The Black Cat Prince (Miraculous LadyBug Royal AU)

Could She Fall for Him?

Marinette woke up at dawn like she always did. But her mat on the floor was much softer, and her room was warmer than she thought it should be. Then as her eyes adjusted to the faint light in the room, she remembered, she wasn't at her home anymore, she was in the castle, she was in the Prince's Harem...  She'd met the Prince last night, he talked to her through the window. She hadn't seen his face yet, but he seemed like a nice man, his stories showed him as a kind man. He loved hunting for the freedom it gave him. She had said she'd like to go with him sometime, had she meant it? She'd decided that later. She got up out of bed and noticed how much warmer it was in her than her house. How did they warm this place? She found the candle from last night and relight it.

She wanted to wash her face and get ready for the day, but where did she find water? She'd always used the village well,  but the castle was huge, they properly had more than one well for this castle. She walked into the bathroom and looked at it more closely, and she realized there was a pump. Oh right she was in the castle the richest of the rich, of course, the rooms had their own pumps. She suddenly wonders, how they heated her bathwater last night? It didn't matter she could wash her face without bothering her ladies in waiting for this early in the morning. 

She filled the sink basin and washed her face. And used a cloth to wash the rest of her body. She then walked into her huge closet. None of these dressers were in her style, maybe she could ask to make her own dresses? Or at least a few of them or design her own? But she looked through them some of these were clearly for parties or balls. Finally, as she got near the end of the closet she found much simpler dresses. They were dramatically different, she found a note, Dear Lady Marinette, I didn't mention this to you but I also enjoy designing and sewing, I know not the most Kingly activity but I thought you would enjoy these dresses more, they had been designed for my late wife, so I hope you can give them live again. ~ Your King. 

She found that a bit odd that the King would pay so much attention to her, but maybe he truly thought she would be the right one for his son? Or maybe he felt bad for her? Maybe he wanted to help her? She pushed that thought away and picked a simple light green dress (think Belles dress). She found all the other layers she needed, found a simple bare of black flats and went to her dressing room and after dealing with the under layers she slipped her corset on, she chose not to have it as tight as she had it yesterday, she still wanted to be her. So she would find a way to balance the two. 

After getting the dress on, she ran a brush through her hair, pulling part of it up out her face and using a ribbon to keep it there. She did a light dusting of makeup, the ladies would likely redo it when they come to look for her. She would have to ask for a notepad so she could leave a note saying she was walking in the courtyard. But oh well, she'd just watch for when the other girl's lights when on and head back then. She stepped out into the dawn-ridden sky. "Oh, it's so lovely." She could see the faint pinks and purples in the sky. She noticed that there was a lantern outside her room. She lit it using the candle from her room and blew out the candle and shut the door quietly behind her.

With the faint light of dawn and her lantern in tow, she started walking through the surprisingly large space. She looked straight across and saw Prince Adrien's room, she saw what must have been his balcony. Was his room two floors tall? She notices a rose garden under his balcony and a small seating area. She remembered Nathalie's words last night, she made sure to stay away from there until she knew what was his area. So she walked in the other way past each of the other girl's rooms. She noticed one had a drawing board outside of one room. One had a small footbath and nice chair, and lastly one had a small desk and chair. Marinette then found a lovely garden. "Oh my, the flowers." Marinette smiled she knelt down to get a better look at the flowers and smell them. She hoped that this was no one's private space.