good enough, because as far as he was aware, his father hadn't called the school to contradict the matter.

As far as his limited social life, Adrien still made sure to answer texts and calls from his friends to keep up appearances, even going so far as to set up a fake wall of his old bedroom for facetime calls. And thankfully, he was able to keep in daily contact with Ladybug via their secret emails. Even still, school days could get lonely at times.

Such was the case today.

A forlorn Plagg stretched out atop Adrien's head, staring at the schoolwork laid out before them. A cool breeze blew across the top of the Dupain Cheng bakery, idly turning the pages of one of the textbooks, and Adrien adjusted a paperweight to keep them from flapping.

The kwami sighed. "Are you sure this is what you want, kid?"

Adrien shook his head. "It's not about what I want, Plagg. It's about keeping everybody safe. No one else must be put in danger or get hurt because of me."

Plagg clicked his tongue in disapproval. "It just sucks 'cause you can't even explain to Ladybug that your father almost succeeded in kidnapping you. Not without revealing your identity, anyway."

Adrien winced. "Yeah, it's... not ideal. But it's what has to happen. Master Fu said so himself, and I trust him."

Plagg flew down to rest on his shoulder, peeking at the schoolwork on the laptop screen. "It must be hard not seeing your friends, just being stuck up here for hours. The days of the week just kinda blend together. How long has it been? Two weeks? Two months? Two years?!"

The young man chuckled. "It's not so bad," he replied as he shifted his legs on his seat on a balcony chair, clacking away on the keyboard. "Nobody comes up here during the day; and as long as we don't move around too much, people can't hear us downstairs, so it's nice and peaceful. You can't see us from the streets below if we stay behind these brick railings. And if it were to rain, I'm sure this little tarp would do a decent job keeping us dry."

"Why can't you just do schoolwork in your bedroom?"

"Because then the family would know that I'm home and they'd get suspicious. I can't start homeschool at the exact same time as Adrien Agreste."

"Hmph. I guess," Plagg sighed. "It's just so boring here. It's much more fun when Marinette's around."

Adrien lifted his hand to scratch Plagg behind the ears. "Don't worry, buddy. Speaking of Marinette, school ends in about half an hour. We can see what she's up to when she gets home. Maybe the three of us can play a game together or something!"

Plagg's head perked up at the suggestion. "Yeah!! I'll keep watch!" he chirped, zooming to the top of the roof where he could get a perfect view of the neighborhood.

Adrien smiled warmly, content with how well those two had hit it off ever since they'd officially met. Thanks to the hoodie Marinette gave him a little while back, the three of them had been able to hang out while detransformed on a regular basis.

When Plagg gave the signal, Adrien gathered his things and crept downstairs to his bedroom. He donned said special hoodie but couldn't find the sunglasses he usually wore with it, so he settled for one of the colorful, patterned facemasks he had at his disposal for discreet outings with Marinette (or with the family, as they did together from time to time).

-----

Some time later, Marinette came home in a minor huff, grumbling about some annoying classmate who never seemed to get caught in the web of lies they constantly spun. Chat listened intently, making it his goal to cheer her up and distract her from the day's events whenever she finished venting.

"--And then she said that her family genealogist discovered that she's a descendant of some famous noble! Lila! Nobility! Can you believe that? UGH!!" Marinette ranted as she reached the top of the stairs to her bedroom, practically tossing her backpack onto her desk chair.

Chat whistled in awe. "That's definitely quite a claim. But how do you know she's lying?"

"Because she always lies! She just never gets caught!" she exclaimed, waving her hands over her head like a flag. "Who even has a family genealogist?!"

Chat's eyes darted away guiltily and he suppressed a wince. "Well... you might be surprised. Sometimes people hire genealogists to prove whether you have certain legal rights, like owning property you may have inherited from ancestors, proving your lineage, organizing foreign records..."

"Alright alright, I get it. And yeah, I suppose she is pretty wealthy," she replied as she continued pacing around the room. "Still, it's not very noble of her to lie to everyone's faces all the time! OH!! And get this! She says that a foreign royal family found out about her ancestry, and that they asked for her hand in marriage!"

Chat stared blankly. "Uhh... that's very... hmm."

"Ah, but it gets even better!!" she announced, pointer finger waving in the air like a game show announcer. "She said she 'had' to turn down their proposal, because her heart already belongs to another, and they've promised themselves to each other!" She continued with a posh, dramatic tone, "Indeed, our dear damsel is secretly betrothed to a mysterious boyfriend, whose identity she's sworn not to divulge or his freedom would be in peril for allowing a girl to interfere with his studies!"

"Ooh, the plot thickens indeed," Chat replied, his mouth quirking into a frown. This was starting to sound a bit... familiar. "Did... she happen to mention who this 'boyfriend' was?"

Marinette's arms waved up in the air like she was violently tossing a pizza. "UGH! That's the other annoying bit. The way she said it, she lowkey implied that the secret boyfriend was Adrien Agreste! If we were to contact him and ask him about it, of course he'd say it wasn't true; but then she would just claim that he denied it because their relationship is supposed to be a secret and he'd get in trouble if his family found out! And if he were to confront her in person, she'd just pretend she was talking about a different guy, because she never outright stated that it was Adrien. It's a lose-lose situation to try to prove she's lying!"

Chat crossed his arms and nodded. "Sounds like she's really good at persuasion. She must have a high charisma score!"

"Except this isn't Dungeons and Dragons, Chat! I'm sure by this time next week, she'll have convinced everyone she's a princess from some random country!"

He squeezed her shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm sure eventually someone will find out that she's a buffoon and not a princess."

The girl continued, indistinct, "And, I mean... I get it! I know why she lies! She just wants attention and popularity! Lots of people lie for attention. And like... it's not like I'm truthful all the time, either, so I know I'm kind of a hypocrite. But even * I* wouldn't lie about something stupid and meaningless like being royalty and being secretly betrothed! Some things are important and must be kept a secret. I would only lie if it was truly necessary, and it was to keep people safe and if–"

"Hey there, little lady, slow down!" he said, gently pulling her towards him by both shoulders and bringing her pacing to a stop. "I totally know what you're saying. I mean, you have freakin' Chat Noir living in your house, for crying out loud. So, yeah, I do get it." He paused, as if a thought had come to him. "But... you know something?" he added, an impish smile dancing in his eyes. "I think you are lying about something else."

Marinette's eyes bugged out, staring at him with concern. "Huh? W-what do you mean?"

"It's why this Lila business is bothering you so much," Chat said cryptically, crossing his arms. "I know the truth, Marinette."

The bewildered girl stammered, "I-I-I..."

He leaned in. "You should've known you can't hide it from me, y'know. Your big secret."

Marinette's jaw dropped and her eyebrows raised in confusion; not a single word of denial managed to escape her lips. Some color seemed to drain from her face.

Chat took a deep breath before he uttered the next few words.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng... I know that you're the one who's secretly a princess."

The tension immediately left Marinette's shoulders and they dropped down to an unamused sag; she threw a frigid glare at her companion that made him explode into hysterical laughter.

"Why, you complete and absolute...blockhead!!" she stuttered out, trying to come up with a proper insult.

This paltry affront only made Chat crack up even harder and he doubled over in loud cackles. "It all makes sense now! You don't have to pretend around me anymore, your highness! I can keep your lineage a secret so the peasants don't mob you for autographs!"

"Why, you big—!" she hissed as she began to chase him around the bedroom. "Why can't you be serious?!"

Chat darted to the corner of the bedroom where her costume chest lay open and he fished something out.

"And what is a princess without a proper crown? Allow me, your majesty!" he announced dramatically, putting a gaudy, bejeweled crown atop her head as she tried to swat him away, no longer trying to suppress her giggling in an effort to hold on to her grumpiness.

"Oh dear, do you need to hide from the paparazzi, Ma Princesse? I shall be your valiant steed! Let us fly away!" he cried, placing a unicorn headband somewhat precariously atop his hooded head, then swept Marinette off her feet, swinging her around in his arms and leaping around the room like a deranged show pony. She yelped, wrapping her hands around his neck and laughing even harder until tears pricked the corners of her eyes.

Chat then bounded from the floor all the way up to the loft where her bed was, Marinette letting out a startled squeal, then depositing her onto the cushioned surface with a gentle thud.

"Pray tell, sweet princess, do you feel the hidden pea under the mattress?" his face inched closer, his chin perched over his crossed hands, eyes blinking in an exaggerated display of engrossment.

Marinette snickered again. "Well, I haven't noticed any meddlesome peas." She paused. "But... you know what I did just notice?" She reached up to his forehead to brush some messy hair strands away with her fingertips, his gaze closely following their movement. "I just realized this is the first time I've really seen your eyes. Did you know they're a slightly different shade of green than when you're transformed? They're very beautiful, if you don't mind me saying so."

Despite wearing a mask over his nose and mouth, there was no mistaking the way Chat's face instantly turned pink. "Oh! Th-thank you, that's really nice of you to say." She couldn't see his full expression, but his eyes were smiling.

She smiled back, her own face suddenly rather warm.

Her insides churned and she chastised herself. You're not supposed to be flirting right now, Marinette! Chat's dating "Ladybug", not you!!

Trying to act casual, she gave him a friendly wink and finger guns. "You're welcome, Minou," she replied, inwardly cursing her awkwardness.

Chat cleared his throat and changed the subject, "So, what are your plans for the weekend, Ma Princesse?"

Marinette shifted to a sitting position, grateful and more than willing to shift topics. "Actually, I need to bake a cake tonight. Would you like to help?"

"Ooh, sounds yummy! What flavor? Are we having it for dessert later?"

She shrugged and tilted her head apologetically. "Sorry Kitty, it's not for you. It's my friend's birthday tomorrow. I was gonna drop it off at their house in the morning."

"In the morning? What about school?" he asked with a confused look.

Marinette raised an eyebrow. "Tomorrow's Saturday, silly."

"Oh! Right... Don't mind me, I've been getting my dates all mixed up recently. Anyway, sure! I'd love to help!"

"Yay! That's awesome, thanks!"

"I hope I don't mess it all up though. I haven't baked a cake from scratch since... actually, I don't know if I ever have!"

"Don't worry, it's super easy. It'll be fun, I promise!"

The two climbed down from the loft and made their way downstairs to the kitchen, where Plagg feasted on a plate of assorted cheeses that Sabine had lovingly prepared for him as an after school snack.

Plagg spared them a glance before resuming his eating. "What's with the hats? You two look nuttier than this Asiago."

The pair looked at each other and busted out into loud guffaws once again as they realized they were still wearing their silly accessories. Deciding to keep them on during their culinary endeavors, they began gathering the necessary ingredients and set up the work area to bake the cake.

(Continued in part 2)