Chapter Text
Adrinette April 2025
Day #6: Coup de Foudre
On Miss Bustier's class field trip to London, one of their destinations was the Westchestermunster castle; home to one of the few royal families left in the country. The Graham de Vanily family had ties to Paris so their teacher though visiting the castle and learning a bit of their history would be beneficial.
A castle guard walked in front of Miss Bustier, her class trailing behind her, as they made their way down a path across the castle grounds. As the family had approved of the class visiting, this guard was assigned to be their escort and tour guide.
Unbeknownst to the group of visitors, one of the castle's royal residents was watching them approach from one of the highest balconies, through a pair of binoculars.
Adrien, grandson of the king and queen, was the same age as the students of the visiting class. Having been home schooled his entire life, he was curious about them. Much like this mother. She was a curious young lady as she was growing up. Which had lead her to Paris, where she met his father and they fell in love. Although it wasn't traditional for a princess to marry a tailor, the king and queen allowed it, under the condition that their daughter come home.
Thus, they married, moved into the castle, his mother resumed her responsibilities as a princess, his father supported her as a prince-consort while continuing his work in fashion, and raised their son to be a noble prince.
Adrien wasn't the only prince. His mother had a twin sister, who married a lord, and they had a son who was the same age as him. Three generations under the same royal roof.
Although being a prince was very demanding, Adrien believed that he could do a lot of good in the world someday. But, he still wished to see a bit more of the world. They owned a property in Paris. He would love to visit there sometime as a start. He has also always wanted to see a real topical island with sandy beaches and fruits you could pick right off a tree.
Plus, his mother met his father by going out into the world. So Adrien hoped that he could find love out there too. His cousin had a girlfriend. She was of a noble family from Japan and it was sort of pre-arranged by their families for them to meet and for one of them to start courting her, but Felix and Kagami were very much in love. That was what he wanted.
Luckily today, a bit of the outside world was coming to him.
He didn't expect to find his true love among these students. But seeing them, maybe even talking to some of them, would be a nice but small taste of the world outside the castle walls.
Adrien watched on as the class walked closer and closer to the front gate. He saw one of the guards, an older woman who he assumed was the teacher, and over a dozen children around his age behind them. The students were talking to each other, pointing at things in the distance while admiring the view, taking pictures with their phones, tripping other students…
Wait, what?
Adrien gasped. He wasn't sure if he really just saw what he thought he saw. A girl with bright blonde hair with a yellow jacket just tripped another blonde girl in a pink dress. And bright blonde girl was laughing while the girl in pink was kneeling on the ground and looked on the brink of tears.
How cruel and petty, Adrien sneered. That girl was a bully.
As he watched the blonde bully walk away, his gaze went back to the girl in pink. She had already moved from kneeling to sitting with her knees up in front of her. From the distance, he was sure that one of her knees was bleeding a bit. Adrien felt so sorry for the girl and wished he was down there to help her.
But then he noticed that someone was with her. Another girl was kneeling in front of her, smiling and talking to her gently. He watched in awe as this other girl opened a small purse at her hip, dug through it, and retrieved a bandage, which she then proceeded to put on the sad girl's hurt knee. She helped her stand, then the blonde girl in pink hugged the kind girl.
It was one of the sweetest acts Adrien had ever seen.
After they hugged and the two girls continued walking, Adrien couldn't take his eyes off the kind girl. She wore pink pants, ballet flat shoes, a white shirt with cherry blossoms on it, a black cardigan, along with her tiny clasp purse. Her hair was midnight blue in short twin pigtails, her skin looked pale and perfect like porcelain, and her eyes were blue. Because of the distance, it was hard to make out the exact shade. Adrien cursed the distance between them. He needed to see how blue they were to make a proper comparison.
The sky? The ocean? Sapphires? He had to know!
He was deeply touched by her kindness and taken by her beauty all with one look.
Adrien continued to watch her and the rest of the class—but mostly her—as they finally made it to the front of the castle. The guard made them stop just outside the front gate and continued to talk. The prince contemplated that if the students were brought inside, whether he could try to approach the beautiful kind girl. Maybe ask her name as well.
A sudden commotion startled the prince and the group outside. Adrien turned his head and saw one of his elder staff members, Wang Fu, had fallen on the ground further up the lawn. There was a small hill on that side of the lawn, and at the top of that hill was a large wagon barreling down heading straight for the older man!
Adrien lowered his binoculars for a moment in a panic, wanting to help but not sure how from where he was. But, as he glanced back out at the lawn, he could make out the shape of a person running in Wang Fu's direction. Adrien quickly raised his binoculars back up and located the figure with his eyes. It was her! The beautiful kind girl.
The prince watched in amazement as she ran. The wagon was getting closer and closer.
And just when it looked like that it was going to run him over flat, the kind girl jumped at him, pushing him out of the way just in time.
The wagon crashed into a tree, leaving no one hurt.
Adrien sighed in relief then continued to watch as the kind girl helped Wang Fu back up to his feet and gave him back his walking cane. As she helped him walk back toward the castle, he could hear the subtle sound of cheering and clapping.
It was her classmates praising her for her heroism.
Feeling the need to do the same, Adrien put down his binoculars and clapped too.
This girl was beautiful, kind, and courageous.
He had to meet her now.
~*MDCAA*~
The class and Wang Fu were brought inside. Another servant came over and offered to escort the older man to the castle's infirmary. He insisted he was fine but it couldn't hurt to get checked out.
"Thank you again, young lady," Wang Fu said to his savior.
"Happy to help, sir," she replied before waving goodbye to him as he waked away with the other servant.
When they left, the guard continued on with the tour, leading the class deeper into the castle. They were brought into a few different rooms, each more breathtaking than the last, until finally, they stepped into the last room of the tour inside; the throne room.
"And this is the throne room," the guard said as he lead them further in. "Visitors are not normally allowed entry in here, but the Graham de Vanily family has allowed it. But only for a minute. So please do not touch anything and do not stray from the group," he advised as the class oh-ed and aw-ed at the astounding décor.
"Sir?" Alya spoke up. "Is the royal family around today?" She had been filming most of the tour on her phone. Getting even a glimpse of one of the royals would be amazing.
"Every member of the royal family is either traveling or busy. I'm sorry but you will not be meeting any-" the guard said, but stopped as he heard a door open from across the room, closer to the thrones. Everyone looked in that direction and saw a young man with golden blonde hair and bright emerald green eyes walk in.
With a friendly smile on his face, he approached the group and said, "Armand. How is the tour going?"
"Oh…um…very well, sir," The guard, Armand, replied, a bit surprised. He wasn't expecting the prince to show himself to the visiting class. But since he was present, he felt the need to give him a proper introduction. "Pr-Presenting, His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, Adrien Graham de Vanily Agreste," Armand formally announced to the teacher and her class.
Not sure what else to do but be formal, the students all bowed while some of the girls in either skirts or dresses curtsied to him.
"Bonjour, and welcome to my home," he politely bowed back.
"Your Highness," Miss Bustier said, stepping forward. "On behalf of myself and my class, we are so thankful to you and your family for allowing us here today."
"Well, it is actually my grandparents you should be thanking. But, since they are busy, I will accept your gratitude on their behalf."
Pushing her way to the front of the group, Chloe made her presence front and center.
"Prince Adrien," she said, eyeing him shamelessly. "Allow me to introduce myself. Chloe Bourgeois, of the Bourgeois family. Daughter of Andre Bourgeois, Mayor of Paris, France," she stated—more like bragged—while offering out her hand, as if expecting him to take it and kiss it.
That was the last thing Adrien could stomach. But, he was taught how to deal with these types without being obviously rude.
"Ah, yes. I know of your father. And I am familiar with your work as well," he replied calmly.
Chloe's face fell in confusion. "Uh…my work?"
"Yes," he said before glancing passed her to the other blonde girl in their class. The one in the pink dress. "How is your knee, young lady?" he asked her.
The blonde girl in pink—Rose—blushed, not expecting to be addressed directly by a prince. Let alone that he would take any interest in her small injury. "Um…fine, Y-Your Highness," she replied.
The whole class was thinking it. He obviously saw Chloe trip her and he did not approve.
Adrien smiled back at an embarrassed/angry looking Chloe. "Pardon me," he said politely as he brushed passed the blonde bully. He walked past several students, who all respectfully stepped aside, letting him by, until he reached the girl in the back of the group. Marinette stood where she was, frozen in shock. Out of everyone in their class, the prince walked right up to her? "Bonjour," he said, offering her his hand, palm up.
She was nervous but she couldn't not reply. "Bonjour…uh, You-Your Highness," she stuttered, hating her anxiety more than even. A handsome prince was introducing himself to her and she was acting like a complete dorkasaurus.
Staring at his hand, Marinette placed her hand on top of his, thinking he might just shake her hand. No big deal. But, as soon as he had it, he leaned down and placed a very light kiss on her knuckle. The whole class gasped with delight, some of the girls had to cover their mouths to repress full on shrieking, and Marinette's face went pink.
Adrien released her hand and then asked, "Forgive but…may I ask your name?"
"My-my name?" she stuttered again, holding her hand up to her racing heart. "It's…Marinette. Marinette Dupain-Cheng."
"Marinette," Adrien repeated with a dreamy smile. "Lovely name," he told her. He then looked closer at her eyes as they gazed at him, studying the shade of blue for a moment. "Bluebells," he uttered.
"Um, I'm sorry?" Marinette asked, puzzled.
"Your eyes. They resemble the bluebell flower," he stated. "Beautiful."
At hearing that, Marinette's face went from pink to fully red as she averted her eyes. "Th-Thank you," she said, nervous but bashful.
Adrien frowned, concerned that he was distressing her somehow. "I'm sorry. Have I said something?"
"No. I-I just…" she said, looking back at him before taking a breath. "I've just never talked to a prince before."
"I apologize for coming off a bit strong. It's just-" he knew that he might have said too much to her. They only just met. But he should explain. "I was intrigued by your class coming in, so I watched you all from a balcony outside with my binoculars. I saw your friend fall and hurt her knee, and you were right there with a bandage and helped her up. Very noble and kind," he said. So he had seen all that. "And then I saw Mister Fu almost get run over and you saved him." Marinette blushed again. "You're a hero."
She chuckled nervously. "With all due respect, Your Highness, I'm no hero," she looked away again and brushed some hair behind her ear. Adrien wished that was his hand. "My best friend did tell me once that all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing," she said, glancing to Alya, who was still filming them with her phone. "So…I did something," she said with a shrug.
"You did what was right. Jumped into danger to help others. You are by all definitions, a hero, Marinette," he said. Marinette smiled. And what a beautiful smile it was in Adrien's eyes. "Mister Fu means a lot to my family and the rest of the staff here. You've done us all a great service saving him. And, to show our gratitude," Adrien said before turning to the teacher. "Miss Bustier, with your permission, I'd like to invite your entire class to stay a bit longer to have lunch here in the castle."
The whole class gasped with excitement. "Lunch? Here?" Miss Bustier asked.
"Of course. The chefs are preparing the food as we speak. And the dining room is being set for all of you."
The class suddenly erupted with pleas to their teacher to let them stay. "Please, Miss Bustier? Please!"
"Well…alright," she finally said, making her class cheer. "Thank you, Your Highness."
"Wonderful. Armand, please show our guests to the parlor so they can relax as they wait for lunch to be served," he said to the guard.
"Yes, Your Highness," he replied before gesturing for the class to follow him out of the room.
Marinette took a step to go with them but Adrien stopped her by holding his arm out.
"Marinette," he said, keeping her where she was while the others left the room. "I apologize if I made you uncomfortable. It's just, I don't meet a lot of people and then I saw you. You were so sweet to your friend and then the way you saved Mister Fu, and I-" Adrien rambled. He really liked Marinette and just wanted to express it. "I think your beautiful," he blurted out. Marinette stared a him in shock, still blushing. "Agh, I'm a fool," he grunted to himself. He didn't know how to talk to people causally at all.
"No," she reached for his hand. Adrien looked back at her, surprised but he grasped her hand back. "I think your very sweet," she said. "And very handsome," she added, a bit bashfully. Adrien smiled. If she sounded foolish then at least they were being foolish together. "But, you're a prince. I'm just a nobody."
In his experience, that was no excuse. After all, his own father was a 'nobody' from Paris and he still married his mother. "Marinette, you are the furthest thing from a nobody," he said, taking her other hand so he was holding them both. "You think that I am out of your ledge, but you are out of mine." She had all the qualities of a princess in his eyes. "Which is why I'm going to make a bigger fool of myself and ask you for your phone number?"
Butterflies fluttered in Marinette's chest and stomach, but in a good way. "Okay," she replied, but then she turned her head, finally noticing that the rest of her class was gone. "After lunch."
Adrien nodded in agreement, glad that he hadn't frightened her off.
"Shall we, princess?" he said, offering her his arm.
"I'm not a princess," she said, looping her arm in his anyway as he lead them to the parlor.
"In my eyes, you are."
With one look, Adrien saw Marinette for who she really was. And he was already in love.