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Gabriel loved his son. They were family, and nothing was more important than Adrien's happiness. Maybe he was a bit strict with Adrien, but that was only because he wanted him to become better. From beginning to end, Gabriel only ever wanted what was best for him.
He wanted to bring Emilie back. Not only because he desperately needed her, but also because his son needed a mother. If that meant temporarily damaging Adrien and Marinette's relationship, then he would definitely do it. Gabriel admitted that he did feel guilty when he asked Marinette to break up with Adrien. He could see that their feelings for each other were deep and sincere. It didn't matter. Once his plan was complete, he would compensate them.
Everything went so smoothly. Under his threat, Marinette came to the Agreste mansion to break up with Adrien. The pain of being forced to deny her own feelings and part from her lover consumed her. Hawk Moth excitedly waved his cane and sent out an Akuma.
However, his Akuma did not move for a long time, and instead lost contact with him. Marinette was an excellent girl, and her sadness was extremely strong. If she could be akumatized successfully, this time would likely have been a success. He urgently asked Nathalie what happened, but there was silence on the other end of the line.
Then Nathalie told him that his son was Chat Noir.
At that moment, he couldn't help but let go of his cane. The cane fell to the floor with a dull thud, heavily striking his heart. Shock rendered him speechless, and his body felt as if frozen, unable to move.
Adrien was Chat Noir.
One of his two greatest enemies had been living under the same roof as him all along. He knew that Ladybug and Chat Noir were only teenagers, but he had never realized that they were still living, breathing children. They had classes during the day, homework at night, their own families and friends. Being able to go on a picnic with good friends was already a source of great joy in their lives. Just like Adrien.
He had never cared about whether they lived or died. Gabriel's goal had always been the Miraculous of the Ladybug and the Black Cat. He would stop at nothing to achieve it. How many times had the akumatized villains he created injured Chat Noir? How many times had they killed him?
How many times had he put his own son in danger?
What had he done?
For the first time in so long, he began to question his own actions. He wanted to bring Emilie back for himself and for Adrien, but in the process, he had hurt Adrien again and again. Was it worth it?
...No, of course it was worth it. It had to be worth it. He had already sacrificed so much; he could not stop here. He wanted to pick up his cane, only to realize that his hands were trembling. In that state, he could do nothing.
"Dark wings fall," he said, detransforming. Nooroo flew to his side, looking at him with concern. Before the little Kwami could speak, Gabriel said in a hoarse voice, "Nooroo, I renounce you."
The Kwami was pulled into the brooch. Gabriel carefully placed the Butterfly Miraculous into its box, took a deep breath, and rubbed his temples.
He was not planning to give up on bringing his wife back. He just... needed some time to think.
That evening, he canceled all his appointments and sat down to have dinner with Adrien for the first time in a long while. Adrien kept his head down, gloomily poking at the food on his plate with his fork. Gabriel barely managed to suppress the urge to scold him for his table manners.
Normally, Adrien would have been delighted to have dinner with his father. But now he was still angry. He probably wanted to protest, but he had never dared to defy Gabriel's wishes, so he could only frown and sulk like this.
Gabriel cleared his throat. He had to speak clearly enough without revealing his identity as Hawk Moth.
"I'm sorry for interfering in your love life, Adrien," he said. Adrien stopped what he was doing and looked at him in surprise.
"I was so focused on what was best for the brand that I forgot that love shouldn't be trapped by such worldly concerns." He sighed. "Your mother and I were also looked down upon when we fell in love... I should not have ignored your feelings. You two love each other more deeply than I imagined."
"Father?" Hope flickered in Adrien's eyes.
"Please tell Miss Marinette Dupain-Cheng that I will no longer interfere in your relationship. Accordingly, the two of you should be mindful of your image in public. I don't want to hear any negative news about you."
Adrien rushed forward and hugged him.
This feeling was so familiar, yet so foreign. He realized that the two of them hadn't hugged like this in a very long time. He was either busy with work or busy with his secret mission, leaving everything related to Adrien to Nathalie. How long had it been since he truly cared about Adrien?
"Thank you, Father," Adrien said from the bottom of his heart.
Even though Gabriel was making up for his mistake, Adrien was thanking him in return. He felt a pang of unease. Gabriel wanted to raise his arms to hug Adrien back, but his arms felt as heavy as lead. Perhaps it was because he was no longer used to such intimate gestures.
Adrien sat back down in his seat. Gabriel caught a glimpse of the ring on Adrien's right ring finger and realized it was the Black Cat Miraculous.
"Your ring looks very delicate," he said casually, pretending not to care. He saw Adrien's body stiffen unnaturally. "Could you take it off and let me have a look?"
"Sorry, Father," Adrien said nervously, rubbing the ring. "This ring... means a lot to me. I don't want to take it off."
He had already become alert. If Gabriel pushed further, he might realize something was wrong and run away. Gabriel decided to wait a little longer, so he dropped the subject, nodded, and said, "I see."
After the meal, he stood up to leave.
"Father," Adrien called out. "Tomorrow... can you have dinner with me like this again?"
He instinctively wanted to refuse, as he always did. But when he saw the hopeful look in Adrien's eyes, the longing on his face, guilt washed over him. He should spend more time with his son.
"Of course," he finally answered.
"Nooroo, dark wings rise."
Putting on this suit again felt almost unfamiliar to Gabriel. It had been a long time since he had sent out a new akumatized villain. Paris had let its guard down, and this was the perfect time to strike.
He hadn't actually figured out what to do next. He couldn't say why he hadn't stolen Adrien's ring while he was asleep. Maybe it was because the exaggerated yet natural smile on Chat Noir's face was so different from Adrien's. He hadn't even decided why he was releasing an akuma now; he just felt that he should do something.
The two superheroes soon arrived at the battlefield to face the latest villain, "Swordbearer," whose ability was to make anyone he touched disappear with his sword.
Since Adrien was Chat Noir, then Marinette must be Ladybug. Though he had once hated those two heroes, he wasn't blind. He could see how Chat looked at Ladybug with affectionate eyes. The fact that he loved her was almost common knowledge. If Chat—or rather, Adrien—suddenly started dating a girl, then that girl must be Ladybug. He had to admit that his son was just as devoted as he was.
Watching them clumsily dodge the villain's attacks, Gabriel felt a mix of emotions. Had he been fighting these two children all along?
Chat deftly sidestepped a slash from Swordbearer and swung his staff at the opponent's flank. Swordbearer was knocked back several meters and scrambled back to his feet, gritting his teeth.
"Is that all you've got?" Chat taunted loudly. "Then it is kind of absword!"
This was his usual style—using all kinds of methods to draw the villain's attention and buy time for Ladybug. Normally, he would fight on the front lines for longer. Hawk Moth wondered: where did his son get this terrible, ill-timed sense of humor?
"You know what is absurd? I'll show you how many of your nine lives I can cut!" Swordbearer roared and charged at Chat. Chat agilely leaped onto a streetlamp nearby, extended his staff to poke at his opponent, then pulled back and delivered a heavy uppercut to Swordbearer's chin, flipping him over. The villain let out an angry roar. Before he could steady himself, Chat was already lunging at him again with his staff.
"Lucky Charm!" Ladybug shouted. A coin landed in her hand. She frowned. "What am I supposed to do with this?"
As she thought, Swordbearer noticed that she had used her power. He knew that this was the key item they used to defeat him, so he charged toward her—
"My lady, watch out!"
Chat Noir instinctively rushed toward Ladybug, intending to take the hit for her. The moment Hawk Moth understood his intention, his heart seemed to skip a beat. Only one word remained in his mind.
"Stop!" he roared.
Swordbearer froze at the sudden command. Chat did not waste this golden opportunity; he urgently shouted "Cataclysm" and destroyed a badge on the villain's chest. Hawk Moth lost connection with the Akuma. This time, what filled his heart was not the frustration of failure, but the guilt that he had almost gotten Adrien killed again.
"Dark wings fall," he muttered.
He could not go on like this.
He took the brooch out of the box and placed it on Adrien's desk. He had to ensure Adrien's safety and happiness. He should never have been trapped by his own obsession, hurting his still-living family again and again.
He should have stopped long ago.
Adrien returned home not long after. Gabriel had no interest in listening to his clumsy excuses. He stepped forward and hugged him tightly.
He should think more about Adrien. He had been absent from his growth for too long. He was supposed to protect him and take care of him, but he had never done so.
Maybe it was time to make a change.
Gabriel loved his son.
Did he?
Gabriel loved his son. Adrien was the perfect creation of him and Emilie. He must fully meet his father's expectations. Maybe he might temporarily act out and disobey Gabriel's orders, but in the end, he would always obey.
Gabriel believed that his son would surely understand his actions. They were family, weren't they? Adrien ought to help his father. He must not have any thoughts of his own. He would, and must, become a part of his plan.
Chat Noir looked on in horror as the coffin was opened. Inside the transparent glass case lay his mother's sleeping body. Hawk Moth's figure overlapped with his father's. This man who had terrorized Paris was still trying to recruit him, to make him serve evil.
He knew. He had known all along that Adrien was Chat Noir. But he had changed nothing. Instead, he had turned his son's identity to his own advantage. From beginning to end, he had never considered Adrien.
Rage made Chat clench his teeth. His vision blurred.
How dare he say this was "for us"?
And his mother—he had thought she was dead! Adrien had never been told the truth. To Gabriel, was he nothing more than a chess piece?
"Why?" he demanded, his voice trembling.
And then his father, while he was defenseless, struck him hard with the cane, then hit him again in midair, as if he were a golf ball rather than his own child. He crashed heavily against the Eiffel Tower and fell limply to the ground. His suit absorbed most of the damage, but that didn't mean he didn't feel pain. Yet physical pain no longer mattered to him. He only felt anger and disappointment tearing at his heart.
His father had hit him. Gabriel had known the truth all along. This could have had a different ending. He could have repented, could have considered Adrien more, instead of stubbornly forging ahead. The akumatized villains he created had killed Chat Noir countless times, and he felt no guilt at all.
Did he mean nothing to his father?
He was treated by his father as a possession, not a person.
Hawk Moth and Ladybug were both speaking. There was a ringing in his ears. He screamed at them to shut up. And at that moment, an Akuma flew into his bell. Love for Ladybug and Hawk Moth's commands tangled in his mind. He could not resist the power of the Butterfly Miraculous, but he could never hurt Ladybug.
He raised his hand, an endless power of destruction gathering in it.
"My lady," he called out to her with his nickname for her, one last time, in pain.
He closed his eyes. In that moment, another possibility flashed before his eyes: perhaps Gabriel, when he discovered that Adrien was Chat Noir, suddenly realized that he had been hurting his own family all along, and began to reflect on his actions; perhaps he finally became aware of how he had neglected Adrien, and started spending more time with him; perhaps he finally resolved to focus on the living, on those still before his eyes, and voluntarily gave up the Butterfly Miraculous.
But that story never happened.
The world was left with nothing but endless white. Chat Blanc found a place to sit down and hummed softly. He no longer had to think about whether Gabriel loved his son or not.