Chapter Text
The Cat’s Key
Chapter One: The Rules
The posters showed up overnight. They were everywhere, on walls, fence posts, and every door with enough room to proudly proclaim the news that Lord Agreste’s heir was looking for a wife. And he was proving himself once again to be an eccentric man by forgoing the typical ceremony of presenting the daughters of noble families by offering a contest to win the place as his wife.
The key to the Agreste estate house was hung from the collar of a black cat. Catch the cat and become the bride. It seemed easy enough. After all how hard would it be for a girl to catch a cat?
“This is such a bad idea” Plagg complained as he paced in Adrien’s bedroom. He pulled at the cuff of his sleeves, trying to straighten nonexistent creases from his shirt.
Adrien grinned in response, turning away from the window to face his friend. “My father will hate it. But he’s not here to stop me.” He brushed his normally well kept blond hair out of his face and tugged the cravat loose from his collar and tossed it onto the table beside him. He hated the purple color, but his father insisted that it matched his complexion so his wardrobe was filled with it.
“You better hope that this is over before he returns from his trip to the capital,” Plagg continued, ignoring him and moving forward to pick up the cravat. He looped it around Adrien’s neck and fixed the knot. “If you don’t have someone picked by then you’ll get stuck with the girl he brings back”
Adrien glanced out the window over his shoulder, at the perfect view of the city down the hill, crossing his arms as he leaned against the table. “Someone that puts the effort to catch a cat is still better than some stuck up lady that Father is using to expand his land holdings.”
Plagg didn’t respond, choosing to smooth the collar on Adrien’s jacket. It was such a bad plan, sure to backfire somehow.
Marinette read the words for a second and a third time before they clicked in her head. He’s looking for a wife, she thought. She chewed at her thumbnail. It was a nervous habit from her childhood that she had yet to break. It was too much to hope for, but the fantasy was easy to fall into.
She had only met him once when he had come to her parents bakery to hide from Chloé Bourgeois, the daughter of the richest landowner in the city after Lord Agreste. Everyone knew she was going to be the next Lady Agreste. She had bragged about it since they were all children. Except...
Marinette shook her head, pigtails bouncing, and returned her attention to her shopping. Pulling the list out of the basket hanging from her arm she mentally checked off her purchases. She needed to get some more yeast and rosemary before she headed back. She tucked the list in the small pocket in her apron so she wouldn’t lose it and hefted the basket onto her hip as she headed toward the square. The gravel crunches under her feet, poking the small hole in her left shoe. She needed to get new ones soon, but the expense was too much right now. Maybe next month if she was frugal.
The market square was buzzing from the news, small crowds of all ages gathered around the few stalls and shops. Chloé could be seen hovering under the shade of a stall canopy, even from Marinette‘s spot across the courtyard. Her bright yellow dress practically glowed against the blues, greens and browns that her following wore. Marinette rolled her eyes and ducked her head as Chloe’s voice filtered over the crowd noise. Bragging again it seemed.
“...didn’t want to seem like he was showing favoritism towards me when he was picking his bride.” She was saying as she twirled her hair. Most of the blond locks were in an immaculate updo save for a single curl on her right side that she would twist around her fingers. She was sitting on Nathaniel’s art stall and would turn and dip her bust in his direction from time to time causing him to blush and duck away. “Besides it’s not like anyone else could even afford the dowry anyway. Right Lila?” She sneered across the path at Lila’s own gathering in front of the fruit stand.
Alya pat Lila’s shoulder sympathetically and murmured to her. Probably something about how Chloé was crazy given that Lila had been telling stories of her secret engagement to Adrien for the past year. Lila popped a strawberry into her mouth as she stared down Chloé.
Marinette caught Alya’s eye briefly before she slipped into the nearest shop. Marinette hugged her basket closer. She couldn’t be out there right now. After Lila moved into town her friendship with Alya had waned into a distant and strained relationship. Now Alya could barely look at Marinette without a sneer and a cruel word.
She sighed as she sank against the door to the shop. Closing her eyes as she clutched her basket to her chest and counted her breaths. No one had seen her, no one said anything, everything was fine.
“Marinette? Is that you, dear?” Nadja called from the back room.
“Yeah,” she called back, moving to the counter. “Sorry I came in to hide from the crowd.” She glanced at the fabrics on the wall shelves.
Nadja left the workroom, placing some pins in the cushion she had attached to her wrist. “Is this about that contest I saw posted about? I tell you if I was ten years younger...” She smirked in Marinette’s direction and winked.
Marinette blushed. “I saw Alya and Lila and I panicked.”
Nadja knew about Lila’s lies about her skills at baking, the arts and everything else she claimed to have learned from the capital. Marinette had been accused being jealous and harassing Lila and before she could present any evidence to disprove her stories she had become an outcast. After that she moved from her parents home over the bakery and into a small cottage near the forest when they could no longer deny the lack of customers were because of her.
Nadja nodded, understanding her distress. “What do you need to buy?” She asked innocently as she reached for the basket.
Marinette sighed, handing over the basket and pulling the list from her apron pocket, knowing that it wasn’t worth the fight. Nadja was one of the few people that would still talk to her. They had an unspoken agreement that Marinette would help her with some of her orders in exchange for some shopping if it was ever a problem.
“Thank you.” Marinette passed her coin purse, but Nadja waved it away.
Marinette traded places with Nadja, watching the shop while she waited. She picked through some of the buttons in the small cabinet on the counter. There were some new wooden ones that she hadn’t seen before that would look nice on the caplet she was designing.
It was still early when Marinette finally returned to the bakery, using the back door to avoid being seen.
“I’m back Papa!” She called into the kitchen.
Tom was pulling bread from the oven, but stopped to kiss his daughter’s brow as she started to empty her basket on the table.
“How was the trip?”
Marinette winced. “Nadja helped me again.”
Tom nodded. “Your mother told me about that contest. Are you going to try it?”
Marinette shock her head. “I don’t want to marry a stranger Papa. Even if he is a Lord.”
They both ignored the fact that her marriage prospects had dwindled to nothing. Even Nathaniel showed a lack of interest, after years of professing his love when he realized how her reputation could ruin his tentative artistry. The Bourgeois family was his patron and anything that upset Chloé upset Mr Bourgeois.
“Is Fu’s order ready?” She asked, quick to change the subject.
Tom nodded and gestured to the wrapped box. “Be careful. If that cat is wandering around people might act crazy”
“I will,” Marinette promised. She grabbed the box and dashed out the door.
It wasn’t until she was halfway down the path that she realized that the black cat she ran passed had a key on its collar. She slowed and turned. The cat had also turned to stare at her. It looked surprised, if a cat could show emotion. It would be easy to grab it. Marinette shook the thought from her head and turned away before the idea could take hold. She needed to deliver the bread and pastries to Mister Fu.
It would be better for her to forget this contest nonsense. Even if she did catch the cat she didn’t think he would follow through with the agreement. Not with other options like Chloé or lying Lila. Marinette’s reputation was too tainted and not even a Lord could over look it.