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Prologue

Long ago and far away, in a village high on a mountaintop, something amazing was occurring. At the very same moment, two identical baby boys were born. One, a baby prince. The king and queen were overjoyed. Their young prince would have only the finest. The second baby boy was born to parents much less wealthy. Still, they did what they could to look after their son. Many years passed. The prince learned his royal duties, while the pauper worked for the spiteful man Colt Fathom, to whom his parents owed a great debt that he was left with after they were gone. With lives so different, it wasn't surprising that the prince and the pauper never met. But fate decreed they would. It all started at the royal mine, where the miners informed the king that the gold had run out. The widowed king was shocked. The kingdom was going bankrupt. How was he going to take care of his people? If only he could call on his trusted advisor Lila, but she was away on a long journey. He needed to do something quickly to save the kingdom, but what? And then it struck her. Nearby lived a rich young queen who was seeking a husband.

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"We're late, your highness, we're going to fall behind schedule." Said Nathalie, who was in charge of scheduling for Prince Adrien, who was being fitted for a suit for his upcoming wedding. "We have twenty, maximum twenty two minutes for the fitting, And then we need to move on to your speech at the Historical Society. After that we have to rush, and I mean, rush, to the Horticultural Society Tea. Oh, and then there's your maths lessons, your geography lessons, your science lessons..." But the prince had zoned out. He looked down at his pet cat Plagg, who seemed bored, but was loyal enough to follow his favourite person to annoying things like the fitting. He politely gestured to the fitting attendants to back off and stepped away for a moment to have some much needed personal space. He stepped into the next room, a room where gifts were piled on a table, but no people were currently in there, and the black feline followed behind him. When Prince Adrien was stressed, he liked to sing aloud to himself, and Plagg was his supportive audience he would sing to. He wandered through the empty room in the castle and sang what was on his mind to cheer himself up.

"🎵All my life I've always wanted to have one day just for me. Nothing to do and for once nowhere I need to be. With no lessons, lords, or lunches, or 'to do' list in the way. No one to say when to eat or read or leave or stay. That would be the day...🎵" He wandered to the window and looked up at the sky, thinking about how amazing it would be to have an empty slate, no duties to fulfil, a world of endless possibilities where he could make all his own choices. Complete freedom. He finished off his short song, not noticing someone quietly enter the room behind him. "🎵What would it be like to be free? Free to try crazy things, like marry whom I choose...🎵" Adrien stared out the window, barely noticing his friend who happened to be down in the garden below as he sang. A throat cleared behind him. The prince turned around, hoping whoever came in didn't hear him singing to nobody but himself and a cat. "Oh, father, I didn't know you'd be here. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get distracted. They were almost done with the fitting, I just needed a moment, don't worry, I'll make it to my next appointment on time," The king raised his hand to silence his stressed son.

"Don't worry Adrien, I trust you to handle your royal duties. I know you've been stressed recently. As have I. The future of our kingdom is in our hands, remember." Of course. Adrien felt a little guilty about his urges to get away from his royal life. He simply had to do his royal duties as they were given to him, but his father was still the king, he had the heavier burden on him from being the one the kingdom looked to. With the kingdom going bankrupt, it fell to King Gabriel to make the difficult decisions in order to look after his kingdom. Even he understood that sometimes his decisions didn't always include his son's happiness at the forefront. He just hoped his son understood that they needed to keep the wellbeing of their kingdom at the top priority. "You know son, I am sorry about the engagement. I know you wished to marry for love, like I did with your mother." the king said, thinking of what little he'd heard before his son had noticed him in the room. "But as you know, it is vital you marry Queen Kagami. It is the only way to take care of our people." Prince Adrien had been surprised when he'd first been made aware of Kagami, Queen of a nearby kingdom, as he had never heard of a king or queen as young as he is. Normally a prince or princess wouldn't take the throne until a few years later. However, he was told that she was a rare case where her parents had unfortunately passed, and as the only heir, it was decided she was old enough to take the throne at her age. That was part of the reason she was looking to marry at her age too. At her age it was recommended that she rule her country alongside a husband to be king, and as well as that, it was recommended she marry so she can conceive an heir for her kingdom to ensure her royal family continues on.

"I know, father. It's my duty." Said the prince. A worker came in carrying a wrapped box and set it down on the table.

"Look son, another engagement gift." the king said coldly. Prince Adrien looked at the gift pile, trying not to show his annoyance. He appreciated all that he had, but all these gifts, he realised, came with strings. Making a word-play joke in his head, he thought about the double meaning of something coming with strings attached. In his case, it was his royal duties, tying him down like strings, forcing him into a life where he has everything and would feel guilty to complain, but one thing was missing. He would have to give up on finding love like in the stories he'd heard, as his duty forced him to marry a woman he didn't know. The question still remained in his mind: What would it be like to be free?

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Chloe picked up what appeared to be a plain rock out of the mine cart. She held it away from the rest of her body in disgust, hating the filthy work she was being forced to do. A few years ago Chloe would never be caught dead in a filthy mine. But when the unthinkable happened and her father, who used to work for the royal family, lost his job due to cutbacks as the kingdom's wealth was depleting and the royal family had to make a few staffing changes, Chloe's life was flipped upside down. She refused to admit that her family would become poor, but without her father being connected to the royal family, she had nothing. So when Lila, the king's advisor, mysteriously offered a job opportunity, Chloe reluctantly took it, along with another girl, Sabrina, who Chloe took the opportunity to boss around, Chloe sometimes wondered about Lila's plans, and knew Lila was using her a bit, but she didn't care, because she was using her too. Working for the king's advisor was as close as she could get to the royal family for now, and that would have to do. She planned to bide her time and wait until she could find a way back into the royal family's good graces. Lila mentioned her plans would result in the kingdom regaining its former riches, so Chloe knew that if she played a part in that, perhaps she would have the right connections for a position more worthy of what she felt she deserved.

"Sabrina!" Chloe screeched at the girl she was forced to work with.

"Yes Chloe?" The other girl answered innocently. Chloe held out the rock she was holding, practically shoving it in Sabrina's face.

"Let's review our very simple job, shall we?" Chloe said, in her usual condescending manner she spoke towards Sabrina when there was no one else around and she felt she could act like she's more important than her. "We are stealing gold. Is this shiny?"

"No."

"Valuable?"

"No."

"Going to make Lila happy?"

"No." Chloe huffed at Sabrina's meek, one word answers.

"Of course I'm the only one who can do things right. Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous." She scoffed, throwing away the rock and storming away from Sabrina. What neither girl noticed was that when it hit the ground, the rock cracked and split in two, exposing a shiny crystal on the inside. The two girls weren't looking that way, but more preoccupied with the incoming footsteps.

"Oh, Miss Lila, you're back early!" Sabrina said, as the king's advisor approached them.

"See, Lila, we've got the last of the gold from the mine." Chloe added, attempting to show off for the woman she knew had powerful connections.

"Of course, there's nothing left." Lila said with a smile. "Because it's all mine."

"Does this mean you'll finally be able to help save the kingdom?" Sabrina said optimistically. That was what Lila had promised she could do, once they helped with part of her plan.

"Well, I'll return home as a hero who's discovered mighty wealth, so what better wife could a prince choose?" Or, not so much the prince, but that father of his, Lila thought coldly. He'd be the one to make the decision. That prince is such a pushover, I've seen the way he does everything he's told. Why, once we're married, I bet I could convince him my ideas are exactly what the kingdom needs. It won't matter that I've married into the throne, because by manipulating that gullible prince I'll be the one who's really in charge of the kingdom. "I'll bring the kingdom back to health alright, and I'll wear the crown too, for how can I refuse? And by marrying the prince, I'll get all that I desire, like a moat, an ermine coat and palace views." And more importantly, the power that comes with being queen, she thought, continuing her rambles. "Even though he treats me coldly, it's a sign of inner fire. For inside he's thinking 'How can I refuse?'"

"Yeah, about that," Chloe smirked, glad she'd been able to keep up with the news on the royal family.. "One little hole in your plan. The king actually decided to marry him off to Queen Kagami next week."

"What? Making a decision without me? Who does he think he is?" Lila questioned.

"The king, duh." Chloe said, forgetting she was supposed to drop her attitude around Lila.

"You useless brat!" Lila yelled in anger. Sabrina, who considered her current workmate a friend, rushed to her defence.

"But, he is the king!" Sabrina jumped in. "He's got the crown, and a sceptre, and sits in his big fancy chair and..."

"Silencio!" Lila shouted. After a brief silence, she jumped back to her usual cunning spirit. "Ah, it's a temporary setback. It's a momentary loss. But conveniently my ego doesn't bruise." The other two girls watched as Lila continued to ramble about her new plan. "And the moment that I get back, I will show them who's the boss. You can bet your bullion, there'll be no 'I do's. Yes, suppose the boy goes missing. So the queen says "au revoir". Then I find him, bring him back, and make the news. Then the king will be so grateful, that he'll pledge the heir to moi. And I'll humbly tell him 'How can I refuse?'"

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At the sound of someone knocking on his door, Prince Adrien put down the magnifying glass and called politely, "Come in." He looked up with a smile when he saw it was Marinette who entered. She was his tutor, who came from humble beginnings to become well educated enough to teach the prince. He was so happy when he'd been given a tutor close to his own age rather than some stuffy, strict old teacher. She helped him study, and he never felt stressed or pressured around her. His lessons were the only one of his royal duties he enjoyed, since it meant he was able to spend time with someone he considered a friend. His best friend, and maybe his only friend besides Plagg, who he sometimes talked to when they were alone, but a cat couldn't really talk back. Marinette was the only person he felt like he could really be himself around, and always insisted she talk more casually around him, dropping most of the formalities of talking to the prince, unless others were around to catch them. She too felt really close to him, having spent so much time together. Though in more recent times, though he was oblivious to the signs she tried to hide, she had started to feel something special towards him that she wouldn't dare let him find out. She had resigned to continuing to be his best friend, knowing that's all she could ever be for a prince like him and grateful that she even had that.

"Marinette, perfect timing." Adrien said as she approached, wanting to show off what he'd been studying. "I classify this as iron pyrite. Pretty, but not considered valuable. Commonly known as fool's gold."

"Well done, your highness." Marinette said, forgetting they were alone. She had just come from speaking with King Gabriel, so she was still in the mindset of speaking formally to someone of such importance.

"Your highness? Why the sudden formality? It's just me." Adrien asked.

"The king sent me. Apparently the ambassador has arrived with a gift for you." Marinette explained.

"The ambassador? He's here already?" Adrien knew that the wedding would be planned to happen rather soon, to restore the kingdom's wealth with Kagami's riches as soon as possible, however with everything moving along so fast, Adrien wished things could just slow down.

After a meeting with the king, as well as the ambassador and a mysterious assistant who barely spoke, except to present a gift on behalf of Queen Kagami, Adrien was reminded of his stress about the upcoming wedding, and invited Marinette to sit with him on his balcony. They had originally had a study session scheduled, which had been why Adrien had started studying a bit early while waiting for Marinette, who was stopped by the king on her way in and asked to relay the message that the ambassador had arrived. However after the stress of the ambassador arriving, Marinette could tell it was best to forgo the planned studying for today. The two sat quietly on the balcony. Marinette considered trying to make conversation, but recently she had trouble speaking to the prince. Adrien looked down at a group of children playing in a garden below.

"So happy," he thought aloud. "Free to do whatever they want. What do you think Queen Kagami will be like?"

"Oh I'm sure she'll be... suitable." Marinette found it a little uncomfortable to talk about Adrien's fiance, but she knew she had to, to comfort him about the stress of getting married to someone she knew he wasn't all that interested in. Still, Marinette didn't exactly know why she hated thinking about Adrien getting married. He was a prince, after all, and she knew that he belonged with someone like him. Deep down, a part of her knew the reason she hated to think about Adrien getting married, but she could never admit it to herself.

"Oh, I know it's the right thing to marry her, but sometimes I wish, well..." Adrien trailed off, unsure if he should burden his best friend with his complex feelings on the engagement. He knew it was the right thing to do, and he felt guilty when he caught himself complaining about the things that bothered him, as he did understand that as a prince, he basically had a great life all laid out for him. Still, the lack of choice in the matter sometimes got to him. He reasoned that he did have a choice. If he wanted to be selfish, he could run away and leave the royal life behind, and make all his own choices. But he wouldn't dare try anything like that, because he was making the choice to fulfil his duty. He remembered a line he'd read in some book, it said "duty means doing the things your heart may well regret." He might regret marrying Kagami and not having much choice in his life, but he wanted to make the choice to take responsibility for his kingdom and do his duty towards it. Someday his father would pass the kingdom onto him, and he needed to get used to making the tough decisions to do only what's best for the kingdom.

"Apparently she's a lover of music. She plays 3 different instruments. The dulcimer, the trumpet, and the piano." Marinette continued on, hoping by highlighting Kagami's good qualities she could make Adrien feel a bit better about the situation. But at that point, she noticed his expression wasn't improving. She thought about how what he really wanted was a bit of freedom, and so an idea came to her. "Adrien... you're going to need your cape."

"I am? Why?" He asked curiously.

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"There's nothing like some fresh air and a change of scenery." Marinette said, leading Prince Adrien along the village streets.

"I wish it were that simple," Adrien said, thinking back to his earlier stresses. "Come on, Plagg." He encouraged the black cat to follow along beside him. He decided to try and forget about his life while he was out here, and looked ahead at Marinette, who had brought him to the nearby village that was her neighbourhood growing up. "Ah, it feels so good to be outside the castle walls. No one knows who I am." It was a strange feeling, seeing the village people wander past him, no bows or curtseys, no greeting involving formalities like 'your highness', no one paying any mind to him. He was thankful for the cape Marinette had given him as a gift a while back, which had a hood attached which hid his face somewhat. Since they'd spent the better part of the day worrying about his own life, Adrien realised he should encourage Marinette to talk about herself more now that they were in a place she knew better than he did. "So, which one was your house?"

"More of a room, really. We couldn't afford a house." Marinette responded, happy Adrien was making conversation about something other than his current worries. Having the wedding always on his mind all day couldn't be good for him, she knew, which was why she helped him escape the castle for some time.

"Oh, I didn't mean..." Adrien was worried he'd offended her by assuming she'd had her own house. He forgot that before working for the royal family, she'd had very little to call home.

"I know," Marinette stopped him. She didn't want him to worry, she knew what he'd meant, she knew he wouldn't mean to be rude to her, she knew he was better than that. She knew there was something special about him, and he was much nicer than any of the other royals she'd come across in passing. She gestured to a nearby building. "Third floor on the left. Did all my studies there. I studied things like science, as you know, while my parents studied the culinary arts. They knew bakers were more in demand, but they encouraged me to study what I was interested in, and supported me while I studied. Now they run a small bakery nearby." Marinette was thankful her parents hadn't pressured her into studying a subject that was more likely to lead to a job that had more demand. Her parents, Tom and Sabine, were more proud of her than she could ever understand when her choice of studying paid off in the best possible way when she was hired to tutor the young prince. Working for a royal pays well, and she sends some of her earnings home to her parents when she can. They insist she doesn't need to, as their bakery is doing well enough, but she can't help feeling she wants to make up for the time they supported her while she studied.

As the two wandered the quiet village, they passed a small garden. Adrien noticed Marinette looking down at the flowers. His gaze shifted to one flower that had something small on it. Looking closer, he recognised the small insect. He looked at Marinette and suddenly felt the urge to show off his knowledge, as he loved how proud she seemed to get when he kept up with his studies. He gestured towards the flower, causing her gaze to shift towards the insect he had seen.

"Look, Marinette. A perfect example of coccinella septempunctata," he said, remembering his latin classifications. "Uh, more commonly known as a ladybug." He added, his hand drifting to the back of his neck in partial embarrassment at the more obvious part he'd said. "Of course, you probably knew that." He added quietly. She smiled at him, happy he was admiring the nature around him which worked well to distract from his stresses.

"It's nice to see things like these outside of just textbook pictures, isn't it?" She said, thinking about how little of the world he must have seen first hand. "Hey, here's something that wasn't in the insect textbook you would have studied. Did you know that ladybugs symbolise good luck in some cultures?"

"Oh, really? I've heard of a few superstitions, but not that one." At that thought, he looked down at Plagg with a smile. Perhaps that ladybug he encountered would counteract the effects of living with his little buddy all the time, he wondered. It was then that he noticed a new smell aside from the flowers in front of him. The bakery behind them had just brought out a fresh batch of pastries to sell. "Oh, that smells delicious." Marinette smiled at an idea. Her parents' bakery was just down the street, and was, in her 'totally unbiased' opinion, much better than the others in the village. If it was a pastry her prince was interested in, she knew just where to get a free sample, since she hadn't brought her money on this trip and neither had the prince.

"I'll be right back," Marinette said, leaving the prince in front of the garden. She figured he wouldn't wander far.

The prince stayed put for some time, before noticing a figure who appeared to be in the garden. He was surprised at the person running in the middle of the garden, on top of the flowers, rather than going around them. The individual was, in fact, in such a mood that he had no regard for the flowers, and saw no problem with cutting through the garden to get where they wanted faster. As the stranger approached where Adrien was standing to exit the garden, Adrien noticed the boy was actually singing quietly to himself. Or perhaps not to himself, but to the small orange dog that followed at his feet. Adrien wondered if this guy sang to his pet like he did from time to time. When the boy got close enough, Adrien could manage to make out some words of the song the boy was making up.

"🎵What the eye can see ain't all that matters, all's not gold that glitters, everything I want should be mine forever... at the snap of my fingers,🎵" The boy had walked this path many times, and didn't care that his hood obscured his peripheral vision a little, and so he barely noticed someone standing by the edge of the garden, who he bumped into. "Ugh, watch it!" He huffed, as he fell. At the collision, both boys had stumbled, lost their balance and fallen over. He was not really in the mood to deal with a villager he had no need to talk to. "Why were you just standing there, don't you know how to get out of the way when someone's coming towards you?" Despite the collision being just as much his fault, the boy had no desire to admit fault, and just felt annoyed at someone who'd been standing there for no reason.

"I'm sorry, I was distracted." Adrien said, a little taken aback. He had never been spoken to the way this stranger was speaking to him, and it was a different experience. "I was interested in that song you were singing."

"Ugh, you were listening to that? Mind your own business." The stranger barked in annoyance. The prince, with his posture training, had stood up first.

"Sorry, I just meant it sounded kind of interesting." One hand went to the back of his neck at the awkwardness, as the other hand reached down to offer to help the stranger up. While he was trying to avoid being noticed as the prince he was, he still would not forget his manners. The stranger took his hand in a huff, accepting the gesture to get himself up faster. However, upon standing straight up again, the two boys were finally face to face, their eyes exactly level with each other as they were the same height, causing them to finally take in each other's faces for the first time.

"What the..." the stranger trailed off. Both boys instinctively lowered their hoods to completely unobscure their vision to get a better look at the face in front of them. Both boys stared at each other with identical green eyes, taking in their identical facial features surrounded by a head of blond hair. At their feet, Plagg and the orange dog whose name was Barkk approached each other before looking up at their masters and looking at each other's master, interested in this turn of events.

"Wow... we could be brothers." Adrien said, excited at the new mystery in front of him.

"What's your name?" Both boys asked at once.

"You first," the stranger said, wanting to know more about the guy he'd come across. Not wanting to forgo his manners, the prince obliged.

"Please, call me Adrien."

"Adrien... Hold up, so you have the same name as the prince."
"Well..." the prince smiled in embarrassment, deciding it might be for the best to be honest with this boy who somehow looked exactly like him.

"Oh," the boy said, realising who it was he'd bumped into. "I'm Felix... your highness." He added. He might not be the most polite guy, in fact sometimes he had somewhat of an attitude when he could get away with it, but even he was smart enough to know it would be unwise to piss off royalty. "And I am sorry I spoke to you like that when we fell." It was unlike Felix to apologise for anything, but he knew it was a good idea. If I could get in this royal's good graces, he thought to himself, things might actually get interesting.

"Don't worry about it, I didn't mind." Adrien said honestly. "I'm so used to people walking on eggshells around me just because of my station, talking so politely, and sometimes I wish people would just say what they were really thinking and just speak plainly. So, it was actually kind of refreshing, the way you spoke to me. You spoke to me like you see me as a real person." Well, if that's what he wants, Felix thought smugly, I'm happy to talk the way I feel like it.

"Well then, Adrien," Felix began. Adrien found it strange to hear someone other than Marinette use his name on its own without some title along with it. Even his father more often used phrases like, 'son' or something similar, and he hadn't spoken to him much recently, so in recent days it really was rare to hear his name said on its own besides Marinette using it when they had lessons and there was no one around to hear her speaking impolitely to the prince. "Aren't you supposed to be, you know, inside the castle?" Felix questioned bluntly.

"I'm savouring a first and last taste of freedom before getting married next week..." Right, Felix had heard the news of the impending royal wedding. "To a total stranger, a woman I don't even love!" Felix tried not to let his annoyance show towards the oblivious prince. Getting married, that's your biggest problem? Felix internally chuckled. This prince thinks he's so stressed. Boo-hoo, I'm a prince and I'm getting married to a queen so I'll be even richer and continue my life of luxury and never have to worry about working for anything in life and have all the power I could ever want getting to rule over a kingdom with a high class wife, but all I want to do is feel bad for myself because I didn't find some fairy tale love that doesn't even exist. This guy needs to get a grip on reality, he seriously thinks he has problems because he gets to marry a queen? Get real, prince.

"Well, at least you're not an indentured servant." Felix scoffed.

"Indentured servant?" Adrien repeated blankly, barely understanding the concept.

"Alright buddy, you liked my singing so much, how about I explain it with a song?" Felix decided to have a little fun with this clueless prince, and he did so enjoy making up songs on the spot, though he'd never admit it. He looked around before deciding the village street was sparse enough that no one would be close enough to take any notice, before beginning a little song he made up as he went along. "🎵If I'd like to have my breakfast hot, Master Colt will make me pay. And I have to fetch the eggs myself and the barn's a mile away. It's cold and wet, but still I get an omelette on my plate, but in my head I'm back in bed snuggled up and sleeping late.🎵"

"Really?" The prince questioned obliviously.

"Yeah, really." Felix spat back. "But, well, I'm used to it." Felix now grew curious of what this prince's life was like, and realised this was the perfect opportunity to find out, since it was only fair after he'd just sang about his own life like a cheesy musical, he realised in slight embarrassment. "What about you?" Adrien realised Felix was asking about his own life and felt it only natural to respond in kind. Since this boy had even been kind enough to try making up a song, he decided it was only fair if he tried the same. He took a moment to gather his thoughts before going for it.

"🎵If I want some eggs I ring the bell and the maid comes running in. And she serves them on a silver tray and she brings a cookie tin. And while I eat, she rubs my feet and strolling minstrels play.🎵" Felix was unsurprised about how easy this prince had it, just as he expected. He really did have food brought to him when he requested, served on a silver tray and someone to rub his feet. This prince has everything he could ever want and I bet he has no idea just how great he has it, Felix thought in annoyance. And yet, despite how annoying it is, I bet if I could get him to think of me as a friend, maybe if he realises how great he's got it now that he's hearing it out loud, maybe he'll feel bad for me and want to be friends. Being friends with this prince could definitely have its advantages. "🎵But I'd rather be in my library reading science books all day.🎵" That was it, from that last part of Adrien's song, Felix realised exactly how he could approach this. Of course, that's all I need. He doesn't realise how great he has it because he'd rather be doing something else. That's my chance to make him think we can relate to each other somehow. Felix was annoyed at all the singing they'd been doing, but the prince seemed to respond well to it, so he began another little song.

"🎵I'm just like you,🎵"

"You are?" the prince wondered.

"🎵You're just like me,🎵" Felix continued, trying to sound encouraging. "🎵There's somewhere else we'd rather be. Somewhere that's ours, somewhere that dreams come true. Yes, I am a guy like you.🎵" Felix mentally chuckled when he realised his words weren't exactly untrue. Despite their vastly different lives, one key thing they had in common was they were both unhappy with their current circumstances. He of course just wanted to be free from the debt his parents left him with, while the prince who seemed to have everything didn't care for the royal luxuries anyone else would kill for, since he only wanted to study his science books and not have to marry someone without being in love.

"So, are you a singer then?" Adrien asked, and Felix scoffed at the ridiculous leap in logic. What is this guy's obsession with singing? He questioned, annoyed.

"Uh, no. Like I could actually be a singer." Felix would never even admit to himself how much he enjoyed singing and making up songs, and the idea of him actually being some singing entertainer was just ridiculous to him. So what if he used to sing with his parents for fun before they died? That part of his life was over anyway. "I just work at Colt Fathom's penitentiary, ugh, I mean, suit shop." Adrien didn't even notice the word Felix let slip as a joke, instead focussing on the part that interested him.

"Oh, my father is always buying Colt Fathom's suits. His shop makes suits for the royal family, you know." Adrien chimed in.

"I know," Felix said. I'm the one who works there. I know that jerk is always trying to schmooze with the fancy folk, even I heard about it when he started getting orders from the royals. "I made the outfit you're wearing." Adrien looked down at the suit he'd tried to hide under his cape, as he'd already been wearing it that day before Marinette had suggested the trip to the village, and couldn't really change into anything more casual lest he be seen on his way out wearing it, not that he even had anything casual enough to blend in here, so he settled for the cape he'd hoped would obscure the designer clothes enough to not raise suspicion.

"You made this? It's my favourite. Making it must be so complicated." Adrien marvelled.

"Oh, it isn't really," Felix said, happy for a chance to impress the prince. "In fact, it's so much like second nature to me that I feel really relaxed while I'm making a complicated suit." That part wasn't so true, but Felix knew that the prince was gullible enough to believe such an exaggeration. And by claiming he could relax while making a complex suit, that was sure to impress him. Truth be told, despite how many suits Felix had made over the years, he still hated it no matter how many times he'd done it before. But the guy his parents borrowed money from just happened to own a suit shop and was all too happy to have Felix do the work for him to work off his parents' debt.

"Oh, so I guess that's what you do when you need to relax and de-stress." Far from it, but Felix wasn't going to correct him. He let the prince continue rambling so he could find out as much as he could about this prince who could be of some use to him. "Me, when I need to relax, I like to look out the windows at the world outside the castle, or even better, sit on my balcony to think. It really helps when I'm stressed, like today, I just couldn't stop thinking about my engagement. I wish I had someone to relate to, but nobody in the castle really knows what I'm going through. I guess my father does, but I'd never talk to him about how much it's bothering me. I wouldn't want to disappoint him."

"I completely understand," Felix said, trying to sound warm and understanding. He didn't understand this prince, not at all, but he needed him to think they could relate to each other. Felix sighed and decided one more little song might be enough to get this prince to consider him an ally. "🎵I'm just like you,🎵" Felix repeated the song from earlier, emphasising how he was someone who could relate to Adrien, which seemed to be exactly what Adrien had been looking for.

"🎵I think that's true,🎵" Adrien joined in.

"🎵You're just like me,🎵"

"🎵Yes, I can see,🎵"

"🎵 We take responsibility,🎵" Felix tried to emphasise how they both took responsibility in their different lives, he by repaying a debt, and the prince by taking responsibility as the prince and doing his duty for the kingdom even though he didn't always want to. "🎵We carry through,🎵"

"🎵We carry through,🎵" Adrien echoed.

"🎵 Do what we need to do, yes I am a guy like you,🎵" Felix finished the song. Ugh, that's enough singing. People are going to notice if we keep at it. Felix pulled up his hood so no one would notice him if they did look over. At the last line of the song, Adrien was thought of the first similarity they'd noticed, and once again looked at Felix's face, now partially obscured by the hood. Adrien took the idea and pulled his hood back up too.

What the two boys didn't know was that while their conversation was going on, the cat and dog at their feet were having a conversation of their own. Plagg wasn't the type to make friends, he only really cared about Adrien, so he wasn't too interested in being friends with the dog. But he was curious about the boy who looked identical to his master, so while still trying to listen to what the humans were talking about, he questioned Barkk about what she knew about her master. Unfortunately she couldn't provide any information that told him any reason why the two boys looked alike, and she was just as clueless and curious as the cat, but she told him the basics of Felix's life. That gave the dog an idea.

"Your master is the prince, so do you think he could help my master?" The dog asked. "He's stuck working for this really mean guy because his parents owed the guy money."

"I don't know, he'd have to ask him. He's generous enough that he'd probably do that if he can." Plagg told the dog.

"I don't think he'd ask though. He's really not the type to ask someone for help. But maybe there's something the two of us can do about it!" Plagg thought about the idea for a moment.

"Well, everyone's got problems. My master is a bit busy worrying about this marriage thing. Maybe after he marries that rich queen he could help your master. He doesn't really want to marry her, he's gonna do it anyway. But I don't know if my master will even see yours again. He doesn't ever come to this place. We don't exactly run in the same circles you know."

"Well... perhaps we can change that." Barkk said hopefully.

"It's amazing. The resemblance, I mean." The prince marvelled.

"Yeah, if we styled our hair the same way we'd look basically the same." Felix chuckled.

"We could be twins," Adrien said, though doubted it was a realistic thought. Though one thing occurred to him. "What about this birthmark?" He curiously moved the collar of his shirt aside a bit to show the birthmark on his shoulder, a slightly darker patch of skin resembling a crown. Felix smiled and obliged, showing the prince the same spot on his own shoulder.

"Nope," Felix said with a grin. "As if I would be so lucky." They two boys re-covered their shoulders before hearing the voice of the one who finally returned.

"Here you are, your highness." the girl spoke. When the two boys turned their heads towards her, however, she saw the faces surrounded by the hoods and recoiled in shock, dropping the bag of treats she had brought with her. She scrambled to pick up the bag before the macarons fell out, the bag had fallen open when it dropped and when she grabbed it she was left with a single passionfruit macaron that didn't go to waste. She closed the bag more firmly and stepped closer to the two boys. "It's... uncanny." But of course she could still recognise her prince, and not just because she could remember which clothes to look for where the cape didn't manage to cover. She snapped out of her daze and told him, "I'm sorry, your highness, but we should be getting back before anyone notices you're gone. Oh, and I got you these, well, now it's just singular, this, this macaron, um, for you to enjoy on the way back." She stammered, thinking about how her parents had given her some treats to bring back to him as they were all too happy to supply her with a gift for the prince. With the way they spoke about the prince, it's no wonder she'd slipped back into old habits of calling him by a formality, despite knowing he preferred her not to, but it just happened sometimes. "I made sure to get you passionfruit," she said, handing him the one macaron she had.

"My favourite," he said, taking the treat from her. "But, you knew that." He was happy to have such a good friend as her. He turned back to Felix. "One day you must sing for us at the palace." Again with the singing, Felix thought, annoyed. But if that's what it takes to get into the palace... I suppose I could agree to that. After all, once I can get into the palace, all it would take would be to sneak some small but valuable trinkets into my pockets, something those snotty royals wouldn't even notice. It would fetch a nice price, maybe even enough to pay off the debt and earn my freedom from that jerk, and I can finally be free to live my own life.

"Really?" Felix feigned excitement.

"I'll send someone for you," Adrien assured him.

"I'll be at Colt Fathom's." Felix said with a shrug. Adrien turned to follow Marinette back towards the castle, but turned his head to say one last thing.

"Goodbye, Felix. I won't forget." And with that, the prince and his best friend were gone, leaving Felix to rush back to Colt Fathom's. He knew he'd be in a little trouble for being a bit late getting back, but this time he didn't care. He had more important things to think about.

Chapter Text

The prince had fallen asleep in his clothes after a stressful day, laying on his bed on top of the covers. Plagg lay awake curled up beside his master, until an alluring scent caught his attention. His favourite treat, cheese. He knew luxury cheese when he smelt it. He followed the scent and caught a brief glimpse of a small box that must contain the morsel based on the smell coming from it, but it zipped out of his sight. Magic cheese? He thought curiously. He followed as the cheese box was just out of his reach, pulling away again and again as he chased it, determined to get to his tasty smelling prize. Being pulled by a thin, barely visible string that the cat was too focussed on wanting cheese to notice, the box led him into a barely used room in the castle. It looked as if the box had finally stopped pulling away and he pounced on it. As he started scratching at the box as he'd taught himself to do to get it open, suddenly a crate with one side open came down on him, trapping him in the small confined space. To say the cat was annoyed would be an understatement. I don't know who these idiots think they are, but they messed with the wrong cat. I'll bring them bad luck. I'll unleash the power of destruction on this stupid box and get out of here. Or more realistically, Adrien will find me and get me out. That's right, my Adrien is the prince. These idiots have no idea whose cat I am, do they? When people find out who my master is, there'll be hell to pay.

"We did it!" The ginger girl cheered. "Let's go."

"Ugh, Sabrina, can't you get anything right?" The blonde shot back. "Our job was to capture the prince... not his cat!"

"Oh, right." Sabrina said meekly. "Well then, what did we get the cat for?"

"Ugh, ridiculous, utterly ridiculous, I have to do everything myself. Allow me to demonstrate." Chloe reached down to the crate and shook it side to side, the walls constantly hitting the black cat. Plagg was outraged. He hated to cry out and sound pathetic, but the unjust assault called for it. He yowled, hissed and cried out in annoyance.

Meanwhile, the young prince stirred and awoke from his uncomfortable nap after he'd fallen asleep without getting ready for bed. He looked to the other end of the bed where his feline friend usually curled up by his feet while he slept, and that's when he noticed the faint noises coming from another room. Though Plagg was usually a quiet cat, he recognised the rare sound of his friend crying out, and ran in the direction of the sounds. Wandering into a room he didn't usually go in to follow the sound of his furry companion. He saw the crate on the floor that he realised had his cat trapped underneath based on the movement and yowling he heard coming from it. He ran towards it to free his friend, wondering how the cat had ended up beneath the crate, when suddenly a large rough cloth bag was pulled over his head by someone behind him.

Some time passed as Adrien and Plagg felt themselves being moved somewhere, though they still hadn't gotten a look at their captors. The girls and their captives soon arrived at a small cabin in a forest.

"Get out of here you mangey thing!" The blonde girl shrieked, throwing Plagg out the door of the small building, the cat landing roughly on his feet on the dirt in front of a horse. The door slammed behind him and he looked up at the larger animal in front of him before commenting.

"Ugh, that wasn't fun. Just my luck as a black cat I suppose." The mare looked down, surprised to see an animal here besides the few other horses that were rode here occasionally. She was grey with a white mane, muzzle, all four legs, and underbelly. Her eyes were light green with thick eyelashes, her pointed ears had white insides and had a thick white tail that curves outwards.

"Well, aren't you an interesting one to meet around these parts," the horse marvelled.

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks for asking." Plagg responded sarcastically. "My master on the other hand... well, I don't know, those nasty girls have him trapped in there, and who knows how far from the castle we've ended up."

"Not as far as it looks," the horse said. "We're in the western forest, just on the edge of the kingdom. Not too long a ride from the castle." That interested Plagg.

"So, your human has ridden you here from the castle?" He asked, wondering just who this horse associated with, because that person must be associated with whoever had reason to kidnap his prince. "Who the heck are you anyway?"

"Me? I am Kaalki, one of the finest horses in these parts. My mistress allows those foolish girls to use my carriage, but soon I'm going to get promoted, and my mistress has plans to become very powerful indeed, so rather soon I'm going to be the ride used by a very powerful human."

"Well, nice to meet you, Kaalki. I'm Plaag, and my master is the prince, so it seems I kind of outrank you for now." Plagg pointed out. Kaalki hated it, but realised this cat really did have more important connections than she did. "Besides, those dumb girls who use your carriage actually have my prince trapped in there."

"Trapped? How dare they?!" Kaalki snorted in disgust. "I only associate with the most glorious and prestigious humans, you know."

"I don't think so. Whoever is in charge of those nitwit girls seems to have it in for my prince." Plagg's ears pricked up. "Someone's coming." At the sound of another horse's footsteps, Plagg hid and listened as a human dismounted a horse and entered the building through the front door. Plagg jumped up to the window to watch as the woman who entered spoke with the two girls who had kidnapped his prince. Kaalki stepped forward to watch behind him.

"You see," Kaalki began with a huff. "That's the boss, Lila. She's the king's trusted advisor, you know. She would not allow harm to come to the prince. I'm sure she was unaware of how roughly the prince was transported here. I'm sure she'll let him out." Kaali defended her mistress as she had not witnessed the full extent of Lila's plans. Plagg recognised the woman from seeing her around the castle from time to time, but had no reason to like or trust her. He'd considered it a blessing when she'd been on a mysterious trip recently and he hadn't bumped into her for a while. The two animals listened as the humans spoke.

"Signed, sealed and delivered, Miss Lila," the ginger said excitedly at the job being done.

"Does he know I'm behind this?" Lila asked.

"No idea," the blonde smirked.

"Good. Keep him here until the wedding to Kagami is cancelled. Then we'll see who the prince marries!" Lila said happily. The woman left the way she came, riding away on her horse.

"She's trying to mess with the royal wedding?!" Plagg snarled in disgust. "And she's going to keep my prince here until then. And his life will be even more miserable if he ends up marrying someone like her."

"Well, I never," Kaalki said. "I want to associate only the best, but I must draw the line. I can't allow my mistress to carry out a plan that puts the prince in harm's way for her own gain."

"So, why not join my side?" The cunning cat offered, jumping back down from the window. "Help me to help the prince."

"It would be my honour to assist the prince of our fine kingdom," Kaalki agreed. Plagg looked at the building, studying its walls that looked difficult to climb, windows that were barred and likely had no chance of him getting one open, and finally noticed something about the roof.

"Do you think you could get me up to the roof?" Plagg asked hopefully. Kaalki looked up at the roof.

"Hmm, it's rather high up... not sure if it's manageable..." Kaalki trailed off, though she didn't want to admit there was something she couldn't do.

"You can do it, for the prince, remember?" Plagg said, knowing his new ally needed a little encouragement. He leapt onto the horse's back before standing ready atop the horse's rear end. "Just try it. Count to three." He said, with a grin (if cats even can grin). Kaalki readied herself before counting.

"Un, deux..." Plagg extended the claws on one of his front paws. "Troi-AHHHHH!!!" At the third number, Plagg slammed his claws down into the horse, spooking her into bucking her rear end up in shock, launching the cat up where he landed on the roof. Plagg looked down at Kaalki happily.

"Thanks, Kaalki!" He called, before approaching his objective, the chimney. He looked down at the dark, long drop in front of him. "You owe me so much fancy cheese for this one, kid." He muttered to himself, before jumping in. He dropped down through the passage before tumbling out of the old, unused fireplace in the room Adrien happened to be trapped in.

"Plagg?" The boy said incredulously, seeing his friend fall out of the fireplace. I suppose you were expecting Father Christmas? Plagg thought bitterly. The cat was thankful his fur was black and would do well to hide the soot he'd gathered falling through the chimney, however he was a cat with pride, and knew his fur would be in for a thorough grooming session once he was safe back home in the castle.

Chapter Text

"Adrien? Are you in here, son?" Gabriel called out. He didn't often go into his son's room, but he needed to find him and didn't have time to send someone after him, as the ambassador was waiting. "He wasn't even at breakfast." The king remarked, to his advisor who trailed behind him. Lila took something from her pocket while the king's back was towards her and left it on the nearby desk.

"Is that something on his desk, your majesty?" She said sweetly. The king picked it up and examined it.

"It's... a letter to me." The king opened the small letter addressed 'to my father.' "It says he's run away... so he won't have to marry Kagami."

"Well that's... dreadful, of course." Lila said, feigning empathy.

"We have to find him. He could be hurt!" Now that he was gone, the usually stoic king was reminded how much he cared for his son.

"Well, I'll send out search parties at once, your majesty. He couldn't have gotten far." Lila said.

"Of course, what would I do without you, Lila?" The king and Lila returned to the room where the ambassador had been waiting for the prince to join them to hear about wedding arrangements.

"This is an outrage! The most grievous insult!" The ambassador was very displeased with the disruptions to their wedding arrangements.

"I am sure we'll find him," King Gabriel assured him. Putting aside his worries for his son, he kept his demeanour calm as always, to appear confident that all will be as it should be soon and to make the visitors from the other kingdom feel more at ease.

"I insist we cancel the wedding if the prince does not return by the end of the day!" The ambassador decided. King Gabriel knew he couldn't do much to argue with that. Most royals would cancel an arranged marriage at such an insult as a fiance running away to avoid the marriage, so he was surprised Queen Kagami wasn't doing just that. A young queen like herself could surely find her choice of princes to marry, so she wasn't exactly desperate to be with Adrien.

"It just doesn't add up. Why would he run away?" Marinette chimed in. She knew the prince better than anyone. She knew that although he wasn't too fond of the idea of marrying someone he didn't love, he also had decided he'd do his duty towards the kingdom. They'd even talked it over the previous day, on the balcony. Did that conversation with me mean anything to him? She wondered. She was sure he was being genuine with her.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" Lila said, handing her the letter the king had given to her to hold on to. Lila was annoyed the tutor had even become part of the conversation, but she'd been nearby because she had a study session scheduled soon, and ended up wandering into the room to look for the prince. Marinette noticed something interesting about the writing on the letter.

"Where did you find this?" She asked.

"On the prince's desk." Lila said.

"Perhaps I can help you look for him." Marinette suggested.

"Why don't you stick to your books, little schoolgirl. Wouldn't that be fun?" Lila shot back. She laughed and walked off. I'll show her who's the schoolgirl, Marinette thought angrily. Wait, that doesn't even make sense. Wait... schoolgirl. That's it! She thought something had looked off about the writing on the letter, and now she knew how to confirm her suspicions. She pulled a piece of paper from her pocket, on which the prince had written a piece of writing he'd done as part of a study and given to her to check at the end of their previous session, and she had it in her pocket as she was planning to bring it to today's session to show him what he could improve in it. Holding it side by side with the letter Lila didn't bother to take back from her, she saw the answer. The handwriting was different. She glanced at the king and the others who were discussing something or other. They would never believe her, it wasn't enough evidence to make such a claim. She needed to find something more concrete, or better yet, find the prince so he could explain what happened to him. But for that she needed more time. Luckily, it didn't take her long to think of a way to buy such time. She made her way to a place where she knew she would find the person she believed could help her.

"Welcome, miss," the usually cold man Colt Fathom warmly greeted the one who entered his store. "Here to pick up a suit for your husband, perhaps? I can assure you that you will find only the finest here." It was a little unusual for a woman to come to his shop without her husband, but there were few instances where the wife would pick up the suit for her busy husband after he had already had his measurements taken there prior. But this girl was no customer, and she got straight to the point.

"If I may, I would like to speak to one of your workers, Felix." Luckily the man allowed Felix to speak to the girl in a back room, surprised anyone would want to talk to him, but he decided to let it happen, too busy with other clients to worry about it.

Felix recognised the girl who had requested to see him. She had been there when he'd met the prince, and had showed up to take him back to the castle. Seeing her here meant only one thing, he was going to interact with the prince again, and he was happy about that.

"Wow, you're here already!" He said, seeming excited. "I'm going to sing at the castle, me!" While he wasn't actually interested in having to sing, his excitement was not completely fake, as he was genuinely excited about his plan which involved getting into the castle. But then he noticed her expression seemed off. "That's why you're here, isn't it? That prince said he'd send someone."

"I'm sorry, but no. It's... it's something else." Marinette said, shifting uncomfortably.

"Wait... don't tell me that guy sent someone over here just to tell me he wasn't interested anymore." Felix shifted back to his usual attitude. I swear, if that prince has suddenly decided he's too good for me or something...

"The prince is missing, and I need you to help me find him." That snapped Felix out of his thoughts.

"Um, what do you think I can do?" He asked. This wasn't really any of his business. Surely the royals had people for that? Guards, search parties and such, he wondered about.

"Pretend to be Prince Adrien." Marinette said bluntly.

"Are you out of your mind, girly? You think that would be a good idea? What would that achieve?" He questioned with a scoff.

"Just listen," Marinette urged him. "I suspect Lila, the king's advisor, has taken the prince off somewhere so the royal wedding will be cancelled."

"Oh boy, what a shame," Felix said, his voice dripping with sarcasm, as he remembered how the prince didn't seem very into the idea of getting married anyway. "Where did you get that idea anyway?"

"Well, there was this letter on his desk saying he'd run away so he wouldn't have to get married, and Lila was the one who said she found it so I think she must be the one who planted it and..."

"Hold on. How do you know the letter was fake?"

"Well, I was already suspicious because it doesn't sound like something he would do. But then I checked another sample of his writing, and the handwriting looked a bit different. Not too different, so someone was likely trying to copy his handwriting. But different enough."

"That's not really much evidence. Maybe he just wrote quickly because he wanted to get out of there in a hurry and it made his writing look a bit different."

"I know it's not much evidence. That's why I need time to find more evidence, but they're going to cancel the wedding if he doesn't come back today."

"Isn't that what he wanted? He didn't seem very happy about the wedding when I talked to him. Heck, I think the whole running away thing makes perfect sense. He seemed like he wanted to ditch the royal life. Let him go, I say. Let the privileged brat get a taste of the real world."

"He wouldn't do that! He wanted to help save his kingdom! I know him better than that!" Marinette yelled. She wasn't normally the type to have such an outburst, but this accusation was calling into question how well she knew her best friend, and she just couldn't take that. Felix just smiled at her outburst, interested to see this previously quiet girl stand up for what she believed, however delusional he thought her belief was. To him it seemed simple. The prince had wanted out, and he'd finally plucked up the courage to get out. Maybe meeting him contributed to the guy finally doing something other than what others told him to. Marinette took a deep breath, she didn't want to argue with this guy. She needed to convince him to help her. Nothing he could possibly say could convince her she's wrong about this.

"Okay, okay," Felix began calmly. "Even if you're right, how exactly would pretending to be the prince help?" He still didn't believe her story, but he wanted to know what she had in mind.

"It will buy me time so the wedding won't be cancelled. If you pretend to be the prince who has returned, just for a short while, I can trick Lila into revealing where the real prince is being kept."

"Ok, as much as living as royalty sounds fun and all, if I'm discovered, I could be thrown in prison, or worse." Felix liked to joke to himself that he was already in prison, but even he understood that the real thing wouldn't be any better than his current situation, especially when crimes against the royal family have the possibility of an even worse sentence.

"As can I, but..." Marinette knew her plan was very convoluted and could lead to a disastrous result, and the sentence for being an accomplice to such a thing was almost as bad as being the one impersonating the prince. She was too much of an honourable person that she wouldn't consider denying her involvement if Felix were to be discovered. "He's in real trouble." Marinette finished. Felix considered the offer. If they could pull this off, he'd get to live in the castle for a while. And he was sure that if this girl's story about the prince was correct, he would surely thank him by finding a way to get him out of the trouble he'd be in upon returning to Colt Fathom's after disappearing for this. "And, I promise, once I get the prince back, we'll make sure to switch him back in discreetly so no one will notice there's two of you." Marinette added to reassure him. She knew if she just walked back into the castle with the prince when someone pretending to be the prince was already there, that would be a dead giveaway. Felix still wasn't convinced the prince had actually left against his will, but he had some other ideas about this plan. That prince doesn't want his royal life, but I'd be more than happy to take it. When that girl eventually gives up on finding her prince, or maybe she'll find him and he'll tell her he doesn't want to go home, maybe she'll thank me by letting me continue to live as the prince. Besides, I won't give her much choice, if she doesn't let me stay there, I'll take her down with me. I'll threaten to throw her under the bus, tell everyone she forced me to follow her ridiculous plan, and pin all the blame on her. She won't want me to tell anyone about that, so she'll let me stay. I'll get to be a prince, and not have to worry about anything anymore. I'll even marry that Queen as him if that's what it takes. I'll be set for life and good old 'Felix' will disappear, never come back to Colt Fathom's. No one will miss me anyway, that jerk Fathom might miss having someone to boss around, like I care about that. Marinette noticed Felix taking his time to think, and took it as a good sign.

"So... Do you think you could do it?" She asked hopefully. And if it turns out she's right and the prince does want his life back, well I'll just go back to the original plan, and smuggle something expensive out with me when I smuggle myself out.

"Count me in," Felix said with a smile.

Chapter Text

Marinette found it strange to be around someone who looked so much like Adrien. The awkward feeling was only amplified when he changed into clothes she'd taken from Adrien's room, so that if anyone spotted him while they made their way into the castle they might already be fooled and not be weirded out by someone wearing lower class attire in the castle and raise a fuss. He brought his dog, Barkk, with him, as he didn't want to leave her behind, she knew she wouldn't be cared for back at Colt Fathom's and was hoping he wouldn't have to go back there anyway. Marinette led him to the prince's bedroom, and they managed to avoid anyone noticing them going through the castle anyway so they didn't quite yet have to worry about explaining that "the prince" had returned. As they entered the room, Barkk ran ahead and happily jumped on what was the largest bed she'd ever seen in her short dog life. Felix smiled at his only friend's apparent happiness and looked around the luxurious room.

"Damn, this guy's got it made." He mumbled.

"So, now all you need to do is, well, pretend to be the prince. Piece of cake." Marinette said with nervous sarcasm. "I do agree the resemblance is remarkable. Hang on, don't forget to style your hair more like his." She ran into the adjoining bathroom and came back with a comb. She gestured for him to sit down in the desk chair where she stood behind him to adjust his hair to better match how the prince looked. She was glad to be able to stand behind him, where she no longer had to look at his face that looked just like her prince without actually being her prince, and reminded her of the feelings she tried so hard not to think about at a time like this. After she was done, he stood up, trying to read the strange look on her face she had when she finally looked back at him, now looking completely identical to the prince she cared about so much to carry out this crazy plan.

"Are we missing anything else?" He asked.

"Oh, yes, of course, I almost forgot." She picked up the large book she'd brought into the room with her. "People will get suspicious if the prince were to suddenly forget all the manners that were drilled into him all those years. But it's all here in the Prince's Book of Etiquette." Felix looked bored but nodded, knowing she'd probably never leave him alone if he didn't agree to listen to this stuff. "Let's begin with some basics. No nagging, bragging, sweating, fretting, slipping, tripping, slurping, burping, twittering or frittering allowed. Stay present, stay pleasant, stay proud." She looked up from the book, just as overwhelmed as Felix thinking about all the crazy rules the prince had to follow, of which she had barely scratched the surface. "Sometimes I don't know how he handles it all." She added with a smile. She noticed Felix looked bored. "I have an idea. Adrien told me you're a bit of a singer. Maybe I could put it into a song." What is it with these people and singing? Felix questioned. Still, he could admit it might be a little more interesting than having to sit there and listen to her read all of that plainly.

"Fine, do whatever you want." Felix said. He wandered around the room as she began, trying to get used to the luxurious room while still listening.

"🎵To be a royal is to know which spoon to use,🎵" Marinette began. As Felix opened a closet to see what he'd have here, he added in his own line.

"🎵To be a royal is... a thousand pairs of shoes!🎵" He gestured to the large collection of footwear in the closet, wondering what one person would even do with so many. Marinette continued.

"🎵To maintain a regal gait leave the parsley on your plate. And be charming but detached and be amused. To be a royal is to never be confused.🎵" Felix smiled. He was naturally good at acting like he knew what he was doing. Never being confused didn't sound too hard for him. Marinette moved onto a few tips on posture, stepping closer to demonstrate, while still singing her instructions to a little tune. "🎵Shoulders back and tummy in and pinky out and lift the chin and slowly turn the head from side to side.🎵"

"I see now," Felix said, following her example.

"Adrien could sit for a portrait for hours without squirming at all. You need to get used to keeping your posture." Marinette added. She gestured to a portrait on the wall of Prince Adrien standing beside his father. Seeing him in that picture, her thoughts drifted and she was distracted, which was reflected in the ramble that followed as she was planning to point out his perfect posture shown in the picture. "And... he has beautiful eyes. Your spirits rise when he walks in the room."

"I see," Felix said, finding her distraction somewhat amusing.

"Doors close, and the chemistry grows," she continues on. "He's like a rose that's forever in bloom." Felix noticed something interesting about her distracted ramble, and noticed the blush that spread on her face as she talked about the prince, staring up at him in the portrait. Of course, that's why she was so insistent she knew the prince so well, and so sure he wouldn't leave her without telling her. That's why she's risking so much just to save him if he's really been captured. This pathetic tutor girl has fallen for the prince! As the amusement wore off, Felix decided he'd had enough of her distracted ramble and cleared his throat, which snapped her out of it enough. "Er, right, that should be enough for now." She said, turning to face him and realising being around the boy who looked so much like her prince was nearly as distracting as looking at the real thing and made her feel awkward. "I'll leave the book with you, just don't let others see you with it, they'll be confused to see the prince reading it now after he should already know everything in it." She glanced at something on the prince's bedside table. "You'll also need one more thing." Striding over to it, she picked up the coronet, which is a smaller version of a crown, as only the reigning monarch, King Gabriel, was to wear a full crown. The prince often had to wear the smaller coronet, to match his position in the royal family. He had left it on his bedside table before falling asleep the day before and had been taken without it when he went to check on Plagg. Marinette found it strange to be holding such a thing herself. She stood in front of Felix, who wordlessly lowered his head and allowed her to place it on him. She looked at him after this finishing touch, and in spite of how awkward she felt seeing him wearing it knowing he wasn't actually Adrien, she realised that this feeling was a good thing, as it meant the resemblance was so perfect that it would fool everyone they needed to. She felt that if she didn't know better, perhaps even she wouldn't be able to tell this was not her prince in front of her. Her mind then drifted to something else. With this part of the plan ready, she now had to start working on actually finding out what happened to her prince. 

Chapter Text

After having to sleep in that small room guarded by the two girls who had captured him, Adrien realised he wouldn't be let out peacefully anytime soon. Plagg had spent much of his time grooming himself after being thrown onto the dirt and then tumbling down the chimney. Adrien had tried the window, but it wouldn't open, and was barred and too small for him to fit through anyway. After seeing Plagg jump onto the window and meow at the horse outside, Adrien wondered if the two animals were communicating. Even if Plagg did understand the situation they were in, Adrien would never be able to understand anything Plagg could try to tell him. After possibly communicating through the window with the horse, Plagg confidently strode over to the small room's door and began to scratch at the wood and meowed at his master, the way he did when he wanted entry into a room back home.

"Sorry Plagg, it's locked, I can't open it for you," Adrien said to his pet, though he assumed the cat couldn't understand him anyway. He hoped the cat wouldn't be mad at him for not opening the door, since he figured Plagg probably didn't understand that he couldn't open just any door. What Adrien didn't know was that cats were smarter than people thought. He understood the situation just fine, and scratched at the door with a sense of urgency. Adrien understood that message just fine, he was trying to tell him they needed to get out of there. With a new rush of energy, Adrien mentally cursed himself for giving up so easily the night before. But that night he had already been tired before he'd been brought here, having fallen asleep in his regular clothes. He put those thoughts aside and started frantically searching the room, thinking there must be something he could use to escape. He pulled every loose object around to examine it, throwing things aside when he figured they were useless. Plagg now saw expectantly at his feet, awaiting what he hoped would be a solution from his master. In frustration, Adrien pulled everything off the bed too, throwing the bedding to the floor. Plagg let out a meow as the world around him went dark as the bedsheets fell suddenly on him. "Sorry buddy," Adrien reached down to pick up the cloth that lay on top of his friend, but before he picked it up, he noticed something about the sheet that bunched up on the floor with a cat-sized lump underneath. "Thank you, Plagg!" Adrien said happily, pulling the sheet off the cat and tossing it aside to pet his friend. Plagg wasn't sure what he'd done, but was happy for the praise anyway.

Meanwhile at the castle, the ambassador and his assistant were there to meet with King Gabriel about the wedding plans.

"It is official, then. Due to the disappearance of the prince, the wedding to Queen Kagami is cancelled." Marinette could hear the ambassador's voice, and ran ahead of Felix to the room ahead of them.

"Wait, sir, please!" Marinette shouted, trying to maintain her manners around the people in a much higher position than her, despite having just ran and yelled which was unusual behaviour in the castle. All eyes were on her now, including the king's. His advisor Lila was there too, as well as of course the ambassador, and the assistant who had been following him. "May I, uh, present... Prince Adrien." She held the door open behind her and all eyes were on that door as Felix strode in. Barkk had followed him down the hallway, but he had commanded her to sit and stay put outside the room before Marinette had opened the door.

"My son, I am so glad to see you." King Gabriel said with relief, reaching an arm out to signal his son to come and stand next to him. Felix was normally very confident, but even he felt a twinge of nervousness being so close to the king of all people.

"I am sorry. I should not have run away." Felix said calmly.

"Please, son, you must promise me you would never do it again." The king ordered. Felix simply nodded.

"I still think we should cancel the wedding." The ambassador chimed in. The assistant next to him discreetly coughed, and this somehow changed the ambassador's expression. "But, an agreement is an agreement! The wedding is back on! And Queen Kagami is... oh, is due tomorrow!" He glanced at his assistant who smiled back at him.

"Tomorrow..." Felix said quietly before realising it was out loud. "Er, tomorrow, I look forward to it. Meeting her shall be... interesting."

"And then just a few short days until the wedding." King Gabriel added, placing a subtle but comforting hand on Felix's shoulder, as he knew his son was likely not being honest about looking forward to any of this, he knew his son had been stressed about the engagement.

"If you'll excuse me, I must be off to see to the... arrangements." Lila said. The king nodded and she turned and strode to the door. Barkk, who noticed the unfamiliar person coming towards where she was sitting, stepped in front of her and began to growl quietly. "Ugh, who let this mangey little mutt in here?" Lila questioned towards no one in particular. She suspected Marinette, the lower class person in the room who was still standing meekly by the door. She quickly grabbed Barkk, who had gotten used to her by now, and held her back while stroking her behind the ears to calm her.

"Everything alright, Miss Lila?" Marinette asked innocently.

"It soon will be," Lila said with a smile, before walking out. With Lila now at a safe distance, Marinette let go of the small dog, who sniffed the floor before picking up something small that had dropped from Lila's clothes.

"What have you got there, girl?" Marinetti asked the dog quietly, taking the small object from her. It was a twig that would have fallen from a tree, but she recognised more than just that about it. From a silver fir tree, Marionette thought to herself, coming to a conclusion about where it had come from. What's Lila doing in the Western Forest? Marinette turned to leave to start her investigation, but she was stopped.

"Marinette, wait," the king said. "Stay a bit longer, I must hear all about how you found Adrien." She couldn't exactly disobey the king.

"Um, well... yes, of course, your majesty."

Chapter Text

"Hey, I happen to know you've got a 5 of hearts!" Chloe said proudly. She and Sabrina had taken to playing cards to relieve their boredom at being forced to guard the door to the room the prince was being held in.

"What do you mean, you know?" Sabrina asked.

"I saw it," Chloe said bluntly.

"You mean you cheated?" Sabrina said.

"You call that cheating? I saw what card you have and I want it so I don't need to go fish. Ugh, this game is ridiculous, utterly ridiculous."

"Help! Somebody please help me!" A voice called from the small room. The two girls put down their cards and ran to the door, wondering how the prince could have gotten into any trouble in the harmless room.

"Yes, your highness?" Sabrina said, still feeling the need to respect the prince.

"Ugh, what is it?" Chloe asked.

"Hurry!" The prince simply called. The two girls unlocked the door to go in and see what had gotten the prince so worked up. Then they saw the white figure looming over them.

"A ghost?" Both girls cried out in amazement.

"Get it, quick!" The prince said, feigning fear in his voice.

"You heard the prince, Sabrina, you get it." Chloe demanded, shoving her in front. Sabrina stepped backwards in fear, ending up back next to Chloe. Beneath the white sheet was Plagg, standing on a high ledge in the room to hold the sheet as high as he could to achieve the effect. Suddenly, Plagg leapt down towards the two girls, causing the large sheet to land on top and cover the two of them. Adrien ran towards the door they'd left open, carrying a thin blanket he'd taken from the bed, to use for another idea he'd had.

"Great job Plagg!" He said quietly, as the cat slipped out from under the sheet and followed his master out the door. The front door of the small shack opened easily from the inside. Adrien quickly glanced around before spotting a single horse hooked up to a carriage. He needed to get away from here quickly before those girls managed to catch him again, so although it would be stealing, he climbed into the carriage, making a mental note to find the owner of the horse and carriage and return them later. He realised he had no idea where he'd been taken, or how to get back, so he'd have to rely on the horse's sense of direction. "To the castle," he nervously commanded the horse. He had no idea if the horse had learnt that command, but he was banking on the possibility she would, since she was likely the same horse his captors had used to transport him here after taking him from the castle. He noticed Plagg meowing in the direction of the horse, so he held and stroked him, assuming he was just worked up by the other animal's presence as he wasn't around other animals much.

What Adrien didn't know was that Kaalki did indeed know the way to the castle, and that Plagg was in fact talking to her. Kaalki was smart enough to know a different way out of the forest than the one Lila usually took to get there, and made sure to take the prince along the slightly longer path, just to make sure he wouldn't be spotted if Lila was on her way back, which she was due to come and check on Chloe and Sabrina.

Luckily for Marinette, she was able to quickly make up a lie about how she'd 'found the prince' to tell to the king, very nervous about lying to the king, but Felix, who was more confident about lying and manipulation, supported her story and helped make it sound believable. She'd managed to find an excuse to get out of there after that, to head to the Western Forest to investigate. She wandered the forest until she found the small building.

Meanwhile, Lila had gotten caught up having to deal with wedding arrangements before she was able to get out of the castle, delaying what she had planned to do as soon as it had been announced Prince Adrien had returned. By the time she'd gone to the shack in the forest to check on Chloe and Sabrina, it was later in the day than she'd planned. She knocked on the door quickly.

Marinette, having found the small shack, had barely had a chance to look at it before she heard someone on a horse coming towards the shack and quickly hid behind the small building, peeking out from a corner.

"Let me in..." Lila said, her frustration increasing. "You idiots!" The door was quickly opened by Sabrina, who looked really nervous.

"Ah, Miss Lila, you've come to check on us." Sabrina said, trying to keep her composure. "Well there's no need, really. Everything here is fine, just fine! See you soon." Sabrina attempted to close the door, hoping Lila would leave after that brief report, but the older girl put her foot in the way of the door to stop her.

"How did he escape?" She asked bluntly.

"Uh... who?" Sabrina asked nervously.

"Who?" Lila scoffed. "The prince!" She pushed past Sabrina into the small shack's main room. "You moron, you idiots, both of you!" Lila continued in frustration.

"Um, no, Miss, the prince is still here of course." Sabrina tried to assure her, following her in. Meanwhile Marinette, after seeing Lila disappear into the building, stepped around the side of the building to look for a window where she could best watch what was going on. "He's in the room, he's just being quiet right now because he's sleeping."

"Sleeping, huh? I'd like to see for myself." Lila said.

"Oh no, you wouldn't want to do that," Sabrina protested. "You don't want to wake him up, he's a royal, remember." Lila groaned.

"He's a royal all right, a royal pain in my behind!" She approached the door to the small bedroom they'd set up and turned the knob, noticing it even opened without needing to be unlocked. As the door flung open, the blankets on the bed shifted, and Lila could make out a figure laying under the blankets, attempting to replicate a sleeping prince. The person's head was facing away from the door, so Lila could see only a head of blonde hair on the pillow, which was why this person had begrudgingly agreed to be the one who would pretend to be the sleeping prince, as it would have been more difficult for Sabrina. Growing worried her hair still didn't look enough like the prince's despite the similar colour, Chloe pulled the blankets up higher. Unfortunately, since the blankets weren't very big, pulling them up resulted in her feet being uncovered, revealing the feminine shoes that were still on her feet, which Lila easily recognised. "Get out of that bed!" Lila yelled.

"Gladly," Chloe groaned, getting out of the bed. "That rickety thing is the worst bed I've ever touched. I wouldn't be caught dead actually sleeping in it."

"I can figure out how the prince escaped you fools." Lila said. "But why didn't he tell the king he'd been captured?" She wondered, thinking about how calm the prince had seemed when he had come into the room just in time for the ambassador to agree to keep the wedding on. "Hmm... something's odd. I must solve this prince puzzle if I'm going to be queen." She quickly left the building, gesturing for Chloe and Sabrina to follow her.

"Queen? Lila?" Marinette muttered aloud to herself.

"Looking for something, Marinette?" Suddenly, Lila was behind her, having run around the side of the small building. She had noticed Marinette watching from the window, but pretended not to notice in order to get the jump on her.

"How can you be queen?" Marinette questioned curiously. Lila scoffed.

"You're the tutor. You're supposed to have all the answers."

Chapter Text

Adrien held his furry companion close nervously as the horse drawn carriage finally approached the castle. Knowing it would get cold and dark out soon and he wasn't dressed for being out in the cold, Adrien has fashioned the blanket he'd taken into a makeshift cape to keep himself a little more warm, and let Plagg sit in his lap under a part of the cape that sat over his lap.

"Who goes there?" A guard asked gruffly.

"Prince Adrien," he said, summoning his trained confidence. Surely the guard knew the prince was missing and would be on the lookout for me? Adrien wondered.

"If you're the prince, I'm the king," the guard said, joking, but stern.

"But, I am the prince," Adrien said.

"Really? Then how come I just saw the prince eating dinner with the king?"

"What... prince?" Adrien was confused now.

"Now move along before I lose my temper," the guard said. Adrien tried one more time, as confident as he could.

"You are speaking to Prince Adrien! Let me through!"

"I said move along, now!" The guard sounded scary, his voice even louder this time. Adrien clutched the reins nervously and signalled the horse to turn around. He guided the horse towards a higher end part of the village, where he hoped to find someone high class who has connections with the royal family and could help him. He found a pub where the higher class, successful businessmen frequented, which was next door to a suit shop he recognised, and he left the horse and carriage outside to go in, holding Plagg in his arms. But before he could go in, a man came out the door and stopped, appearing shocked to see him.

"What are you doing here?" The man asked coldly.

"Excuse me?" Adrien asked, taken aback. He'd expected more decorum from the people who frequented this area of the village. Perhaps the man hadn't recognised him as the prince? He certainly was still used to people speaking very politely towards him and expected people in the richer side of the village to have such manners.

"Not another word." The man snapped. Adrien was confused, wondering if this demand was some strange way of helping him in a secretive way. However, any hope that this man was a friend was lost when he grabbed him by the arm, causing him to nearly drop Plagg. "You're coming with me." The man dragged Adrien into the shop next door. As he passed the front door and through the main shop room, Adrien recognised this as Colt Fathom's suit shop, where he and his father often purchased formal wear. The man led him into a back room where a boy around his age was working on suits. "Not done yet?" The man asked the boy, letting go of Adrien. "If you weren't such a useless boy, you'd have finished more suits by now." Adrien was shocked at the level of rudeness he was hearing. He knew people showed extra respect towards higher class people, like how people usually had really formal manners around him as a prince, but he would never treat someone with less respect even if they were a lower class. Being around Marinette as much as he had taught him that people can come from low class upbringing and still be good people, so in spite of growing up royal he would never act like he was better than someone because of that.

"How dare you speak to him that way!" Adrien burst out in shock. Growing up learning his manners, he assumed higher class people also were taught such respect as he had.

"How dare I? How dare I?" The man repeated. "Just who do you think you are?"

"Prince Adrien," the boy said, dropping the makeshift cape that covered part of his head and his formal clothes. But the man laughed.

"That's rich. You'd have to change more than your hairstyle to look like the prince. Why, me and the prince are close personal friends."

"Oh really..." the prince said softly, trying to hide his annoyance at the man blatantly lying.

"Now shut up, and get back to work," the man said coldly. Adrien tried to stand his ground firmly.

"I'm warning you, if you're going to treat your workers this way, we'll take our royal business elsewhere," he said, now glad to have his royal status he could take advantage of, realising he could affect this man's success based on whether he and his father continued to do business with him.

"You're warning me?" The man scoffed. "We'll see your attitude change by morning." He walked to the door and grabbed it by the handle. "You're not coming out until all the suits are finished, Felix!" The man snapped, pulling the door closed. On the other side of the door the man turned a key, and Adrien was slightly in shock and wasn't able to run to the door before it was too late.

"Felix?" He questioned softly, as the realisation then hit him. He suddenly remembered that Felix was the name of the boy he had met who looked just like him, and that Felix had mentioned he worked for Colt Fathom, a fact he'd all but forgotten in the day's struggles. Unfortunately that moment of realisation distracted him long enough that when he ran to the closing door in front of him, he didn't make it before the door was locked. "Locked in again!" He said in frustration.

"Felix? That is you, isn't it?" The other boy asked. Adrien looked back at him with a weak smile, hoping this boy would be friendlier than the man he'd just met. 

Chapter Text

Adrien had decided to explain his situation to the boy who worked in the suit shop with Felix. The boy, Nino, worked for Colt Fathom out of necessity as it was the only job he'd managed to find. He dreamt of someday entertaining people through music, but had no choice but to work to help provide for his family. As the oldest son, he had to work as his family couldn't afford him not to, struggling to provide for him and his younger brother. Adrien had nothing but respect for this boy his own age who worked hard to earn what he had and help his family, and figured Felix, who he hadn't had a lot of time to get to know very well, likely worked here out of necessity too. Certainly after seeing how disrespectful their boss was, he understood no one would work for such a man by choice.

"Made exclusively by Colt Fathom," Adrien read the label that Nino cut off the line of labels that were added to all the clothes made in the shop.

"If Barkk can slip in and out, I bet your Plagg could do it too." Nino said with a smile, looking at the cat at Adrien's feet. "I've seen plenty of stray cats jumping fences and stuff like that, I'm sure he could get there." Adrien nodded and attached the label to Plagg's collar, using his ring he always wore to hold it together, as well as the ring doubling as a way to identify who the message was coming from.

"It's up to you now, Plagg." Adrien said to his friend. "Take this to the castle. When someone reads the label, it'll lead them here."

The cat, usually lazy, understood the importance of this mission, wanting to help his owner. He jumped out a window the boys opened for him and walked along a rooftop heading towards the castle. This is going to be a long night, the cat thought to himself.

Meanwhile, at the castle, Felix awoke from the best night of sleep he'd ever had. The bed was amazingly comfortable and bigger than anything he'd had before, and the mattress felt like it'd been made just for him, since it has in fact been made to suit someone who's body type matched him exactly. He stretched his arms out and stretched his legs beneath the covers, amazed the bed was big enough he could do so without accidentally kicking Barkk, who was curled up at the foot of the bed. He looked around the room with a grin. I thought I must have been dreaming, the boy thought. But I'm not. I'm really here, in the castle, because that prince looks exactly like me and went missing. There was a polite knock at the door, which caused Barkk to stand and start barking towards the door.

"Hey, shhh, it's ok, quiet girl." Felix soothed her, reaching over to pet her. Gotta keep her quiet, a prince's pet would be trained to be quiet and not make a disturbance. She calmed quickly, feeling her master stroke her and sensing his calmness. He grabbed her gently and put her in his lap, now sitting up on the bed, and pulled one of the blankets over to cover her. Most dogs wouldn't be comfortable with a blanket completely over them like this, but Barkk had gotten used to it, from when Felix would sneak her into rooms Colt Fathom declared off limits to animals, occasionally hiding her under a piece of fabric. "Come in," Felix said politely, once the small dog was covered. A maid walked in politely carrying a tray.

"Did I hear a dog, your highness?" The maid asked. "Shall I call the royal dog-catcher?" Marinette had briefly warned Felix that while Barkk should be fine to be introduced as his new pet, people might overreact if they heard her before being told about her, since the current protocol hearing a dog barking is to assume one has gotten into the castle by mistake since anyone who works in the castle would be under the assumption that the prince only has a pet cat.

"No, no need for the dog-catcher. I'm sorry you weren't notified sooner, but I have a dog now." Felix explained, uncovering the small dog.

"Apologies for the misunderstanding, your highness," the maid said. "I've brought your breakfast, your highness." In bed? Felix thought, managing to keep that thought inside to not raise suspicion. Damn this prince has it good.

"Wonderful, ... thank you." Felix didn't normally show gratitude, but he of course faked it to be polite to appear as the prince. Getting used to using such manners all the time could be annoying, but it was a small price to pay for what this trick could get him. He still believed the prince had probably just run away, and wasn't coming back, which meant he could probably keep this up and live in luxury as long as he wanted. And if the prince did return, he could go with his other plan of taking something to pay off his debt with, or perhaps the prince would even give him an expensive gift to thank him for keeping his life going while he was gone.

"I'll draw your bath. Would you like bubbles, mineral salts, or lavender oil?" The maid asked.

"Everything!" Felix burst out. He'd never had anything but a bath of plain water, usually cold as it would cost him if he wanted it heated. "I mean, I'm in the mood for all of those, if I may. It's... well, the stress of the royal wedding approaching, of course." Felix added, to remain looking professional.

Chapter Text

"You're just going to tell him that you disguised yourself as my assistant?" The ambassador said to the young woman before him, having gone into a private room in the castle to talk before their meeting with the prince and his father, the king. "Are you sure that's wise, Queen Kagami?" The ambassador sounded nervous questioning his queen's decision, but at the same time she was much younger than he, and couldn't help but question her methods as of recent.

"No, I'm not sure." The young queen answered honestly. "But I have to be honest. I think he'll understand. It seems like he hasn't been too fond of the idea of marrying me, seeing as I'm a stranger to him. But I don't think he realises that I didn't want to marry a stranger any more than he did."

Meanwhile, the boy happily laid in the large, luxurious bath, enjoying the warm water. He took the time to think about the events that has transpired the past few days. First he meets the prince, who just happens to look exactly like him and promises to invite him to the castle to sing of all things, then some girl tell him the prince is missing and she believes someone took him against his will when it looks like he just ran away. And now he get to pretend to be the prince and not have to work for Colt Fathom and all he has to do to keep a life of luxury is be polite and pretend to be the prince and marry a wealthy queen? Sounds like a pretty sweet deal. He smiled as he finished off in the bath and put on a robe he'd found that must belong to the prince. He'd never worn something so comfortable, always being forced to dry off with the cheapest, most useless towel. Seeing all the amazing bath products, he had an idea. He remembered the maid's reaction to Barkk and realised his little friend should probably look the part if he was to make it seem as if he's the prince and has just gotten a new pet. Barkk has been waiting in the bedroom, having been told the stay there, but with this idea he opened the bathroom door to call his friend into the room. He let some of the water out the bath so it would be more shallow and put the small dog in, having decided to give her a wash so she'd look like the pet of the royal family. She was nervous at first as she hadn't been cleaned properly before, but her master knew just how to keep her calm. He'd been wanting to continue working on a song he'd been making up, and he has noticed a long time ago that Barkk seems to enjoy it when he sang to her, so that's exactly what he did. The small dog happily sat in the bathtub letting her owner wash her with the water that still has luxurious products in it as he sang a song he was working on.

Queen Kagami had decided to approach the prince herself, hoping to find him without the awkwardness of the formal introduction the ambassador and the king would want. She wandered towards where she knew his room was and knocked on the door politely, knowing the prince would definitely be awake by now and had likely been told to expect someone to come and escort him to be formally introduced to her. When no one answered the door, she opened it a crack, and heard his voice. She peeked into the room to see the bathroom door had been left slightly open, so she could hear him without fully stepping into the room. It was strange to hear him talking to someone in the bathroom, or perhaps talking to himself, but then she noticed he was now singing. She stopped at the door, listening curiously.

"🎵What the eye can see ain't all that matters

All's not gold, that glitters

Everything I want should be mine forever!

At the snap of my fingers

Light I fly like a butterfly

Rising high, to the sky!

From up here, I look down to Earth

Snapping my fingers!🎵"

Kagami knew nothing of what the song could be about, but found it interesting all the same, and heard him snap his fingers rhythmically and scat along before finishing the song.

"🎵At the snap of my fingers,🎵"

Kagami smiled to herself, realising this prince she was set to marry might be an interesting guy she could enjoy being around. At the very least, it seemed like there was more to him than just the bland description she'd been given about the accomplished young prince. She decided not to interrupt him now, and turned and headed back through the castle.

At Colt Fathom's suit shop, Adrien attempted to keep himself busy by helping his new friend work on suits to make up for the absence of the other boy who normally did the other half of the work.

"There, this one's finished!" Adrien said proudly, holding up the suit jacket he'd crafted, before seeing it a bit better in front of him and noticing how imperfect it had turned out. "Uh... sort of." He said nervously, putting down the garment and running his neck in embarrassment. He was quickly learning that making clothes was so much harder than he expected, and felt such a rush of respect for whoever made all the detailed clothes he wears on a day to day basis that he took for granted.

"Please, your highness, you don't have to do this. It's not really your job." Nino said.

"I can't let you do it all by yourself," Adrien said, having seen the enormous workload that had been given to him, and he knew Nino usually had one other boy to work with. Adrien didn't know why Felix wasn't here, despite him mentioning he could be found here. "And please, just Adrien is fine. You've been so nice to me. If only Felix had been here so Mr Fathom wouldn't have mistaken me for him."

"He's always sneaking out to take his dog for a walk, but he's never been gone this long." Nino said.

"Were you two close?" Adrien asked.

"Not really, he mostly kept to himself. I've tried making conversation but he's not too keen on making friends. He's got a soft spot for that dog, Barkk though. Those two are inseparable."

"A bit like me and Plagg then," Adrien chuckled. "We do seem to have a bit in common besides just our looks. I don't have a lot of friends, just royal connections, but I wouldn't call any of them real friends. Except Marinette. She's my tutor, but she's my age, so she's... well, I'd say she's my best friend." Adrien started to wonder what Marinette must be doing. What would she have done when she found out I was gone? Would she be worried about me? Will she be happy to see me when I get back home? ...I think I'm going to be happy to see her when I get back. No, of course I'll definitely be happy to see her when I get back. Nino smiled seeing his new friend lost in thought and returned to his work.

Now done with the bath and dressed, Felix looked at the random books the prince had, deciding to sit at the desk so if anyone came in, it would seem as if he'd been using his free time to study. According to the schedule Marinette had shown him, this was normally the time Adrien had morning lessons with her, but she wasn't here, likely still working on finding Adrien. After knocking on the door, a woman entered the room.

"Your highness," she greeted him. He recognised her as the king's advisor, Lila, having seen her the day before when he seemingly returned from having run away. Barkk had been laying on the bed, now wearing a collar Felix had found that must be a spare for the prince's cat, which he managed to fit on the small dog to make her look more formal. At the new person in the room, she seemed agitated and began growling at her, as if there was something particularly off about her. "What's this stupid dog doing here?" Lila said, before Felix had a chance to apologise for the growling and soothe Barkk.

"She belongs to me." He said firmly, annoyed at how she'd insulted his beloved companion. And after he'd taken the time to beautify her in the bath, too. He would have apologised politely had she not gone that far.

"Oh! It's yours, is it?" Lila said, as Felix stroked Barkk and managed to stop her growling. "Well, a thousand apologies, my prince. What happened to that cat of yours, then?"

"Uh, he's around somewhere." This was a question Felix was unprepared to answer. Marinette hadn't mentioned anything about where the cat would be, but he knew about the prince's cat from when they first met. He assumed the car would be around the castle somewhere, but he hadn't seen him yet. Yet another reason he probably really did run away, looks like he took his cat with him. Once Marinette gives up on finding the prince, I'll pretend to give up looking for my missing cat. Or maybe make up something about him dying. I'll figure it out later.

"I see. So rare that you're apart." Lila said, with an expression Felix couldn't quite read. "The king has sent me to escort you to meet Queen Kagami." Felix realised he didn't actually know how a prince was supposed to respond to this kind of thing, so he just settled for a simple, "thank you," and followed Lila, letting Barkk follow at his heels as usual. 

Chapter Text

"I appreciate your understanding, your majesty." The young queen said to the older king. She was glad the king had allowed her into the castle the past few times in more plain attire where she had masqueraded as a simple assistant to the ambassador. 

"Likewise, Queen Kagami." King Gabriel said, glad she had been so lenient after his son had run away. Most royals would have certainly broken off the engagement for such a thing. "I apologise for my son's delay in the wedding plans. But it's all sorted out now." The two looked to the door where Lila walked in. 

"May I present, Prince Adrien," she said, the boy stepping in beside her.

"Oh, hello my son, come." The king gestured for the boy to stand by his side. "I'd like to introduce you to Queen Kagami." So this is the queen the prince is supposed to marry , Felix thought to himself. I still don't see what he's complaining about. Sure, she's a stranger to him, but at least she's our age. I've heard stories about royal weddings where they get arranged to marry someone much older or younger than them just because they want to join their kingdoms for some political reason. Sure, he won't get that fairytale love nonsense he believes in, but at least with someone the same age it'd be like having a friend around.

"I'm honoured," the young queen said formally. At that he looked at her to respond respectfully and couldn't help hesitating as if something seemed interesting about her. 

"The honour is mine, Queen Kagami," he responded, snapping out of his moment of staring at her to bow appropriately, not noticing the smile that came over his expression when he looked right at her. 

"Please, just call me Kagami." The queen said. Knowing she was going to marry this boy, she wanted to get on familiar terms with him. She really hoped this would work out and she'd be able to feel comfortable around him enough to be okay having him as a husband soon. Felix smiled and pushed a loose piece of hair away from his face, still unused to the different way the prince kept his hair. At her request to be called by her name in an informal way, Felix remembered how Adrien had done the same thing when they met, and said it was relieving to be spoken to plainly. Felix couldn't help but hope that Kagami would be similar, and that he could just relax and be himself around her. 

"Call me Fe- I mean, Adrien!" Felix nearly slipped up, feeling unusually relaxed talking to this girl. "Yeah, Prince Adrien, that's me, heh." Felix chuckled, trying to laugh it off, hoping the others would attribute it to nervousness at meeting the queen for the first time, which now that he thought about it, was probably in character for the prince, he deduced, since the prince seemed rather against the idea of marrying her, so the hesitation wouldn't look too out of place. Barkk, sensing that her master was comfortable around this person, stepped forward from her place beside his heels and yapped in greeting. Kagami looked down and smiled. The young queen wondered to herself if this dog had been who he was talking to in the bathroom that morning before he'd started singing. A boy who has a pet he cares for must have a sensitive side , she deduced. Even if he doesn't always show it.

"I hope her bark is bigger than her bite," she said, reaching down to greet the small dog. Barkk sniffed her hand before happily giving it a lick and allowing the girl to stroke her.

"She likes you," Felix said. And it was true, Barkk didn't usually lick the hand of someone unless she trusts them. Kagami gave the dog one last stroke before standing straight to bring up what she figured he must be wondering about. 

"I'm sure you're wondering why I disguised myself as an assistant." She began. Felix remembered that he had in fact seen her before, when he'd seemingly returned from having run away, and the ambassador announced the wedding was back on, she had been quietly beside him as an assistant. Felix wondered if she'd been in the castle any other times before that, and met the real prince while she'd been disguised. He didn't know that she indeed had. The day Felix and Adrien first met, earlier that day the ambassador had arrived and Kagami, disguised as his assistant, presented an engagement gift on behalf of herself. But there was one other time. She was surprised how easily she could slip around the castle unnoticed with the right attire, but it had worked out in an interesting way. "I wanted to meet you without all this… this ceremony. To get to know the real you."

"The real me, huh?" Felix nearly laughed at the irony of that, but kept his composure. The conversation lulled for a moment, so the king decided to chime in.

"Queen Kagami, would you do us the honour of playing the piano? I know you love music."

"You do?" Felix blurted out. Felix couldn't help feeling a little excited on the inside at learning something they had in common. The queen confidently strode towards the piano in the room and sat in front of it.

"I will," she said. "... If the prince agrees to sing with me." What is it with these royals and singing? He wondered.

"I… I couldn't. I mean, I haven't practised. I might not know the same songs you do." Felix said, trying to get out of it. The queen just smiled, looking up at the boy standing beside her.

"Something tells me you'd be very good at making up a song." She said, "I'll even try it too, and I'll start us off. It could be fun." Seeing her smile at the idea, Felix couldn't help but feel like he wanted to try this with her. He was usually so confident, but something about this girl made him nervous.

"Go on, son." The king added. "I'm sure you'd be honoured to sing with Queen Kagami." Felix looked at the king when he spoke before looking back at the girl sitting beside him and nodded at her. She smiled and began playing a tune on the piano before starting off a song she was making up. 

"🎵Once a lass met a lad. 'You're a gentle one' said she. In my heart I'd be glad if you loved me for me. You say your love is true and I hope that it will be…🎵" It wasn't Felix's usual style, but he could work with this. So it's a sappy love song you want to make, is it? Fine, I can handle that.

"🎵I'd be sure, if I knew that you loved me for me.🎵"

Felix and Kagami continued to spend the day together. At Kagami's request, the king has relieved Felix of any royal duties, to give the two some time to get to know each other in the time before the wedding. At first the two felt like they wouldn't know what to talk about or what to do together, but Kagami had an idea. She saw the look on Felix's face when they sang briefly together, and she challenged him to continue making up a song together. Felix seemed hesitant since the song they'd begun together had started as a sappy romance song, but he laughed it off and accepted the challenge. Soon, the two began to bond over a love of music, jokingly adding lyrics to the song, vowing to create the ultimate love song. Kagami added the next line to the song, enjoying Felix's reaction when she chimed in.

"🎵Could I be the one you're seeking? Will I be the one you choose? Can you tell my heart is speaking? My eyes will give you clues.🎵"

The two took a walk through the castle garden, continuing to make up their song and enjoy each other's company. Felix decided to add the next lyrics, adding in something interesting that he figured would be interpreted as a metaphor rather than the subtle truth it was.

"🎵What you see may be deceiving, truth lies underneath the skin…🎵"

"🎵Hope will blossom by believing,🎵" Kagami added.

"🎵The heart that lies within,🎵" Felix jumped in, not wanting to be outdone. 

Barkk walked along with them in the garden, and ran around in an open space. Kagami enjoyed seeing how Felix treated his pet with such kindness. The two spent some time together bonding by playing with Barkk, the small dog finding a stick that they used to play a simple game of fetch. It was simple, but the three of them enjoyed the informal moment of fun. For Kagami, it was nice not having to be seen as the queen. And for Felix, it was fun getting to play around and not worry about getting work done for Colt Fathom. It was relaxing for the both of them, and they began to really enjoy each other's company. Spending much of the day together, the two ended up sitting at the prince's balcony, and continued to make up their song, Felix adding in the next set of lyrics. 

"🎵I'll be yours. Together we shall always be as one, if you love me for me.🎵" Kagami smiled at his lyrics, though she has the understanding there was surely no truth to them, as he couldn't possibly feel that way about her, not already, maybe not at all, he was just making up lines for a love song. She pushed the thought away to add in the next lyrics:

"🎵Who can say where we'll go? Who can promise what will be... But I'll stay by your side if you love me for me.🎵" The two looked at each other and ended the song with the same idea to repeat that consistent line, "🎵If you love me for me…🎵" The two burst into a short fit of giggles at their antics, before smiling quietly at each other. 

"I've gained quite a reputation for music, as you saw from your father asking me to play the piano." Kagami said, making conversation. "I'm glad I wasn't performing alone. It was much more fun with you joining in."

"You get pressured to perform often, then?" Felix asked. 

"Quite often. I took lessons growing up, and grew to enjoy it. Why, I wouldn't be surprised if my advisor suggests I perform at the wedding." The wedding, Felix remembered. Right, if the prince stays gone and I want to stay living like this, I gotta marry this girl. She's not so bad… Felix didn't want to fully admit to himself that perhaps he wouldn't really mind being married to Kagami while ruling alongside her. "That song was honestly a lot of fun, making and singing it together. Perhaps I could convince you to sing it with me if I'm asked to perform?" Felix actually didn't mind the idea. He always hid his love of music, and didn't usually get to sing with another person. He hadn't expected to enjoy singing with her as much as he did.

"... I will if you will." He said. She smiled, and suddenly he couldn't manage to keep looking right at her, tearing his gaze away to look at the sky. He realised they had inadvertently been watching the sunset together. Kagami allowed the silence for a moment, noticing he seemed lost in thought looking at the sky. 

"Breathtaking," she said after a moment.

"The prettiest sunset I've ever seen," Felix agreed. Kagami smiled, though he still refused to meet her eyes. 

"There's something about you…" she decided to tell him. "You're honest… no pretences. I like that." She looked back at the sunset and remembered she had somewhere to be around this time, and stood up from her seat at the balcony. "Until tomorrow, your highness." She bid him farewell formally, before leaving. Felix turned to watch her go before looking down at Barkk, who had been sitting happily by his feet. 

“Honest? No pretences?” he scoffed at her words. But at that he started to notice that he was actually starting to feel bad about lying to Kagami. He couldn't understand this feeling. Normally he didn't care about anyone else, he'd lie, manipulate, say whatever was convenient to him. Pretending to be the prince meant nothing to him before, but when he was around Kagami… it was almost as if he wanted to tell her the truth about who he was. But he knew he couldn't do that. Could he? She said she liked being around him, that she liked his honesty. But would she still like being around him if he told her he wasn't the prince she thought he was?

Chapter Text

Plagg had wandered such a long way, but now he'd finally found his way into the castle. He looked for a human who could help him, but the first human who saw him was none other than Lila, who he knew was responsible for his master's kidnapping. 

"Why, it's our missing little feline," Lila said, approaching the cat she recognised. She's spent enough time around the prince while working for the king to know it has been strange the cat hasn't been with him since he'd seemingly returned. Plagg hissed at the woman, knowing she couldn't be trusted. "With an attitude!" Lila added, reaching down to see what was attached to the cat's collar. "The prince's ring, how odd. Colt Fathom's suit shop." She read the label that had been held to the collar by the ring. "Maybe the answer to our mystery."

Lila reached the suit shop on her horse. She'd put Plagg in an uncomfortable bag that hung to the side of the saddle. As she dismounted, she noticed Kaalki, the horse she'd given to Chloe and Sabrina to pull the carriage when they kidnapped the prince, parked nearby. As Lila entered the shop, Kaalki heard Plagg crying out from inside the bag, and trotted over and pulled the bag open so he could get out. 

"Thanks, Kaalki," Plagg grumbled, jumping out the bag.

"You brought her here?" Kaalki questioned, knowing Lila was the one who had put the prince in danger in the first place.

"I didn't mean to!" Plagg called out, running to the suit shop as quick as he could after being in the cramped bag. He ran towards the room he remembered Adrien being in, and made it quick enough to see Adrien greet Lila happily.

"Lila, you found my ring!" Adrien said, before noticing Plagg on the floor behind Lila. "Good boy, Plagg." He held out his arms for Plagg to jump up. Plagg jumped into his arms to be carried.

"Your highness," Lila began. Plagg hissed at her, hoping to get across the message that she wasn't a good person.

"Plagg, what's gotten into you?" Adrien questioned, stroking him behind the ear hoping to calm what he assumed was just stress after his long journey to the castle.

"Come quickly, my prince. You can tell me everything on the way to the castle." Lila said, reaching to take his arm. 

"But first, let me…" Adrien looked over at the room he knew Nino was in, thinking he should probably tell the boy he was leaving.

"No, no, no time, your highness." Lila said quickly, pulling him along and out the shop. After Lila and the prince had just left the shop, the other boy came out of the nearby room to check on Adrien.

"Prince Adrien?" He called out, finding the room now empty.

Lila had taken the prince in the carriage pulled by Kaalki, Plagg held safely on the prince's lap as he meowed at Kaalki to talk to her, the two humans ignoring the cat's behaviour at this moment. Adrien soon became confused when instead of the castle, the carriage approached the royal mine. 

"What are we doing here?" He asked.

"Taking a little side trip, your highness." Lila said, getting out of the carriage once it stopped. Adrien saw no other choice but to follow her out of the carriage to figure out what was going on. He then recognised the two girls who approached, seemingly waiting for Lila. 

"You were behind this!" It finally dawned on him, and he turned to face Lila as he shouted.

"Very clever, planting a double to fool even me. But not quite clever enough." Lila said with a wicked smile. Unfortunately, with the prince facing Lila, now somewhat confused about her mentioning a double, the two girls behind him were able to take him by surprise and pull a sack over him. "Checkmate! I win." 

The three girls dragged the prince into the mine, where they released him from his confinement once they reached far enough into the mine. Plagg had jumped out of the carriage and followed after them, wanting to stay close to his prince. Plagg looked on in concern as Adrien was pushed out of the sack, landing roughly on the ground.

"Nice to see you again, your highness," The ginger girl said. 

"I don't understand, Lila. Why would you do this?" Adrien asked. 

"She's going to be queen," the blonde girl said with a smile. And then she can finally fulfil her end of the bargain and get me a position working with royalty , the girl thought.

"And how would you get to be queen?" Adrien asked. 

"Still underestimating me. Isn't that just like a royal?" Lila said. 

"She was going to convince your father to let her marry you," Sabrina said, instinctively wanting to be helpful towards the prince. 

"What?" Adrien said incredulously. 

"But now she's got a new groom in mind," Chloe added.

"Your father is a rather… handsome man." Lila said, smiling at her new plan as the other two girls, at her signal, grabbed Adrien by his arms to pull him through a nearby door into a small room in the mine, and that was when he saw her. 

"Marinette!" Adrien immediately recognised his best friend, who had been left crouched on the floor with her hands tied behind her back to prevent her trying to escape.

"Adrien?" Marinette was usually happy to see him, but she was disappointed to see him here. She had been supposed to find and rescue him, but she'd failed, been captured herself, and now here he was, he was here because she'd failed him. He began attempting to untie the rope around her wrists, and she looked away, not able to look at him right now as she thought of how she'd failed him.

"How sad they'll be when they discover you died in a tragic accident." Lila said, blocking the only door out. 

"They'll never give up looking for the prince!" Marinette shouted in her direction as Adrien continued to struggle with the knots.

"Oh I think they will… when I show them this!" Lila held out Adrien's ring, which she hadn't given back after taking it from Plagg's collar. Adrien said nothing, only focussed on the knotted rope, the only thing on his mind now was Marinette. Lila scoffed and turned away, slamming the door behind her, and it was unfortunately only just after she locked the door from the other side did Adrien finally succeed.

"Got it!" Adrien exclaimed, as the ropes came off Marinette's wrists. The girl stood and rubbed her sore wrists as Adrien checked the door, finding it locked. He took a step back before trying to force the door open, ramming against it with his shoulder, but it didn't budge. He turned and focussed his attention back to Marinette.

"Are you okay?" She asked, before he could ask her the same thing.

"I'm fine, are you okay? Did they hurt you?" He asked, having been filled with a feeling of concern for her since seeing her tied up here. Before she could answer, the two looked up at the noises they heard coming from outside the mine. Chloe and Sabrina were now taking axes to some support beams at the entrance to the mine. After some hits, the fragile beams collapsed, the entrance caving in and leaving Adrien and Marinette trapped inside. The girls then climbed aboard the carriage, which Kaalki hesitantly pulled away, for fear of being whipped, not wanting to serve Lila but not having much other choice. 

Chapter Text

Queen Kagami had been curious about the prince from the moment she first saw him. She'd really enjoyed getting to know him, but there was something else she was curious about. She has disguised herself as the ambassador's assistant as a way to be around the prince and see how he acts before he believes he's met her. But there was something interesting she noticed during her little experiment. The day the ambassador had arrived and she presented a gift on behalf of herself, she had actually entered the castle before the ambassador, hiding among the servants too busy with various wedding preparations to notice her. She'd found an engagement gift that needed to be moved to a room where the others were kept, and made to do so, finding herself outside a room where she spotted the prince, and stayed outside the room for a moment to listen. He was singing that day. Staring out the window, he was singing to himself about how he wished to be 'free', and that he'd like to 'marry whom I choose.' She had felt a little relieved seeing he was just as reluctant to marry a stranger as she was. As she listened to the prince's brief conversation with the king before finally going into the room to drop off the engagement gift she'd found that needed to be brought in, she noticed the prince did seem to be everything she'd been told he was. Loyal and duty bound, the prince agreed with his father that it was his duty to save the kingdom through the arranged marriage.

But then, there was the morning she'd decided to introduce herself, and went looking for him, and heard him singing in his bathroom and decided to leave him be and wait for the formal introduction. When she'd been asked to play the piano, and she took the opportunity to insist the prince sing, she'd had an ulterior motive for wanting to hear him sing again. The song she'd heard when she approached his bedroom door sounded interesting, but she couldn't help noticing something different about it. It sounded different from the first time she'd heard him sing. There was something a little different about his voice, much like how two people could have identical speaking voices, but would have slightly different singing voices. Perhaps it was her mind playing tricks on her, she wondered, or maybe just the different style of song making him sound a bit different. But she needed to hear him sing again. And she fully intended to listen closely during their song when she played piano, to compare his singing voice to what she'd heard before. But as they made up their song together, she grew distracted from those thoughts. Spending the day together, she couldn't focus on her original intention of singing with him, as she started to really enjoy the time they were spending together. Making up a sappy love song, playing with Barkk and seeing his sensitive side with the dog he cared so much about, and then watching the sunset together, it had all been surprisingly thrilling, bringing about a feeling she didn't quite understand. She didn't care anymore about figuring out why his singing voice had sounded a bit different. She just wanted to be around him. 

Felix and Kagami spent much of the next day together too. With each passing moment, both of them grew more sure that they wanted to continue spending time together as much as possible. Felix didn't understand what he was feeling. Normally he didn't need anyone, he didn't bother with friendships, much less whatever this was becoming. He felt a strange connection to this girl that he couldn't understand. He tried not to think about it. With her, he didn't feel like he had to pretend to be the prince. Asides from the parts where she called him 'Adrien' sometimes, he felt like he was just being himself around her. When they were alone together, they didn't have to worry about formalities. Everything felt so relaxed and casual. It was almost like everyone in the world had disappeared except the two of them. 

Unfortunately as the day went on, the two of them did have to meet with the king and the ambassador, for a part of the wedding arrangements they needed to be present for. 

"Everything seems to be in order. Thank you, ambassador." King Gabriel said, the ambassador bowing at the king's words of thanks. "The kingdoms will be officially joined after the wedding tomorrow." He then looked at Felix. "Are you ready, son?" He asked, slipping something small from his hands into Felix's. 

"Ready, father." The boy said. And he was ready. Though he wished he could have had even more time with Kagami, as each moment they spent together made them feel closer, he felt like he wouldn't mind marrying her as the prince. The real prince was gone, likely never coming back, he believed. At this point it seemed the prince was either dead, or never intended to return to his life. He'd seen no trace of Marinette either. Perhaps she'd found him, but decided to stay wherever he'd gone, Felix surmised. Good for her, he thought, she totally had a thing for him. Those two seemed like they'd be good together. Perhaps I should thank them for letting me have this life. If I knew where they'd gone, I'd send them a thank you gift. Actually, they might thank me, too. I'm doing their kingdom a favour by doing this. If he's dead, or if he just doesn't want to be the prince anymore, the people of the kingdom would be upset to learn that either way. And now the king still has an heir to marry Kagami to save the kingdom with her fortune. I'm doing everyone a favour here and no one even knows it. But it's ok, I'm getting something out of it too. I'm getting to spend time with Kagami, and she's, well… He still couldn't admit, even to himself, just how much he liked Kagami in such a special way. He didn't even notice that it was her he thought of first, rather than the luxurious life of a prince he'd gained from taking the prince's life. 

Felix turned to face Kagami, and she smiled, as she likely knew what he was holding, as it was traditional after all. They both couldn't help feeling a little nervous, though they knew it was just a formality. The marriage had already been arranged, they knew from the start they were to be wed. But what Felix was now holding was symbolic, and made the moment so much more real. 

"For my bride to be," the boy bowed and held out the small box for the girl to open, revealing the ring inside. Although the prince's kingdom was the less wealthy of the two, it was still tradition for the groom to present his bride with a ring, and the king had done his best to arrange a suitable ring to be made for his son to present to his bride. Kagami looked down at the ring, before looking back up at Felix, the two face to face. But before either could say anything more, the door burst open. 

"Grab him! He's an imposter!" Lila said, pointing at Felix after coming through the door with two guards behind her. Barkk looked on in amazement as she'd been sitting outside the closed doors, the king asking Felix to leave his pet outside just this once for such a formal moment, and the dog looked on helplessly as the guards marched forward to grab her master by the arms. 

"Lila, what are you doing?" The king questioned.

"Get your hands off me!" Felix yelled.

"Release the prince!" Kagami said firmly, hoping her authority as a queen would come in handy in the situation. She so hated to see the boy being handled in such a manner, as she'd grown to care so much for him.

"He's a fake! A common pauper!" Lila announced, as the guards continued to pull Felix towards the door. Felix froze in place, barely struggling anymore as it dawned on him that he'd been found out. He should have known this could happen. His original plan was to throw Marinette under the bus, that if she turned on him and exposed him he'd make out that she forced him to take on this facade as the prince with some sort of threat. But now, despite his usual capability for false confidence and manipulation, he went quiet. All he could think about was that now that he was outed, he was losing Kagami. And that's what was important to him right now. 

"Are you telling me I don't know my own son?" The king asked, stepping forward to approach.

"I only just discovered the truth myself, Your majesty." Lila said, with a sympathetic act. "Have you not wondered why we haven't seen Marinette lately? She's conspiring with this- this imposter! Together they took the prince and hid him in the royal mine so… so he could take her place, marry Queen Kagami, and take over the kingdom!" She's good at lying, I'll give her that , Felix thought, still stunned and unable to lie his way out of Lila's story. 

"And what proof do you have of this ridiculous story?" Kagami asked, trying to stay calm. She didn't want to believe it. She just couldn't believe that this boy she'd grown to care so much for would do such a thing. Perhaps she could believe that this boy wasn't really the prince, if it had just been that. That part began to make sense in her mind as she remembered the difference in singing voice she'd noticed and had been too distracted to figure out. Perhaps the prince had been swapped with this boy after she'd heard the first song, that much she could believe. But leaving the real prince in the mines to his death? Posing as the prince to take over the kingdom? It just didn't sound right to her. 

"Once I discovered this treachery, I tried to rescue the prince but I was too late." Lila went on. "They sabotaged the mine, collapsing it. I'm afraid this is all my workers found in the rubble." She held up a ring, which the king immediately recognised. 

"No…" the king gasped in horror, taking in the situation. "My son…" 

"Check his shoulder! There's no royal birthmark, I assure you." Lila added. The king silently approached Felix, who stayed still, not bothering to put up a fight against the two guards holding his arms, and looked down, still thinking only about what Kagami must now think of him. The king reached forwards and pushed aside the collar of the boy's shirt, exposing enough of his shoulder to see where Prince Adrien's birthmark would have been. 

"It's true…" the king said, stepping back away from the boy. "You… You are not my son."

"I don't believe it," Kagami thought aloud. She doesn't? Maybe she doesn't fully believe the story? Felix wondered, a twinge of hope pulling at him. He'd never be able to convince the king or the guards he had good intentions, he'd be brought to the dungeon for life in prison for such a crime, but if he could at least convince the one person in this room he cared about that he was not the monster Lila made him out to be… he would feel so much better if only she believed him. All he cared about was what she must be thinking of him. He couldn't stand the thought of her thinking so low of him.

"... I can explain," Felix finally spoke. 

"Throw him in the dungeon!" Lila proclaimed, the guards grasping him a bit more firmly to pull him away.

"No, wait!" Felix yelled, determination filling him as he pulled his arms away, the shock of him finally fighting back allowing him to pull away from the guards and approach Kagami. "I'm not the prince," he said, unable to read her expression, but continued on, hoping desperately to convince her of what he said next. "But I never hurt him, or anyone else!" He declared quickly, as the guards grabbed him once again. Kagami didn't know whether to reach for him as he was being pulled away. Or to tell them to stop, she wondered, but she was worried it wouldn't work. The two had grown so close in a way that neither fully understood, but something just made her feel like she could trust him. And truth he told, he felt like she was the only one he could trust. She didn't understand how, but somehow she believed him. It felt right to her. He wasn't the real prince, and somehow she didn't care. All she knew in that moment was she believed he really hadn't hurt anyone. She didn't want him to be pulled away from her, but she was stunned, and didn't say anything, watching and trying to read his expression. He looked genuinely scared, that much she could tell. 

"Unbelievable! It's an outrage!" The ambassador spoke up, as the king sat down silently at a seat at the side of the room, and the guards continued to pull Felix towards the door. He walked, but slowly, dragging his feet to delay the inevitable. 

"I- I was just helping Marinette to save the prince!" Felix added. Which wasn't entirely untrue. Though he hadn't fully believed Marinette's suspicions of foul play at first, he had indeed been following Marinette's plan to save the prince by making it appear as if the prince had returned, in order to give her time to find him without the wedding being cancelled. "... From her!" Felix pointed at Lila, hoping that if he brought up the possibility of Lila being responsible that maybe, just maybe, someone would figure out the truth. 

"The dungeon!" Lila urged, and the guards pulled Felix with more force and he gave in, allowing himself to be walked out the room, Lila following them out. Barkk, with no way of helping, simply ran along, following them wherever they took her master. The king sat quietly alone after Kagami and the ambassador left the room, the confused queen following her ambassador who marched out angrily.

"What do they take us for? Fools?" The ambassador continued on in shock as the two approached their carriage to leave. "Trying to marry you off to a mere pauper!" The king simply sat in silence. 

"It just doesn't make sense." Kagami said, still not sure what to believe. 

"I should say no. The sooner we leave, the happier I will be." The ambassador said, making his feelings very clear. 

Chapter Text

Felix sat in the dull dungeon room in silence. Barkk had followed him there, with no other ideas, and now fell asleep beside him on the uncomfortable seat. The bars on the window in the dungeon cell were wide enough that the small dog could squeeze her way out if she wanted to, but chose to stay close to her master for now.

Felix thought back over the past few days, and how everything had changed so quickly. For a brief moment he began to wish he'd never met that prince, but then it hit him. If he hadn't met the prince, he would never have met Kagami either, and… she was worth it. If only he could be proven innocent. Of course, he still wouldn't be able to be with her the way he had when she thought he was the prince. But he couldn't help wishing that somehow, he could see her again. Heck, he'd even work as a mere servant, if only it meant he could be around her again. All he knew in this moment was that she was the best thing to have happened to him. And now he'd lost her. She would never want to see him again, not now that he'd been exposed as an imposter. She'd wanted to marry the prince, not him, he knew. 

As much as it hurt, he couldn't help thinking about the time they'd spent together. She'd urged him to make up a song together, and he let his guard down and shared his love of music that he had always kept hidden. He felt like he was fully being himself around her, and it felt great. He felt like he didn't have to put up a front. And he felt like she was being herself around him too, forgoing formalities to just enjoy spending time together. Looking back on those moments, he felt foolish as he realised that during those moments, he'd been hoping she would feel some of the same feelings he was feeling towards her. The time he spent with her, it meant everything to him, he realised. In fact, now that it was too late, it finally dawned on him: he was falling in love with her. And he'd likely never see her again. And despite being trapped in the dungeon awaiting who knows what kind of sentence for his alleged crimes, losing Kagami was what saddened him the most. 

King Gabriel sat alone in a room, looking at a portrait of his family: himself standing beside his late wife, Queen Emilie, their son Adrien standing in front of them, each parent with a hand on one of the boy's shoulders. They had been so happy, the three of them a perfect family who loved each other so dearly. He has his wife, the life of his life, as well as his son, his heir to the throne, who he wanted the best for. But when Emilie passed away nearly a year ago, it hit him hard. He tried to be there for Adrien, though he didn't fully know how, while still trying to keep up the appearance of the hardworking king ruling the kingdom without his dear queen.

And now he has lost his son too. Gabriel, usually confident and clever, felt completely lost. He'd lost his only son. Putting aside his emotions for a moment, he realised just how bad this was for his kingdom too. Now not only was the kingdom still bankrupt without Adrien to marry the wealthy queen, he now had no heir. Had Emilie still been alive when losing their son, they would likely try for a new child to ensure their family has an heir. But with no wife to birth a new heir, Gabriel was stuck. 

"Ah, just who I wanted to see," The king turned around to see Lila had entered the room. 

"Lila, what is it?" He asked, trying to hide his emotions as his mind was focussed on his recent loss. 

"So many problems. I'm here to help." Lila said. 

"You can't bring my son back." The king said bluntly.

"Too true," the younger woman said, feigning sympathy. "But I can provide the answer to saving your kingdom." 

"I don't see how you could." Gabriel said. "Adrien marrying Queen Kagami was my best option, and now that can't happen. She was perfect for him, she was wealthy enough to save our kingdom, and all she wanted in return was to find a husband close to her own age." Kagami had indeed received many offers from other kingdoms, but most had been from older kings looking for a younger wife for the best chance at conceiving an heir. 

"And without him, you are left without an heir. Perhaps you'd consider remarriage? With all my respect to our dear departed Queen Emilie, a younger wife would allow you to conceive an heir." Lila suggested. 

"I wouldn't be able to afford to bring up a child in this kingdom. It would take years before a new heir would be old enough to marry someone wealthy enough to save the kingdom." King Gabriel said.

"Ah, but why wait for the child to marry someone wealthy?" Lila said. "And lucky for you, I know just the perfect candidate."

"You do? I don't understand. What wealthy queen would marry me?" Gabriel asked. 

"Well, one of my recent business ventures was actually rather successful. I hadn't had the chance to tell you, with how busy we were with the upcoming wedding." Lila smiled. "You could say I struck gold. You see, your majesty, I'm now as wealthy as Queen Kagami." 

"And… you'd be willing to help the kingdom? With your wealth?" The king asked.

"Perhaps, though it would be rather unorthodox for your advisor to simply give away her wealth to the royal family, don't you think?" Lila pointed out. "But there is a more traditional way for me to share my wealth with the kingdom. Since I'm so good hearted, I am willing to carve out half my fortune. We already have arrangements made for a wedding. You could save your kingdom by marrying someone wealthy. And it seems you've found the perfect candidate, don't you think, your majesty?" The king hesitated, though he knew she was right. She was wealthy enough to save the kingdom, and also young enough to provide him with a new heir so the family would carry on after he is someday gone, and it seemed to be his only choice. 

Of course, Lila wasn't as good hearted as she convinced him she was. All she wanted was to be queen, and rule the kingdom as she pleased. Yes, she knew the king typically was the one to make decisions about the kingdom. But being his advisor, she wondered if perhaps he was so used to taking her suggestions that he would continue to do so after they were married. And if he didn't, it wouldn't matter. Once she established herself as queen, all she needed to do was stage a little 'accident' for the king, to ensure the kingdom would be hers, and hers alone. 

"So your majesty…" she looked at him expectantly. "How could you refuse?"

Chapter Text

Barkk watched as her master had now fallen asleep in the dungeon cell. She was hungry, and considered slipping out of the cell to look for food. When Felix couldn't afford to buy her much, she would often sneak out of Colt Fathom's to eat something, usually scraps that had fallen on the ground from people buying food in the village. Perhaps she could even find something good enough for her master to eat, she wondered, noticing he hadn't been given anything to eat since being taken to the dungeon. She slipped through the bars of the window and after a glance at her sleeping master, walked out of the dungeon and into the early morning fresh air. She immediately heard footsteps, or more precisely, hoofsteps, as a horse, pulling an empty carriage she was bound to, approached. 

"Are you Barkk?" The horse asked. 

"Who wants to know?" The dog asked, with an attitude she'd picked up from her master, wary of any strangers considering the stressful situation she and her master were in. 

"I'm Kaalki. Plagg told me about you." The horse said. "He needs help, and so does the prince."

"Where? Show me, quick." The small dog followed the horse as they ran, though the horse sped up in desperation and Barkk wasn't quite as fast as her, so she decided to jump into the carriage behind her to save energy, not sure what kind of help Plagg and the prince needed that she could provide.

Meanwhile, at the mine, Adrien had been worried about Marinette ever since the moment he'd seen her in the mine, left on the ground with her wrists bound. Returning to save his kingdom should have been his top priority, but at this moment, all he could think about was getting Marinette out of her, he needed to see her safe. 

Adrien had picked up a pickaxe that had luckily been left on the floor, and attempted to hit the rocks blocking their way to potentially clear a path out. As his inexperienced hits struck the rocks, a smaller rock was dislodged and fell down towards Plagg, hitting the small cat who let out a small yowl. 

"Sorry, Plagg," Adrien said, putting down the pickaxe for a moment to soothe his friend.

Behind him, Marinette picked up the discarded tool in desperation. If he wasn't using it, she would, because right now she needed to get her prince out of here. All she could think about was how all this time she'd been trying to rescue her prince, her best friend, and yet she'd failed, the two of them now trapped here.

As Adrien bent down to soothe Plagg, he noticed the small rock was cracked, and picked it up to examine it. He noticed something interesting about it, then turned back around hearing Marinette struggle to hit the boulders with the pickaxe as hard as she could before dropping the pickaxe in frustration. 

"It's hopeless," she said. "I'm sorry Adrien." She sat down on a crate, feeling defeated and disappointed in herself. Adrien approached her, he hated seeing her so defeated like this. 

"Do you know why I didn't want to marry Queen Kagami?" He asked.

"You weren't ready to get married." She answered, with her best guess. 

"No," he said, sitting down on a crate beside her. "I honestly didn't quite understand it myself at first, but now I've realised… all this time, I was in love with somebody else already." Marinette looked at him, a bit stunned. She had no clue who he could have fallen in love with, he didn't have a lot of friends, didn't spend much time with others his age really, or if he had, he hadn't told her about it. And she thought he told her everything. They were always so honest and open with each other. Her mind raced with a thousand thoughts in the few seconds before he continued. Whoever it was, she would try to be happy for him, of course, but with that thought she realised why it was so hard for her to think about him with someone else. "My best friend. The woman who's taught me so much." Adrien continued. Marinette gasped, realising what he meant. She almost couldn't believe it, he couldn't possibly… could he? But before she could let herself feel excited about this revelation, she realised, even if he felt that way, could it even work between them?

"But… I'm not a queen. I can't give you what she can." She said, looking down at her lap in disappointment. 

"I don't care, Marinette. I love you just the way you are." He said. 

"R- really?" She said, dumbfounded. He smiled, his warm smile filled with love and admiration for her. He'd finally realised how much he loved and appreciated her. She'd always been there for him, and now because he'd been kidnapped, he'd gotten to see just how much she cared, with how determined she was to save him. 

"I think you're like this," he said, holding out the small rock he'd picked up. 

"A rock?" She said, confused. 

"Unassuming on the outside," he said, before pulling apart the rock that had split down the middle. "But a treasure within." On the inside of the rock that looked so ordinary on the outside was a shiny jewel that formed inside, hidden from view until the rock was broken apart. Marinette smiled, understanding his compliment. He loved her, he really did. He saw her for the wonderful person she was inside, and loved her for it. Adrien dropped the geode to the ground and reached forward to pull her into a hug. Marinette was nervous, having not had much physical contact with the prince, but welcomed the hug, still emotional from this revelation, and rested her head on his shoulder. "I love you, Marinette." He added. "I think, deep down, I always have."

"I love you too, Adrien. I have for so long." She said, finally admitting it completely to herself, as well as to him. With this revelation, she was filled with a new sense of determination to get him back home safe. "We'll get out of here somehow. I promise."

Chapter Text

Barkk jumped out of the carriage as Kaalki came to a stop at the royal mine that was now collapsed, the entrance completely blocked off. 

"Don't tell me he's in there," Barkk said. 

"Alright, I… will not tell you." Kaalki said. Barkk started sniffing the ground. She soon notices something interesting, walking in circles as she sniffs the ground intensely. 

"Oh, I'm getting… I'm getting…" she trailed off, walking in circles.

"Dizzy?" The horse guessed. 

"No, a scent!" The dog said in excitement. "There's another way in."

Meanwhile in the mine, Adrien and Marinette attempted to clear a path out, futile as it seemed, being filled with determination to escape after their mutual confession of love for each other. Adrien noticed a weak looking section of the caved-in wall, and tried hitting it with the pickaxe, only for it to begin leaking water. He and Marinette looked at each other in understanding; they couldn't let the room fill with water any further, or they'd drown with no way out. Plagg backed away slowly, not wanting to get wet if he could help it, and slinked behind his master. 

Above the mine, Barkk began digging furiously, until the weak dirt collapsed, revealing a man made hole that had been filled in when no longer needed, as the mine had been upgraded years ago with easier access than having to be lowered down a shaft. 

"Hey, hey, down here!" Barkk said excitedly. "What do you make of that?"

"Well… you are an excellent digger," Kaalki said, unsure of the response the dog was after. 

"Well thank you, but I meant, look! I bet I can get to Plagg and the prince this way."

Back in the dungeon, Felix awoke to find his canine friend gone, but knowing the window bars were wide enough for her to get through, he figured it was only a matter of time before she got hungry and left him. He looked around and noticed the guard who'd been standing nearby had fallen asleep leaning against his cell. 

"You are going down there?" Kaalki asked incredulously, looking at the long drop of a hole that had opened up. 

"I just need to break that last part," the dog said. With the mine shaft having been opened up, all that separated the two humans below from the open air were a few flimsy planks of wood covering the bottom of the mine shaft creating a ceiling to the small room they were trapped in. The dog ran to the mine entrance, and found a pickaxe, one of the ones used and discarded by Chloe and Sabrina when they broke the supports needed to collapse the mine. The dog tried to push and then pull the pickaxe, but the small dog wasn't very strong, and she called out, "Kaalki, help me move this!" The horse trotted over and joined her, and while the horse was more used to pulling things tied behind her like carriages rather than small objects, she was still strong enough to lean down and grip the pickaxe with her mouth, and pull it close to the hole Barkk had dug. 

"If the prince is down there, what if it hits him?" Kaalki questioned Barkk's plan.

"Hopefully he'll hear it coming and move out the way?" The dog said, though also unsure. "It's a risk we gotta take, it's the only way to open a way out."

"I suppose you're right," the horse agreed. "But we should at least try and warn him to look up." Barkk nodded, before barking as loud as she could, looking down through the hole hoping the sound would travel down to them and through the thin barrier at the bottom of the hole. 

At the sound of a dog barking, Adrien and Marinette looked up in confusion, Marinette especially confused as she felt a sense of familiarity, having heard a certain dog yapping at strangers recently. As they looked up, they noticed a little bit more light seemed to trickle through the wooden barrier above them. 

"We went downstairs to get in here, I think that's the ground floor above us," Adrien said. "Though I don't know why a dog would be at the mine. No one would bring one here."

"And we don't get wild dogs in this area," Marinette added. 

"Now, Kaalki," Barkk said. The horse leaned down and pushed the pickaxe forward, into the hole.

It was Plagg, with his superior cat hearing, who heard the pickaxe falling through the hole and reacted quickly, backing up away from where it was falling. Adrien noticed Plagg's reaction and wondered what he'd heard. 

"Something's going on up there," Marinette mused. 

"Get back!" Adrien pulled her back as he stepped back against the wall behind them, away from the part of the ceiling blocked by wooden planks. Suddenly, the wood was smashed by the pickaxe that fell through. Once the pickaxe had landed, the two humans tentatively stepped forward and looked up at the hole now opened up above them.

"An old mine shaft," Marinette recognised the style of the way the hole was originally constructed. 

"And maybe a way out." Adrien said. He looked around before remembering the water that was leaking into the room, and had an idea. He picked up one of the pickaxes and began swinging at the weak section the water was leaking from, which increased the flow of the water, letting it spout heavily into the room. "Perfect," he smiled at his idea. Plagg cowered at his feet at the increasing water in the room, confused why his master did so. 

Chapter Text

Felix, trapped in the dungeon, had noticed the keys hanging from the sleeping guard's belt, and realised if he wanted any chance of living his life, he'd need to get the keys and escape. If not… he didn't want to think about the likely sentence he'd receive for his crimes, impersonating royalty as well as the supposed crimes Lila had convinced the king he had committed. He looked around for anything he could use, but all he saw on the floor was a stick Barkk must have carried into the room. The gaps between the bars were too thin for him to reach his arm out, so the keys were just out of his reach. He picked up the stick, but knew he'd need some sort of hook on the end of it to get the keyring. He then remembered he was still wearing the fancy clothes from the prince's wardrobe, and he knew his way around fancy suits, since he was the one making them. He knew that fancier clothes always came with more buckles and other fastenings. He found a buckle on his clothes that he managed to detach, and clipped it onto the end of the stick, shaping the buckle as best as he could into a makeshift hook. He held the stick steadily through the gap between the bars, and gently managed to hook the keyring and pull it up and off the hook on the guard's belt and back through the bars into his cell. He grinned as he grasped the key and used it to unlock the cell door. He ran out the cell, trying to remember the way out he'd seen when he was brought in. He didn't know where he'd run to once he got out. He couldn't return to Colt Fathom's after being gone this long. It was foolish to think he'd be able to see Kagami again, but in the back of his mind he couldn't help but hope there was a chance she'd believe him, and not think of him as the horrible person Lila made him out to be; it pained him to think about what Kagami must now think of him. Still, he ran, knowing he couldn't return to anyone who would know him. Unfortunately in his haste he didn't remember to close the cell door gently, so the door swung closed behind him and its slam awoke the guard. With his head start ahead of the groggy guard, Felix ran as fast as he could, rounding a corner and running straight into another person, a guard with a smaller build and a helmet covering their face. 

"No, let me go," he tried fighting back, noticing the new guard's smaller frame indicating they might not be as strong as him. Before the new guard could say anything, the first guard caught up.

"Thought you could escape, did you?" He taunted, before reaching out to offer the smaller guard help in restraining him. "I'll lock him up."

"I'm to take him to the castle." The new guard chimed in. Her voice revealed her to be female, which was surprising, but Felix was in no position to question a royal guard's gender. 

"But-" the first guard began.

"King's orders," the new guard added. Oh no , Felix thought. If the king has sent for me, that must mean he's decided on a sentence… I can't stick around for that.

"Well, alright then." The first guard said, before walking away to return to his post.

Meanwhile in the mine, Adrien and Marinette stood in one of the barrels that had been in the room, having opened it to stand in the cramped space inside it. Adrien held Plagg and stood very close to Marionette as was necessary. The barrel allowed them to float atop the rising water they'd caused to flow into the room, and with the mine shaft opened, they slowly floated higher until the rising water would take them up to the ground level.

"Barkk?" Marinette said in surprise when they reached the top and she recognised the dog waiting for them.

"You know the dog?" Adrien asked.

"She's Felix's dog," she explained.

"The boy I met who looks just like me?" Adrien questioned, as Barkk ran over to greet Marinette, before greeting Plagg too once he jumped down from Adrien's arms. "You know him? Well enough to be friends with his dog?" 

"It's a long story…" Marinette said, before Adrien spoke again in surprise.

"That same horse is here?" Adrien recognised the horse as the same one who had conveniently been at the shack he'd escaped from, that he'd used to try to go back to the castle before ending up at Colt Fathom's. 

"You've seen that horse before?" Marinette questioned.

"Another long story." Adrien said. "Come on, we have to get to the castle. Remember, Lila said she's going to try and marry my father. If he thinks I'm dead, he might have actually agreed to that in order to save the kingdom." Marinette followed Adrien into the carriage behind the horse, Plagg and Barkk jumping into the carriage to join them, and Adrien took the reins and commanded the horse towards the castle.

Chapter Text

The female guard attempted to lead Felix in a direction, but with her smaller build and the other guard gone, Felix saw opportunity and fought back, stomping his foot on the guard's.

"Hey!" The guard stumbled in surprise before lifting the part of her helmet that covered her face, seemingly forgetting Felix hadn't had a chance to recognise her until then. "I guess I deserved that." She had considered simply explaining who she was right away, but with the other guard nearby, it would have been too risky to explain everything before getting him out of the dungeon, but she felt bad about having to attempt to force him to go with her and likely scaring him into thinking the guards were taking him to the castle for something horrible.

"Kagami!" Felix recognised her in shock, before remembering his manners. "I mean, Queen Kagami," he bowed, remembering he was a mere pauper and she was a queen, who knew the truth about who he was. I'm not royalty, and no one thinks I am, he remembered. Not a prince or king, not her equal. "I- I need to explain-" he stammered, all his thoughts rushing to him at once, holding onto hope that Kagami might still care for him despite knowing his truth. 

"I don't believe you're the person Lila says you are." Kagami interrupted. Felix smiled at her words, his fears mostly fading away, and it felt like it did when the two had been spending time together, and felt so at ease with each other.

"... You do love disguises, don't you?" That was all Felix could think to say in response at this moment. Kagami smiled back at him.

"If your version of things is to be believed, then I presume the real prince is in danger?" Kagami urged him.

"Yeah, and probably Marinette too, with how she tried to find him and hasn't come back."

"We'll try and help them soon, but before I can fully trust you again enough to let you out of here to help… we need to talk." Felix nodded, understanding her need for an explanation, but didn't know how to begin, and she continued. "I know you're not the prince, but that's about all I know about you, it seems." Felix considered piping up at that, to assure her that she really did get to know him, he only lied about being the prince. The connection they had, the time they spent together, the conversations they had, that was all real. But he let her continue. "Well, there is one other thing I know. I know you're not really the prince, but at the same time… I know you're not the person Lila made you out to be. I don't know how I can say this for sure, but I just know you're not the kind of person who would set up the prince to die."

"Queen Kagami, your highness…" he began.

"Please, it's always been just Kagami with us two alone. That doesn't need to change. You can speak plainly to me, as you always did. Just tell me honestly… who are you?"

"My name is Felix." He said. He wanted to look away from her face, but he also couldn't keep from looking into her eyes as he finally let the truth out. "One thing Lila said was true: I am just a common pauper. My parents were poor, and borrowed money to feed me, and after they died, I've been working all my life to repay their debt. I met the prince by chance and we discovered we look alike. The next day, the letter claiming he'd run away was discovered, and his tutor Marinette came to find me. She believed he hadn't really run away and asked me to fill in for him so the wedding wouldn't be cancelled so she'd have time to find him."

"So it was you the day Marinette announced the prince returned from running away?" Kagami clarified.

"Yes, and it was me the day you were supposed to be introduced to the prince. I never meant to get in the way of the marriage arrangement, I just thought I was trying to help." Felix explained.

"But it was you I spent all that time with. You, who loves music and sang with me." Kagami added. 

"Yeah, that was fun making that song together." Felix said, momentarily distracted by that memory. "I did enjoy the time we spent together. And yeah, I know we won't get to have time together like that again. I'm nobody special, just a guy who happens to look like the prince in a crazy coincidence."

"Don't talk like that." She said. "All that time we spent together, we dropped the formalities when we were alone, and I saw you as more than just the prince you pretended to be. Just because you're not the prince, that doesn't make you any less special. I saw who you really are. You're kind to those you care about, like Barkk, and me, I feel like. You're sensitive, but honest and somewhat blunt in a refreshing way. I liked being with you, and I don't ever want that to end just because you're not a prince."

"Kagami…" He said, touched by her words. "I don't want that to end either. I'd do anything to spend more time with you. I'd work as your servant if I had to, because with my status that's probably the only way I could be around you. But I'd do that if I could, because… I love you, Kagami." This is where he expected her to tell him it could never work between them, that as a queen she couldn't be around him, and they'd never be able to see each other again. But she smiled, that smile he'd seen when they'd been spending time together and she'd been so happy in a way she couldn't understand at the time. But now she understood. 

"Why do you think I came to get you out of the dungeon? Why do you think I was so sure you didn't do anything to harm anyone?" Felix was stunned at her questions. "Because I love you too, Felix." She confessed, finally speaking his real name. Felix beamed with happiness, and a desire to do the right thing. 

"I think we might still have a prince in danger, don't we?" He said. She smiled back at him before taking his hand, ready to lead him out of the dungeon.

"Yes, let's get out of this dungeon."

Chapter Text

At the castle, the wedding had already begun, as the king had wanted to restore the kingdom's wealth as soon as possible to help the kingdom recover from the loss of their prince. The arrangements for a wedding had already been made, so they'd kept the arrangements in order to avoid wasting anything they'd spent on the wedding. King Gabriel remained stoic as he tried not to think about his son, and kept his composure for the wedding. 

"Do you, Miss Lila Rossi, take this man to be your husband?" The celebrant asked. Lila smiled as her plan was finally coming together.

"Yes. How could I refuse?"

"And do you, my king, take this woman to be your bride?" The celebrant asked. The king tried to keep his composure, but looked down at the ring he still hadn't taken off, the ring that matched the one his late wife wore, and remembered how he had believed he'd never remarry after losing his beloved queen. Still, he knew he had to look after his kingdom. Torn, he tentatively began his response. 

"I…"

"Wait!" A loud voice called out from the other end of the aisle set up in the garden used for the wedding. "Wait! Stop the wedding, father!"

"My son?" The king gasped, seeing the boy approach, his cat at his feet and Marinette behind him with Barkk by her feet. 

"But he's dead, your highness!" Lila protested. "The imposter must have escaped."

"No, Lila." Adrien said firmly, pushing part of his shirt aside to expose his shoulder as he remembered the one difference he and Felix had discovered when they met. King Gabriel approached the boy and saw the birthmark that told him all he needed to know. 

"It is you. My son." The king said, pulling his son close as he felt his emotions rush to him after believing his son to be lost forever. 

"It's the prince, he's alive!" Felix said, as he and Kagami reached the wedding at this moment. 

"But where were you?" The king asked his son. "I thought…" Gabriel couldn't even begin to voice the horror he thought had become of his son. 

"What she wanted you to think." Adrien said firmly, pointing at Lila. At that sentence, the king snapped into action, believing his son, and realising the imposter had also been telling the truth when he'd said he was trying to save the prince from her. 

"Guards! Take her!" The king said with authority, the guards at the wedding springing into action at his orders. Lila ran to the horse she recognised as hers, which was not far behind Marinette and climbed aboard Kaalki. At Lila's command, she pretended to obey, and started running, but this time she wasn't scared of being whipped, and knew she shouldn't obey Lila anymore. She made a u-turn and ran back towards the wedding setup, prompting Lila to yell and reach for the small whip attached to the saddle. But Kaalki stood her ground, and ran towards the table that held the fancy wedding cake before making a sudden stop and flung her back end forward with the momentum, launching Lila off her back and straight into the large cake. Everyone had been watching incredulously at the horse disobeying her owner and acting of her own accord, and the guards quickly pulled Lila out of the cake and into their grasp. Plagg and Barkk ran to approach their horse friend. 

"I like your style, Kaalki." Plagg congratulated her. 

"So do I." She said proudly. As Lila was dragged away by the guards, Adrien motioned for Marinette, Felix and Kagami to come to him, and they did. 

"Adrien, you remember Felix," Marinette said. "He held your place for you so the wedding wouldn't be cancelled after Lila planted a fake letter from you saying you'd run away, and gave me time to try and find you." 

"Nice to see you again," Adrien said. 

"Yeah, it's been… interesting." Felix said. 

"Nice to finally meet you, Prince Adrien," Kagami chimed in. Adrien, having not met her himself (unless you count the times she followed the ambassador disguised as his assistant during which Adrien barely noticed her), Adrien had no idea who this woman dressed as a guard was. Felix realised this too and decided he'd help out, knowing that after all this mess was over, the king would likely try to reinstate the prince's engagement to Kagami. 

"Prince Adrien, may I introduce to you, Queen Kagami." Felix said. "You know, the girl you were engaged to marry." He went back to speaking casually as he knew the prince didn't mind. "I kind of ended up being there for what should have been your first introduction. The plan was for me to save the engagement from being ruined by making it seem as though you hadn't left, hope I didn't end up ruining the engagement myself." Unlike Felix, Adrien kept his formal manners in the presence of who he now knew to be Queen Kagami.

"Queen Kagami, I do apologise for the mix up, and I hope my absence didn't reflect poorly on me and my kingdom." Adrien knew his father would want him to keep up a good relationship with the queen he had been supposed to marry. Though now that he thought about the engagement, he realised no matter how much his father wanted him to, he could no longer feel ok with marrying someone other than the one he loved. He glanced at Marinette, an idea forming in his head, before King Gabriel approached the foursome, after finishing a quick briefing with the guards assigned to take care of Lila. 

"I'm ashamed to say Lila played me for a fool. I'm sorry, my son. When I think about what might have happened…" he said.

"But it didn't, father." Adrien reassured him. "Thanks to Felix, and the girl I love… Marinette." Though he'd confessed to her down in the mine, Marinette gasped, still in shock to hear him admit it to his father. Though she hadn't had much chance to think about their relationship, she'd been worried that as a commoner, they'd have to put their love aside and keep it a secret, and Adrien would still have to marry a royal. 

"Marinette?" The king said, looking at the girl before looking back at his son. 

"She's kind, intelligent, and the girl I love. Father, it's Marinette that I want to marry." Adrien continued, saying the words as he realised them himself. Yes, he now realised, Marinette was the only one he wanted to be married to, as he'd been in love with her all along. 

"I want you to be happy." The king began. "But it is our duty to take care of our people first."

"I can do that." Adrien assured him. "I found something very interesting in the mine."

Chapter Text

Prince Adrien had been right about the mine. He discovered it was filled with geodes, and under his direction the beautiful crystals created a new industry. The kingdom was saved.

As for Kaalki, once Adrien discovered the horse who had conveniently been there when he needed her belonged to Lila, he took ownership of her since her old mistress was definitely not going to be using her anymore. Kaalki was excited to be working for the prince, as she dreamed of working with the royal family, which is as noble of associations one can get. But she wasn't too disappointed when Adrien gifted her to Felix, who had expressed interest in travelling away from the village he'd been stuck in his whole life, and Kaalki developed a friendship with Barkk, who she admired for her part in the rescue. 

"I can't convince you to stay?" Kagami asked, seeing Felix now seated upon the horse, Barkk seated in a small basket that had been fitted onto the saddle. 

"Kagami, I… all my life, I've dreamed of being free." He said. He too was sad to be leaving her, but she'd been busy with her duties as a queen, and they hadn't had much chance to spend time together since the day the prince returned to stop the wedding between Lila and the king, so he believed it just wasn't meant to be, not between them. He still believed that despite his love for her, fairy tale romances just don't happen like that. "Now my debt's been paid, thanks to Adrien."

"Where will you go?" Kagami asked. 

"Everywhere," he said, glad to finally be free. "I want to travel, see the world… and maybe try singing. I do love to sing, but I was always embarrassed and hid that side of me. You helped bring that out of me."

"Remember the day we made a song together?" He nodded silently. "You promised you'd perform our song with me. I hope you'll still keep that promise someday." Felix looked at her in silence, though on the inside he felt like he wanted to keep that promise. He wasn't leaving forever, he reminded himself. He'd see her again, surely. "And until you do…" Kagami smiled at him, grabbing something from her pocket. "I'll be wearing this." She slipped on the ring she'd pulled from her pocket, and he recognised it. "It was meant to be from you."

"It was made for the prince to give to you, for an arranged marriage." He pointed out. 

"But that's not what happened." She said, with a twinkle in her eyes. "You were the one who gave it to me. And you are the one I want to sing with again. But… I understand, this is something you need to do now that you're free. I'll be waiting until you decide to visit."

"You're a queen," he said, remembering that fact he often ignored as they spoke casually with one another. "You're not going to order me to stay, are you?"

"I'll take my chances," she said, smiling up at him. 

Prince Adrien and Marinette enjoyed a long engagement, spending as much time together as they could while Adrien worked to save the kingdom by establishing an industry using the geodes he discovered. King Gabriel was proud of his son, seeing him save the kingdom without the need for the king's controlling arrangements. His son has grown up, and he knew his queen, Emilie, would also be proud if she could see their son honouring their kingdom and more importantly being happy and in love. 

As for Colt Fathom, without the business from the royal family, he went out of business. Adrien of course made sure to help out his new friend, Nino, who was nice to him when he was stuck at Colt Fathom's. He found better paying jobs for Nino's parents, so the boy could have more free time to enjoy his life as young people should, and he began working on a career making music. 

After months of travelling, Felix realised there was one place he wanted to stay more than anywhere else. Sometimes being free means choosing not to go, but to stay. Felix had enjoyed his freedom long enough to realise that where he really wanted to be was back by Kagami's side. 

Queen Kagami was filled with joy when she recognised the boy in the approaching horse, and she presented him with the ring that matched the one she still wore, the one he had given her when their relationship began. She was glad to see him again, and even more happy to hear he was ready to start a proper relationship with her. The two were so in love that their relationship progressed quickly enough, and when the time came, they joined their friends Adrien and Marinette, who after a long engagement had also decided they were ready to take that step, to share a double wedding. 

The two kingdoms maintained a great relationship and the four remained friends, often visiting each other. Having become queen at a young age, Kagami became a source of advice for Adrien, especially when King Gabriel retired, feeling ready to pass the kingdom to his son. The kingdom had been saved and the two couples lived happily ever after.

The end.