Thorns of Roses

Chapter 2 - Preparing

It was a Friday afternoon. 

Marinette was sitting on the edge of her bed and stared out through the window. She was in a bad mood today, or - more precisely -, she was extremely furious. 

In normal circumstances,  she should have already been preparing for the upcoming ball, just like every Friday night, but this event was not like the previous ones. This time, every fiber of her being were against the thought of attending tonight's ball. 

To be frank, the Princess had never been fond of these events earlier as well. In her opinion, balls had no greater meaning than to show your wealth aka your worth in front of the other members of the high society. And as for the daughter of the current king, these were nothing but events where she must act the way it was expected from a princess and pretend to enjoy small talks while obligated to dance with a bunch of snobbish bachelors. So far, she had always managed to endure them though.

But not this time. Tonight's event was different. This was not only a masquerade ball - which happened to be her least favorite kind of ball -, but moreover, it was being held for a certain someone. Someone she knew too well. Someone who had made her childhood a living hell. Someone, she hadn't seen for five - beautiful - years and she had desperately wished it to remain like this for the rest of her life. And someone..

..who was and forever will be her biggest enemy.

Such unpleasant thoughts occupied her mind when - bringing back to real life - she spotted Alya entering her suite with a dress hanging on her arm. She was already wearing her ballgown for the night which was made by a shining, golden velvet. She was gorgeous.

„Good afternoon, Marine...! Girl, you are still in bed?!" Alya's eyes widened at the sight of the Princess who was still wearing her everyday dress. Closing the door behind her, she started walking toward her. "You're gonna be late for the ball!"

"Yes, as you can see I'm still in bed because as I've already said before, I'm not going!" the Princess declared firmly, crossing her hands over her chest as she continued, " You know who this ball is for, Alya! I just... I don't wanna see him! These past five years were so great and so peaceful without him! I really thought he would never come back!"

„Marinette, come on! You know exactly well that it's not something you can avoid attending without any consequences, considering that your father has already announced that you're gonna be there as one of the main hosts. " stopping by her baldachin bed, Alya added, "Besides you mustn't forget that as the princess you have duties to fulfill."

Turning her head away from Alya, Mari remained silent - admitting that her friend was right as usual. Alya had been her lady's companion and her best friend for four years now and she always made the Princess do the right thing even if it was the last thing she ever wanted to do.

 Being aware that, as Alya had also said, she ought to attend this ball, she kept being stubborn nonetheless. After all, it was him she had to meet tonight!

Although he had already been back for days, to her luck, Marinette had managed to avoid him so far. And she was pretty contented and relieved about it, to say the least. But now, no matter her efforts to stay away from him as long as possible, she was forced to see him. And she just could not accept that!

Alya must have noticed Mari's determination of staying here, as she stepped in front of her - showing the dress she had picked for her tonight. "Girl, at least try this dress on! I'm convinced that you're gonna be the most stunning of all the ladies, and who knows, maybe you will even enjoy this event."

As a reply, Mari sent Alya her famous death stare - not holding onto the belief that this scenario could ever happen.

"I know, I know.." her friend lift her hands defensively - knowing exactly well what Marinette's thoughts were about balls, "but what if tonight is gonna be different, huh? Maybe you will meet a handsome guy during one of your dances who will make you forget about him, too!"