Thorns of Roses

Chapter 55 - Stay With Me

After the seemed to be never-ending rain of yesterday, today turned out to be the opposite.

Not only did it have pleasant, warm weather - which was quite unusual at the beginning of November -but even the tone of the sky, the Palace, and even the plants all over the garden wore lively and vibrant colors - spreading joy and love for every living creature.

Or, who knows, maybe the environment looked as usual. The only difference was just a certain Princess' view of the world, who saw every piece of nature brighter this morning.

Since the weather was nice, Marinette didn't bring her coat with her. She was wearing her usual, everyday dress - made especially for the autumn season - and her leather, dark brown-colored boots.

Her hair spread through her back, a breeze crawled its way across her locks - making it reminisce of the wavy, raven blue-colored ocean, which just perfectly matched her icy-blue pair of eyes. Among the sea of her raven-blue, her pink ribbon was hiding that gathered some of her hair together to not get into her view. It had been a while since she last wore her dark blue ribbons - which had always been an inevitable accessary of her showing everyone that she was having a bad day - and it was all thanks to a certain man.

A broad smile plastered across her face as she walked on one of the pathways of the courtyard. The ground was still a little wet thanks to the rain, but not enough for her not to be able to avoid the puddles - making her attire inappropriate.  

A blush climbed its way up to her cheeks as she headed toward the lake, or more specifically, to the pavilion where the Prince had been waiting for her - according to the message he had left on her table in the morning.

Just the thought of meeting him here again made her remember their time in the pavilion yesterday, or rather their walk back to the Palace after clearing the misunderstanding between them.

Still scolding herself a little for letting herself get fooled so easily, she thought of yesterday as a very significant day regarding their relationship because Félix said something that she not only had never expected him to say to her but something that was to change everything between them for the better.

Félix loved her. 

He really did. 

Some of her still found it incomprehensible, as if she was having a dream that would disappear once she woke up. She didn't know when his feelings changed for her from hate to love, nor the reason behind it. 

"Some things are just bound to happen, out of our control or even without us being aware of it. I guess this is what people call fate." Marinette thought as she constated that her feelings for him had changed the same way as well.

As she turned onto another pathway, the one which led her straight to the lake, she pondered if their relationship would have turned out otherwise if that commotion, aka Félix's mother, didn't occur on the day of their first encounter.

Shaking her head to clear her mind from the thought of Amélie and the worry about her possible next move, Mari took a deep breath. She knew that whatever insane plan Amélie might have against them, the young couple would fight against it together.

Finally reaching the other side of the courtyard, Mari was about to turn left on the road after crossing a cherry tree that blocked her view from the lake when she slowed down her steps - spotting something at the edge of the pathway.

"How uncanny!" Mari exclaimed, "I've never noticed that roses are blooming here."

"Especially not during autumn," she added, bowing down to a bush of red roses. She could have sworn that these flowers weren't there yesterday. Although, considering the rain curtain she was walking across while being in the cage of her negative thoughts, it wouldn't be so surprising to find out that it simply didn't catch her attention.