Thorns of Roses

Chapter 32 - Lonely Sunrise

"No! NO NO NO NO!" a loud scream was heard in a hidden room of the Palace.

Gabriel was keep hitting the stone table in his lair. "No! I can't believe this!! How could he fail?!" he hit the table again - not even noticing as warm liquid started to pour out from his fists - painting the stones with dark red spots.

Natalie immediately rushed to him and - pulling out a tissue - she wiped away the blood from Gabriel's hand." Sir, you have to calm down! You will hurt yourself if you continue doing this!" she looked into his eyes concerned and made him sit down.

The ground was cool and damp but the king didn't care. He let Natalie take care of his injured hands as he was thinking about what just happened.

He couldn't believe that he failed again. He even risked being affected by the damaged peacock miraculous - only to use its power and create a strong sentimonster. But for what?! For seeing how those pesky heroes defeated his villain again. He was tired of their never-ending game.

He needed to win as soon as possible.

"Try to be positive! "Natalie's words brought him back from his thoughts as she rolled up the bandage around his fingers, " Look at the bright side! " she continued, "at least you could destroy those spies! This way the Southern Kingdom will never find out about the city's condition. "

"Yes, this is the only good news. "Gabriel sighed," but I thought I was strong enough to defeat Ladybug and Chat Noir this time. By the looks of it, this plan of mine once again was a huge failure."

Suddenly, he frowned and stood up - not letting Natalie finish the bandage around his other hand. The king stepped beside the table and - grabbing the peacock miraculous - he went to the secret shelf on the wall and placed it back. Closing the shelf, he turned back to Natalie.

"The only way to get those jewels is to repair this miraculous! Duusu, do you have any idea how can I do it?" Gabriel looked at the kwami who was floating around him ever since he transformed back.

The kwami glanced at Nooroo hesitatingly - wondering if she should answer or not. Nooroo nodded at her as reassurance and flew next to her.

"It's something only the guardians knew, Master." Duusu muttered, "But, as we know, during the war they all died." she looked at the other kwami - sadness raising in their eyes - as they both were thinking about someone at that moment.

"They were the only ones who.." Nooroo continued.

".. Who could know everything about the miraculouses." the king interjected, recalling that time when he'd heard about these things for the first time. "Yes, I remember." he let out a frustrated sigh and glanced in Natalie's direction.

"Our only chance is to find the ancient scrolls about it! And this is exactly what we're going to do! Hopefully, the war didn't destroy them. " he declared and a moment later he left the cave and went back to his office.

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*The next morning*

A light breeze traveled around the room through the opened window - making the Princess wake up.

Brushing away some lock of hair from her face, she got up and sat down at the edge of her bed. Shifting her gaze around the room, she realized that Félix was already gone - to her relief.

Marinette didn't mind at all that she could be alone for once and didn't have to deal with the man who was the reason for her problems.

This was one of those rare mornings when even Alya couldn't visit her - this time thanks to a certain man who made her take a walk at the park during the sunrise when everyone else was still asleep in the Palace.