This corset is so tight! Marinette cursed in her mind. The maids we're currently putting Marinette in her costume. The girl didn't remember making the corset have the ability to be so tight. Her mother, who's chambers were down the hall, had already bathed and gotten dressed; she was now in her daughters chamber observing the scene.

"Marinette, maybe if you wake up, we won't make the corset so tight!" Sabine offered.

"Mama! I spent all night making our costumes, of course I'll be tired." Marinette replied drowsily. At this, Sabine frowned what am I going to do with her? the woman thought.

After getting the princess dressed, the maids proceeded to drag her to a stool and finish her makeup. By the time they finished, Marinette felt more awake. She fixed parts of her costume to fit her comfort. She wore a black and dark purple dress with Ruffles at the bottom and a sweetheart neckline. The dress was sleeveless and had slightly puffed shoulders. It had a corset style waist and gold embroidery surrounded the waist. Marinette wore red lipstick, purple-black eyeshadow and mascara. She fit a witch hat on her head as a final touch.

All guests were to meet for brunch and then relax for an hour or two before attending the ball. It was currently around noon, and Marinette's stomach growled with hunger. Her and her mother quickly walked to eat.

Meanwhile~

Adrien was woken up later than usual, to this he was surprised. 'So you have enough energy to last the night.' His father told him. The boy wished to be able to dine with his guests, and dear friend- Marinette. However, his father always insisted on eating alone from the others, where his diet was observed and kept consistent. The blonde sighed- my father will never understand me. Nathalie was- as usual- standing by the door keeping watch. Adrien hadn't changed into his outfit for the ball yet- he was still in his nightgown with a robe on top. Brunch was quiet as always ,and once he was finished, the young Prince dressed in his vampire costume. He wore a simple white dress shirt, black dress pants and black shoes. He wore a black and red cape and put fake fangs over his canines. Make-up was added to his face to make him seem pale and more spooky. Dressing was pretty fast. According to his fathers assistant, there was still about an hour till the party commenced.

Marinette walked down the hall to the ballroom. Of course, she was one of the last guests to arrive. Nervousness built up and it felt as if there were butterflies in her stomach. She had heard a rumor earlier that Adrien would have to start sending suitors home- this pressured the young princess. She tried to settle herself down by mustering up the confidence she had as Ladybug.

Butlers opened two giant, golden doors which led to a grand staircase leading down to the floor of the ballroom. An announcer shouted her name for all to hear.

"Princess Marinette Dupain-Cheng!"

Everybody stopped to look at her. Marinette grew nervous- is something wrong? The girl wondered. Etiquette. She had almost forgotten, Marinette curtsied and continued her way down the staircase. The chatter rose again and everyone continued with their business. The room was huge and straight across from the entrance was another staircase that led to two giant thrones that were side by side. King Gabriel sat in the one to the left while the other was empty; it was meant for the missing queen- Adrien's mother. Marinette noticed the king looking at her, she curtsied and he gave a slight bow with his head and turned his attention elsewhere. The girl gave a sigh of relief.

"Good evening princess!"

That seemed familiar...

She turned to find Adrien in a vampire costume.

"Oh! Prince Adrien, good evening! This ball is exquisite, hopefully we last the night with peace."

"Yes, hopefully!" Adrien agreed. He quickly offered a hand, "care to dance?"

Marinette's eyes grew wide, "Oh-uh-no! M-My dancing is like roadkill. I-it's terrible." She stuttered.

Adrien chuckled and offered a kind smile.

"Don't worry! I won't let you fall." To this, Marinette put her hand on his palm warily. He led her to the center of the dance floor and asked the musicians for a specific song: it was upbeat and fast. This made Marinette even more nervous, what if I trip and fall? Even worse, if I hurt Adrien! Then he won't like me anymore.

Adrien saw her worry and comforted her, "Don't worry Marinette, I won't let anything happen to you." Marinette's cheeks grew a pink color at his words. He wrapped an arm around her waist and secured her against him; Marinette blushed deeper. She felt her face heat up and desperately tried to hide it. She put her free hand on his shoulder and the dancing began. Adrien brought her into a waltz and the girl seemed to calm down. Being this close to the prince brought a fluttering feeling in Marinette's heart. She laughed as he twirled her around and pulled her back. This carried on through the entire song and at the end, Adrien dipped Marinette. Marinette blushed deeply when she noticed his kind, green, emerald eyes peering into her own and a gorgeous smile on his face. He pulled her up and bowed as she curtsied. He led her back to the tables:

"See! I promised nothing would happen."

"Y-yeah!" Marinette couldn't control her stuttering. She wore a goofy grin on her face and she tried to get rid of it to no avail. What the two didn't notice was that many, many people were watching them; including a very angry Chloe.

The blonde girl stormed over to pull Adrien away. To this he huffed and told Marinette he would see her soon. Marinette chuckled. She soon grew bored and decided to take a walk in the castle garden.

There she admired the flowers in the late afternoon sun and began to think of Adrien. She began talking out loud to herself and hadn't noticed anyone around. She stayed there, talking to herself, for a while. The sun soon set below the horizon and the moon brought a dark night. She wouldn't have been able to see if the torches that lit up the castle weren't there. Marinette kept talking:

"He's so handsome, smart, funny, kind.." She began. "And he never lets his high status get to his head! I-I think I love him!"

She went on and even had a debate with herself:

"Would he ever consider me as his wife?"

"Nooo! Why would he like me? Anyways, what about the rumor of sending suitors home?" Lila was the only one who had been sent home for her misbehavior, this may be the reason for the rumor Marinette believed.

She hummed and turned around to head back to the dance room, she found someone instead.

Adrien stood there, wide-eyed. He heard! Oh my... HE HEARD EVERYTHING I SAID! Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! Marinette grew deeply flustered and felt so embarrassed, she felt like crying.

"A-Adrien!"

The boy looked troubled. Marinette tried to find a simple way out, she excused herself.

"Sorry your grace, if you'll excuse me I really should be going now.." Marinette quickly walked around Adrien. However, as she passed him, he grabbed her arm.

"Marinette, I need to tell you something."

He pulled her in front of him and pulled all courage he had and said:

"Marinette... I don't share your feelings.. Sorry." He whispered.

In an instant, it felt like the whole world ended. Waves of disappointment and rejection came crashing down on her and she wanted to run. By this time, Adrien had let go of her arm. She saw a concerned look on his face and did her best to put on a fake smile; however, she found her smile faltering and quickly excused herself, I'm tired so I'll be going now! See you later! She told him.

She held in her tears as she walked into the castle and down the halls. Once she made it to her chambers, everything came out. Tears streamed down her face and her legs grew weak and soon dropped her to the floor. Tikki had seen this as rushed over immediately.

"Marinette! What's wrong?" The kwami questioned.

"Adrien... He heard me talking to myself and told me he didn't love me back." The girl choked out.

It took a little while and Tikki's comforting words to calm Marinette down. Her heart quaked with sadness but she felt better after crying. But she felt like she couldn't face Adrien anymore, she had a plan,

"Tikki, I'm going to leave tomorrow."