The Myth of the White Snake

第九章

"I encountered the white snake not too long ago, she goes by the name Marinette," Gabriel explained, "Turns out my son is in love with her"

Fa Hai nodded, "It may be safe to start coming up with a plan now that we know her human form"

"But before you do anything to her, you need to make my son fall out of love first," Gabriel said, "I don't want him to grieve over her like I did with Emilie"

"Don't worry," Fa Hai said, "I have a plan for that, too"

~

Adrien entered the hotel room and shut the door behind him. He threw his shoes off in front of the door and angrily walked over to his bed. Nino was seated at the table on his laptop when he noticed his best friend looking rather upset.

"Is everything alright?" Nino asked.

"No," Adrien said firmly, "I've had it with my father"

Adrien sat down on the edge of his bed and sighed heavily. Nino paused the game he was playing and walked over to his own bed, where he settled down in front of the upset blond.

"I'm listening," Nino said.

"Before you ask, it has nothing to do with Marinette"

Adrien paused for a second.

"Well, maybe a little bit, but I'm not sure. But basically I got into an argument with my father"

Nino frowned, "I'm sorry, man. You don't have to tell me any details if you don't want to"

"Our argument isn't the only thing, though," Adrien sighed, "I don't know what happened, but when my father met Marinette, the atmosphere just felt really... Off. I knew my father was pretty cold himself, but I've never seen him like this before. And I knew that Marinette felt that way, too, because she left in a hurry"

Nino removed his hat from his head and ran a hand over his short hair. He set his hat on the bed behind him and turned back to Adrien, trying to process what he just heard.

"Hold on," Nino began, "So basically your father scared her off?"

Adrien shrugged, "I guess you can put it that way. But I'm kind of worried now. What if she doesn't want to see me anymore because of my father?"

Nino reached out to his best friend and placed a hand on his shoulder. Adrien gazed up at him, and the edges of Nino's lips perked up slightly.

"You should still talk to her," Nino suggested, "You love her, right?"

Adrien's cheeks grew a dark crimson color as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. He let out a small laugh as he darted his eyes to the small table between their beds.

"No need to be embarrassed, my dude," Nino said, "I won't make fun of you either. It's only gonna be worse if you deny it, so—"

"I'm in love with her," Adrien said quickly, "I love her so much, Nino. I don't know what it is about her, but she's just... Different from all the other girls I've dated in the past. She makes me feel comfortable instead of nervous, and I just feel like I can be myself around her. I know it's ridiculous considering we haven't known each other for very long, but it already feels like I've known her forever"

Nino's smile only grew wider upon hearing Adrien talk about his feelings for Marinette. He loved her, no doubt it was love at first sight.

"Then go to her," Nino said.

Adrien sighed and shook his head, "I don't know where she lives, though"

He wished he had at least some idea about her whereabouts. The only thing he knew was that she most likely lived close to the lake.