Marc, King of Paris,
to a Parisian King was wed,
but took an Akuma for his love
and away from Paris fled.
Followed by a spellbook and red parasol, Tikki dropped a massive folder with loose sheets of paper sticking out onto the table with a sigh. "It is time. During the raid of Ki-" She quickly corrected herself. "Marc's room after he was found with Nathaniel, the knights managed to find these letters hidden all over his room. Under his mattress, in his closet, under floorboards. And in the spellbook, he's written some entries detailing his encounters with the King of Darkness."
"Well, where's the spellbook?" Asked Trixx.
Plagg eyebrow quirked up. "And you're sure this is every last one?"
"Does it matter?" Trixx bitterly asked. "All we need is one letter with the eyes dotted using hearts, and that'll be enough to sentence him to crystallization!"
"Yes, it would, but you know the procedure. And besides..." Wayzz took a piece of paper that was sticking out of the folder. "It'd be nice to know what was going through his head during the time."
The fox-tailed magic-user rolled their eyes as Tikki began to distribute the letters amongst her fellow commission members. "I guess," she grunted. "And let me be the first to say, we told them so."
"Trixx, they're dead," Pollen chastised. "Come on."
Each of them expressed their many qualms to the former Queens as Marc got older, but neither of them listened. Either they didn't believe the Commission, or they didn't want to believe that their sweet, gentle son showed signs of being evil. The way he always seemed eerily calm when an Akuma attacked the castle and how he was drawn towards the darker spells in the family spellbook raised some red flags. And if it's not Marc, it's something else. When he was born, every candle in the castle went out and there were no doors or windows opened.
"Be patient, everyone." Tikki placed the spellbook in front of her and Plagg then opened it to Marc's section. "I'm sure this will take a while."
'I have had my wand and spellbook for several months now, and it's been hard to know what to write in here. Mother says it's like a place of truth. She assures me that as long as I have this book, it will be mine and my secrets will be accessible to me only.'
'What ends up in here will be of use to future royals. I, of course, want to fulfill this part of my role as prince and ultimately king, but for now, I'd like to use this book for myself right now. Mother says that it's a good place to start. So, this will act more like a journal than anything, so here we go...'
'No one must ever know this, especially not Mother, the Akuma Carver herself. His name is Nathaniel, the Prince of Darkness. We never stopped communicating since Mother separated us back during the assault on Miraculous castle. She thought he was attacking me. HA! Yes, Mother, a flower made of ink is a threat.'
'For years, we have continued to leave secret notes for one another throughout the kingdom during all this war and destruction, and ultimately, when this is over and truth wins out, the story of our love will surely be a great lesson in resilience to any future royal.'
Wayzz furrowed his brow as he read one of Nathaniel's letters to Marc. Like the others from him, there were traces of black ink splattered on the paper. "Oh my goodness," he whispered. "Tikki, Plagg, read this for a moment. Nathaniel talks about King Lucien in this letter."
'I know I said I'd never harm anyone in your name again, but can I just slip a bit of ink into his food? The stuff is pretty lethal. But seriously, it really sounds like he is hurting you. Who cares about some alliance between your kingdoms? Why does it matter if you're suffering at the hands of your own husband? If you're free, I'd love to meet you in the castle gardens at night, just the two of us, love.'
Plagg furiously tore through his hair with his fingers. "I knew Lucien and Marc weren't the most compatible, but I never thought..." He trailed
"I believe you should read this page," said Pollen, sliding the spellbook back towards Tikki. "They detail many secret rendevous that Marc and Nathaniel have behind Lucien's back and ours'. They became more frequent after Queen Alyssa and Queen Penelope died. And at one point, while in the castle catacombs, Nathaniel asked Marc to marry him." The room went deathly silent. "... He said yes."
'A tragedy befell Miraculous Castle. Lucien suffered a terrible accident where he fell down the stairs... Very tragic, no one knows how it happened. He's been bedridden for weeks now and as his "devoted husband," I've done nothing but stay at his side while also juggling my duties as King... Or so people think. If you check page 330, you'll find a helpful little cloning spell, perfect for getting away from your husband so you can spend time with the love of your life in the castle's catacombs. The downside is my clone has to endure Lucien's behavior.'
'I told Nathaniel I couldn't betray my kingdom. "You've already done that by loving me," he said. "And saying yes."'
'Lucien knows about the cloning spell. I don't know how he figured it out, and he promised to not say a word to the Commission... Unless I use my magic to create an heir. I told him I don't want to do that, not with him. Not just because he's hurt me, but because there's someone else. I told him I love the Prince of Darkness. And who cares if he tells someone? It sounds so outrageous, no one would believe him. But I chose not to take any chances and ran to elope with Nathaniel. And I'll say it; I have no regrets.'
"Well, there you go!" Trixx thundered, slapping a few letters down on the table. "It's all right here on paper! Marc's guilty, let's get to crystalizing."
Wayzz opened and closed his mouth a few times. "I-I see. We can't deny the facts."
"Never denied anything."
Wayzz rolled his eyes, ignoring Trixx, then continued, "Now there's the matter of breaking the news to the Kingdom, and of course-"
"Lucien," Pollen interrupted. "Do we allow him to keep his throne? He's an abuser."
"And what does that leave us with?" Plagg asked rhetorically. "For shit's sake, how do you think Paris is going to react when we tell them a Parisian-Akuma hybrid is their new ruler?" The rest had nearly forgotten about that one little issue. "The public will go ballistic!"
Pollen slammed her hands down on the table as she stood. "Well, it's either an abuser or a hybrid, Plagg," she said as calmly as possible. "What do you suggest?"
"... Nobody needs to know that a baby isn't Lucien's."
"Tikki, people are gonna notice the purple skin-"
She cut Trixx off, "I said a baby." The red-haired woman looked around, nodding as looks of realization crossed everyone else's faces. "And while Lucien's acts were most definitely heinous, we can't leave the citizens without a ruler until the baby is of age to rule. And after, we will simply tell the citizens that he died of natural causes." All around, there was silence. "What we have discussed today must never leave this room," she said sternly. "Understood?" Everyone nodded. "Good."
