"Your Highness~!"

A voice sang in Marinette's room. The princess buried her face under her bed sheets as the curtains were dragged open. She grew annoyed as the unknown person jumped on her bed-trying to wake Marinette up.

The tired girl snapped sourly because of the rude awake.

"Are you new? Every one of my maids know that I don't like to wake up early." The girl muttered.

A burst of giggles erupted. "Gurrrl! I thought you would recognize my voice!"

Marinette opened her eyes tiredly to see Alya staring back.

"Alya!" The blue-haired girl shouted enthusiastically. She jumped off the bed and ran to hug the red-haired duchess. Alya hugged back and both girls let out a squeal of excitement.

"Marinette! It's been too long. You have to tell me about Adrien!" Alya said while hugging Marinette tightly.

Memories flashed in the blue-haired girl's head. Chat, the rejection, Adrien's disappearance. The smile she wore quickly went away. Alya, having the amazing ability to notice small details and changes, knew something happened.

"Marinette, what's wrong?" She noticed her friends gloomy frown. Alya decided to cheer her friend up, "Never mind! Girl, get dressed, we're going out!!" Alya sang.

The brown-haired duchess ordered a woman to set a bath. However, Marinette was not in the mood to go anywhere- Alya was not willing to let her friend say no.

Alya pushed Marinette into the tub- soaking her night gown.

"Mon dieu Alya! It's cold!" And my clothes are all wet now!"

"That's why you shouldn't have procrastinated for so long!" Alya argued leaving the princess to get ready.

Marinette was bathed and clothed within a short time. She was quiet while Alya helped do her hair. This brought Alya's cheerfulness down too.

"Marinette... I'm sorry," Alya confessed.

Marinette looked up in the mirror and felt bad. Her friend was trying to cheer her up and here she was- ungrateful.

Alya finished Marinette's hair and stood back to give her space.

Marinette turned around to face her best friend, a small warm smile on her face. The princess engulfed Alya into a hug.

"I'm sorry Alya. I'm being rude. Let's go do something," the bluenette said with spirit.

The girls raced out of the castle and to Alya's carriage that stood outside. In the process, they ran by Sabine and Tom who were currently eating breakfast.

"Make sure she eats breakfast Alya! Have fun!" Sabine called after them.

Tom and his wife smiled to each other.

"She's really growing up." The queen sighed.

Tom took her hand, "She'll make an excellent queen. She's our daughter." The king smiled warmly- ensuring his wife. The pair were hoping for Marinette to be crowned queen in a short while- then they could retire from court and live in a cozy cabin they owned near a beautiful river.

"Alya! Slow down!" Marinette called to her friend.

Alya raced from shop to shop, ushering Marinette to try on this and that. She dove around people and pulled her friend along- forcing her to run. Marinette's breathing grew heavy from all the running and she quickly ran out of breath.

Alya laughed and disappeared into a nearby shop. Marinette decided to stay outside and try to calm down her racing heart.

The princess sat down at an empty table. The sound of Alya's carriage nearby could be heard and some guards stood nearby to ensure her safety.

Alya soon came back with some pastries. She handed Marinette a chocolate croissant and pulled some madeleines from the bag for herself.

"It's calm today." Marinette spoke softly.

The clouds were overcast but the sunlight seemed to light them up. Days like these made the village folk calmer. People tended to relax and enjoy time with others on these days as opposed to the busy and fast times they feel on others.

More hours were spent shopping; Alya bought lots of gifts- since the holidays were coming up. Marinette didn't need to buy anything since she was hand making her gifts, a reddish-gold scarf for Alya and so on. But she decided to stock up on supplies just in case.

~~~~~~

Dawn was closing in- people lit candles in buildings and the streets.

The two friends were strolling around, looking in store windows for anything interesting.

Much to the girls' dismay, their carriage was never far. Horse hooves would always sound whenever Marinette and Alya walked somewhere else. The plus side was that they didn't have to carry their bought goods.

Alya yawned. "Hey girl, we should head back soon. But before! You haven't told me anything about Adrien," she pouted.

Marinette stayed quiet.

"Hey. Let's go eat!"

"Ok." Marinette agreed smiling.

Alya pulled her friend to a restaurant not too far away.

"Bonsoir mes copines!" Hello my friends! The owner shouted enthusiastically. "Welcome to my restaurant!"

"Bonsoir monsieur!" Marinette greeted back.

"Hello again!" Alya chimed in.

"Alya! Good to see you again! How's Nino?"

"He's doing fine. I have my friend Marinette."

"Ah! The princess!" The man bowed. "Your majesty! I hope you enjoy my food. My name is François."

The man was about to speak again when Marinette's guards appeared behind her. Instead François led them to their table. Most people seem to want to come up to Marinette- her being the princess- but her guards are very protective, so that never really happened.

Alya and Marinette sat at their table and ordered drinks. A white-wine for Alya and an apple cider for Marinette. A few minutes later, Alya ordered a plate of salmon and potatoes, Marinette decided to try beef and salad.

"Sooo..."

Marinette looked at Alya. Uh-oh. She's going to ask about Adrien isn't she? Marinette braced herself for questions.

"Find a new husband~?" Alya said looking slyly at Marinette.

Marinette's cheeks flushed at her tone.

"N-no!"

"Ahh! Someone's saving herself for a certain blonde prince! Who just so happens to be an Agreste. Huh?"

"Alya!! No! It's over between me and Adrien." Marinette refuted- she grew quiet towards the end of her sentence.

"What?" Alya spoke looking at Marinette in disbelief. "No! I had the wedding all planned!- I shipped you two! I even made a name- Adrienette."

Marinette flushed an even deeper shade of red. She also laughed at Alya's disappointment.

"It's not funny!" Alya said laughing along. "Once we find "model-boy", I'll have a serious chat with him."

They finished their meals and left back to the carriage. The coachman signaled the horses to move once the girls were inside. The guards mounted their own horses and rode behind them.

By now, both Alya and Marinette were tired and ready for bed.

When they reached the castle, Marinette hugged Alya goodbye and stepped out of the carriage. Her guards helped bring in the supplies she bought.

"Goodbye Alya! Say hello to Nino for me!" Marinette shouted while Alya waved back from the now-moving carriage.

---

Marinette entered her castle.

"Marinette? Come quick!" Her mothers voice sounded. Her parents appeared with worried faces.

"Père? Mère? What's going on?" Marinette asked.

"Marinette.. we received a letter from King Gabriel." Sabine informed her. She handed Marinette the letter.

It said:

To the Dupain-Chengs,

I, Gabriel Agreste, send you my greetings. Adrien has disappeared- as you know- and I have speculations that you know where he's hidden. I demand you hand me back my son or I'll send troops to raid and take over your kingdom until Adrien is found.

Signed,

King Gabriel.

"What? He thinks we know where Adrien is?!" Marinette looked up to her parents in worry. "He'll declare war if we do nothing."

"Yes, but troops may already be on their way. Sending our official messenger might get him killed!" Sabine stated.

"If you are correct, war is inevitable," Tom began. He turned to Marinette, "what do you propose?"

Marinette didn't know what to say. She had an idea, a plan of action- too little progress was being made in finding Adrien, and now his father was practically declaring war for the wrong reason.

"How can his kingdom's parliament be okay with this!?" The princess asked angrily. No one brought violence to her kingdom and people without her say.

"Let me think carefully about this, I'll report shortly." The bluenette concluded.

Her parents, worried about the remaining time they had, reluctantly agreed.

Marinette then ran to her room. She took off her dress and quickly changed into black pants, riding boots, and a white coat with a thin layer of soft wool in the inside.

"Marinette?" Tikki zipped out from her hiding spot.

"Tikki I'm going to ride to the Agreste kingdom. I'm gonna try to convince Gabriel to stop the war." Marinette explained. Marinette wrote a note saying she was headed to the Agrestes. It pained her to tell the truth- Marinette knew once her parents found out, they'd be upset- but if she disappeared or was killed, she's want her parents to know where she was. She grabbed a few fruits, and cookies that were in her room and headed to the stable. Tikki followed close behind.

She saddled her favorite horse- a pretty black Arabian mare named Nafretiri. Tikki hid in the saddle bag along with the fruits and cookies Marinette brought.

Adrien's white thoroughbred- Talbot- whinnied nearby. Gabriel might calm down if I brought Adrien's horse back, Marinette thought. She put Adrien's riding gear on Talbot and tied a lead rope from the horse to Nafretiri.

Marinette mounted her horse and clicked for her to move. The lead rope pulled Talbot along as well.

"Ha!" Marinette shouted, making the horse go into a canter.

~~~~

It was early dawn now and the sun was barely rising. The horizon was a beautiful orange-pink while the rest of the sky was a comforting gray.

Marinette was riding at a relaxing walk- she planned to stop for a break at a river up ahead.

Meanwhile, at the castle, a maid knocked on Sabine and Tom's chamber doors.

The young girl held the princess's note in hand, worry filled her.

"Come in," the queen replied.

The girl walked in:

"Your majesty, your highness.. I found this note in the princess's room."

Sabine took the note. She looked up with worry etched in her face.

"Tom!"

The king raced into the room. After reading the note, he ordered guards to the Agreste's castle.

"Back her up!" He ordered.

"Tom! She needs to come back." Sabine argued.

"No. My dear, I know it's hard. But she is becoming a grown woman, she knows what she's doing. We have to just trust her."

Sabine cried in her husbands arms.

"But she is in danger. She could.."

"Shhh. Trust her." Tom whispered.

What's going to happen next? 😈

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed!