Accident of the Evening

A Royal Stray

Adrien sat at his computer desk, idly scrolling through eBay, Plagg purring in his lap but his mind was somewhere else.

What had Alya meant about knowing how Marinette felt when she got all flustered? Ladybug seemed uninterested but he couldn't help but wonder what it was that got Marinette all awkward and flustered like that.

A knock at his door made him jump and Plagg blinked up at him in his sleepy cat way before slinking off and up to the higher floor as Adrien stood and looked through the peep hole.

Oh crap. He took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair before brushing the strands back neatly.

"Nathalie, Father, come in," he said as he held the front door open.

"Adrien we need to talk." Gabriel Agreste's voice was cold as ever as he made his way to sit at the hard backed chairs at the dining table. He sat and stared expectantly at the empty chair at the opposite end until Adrien sat. He could feel his father's cold stare, the icy blue eyes sending chills down his spine.

Adrien met Nathalie's eyes but she wasn't giving anything away. Instead, she turned from both of them and began preparing tea in Adrien's kitchen.

"Father, I didn't know you were back from Milan... How was it?" Adrien asked, trying to avoid eye contact.

"I am flying back in two hours."

"Two hours?"

"Yes. I need to discuss something with you." Nathalie set down cups of tea in front of each of them and then stood off to the side, her back to the wall and she tapped on her tablet. Gabriel took a sip of the tea, winced slightly and set the cup back down, his lips tugged into a deeper frown than usual.

"Adrien, as you have been aware for some time now, the Agreste family history is intertwined with the Royal family of Asluicia in Guernsey. The time has come when they must announce the next heir and since the last remaining child of the Toussaint family passed away two months ago, they have finally decided to name you that heir."

"What?" Adrien almost choked on his tea.

"You are to be crowned on your twenty-first birthday and you shall move to the country shortly thereafter. This will be your final year of studies here in Paris. When you move you will be expected to act like a leader and take on the necessary princely duties to be prepared to run the country in due time."

"Father you can't possibly expect me to drop my whole life for this..." Adrien was cut off before he could even begin to try to reason.

"I can and I do. Adrien the plans have already been made. In six months you will be a Prince and you will have more to worry about than silly little lectures."

"Father, please."

"No." Gabriel Agreste stood. "That is all. This is the way things will be. I am your father and I know what is best for you." Gabriel made his way to the door, Nathalie scurrying to open the door for him, Adrien feeling frozen and shamed, stuck in his chair. "Do not embarrass me this weekend."

Those were Gabriel's parting words to his son before the door slammed shut and Adrien was left feeling small and insignificant in his apartment that suddenly felt all-too big.

An hour later, Adrien found himself on a familiar set of steps, the moonlight breaking through the clouds to show the closed curtains of the dark apartment windows on the third floor.

Of course Marinette was asleep. She was working herself ragged with designing and making the costumes for the ball. He reached up and brushed his fingers over the mask she had made for Chat Noir and he smiled. It was perfect, he could only imagine what the costume would look like. He wasn't sure why he had put it on when he left, or why he hadn't told Gideon he was going out so late. He didn't even know where he had been going until he arrived.