The Queen of China {Book 3 of The Princess Series}

The Queen

Everyone visited Adrien. Not all at once but they did. Marinette remained in charge of the Agreste company. Max had to return to M.I.T 2 weeks later. Alix fled Paris to go to Egypt almost as soon as Max went. Chloe and Marinette fell into depression. Nino began hiding his emotions. Kim locked himself away from the world. Everyone else continued their lives but with a great sadness living within them. Alya went back to normal. She had to. She had to look after Chloe and Marinette.

The trees had lost their final leaves. The wind howled like a wolf would at the moon. Even the birds refused to spread their wings. The sky was a dull grey with no sign of blue in it. The sun was covered by the blanket of clouds.

Marinette took her gaze off of the window for a second to stare at the servant telling her her daily tasks.
"Thank you. That's all," she said, dismissively, staring back out the window.
"Yes my Queen," came the shaky reply before the sound of the door shutting was the only sound left. She let out a sigh of sadness as she continued to stare out of the window.

Time must have passed because the next thing she knew, Alya was entering the room.
"Hey girl. How are you feeling?" her friend asked. Marinette didn't even spare her friend a glance. She just kept her eye on the garden.
"How's Chloe?" asked Marinette, ignoring her friend's question.
"Better with the therapy. And so is Nino. They can now talk to people about their emotions," explained Alya.
"That's wonderful," Marinette said unenthusiastically.
"Girl, it's been 3 years. Maybe you should seek help as well?" suggested Alya.
"Convince everyone else who was close to him first and I might consider it," she said bitterly.
"Marinette-"
"I think I need some time to be alone now Alya. You're dismissed," snapped Marinette.

That's how it always ended. With Marinette getting angry and sending everyone away. She couldn't deal with all the emotions laying within her like a disease. She just wanted to get rid of them. She wanted to get rid of her suffering. 

She took a step away from the window and gasped. She fell back against the table and leaned on it. A tear fell from her eye.
"Adrien, I am so sorry," she said, whimpering as another tear slid down her face. She took a deep breath in and left the room.

"Your royal highness, a car is awaiting," spoke a servant, running down the hall to get to her.
"Why?"
"Lady Alya requested a trip for you, my queen. A trip to Paris," explained the servant, fingers trembling. Marinette sighed and nodded.
"Thank you for letting me know," she whispered before walking down the halls. He was left wide eyed but walked away before she could return.

She got into the car and saw Alya, Nino and Chloe already in the vehicle.
"Where are we going Alya?" asked Chloe, putting on a smile. That was some advice. Try to smile more around friends.
"I know where we're going," mumbled Marinette, looking down at her feet as the car began to drive.
"I think you're both ready and Marinette needs to see. You need to talk to Adrien," Alya said.

The three paused. Chloe tried to hide her tears as she averted her gaze from those she had grown close with in the previous years. Nino looked down at his feet and closed his eyes. Marinette folded her arms and stared out of the window.
"Y'know, I haven't told anyone this. I'm hurting too. Adrien was my friend as well. But I have tried to be at my best so I can help you all. So we are going to see him and we are going to talk to him. It would be good for all of us," snapped Alya.
"I understand Als. Thank you," said Nino, leaning his head against her shoulder. Chloe took a deep breath and tried to stop her tears.
"Thank you Alya."

Marinette remained zoned out. She was just thinking about where to even begin. Ever since Adrien's coma, things got worse. A lot worse. So much so, it would be hard to talk about to anyone. She remains in a room all day and only comes out when there are royal tasks to perform, where she'll fake a smile and pretend she's alright.

"No. One. Touches. The. Croissants," said Alya with a glare as they left their suitcases at a table. They walked over to the buffet.
"You'll have a fight to the death then," said Adrien, narrowing his eyes. They both grabbed a ladle and started placing croissants on their plates.

"How did we fall in love with such weirdos?" asked Nino, as he grabbed a plate. Marinette shrugged my shoulders with a laugh as she grabbed a plate.

She helped herself to some noodles and sat back down at the table. Nino came and joined her. He had a plate of lasagne. About 10 minutes later, Alya and Adrien returned with an empty plate and glum faces.

"What happened?" Marinette asked.
"The head chef came down and told us we had to share the croissants as they were meant for everyone," said Adrien sadly.

"But?" asked Nino.
"He was speaking Chinese," sighed Adrien.
"Ok? You understand Chinese though," Marinette said, hoping they didn't mess up.
"Alya doesn't and she laughed," growled Adrien.

Alya held her breath, trying not to burst out laughing again.
"So we were forced to leave empty-handed," whined Adrien.

Marinette smiled fondly at the memory before blinking and realising she was in her jet.
"How did we get here?" she asked, looking around in confusion.
"You must've been in one of your zoned out states but you were conscious walking here. Nino and Alya are asleep and I'm going to soon," explained Chloe in a hushed voice. I sighed.
"How long has it been?" she asked.
"Since what?" asked Chloe sadly, staring down at her hands.
"Since you last... you know," whispered Marinette.
"Two weeks ago. My therapist helped a lot. How long for you?" asked Chloe, sighing in realisation at what Marinette.
"About a week and a half ago," said Marinette, looking up at the ceiling of the jet.
"At least we're healing? Adrien wouldn't want this. He'd want us to move on," said Chloe, mumbling the last part.
"We have no idea what he wants because he's not here," Marinette said bitterly as she turned to face the window and stared out of it.
"Goodnight Marinette," said Chloe, a tear rolling down her cheek as Chloe tried to get comfortable.

"If I go to sleep, the nightmares will return," mumbled Marinette as she got her phone out.

Chapter 1 done! OMG I cannot wait for the next parts to come out! I have so many ideas!

Stay amazing!