Thorns of Roses

Chapter 58 - Duty Or Desire, That Is The Question

"So as I was saying.." Captain Lahiffe pointed to a parchment that was placed on the center of the table, ".. according to the latest reports, the infection reached another area of our Eastern region."

"Let me have a look." Félix pulled the parchments closer to his side. His eyes scanned perceptively the papers - memorizing every new piece of information, every number he read.

After some minutes passed, the Prince put down the papers. "This is bad..." he rubbed his forehead frustratedly. "How naive it was of us to believe that the infection slowed down a week ago, meanwhile actually it turned out to be the opposite!" glancing at the Princess next to him, who had been strangely quiet ever since they stepped into the library, he added, "Should the disease continue to spread at this rate, I'm afraid we will lose the most significant regions of our Kingdom for good."

"What were the methods you have tried so far, may I ask?" Alya inquired.

"Nothing that could have worked." Félix sighed. "Our most famous botanists had already investigated the most affected fields and tried out all the curing techniques and medicines that were ever written in Botanics or agriculture books .. but to no avail. " Tilting his head to Marinette's direction again, he continued," The issue is clear. Not only must we keep this a secret in front of the South K... "

These were the last words the Princess could hear as her thoughts completely captured her, - making her forget where she was.

The moment Captain Lahiffe stepped into the piano salon - reminding them that they ought to be in the library -, her duty like a cold shower flowed all through her veins. She could feel a mountain of weights settled over her chest and didn't plan to leave her alone for the rest of the day.

This feeling wasn't unfamiliar to her, she got used to it over the years. It was another concealed part of being a princess, by extension, the heir to the throne, that she was obligated to put her duties before her own needs.

Still, she often felt as if her role as a Princess and her desire were two different people who didn't intend to cross paths with each other. On the contrary, it felt as if they both wanted to have her for themselves only, tearing her apart in the process.

In most cases though, she could easily suppress her needs in favor of her people, but nowadays it has become difficult to accomplish.

It was hard to admit for herself that if she was to follow her heart, she would have spent her whole day with the Prince, - excited to see what he had planned for her this time. And this recognition astonished her to the point she started to feel remorseful for not giving her full attention to the case of this infection.

"Focus Marinette, you ought to focus!" she scolded herself as she exited the piano salon and made her way to the library rapidly. "Your Kingdom must come first no matter what!"

By the time she stepped into the home of books and headed upstairs - where Alya had been waiting for them -, she managed to gain her composure back and for her mind to only be open for thoughts regarding the disease.

Already in her "thinking mode", Marinette barely noticed when a few minutes later the boys also joined them and started exchanging their thoughts and ideas with each other.

The only sign that she was there with them - only physically though -, was the red hue on her cheeks that appeared when the Prince left a kiss on her forehead before sitting down next to her.

Her soul and thoughts, however, were long gone, far away somewhere with Tikki and the things she had told her this morning.

It was still hard to comprehend what her kwami had said about her mother's power. Mari knew that Tikki, as someone who had been carrying Ladybugs through their path for thousands of years, must be right regarding the state of her magic.