Forbidden Love

Chapter 10

"Adrien hurry down, Empress Tomoe and Princess Kagami are nearly at the entrance of the palace!" Nathalie scolds, walking back out the room.

Adrien rolls his eyes as he finishes buttoning his white shirt. As much as Adrien doesn't mind Kagami, he isn't exactly ready to give up his life and everything for her. Especially not when there's a certain spotted heroine who has his heart.

"So~ Engaged to a Princess, eh?" Plagg snickers.

"Knock it off, I'm not in the mood." The blonde mutters, looking at himself in the giant mirror.

"Come on, kid! Now no more random girls would have a chance and you can go out without worrying about random girls flirting with you!" Plagg exclaims.

"Yeah, but I'm not ready to lose my whole life to Kagami. Like, she's amazing and smart but she's- not the one..." He murmurs.

"Oh? Huh...Oh~" Plagg snickers.

"What now?" Adrien groans.

"You like that spotted heroine partner of yours." Plagg cackles.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Adrien stammers, turning back to throw on a black coat.

"Sure you don't kid." Plagg sighs, stopping his long laugh.

"Go eat cheese or something, I'll be back later." Adrien rolls his eyes, pushing a hand through his hair before walking out the door.

The blonde teenager mutters annoyed words under his breath as he walks down the stairs from his room with Nathalie in front, taking him to Empress Tomoe, Princess Kagami, and King Gabriel. If he had any say, he wouldn't do this, but once again his father completely unvalidated his opinion in the matter.

With a sigh, he straightened his posture as he made his way to the entrance of the throne room.

Empress Tomoe stood with an elegance poise. Her hair was pulled into a simple braided, crown bun. She wore a white kimono with golden lining at the bottom of the skirt and sleeves, a gold threaded cherry blossom tree was sewn around the bodice and to the end of the skirt. She wore white, silk slippers with a golden blossom sewn on the side. Empress Tomoe carries a bokken as her support cane to her blindness. Even with no sense of sight, she still rules over the Kanjin empire with no problems.

Kagami stood next to her mother with the similar poised look. She had midnight black hair, left alone since it was too short to be pulled up in any form. On her hair, she had a red flower pinned on the right side of her ear, pulling the piece of hair there back, showing off her stunning gold earrings. She wore a red kimono with white linings at the bottom and around the sleeves. She had a lighter red sewn on blossom flowers etched on the skirt of her skirt. In her left hand was a closed fan and on her right hand was a silver band, similar to Adrien's Miraculous.

The princess glances over and catches Adrien's eye, giving him a nod. Adrien nods back to her before walking over to his father.

"Hello, Adrien, I'm sure you've heard about Empress Tomoe." Gabriel says.

"Yes, father. A great pleasure to meet you, your Highness." Adrien responds, respectfully bowing to the Empress.

"Your child has manners, well taught Gabriel." The Empress says with a small crack of a smile.

"Yes, well raised to be suited as King of Parisia one day." Gabriel responds with a nod, his hands tightly clenched behind his back.

"Come, you must be exhausted, would you like something to eat?" Gabriel asks, motioning with a faint nod of his head to the side.

"That would wonderful." Tomoe nods, turning to Kagami.

"You may go with Adrien." She says, turning and walking out with Gabriel.

"Hello, Adrien." Kagami walks towards him, her eyes trained on his.

"Yes, hello, Kagami." Adrien nods.

"Want to head outside to the palace gardens?" The blonde suggests.

"Sure." Kagami responds, walking behind him as he took them both to the gardens.

"How are you feeling about this whole- marriage?" Kagami asked, curiously.

"The truth or a lie?" Adrien responds, staring into her brown eyes.

"The truth obviously, Agreste." The princess responds with a roll of her eyes.

The blonde chuckles as he lowers his gaze to the flower patches.

"Not great, it's not that I don't like you. You seem great, I just- it's just not right." He sighs.

"I know what you mean." Kagami murmurs, folding her hands on her lap.

"Do you have someone you like?" The princess asks.

"Y-Yeah, something like that." Adrien stammers, rubbing the back of his neck.

"So this really doesn't do well for you." Kagami laughs lightly.

"No kidding." He sighs, fumbling with his fingers.

"So- who's this mystery girl?" Kagami asks, raising an eyebrow.

"I- She's not exactly the public type?" Adrien chuckles nervously, trying to cover up his mess.

"I see." Kagami says slowly, turning her attention to the water from the fountain as it shot into the air multiple times.

"Is this girl in the city?" Kagami asked.

"I guess? Sort of." Adrien shrugs.

"How do you not know? Have you ever seen her?" Kagami questioned, stunned with his lack of knowledge.

"Yes? Sort of-" Adrien responds, half zoning out to the sound of rushing water.

"How do you know you love her then?" Kagami presses.

"I don't know, Kagami, I just do. There's something about her that draws me in." Adrien replies with a sigh, facing Kagami now.

"I see. Your interpretation of love is odd, Adrien." Kagami says finally, getting up from her seat.

"I'm heading back in, I'll see you at dinner." Kagami says curtly before strolling away with two Parisian guards following in her wake.

"Like you know anything much about love yourself, Princess." Adrien mutters under his breath with a strained laugh.

The young blonde looks into the skies above and sighs.

'I wish I did know you, Ladybug.' He thought to himself.