A few days later, on an ordinary school day, everything in the classrooms of François Dupont High School seemed to have returned to its usual calm.
Jaden sat in his usual spot, by the window in the last row of the classroom. The afternoon sun streamed through the clean glass, warmly bathing him and making him feel an irresistible wave of drowsiness.
These past few days, he had been feeling a bit sluggish, as if that brief Akumatization had drained a part of his energy.
He rested his chin on one hand, his eyelids so heavy they almost stuck together, listening to Teacher Caline's lecture, which sounded like a lullaby from the podium, his consciousness gradually blurring.
The other students in the classroom were all listening attentively. Teacher Caline was assigning the weekend's literature appreciation homework: "...I require you all to analyze the satirical art in La Fontaine's fables in groups, and hand it in before next Monday."
Meanwhile, in front of Jaden, Alya was secretly up to something. She held a high-definition photo of Ladybug that she had printed herself.
She had carefully cut out Ladybug's face from the photo with scissors, leaving only an outline.
Then, holding this "hollowed-out" photo, she quietly compared the face shape and jawline of every female student in the class, like a detective.
Her movements were very discreet, but they still aroused the curiosity of the surrounding students.
"Alya, what are you doing?" Rose asked softly, curiously.
"Shhh—I'm conducting a great scientific study!" Alya winked mysteriously and continued her "great comparison project."
From Alix's sharply defined jawline, to Juleka's slightly thin cheeks, to Mylène's round and cute chin... She compared all the girls in the class, but the result left her greatly disappointed—not a single one matched perfectly.
When she aimed the photo at Chloé's face, always held high with a proud curve, Chloé seemed to sense something.
She turned around and, in a lazy yet warning tone, said colloquially, "I advise you not to point that boring thing at this young lady's noble face."
After speaking, she subtly pointed towards the front of the classroom with her exquisitely manicured finger.
Alya looked in the direction she pointed and was startled! Teacher Caline, at some unknown point, had finished her lecture and was now standing by the podium, arms crossed, watching her with interest.
Alya quickly and awkwardly tucked the photo into her desk, displaying a standard, fawning smile.
Teacher Caline didn't pursue her "little trick," but simply scanned the classroom and asked, "Has anyone seen Marinette? She hasn't been to school all day today."
"Reporting, Teacher! I don't know either!" Alya immediately raised her hand and replied, "I called her this morning, but no one answered."
"Is that so..." A hint of worry flashed in Teacher Caline's eyes. "Alright then. Alya, after class, please take today's homework to her as well."
"Okay, Teacher!"
"Alright, class dismissed."
The bell rang, and Teacher Caline announced.
However, today's dismissal was different from usual. Almost the moment the teacher left the classroom, most of the students suddenly, and in unison, swarmed to the last row, surrounding the figure who was still dozing off.
"Jaden! Are you okay? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?" The first to speak was the most lively and outgoing Rose, her voice filled with unconcealed worry.
"Yeah, yeah," Kim also squeezed over, saying with a concerned look, "You don't look so good.
Is it some lingering effect from that Akumatization incident a few days ago?"
"Lingering effect? I'd say it's a handsome lingering effect!" Nino said in his usual, exaggerated rapper-like tone, "Yo! Bro! I'm telling you, you looked absolutely cool when you underwent Akumatization into the Winter Knight that day!
That armor! That ice palace! It was even more awesome than any MV scene I've ever seen! So cool!"
"I actually think... that last scene was very romantic..." Juleka lowered her head and added softly, in a voice almost only she could hear.
The students' chatter finally woke Jaden completely from his slumber. He rubbed his sleepy eyes, and a warm feeling welled up in his heart as he looked at the concerned faces before him.
He smiled and replied in his usual gentle and sincere tone, "Thank you all for your concern. I'm fine, and I don't feel unwell anywhere, it's just... for some reason, I've been a bit dizzy these past few days and especially want to sleep."
Hearing him say this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's good! You must get some good rest!"
"Exactly! If you need any help, just let us know anytime!"
After a few more rounds of concerned chatter, they dispersed in twos and threes.
Jaden stretched, packed his schoolbag, and was about to leave the campus when a hand suddenly grabbed his wrist.
It was Alya.
"Jaden, come with me." Her expression was uncharacteristically serious.
Before Jaden could react, he was pulled by Alya to a secluded corner behind the teaching building.
"What's wrong?" Jaden looked at her, puzzled.
Alya took a deep breath, and then, with an almost interrogative, piercing gaze, stared into his eyes and said, word by word:
"I have a theory... a very bold one, but I think it has a ninety percent chance of being true."
She paused, as if paving the way for the bombshell to come.
"I suspect... Marinette is Ladybug!"
"Huh?" Jaden cooperated perfectly, showing an expression full of shock and disbelief.
Seeing his reaction, Alya immediately understood. She knew it! Anyone familiar with Marinette would never believe such an absurd guess!
"I know! I know you won't believe it!" Alya's words came out quickly, as if to prove her theory. "After all, Marinette is always that flustered, clumsy, accident-prone person who can't do anything right in front of you, in front of me, in front of everyone! Right?"
Seeing Jaden nod, Alya's confidence grew. She began to list her evidence like a true detective.
"But! Think about it carefully! She didn't come to school again today! And, according to my secret statistics over the past few weeks, every single time!
I mean every time an Akumatized Person appears, Marinette will suddenly disappear for all sorts of strange reasons—like a stomach ache, needing to go to the bathroom, or an urgent family matter! Don't you think that's too much of a coincidence?!"
"So," Jaden looked at her serious expression, surprised internally, but on the surface, he maintained his skeptical look, "you're just guessing Marinette is Ladybug based on these coincidences? Isn't the evidence... a bit too far-fetched?"
Although he said this, his mind was as clear as a mirror.
It seems... the people of this world aren't so foolish after all. Alya's journalistic intuition is truly terrifyingly sharp.
Just as Alya was about to present more evidence to refute his "doubt"—
A rustling, barely suppressed commotion suddenly came from the blind spot around the corner.
"Who?!"
Jaden and Alya simultaneously turned their heads sharply towards the source of the sound.
Then, they saw a scene that left them dumbfounded.
From behind that small corner, countless heads popped out, one after another.
Nathan, Marc, Sabrina, Adrien, Chloé, Juleka, Rose, Kim, Max, Nino, Mylène, Alix... Good heavens, except for Marinette herself, every single student in the class was here!
Meow... Is this a class representative meeting?
Jaden silently complained in his heart.
"You... you all..." Alya pointed at them, too angry to speak. "How long have you all been listening here?!"
"Hmm..." Chloé was the first to slowly emerge from behind the corner, crossing her arms and replying in her characteristic, superior tone, "As long as you've been talking, we've been listening."
She glanced at Alya, her eyes full of disdain: "Marinette is Ladybug? Don't be ridiculous. How could that clumsy idiot who trips over flat ground possibly..."
She originally wanted to say, "how could she possibly be that kind of hero who can soar through the sky and burrow into the earth," but the words caught in her throat when she saw Jaden smiling beside her, and she forced herself to change her sentence.
"...Anyway! It's impossible for it to be her!"
"Exactly, exactly!" Kim immediately chimed in. He was one of the witnesses to how bad Marinette's athletic ability was. "Last time in P.E., she couldn't even jump over the vaulting horse! Ladybug can run on rooftops!"
"Besides, their personalities are completely different!" Rose also offered her opinion. "Ladybug is so brave and confident! Marinette... she even blushes when she answers questions in class."
"Completely different temperaments." Alix summarized concisely, her cool and sharp face etched with disbelief.
"Although... Marinette can be a bit clumsy sometimes..." Adrien also pondered, saying in an objective tone, "But I also think... this guess is a bit too... unbelievable."
For a moment, the entire corner was filled with a chorus of denials, one after another, against Alya's "absurd guess."
"Whether it is or isn't," just as everyone was arguing incessantly, Jaden's voice gently rang out, instantly silencing everyone, "
Next time an Akumatized Person appears, we can all pay attention to Marinette's movements, and then we'll know, won't we?"
His suggestion immediately received everyone's approval.
And while they were intensely discussing, no one knew.
On the other side of the city, Marinette, who had just dealt with a "Graffiti Monster" akumatized due to failing an exam, was yawning and slowly walking home with her schoolbag.
She was still feeling a little disappointed that she had "caught a cold" again today and missed the chance to see Jaden.
"Oh, Marinette," Tikki's somewhat complaining voice came from her pink crossbody bag, "Time always flies when you're saving the world.
I feel like I haven't even finished digesting my macarons today."
"Alright, Tikki," Marinette mumbled softly into her bag, "I'll give you plenty to eat when we get home."
Although she said this, she was sighing about something else in her heart. Time flies when saving the world, but my class time also flew away with it... she thought, feeling a bit down.
Not only had she missed a whole day of classes, but she also had no idea what the assigned homework was. And... most importantly... she hadn't seen Jaden all day today.
At the thought of his name, Marinette's heart skipped a beat uncontrollably.
In her mind, like a slow-motion movie replay, the unexpected, soft moment on that chaotic rooftop a few days ago resurfaced uncontrollably.
That warm, feather-light touch seemed to still linger on her lips.
She could clearly recall his black eyes, close at hand and with a hint of surprise, and her own deafening heartbeat, which felt like it was about to burst from her chest.
"Whoosh—" A rush of heat suddenly shot from the base of her neck straight to her cheeks! Her entire face instantly turned redder than a ripe tomato.
She quickly lowered her head, pressing the back of her hand to her burning face, feeling both shy and embarrassed, yet with an irrepressible, sweet aftertaste.
As she was lost in thought, the familiar sweet scent of butter, caramel, and fresh flour pulled her back to reality. She was home.
"I'm home—" She pushed open the glass door with the "Welcome" sign, and the crisp sound of wind chimes followed.
Tikki, with great understanding, was also hidden securely in the crossbody bag.
"Oh, Marinette, you're back." Her mother, Sabine, was standing behind the cash register, organizing the day's accounts.
She smiled gently when she saw her daughter, but her tone carried a hint of helpless reproach, "You child, why are you always so forgetful these days?
Alya came by a while ago and said you 'caught a cold' again today, and she brought your homework over."
Saying that, Sabine took out a thick stack of handouts and exercise books from under the counter and handed them to Marinette.
"When you have time, go out and exercise more to strengthen your physique. Don't always stay in the attic," Sabine said with concern.
Marinette took the homework, nodding obediently on the surface, but inwardly, she was frantically complaining: Exercise? I save the world every day, flying up to the sky and down to the earth, running on rooftops and scaling walls—isn't that enough exercise?!
She walked over to her mother, gave her a affectionate kiss on her smooth cheek, and then, with somewhat tired steps, prepared to go upstairs.
"Oh, right," as she was about to step onto the stairs, Sabine seemed to suddenly remember something and added, "When Alya brought over the homework earlier, she was stealthily peeking her head around your room door, looking left and right as if searching for something. But she left very quickly."
"Really?" Marinette didn't take this remark to heart. In her opinion, any strange action Alya made was perfectly normal.
She casually responded and then went straight back to her little pink-filled world in the attic.
She tossed her schoolbag and homework onto her desk, then collapsed onto her soft lounge chair in a "big" spread-eagle shape.
"Oh… my goodness…" She looked at the mountain of homework and let out a desperate groan, "I saved Paris once again, but who will save my homework?!"
Just then—
"Buzz… buzz…" Her phone, sitting on her desk, suddenly vibrated.
Marinette glanced at it weakly.
At first, she thought it was Alya calling to urge her to do her homework, but when her eyes clearly saw the name on the caller ID—[Jaden]—her heart instantly stopped beating!
The next second, she sprang up from the lounge chair as if a spring had been pressed! She rushed to the desk in a flustered, stumbling manner, wanting to grab her phone, but due to extreme nervousness, her hands trembled like a sieve, and she not only failed to grab the phone but also accidentally knocked over a pen holder next to it!
"Clatter—" Colorful drawing pens scattered all over the floor.
"Oh! No, no, no! Oh my goodness! What do I do, what do I do?!" She frantically spun around in place, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
Seeing her clumsy state, Tikki, who had flown out of her satchel, sighed helplessly. The tiny Kwami, like an experienced old butler, calmly flew to the still-vibrating phone.
"Marinette! If you don't answer soon, he's going to hang up!"
"But… but what should I say?! Is my hair messy? Will my voice sound strange?!"
Looking at Marinette, who was still fretting over these unimportant issues, Tikki rolled its tiny eyes. It no longer hesitated, and with its small body, it suddenly bumped into the green answer button on the screen!
The call was connected.
Marinette gasped, quickly held her breath, and carefully brought the phone to her ear.
"Hello…?" Her voice was as faint as a mosquito, with an almost imperceptible tremor caused by nervousness.
From the other end of the line came Jaden's familiar, gentle voice, like the warm sun of spring.
"Marinette? It's me, Jaden."
"Uh… uh! I… I know!" Marinette felt her heart was about to leap out of her throat.
"Sorry to bother you so late. I just wanted to tell you something a little funny that happened at school today," Jaden's tone sounded relaxed and casual.
"Funny… thing?"
"Yeah," Jaden chuckled, "After class today, Alya suddenly pulled me aside and told me very mysteriously that she had an amazing discovery… She said she suspected you were Ladybug."
—!!! Hearing this, Marinette felt her blood instantly freeze! Her mind went "boom" and exploded into a blank! She froze in place, like a statue encased in ice, forgetting even to breathe!
She… she knew… Alya knew… Just as she was about to be swallowed by this immense fear, Jaden's next words were like a life raft from heaven, pulling her sharply back from the cold, desperate abyss.
"But don't worry," Jaden's tone carried a clear hint of amusement, "None of us believed her. I told her it was the most ridiculous guess I'd ever heard.
Think about it, you? Ladybug? How is that possible? You trip even when you walk normally, and you're so timid.
So, I told her to stop letting her imagination run wild."
He paused, then added in a casual tone, as if sharing a secret: "So, I'm giving you a heads-up.
If Alya jokes about this with you again tomorrow, just treat it as her talking nonsense. Alright, I won't disturb your rest. Bye."
"…Huh? Oh… okay… okay! Haha… ha," Marinette gave a dry laugh, sounding worse than crying, "Alya's… her imagination… has always… always been so rich… haha… Well… uh… I… I still have homework to do! Good… goodbye!"
She almost incoherently finished her last sentence, then frantically and heavily pressed the hang-up button.
"Clack." The phone slipped from her powerless hand and fell onto the desk.
Silence fell upon the room.
A few seconds later.
"Ah—!!!!" Marinette suddenly clutched her head, letting out a silent, hysterical scream! She began to pace anxiously back and forth in her small attic room, like a wild beast trapped in a cage!
Her hands frantically clutched her hair, her face filled with an immense, apocalyptic panic!
It's over… it's completely over! Her heart was currently experiencing an unprecedented, catastrophic storm!
Alya knew! She really knew! She even told Jaden!
No… she must have told everyone in the class! Jaden said… he said they didn't believe it… that must have been a lie to trick me!
He must have said that on purpose so I wouldn't get suspicious! They must all know!
Oh my goodness! Then Jaden… he must know too! He knows I'm Ladybug!
Then… then a few days ago… that… that kiss on the rooftop… As soon as she thought of this, Marinette's face instantly turned pale!
He must think… I did it on purpose! He must think I deliberately took advantage of him by using my identity as Ladybug! He must now think I'm a super scheming, shameless bad girl!
My image in his heart is completely ruined! My life… is totally over, ahhhhh!
"Marinette! Marinette! Calm down!" Tikki, seeing her on the verge of a breakdown, flew around her anxiously, trying to soothe her with a gentle tone, "Listen to me!
Didn't Jaden say? He doesn't believe it at all!"
"He only said that to trick me!" Marinette was completely unable to listen to anything, immersed in her catastrophic imagination, unable to extricate herself, "What should I do?! How can I face him tomorrow?!
No! I can't go to school! I'm going to transfer! No! I'm going to move! Move to the other side of the world!"
Looking at her owner, who had completely lost her mind and fallen into a self-destructive panic, Tikki finally reached its limit.
It took a deep breath, then suddenly flew in front of Marinette, meeting her eyes, which were filled with panic and despair.
"Marinette!!!" It used all its strength to let out the loudest, most stern roar it had ever made!
"Calm down! Pacing around like a madwoman here won't solve anything! Listen to me!!!"
Tikki's sudden roar, full of sternness and concern, was like a depth charge dropped into Marinette's chaotic mind, which was about to be submerged by a flood of panic!
"Buzz—" The countless bees named "fear" and "despair" that were frantically circling in her mind seemed to be instantly subdued by this sharp cry.
Marinette dazedly lifted her tear-stained face from the pillow. She looked at the little Kwami in front of her, who was standing with its hands on its hips, glaring at her with its big purple eyes.
This was the first time she had seen Tikki display such a serious, even angry, expression. From its tiny body, a powerful aura that she couldn't ignore now erupted.
"You… you yelled at me…" Marinette's lips trembled slightly, with a hint of grievance, but more of a dazed confusion after being stunned.
"I am yelling at you!" Tikki didn't back down. It flew in front of Marinette, meeting her tear-filled blue eyes, "Look at you now!
Your hair is a mess like a bird's nest, your eyes are swollen like walnuts, and besides screaming into a pillow here, what else have you done?!"
It took a deep breath, its tone softening slightly but still full of undeniable power.
"I ask you, who are you?"
"I… I'm Marinette…"
"Wrong!" Tikki immediately interrupted her, "You are Ladybug!
You are the hero who, every time Paris is in crisis, steps forward without hesitation, using wisdom and courage to overcome all difficulties! The unique Ladybug who can transform desperate adversity into miraculous hope!"
Tikki's words were like rays of light, piercing through the thick cloud of panic that had formed in Marinette's heart.
"But… but Ladybug wouldn't become like this because of a boy… wouldn't be at a loss because of a kiss… and certainly wouldn't mess things up so badly…" Marinette's voice was filled with deep self-loathing.
"Why not?!" Tikki retorted, "Can't heroes have someone they like?
Can't heroes have their own worries and insecurities? Marinette, you are both Ladybug and Marinette.
Both of these identities are a part of you. You cannot deny all the courage you possess as 'Ladybug' just because you are afraid that the 'Marinette' part of you isn't perfect!"
It flew forward and gently touched Marinette's forehead with its small, soft body.
"Now, listen to me. Things are not as bad as you imagine."
Tikki's voice returned to its usual gentleness and wisdom, "First, Alya is just guessing; she has no concrete evidence.
Second, just as Jaden said on the phone, all the classmates, including himself, think this guess is absurd. They are all on your side now, they are your 'alibi witnesses'."
Tikki's blunt analysis, though it temporarily stunned Marinette, failed to truly extinguish the raging fire of "panic" within her heart.
Her body no longer flailed around like a headless fly, but an unshakeable fear still lingered in her blue eyes.
She slumped in her chair, murmuring distractedly, "No… it's different… Tikki, you don't understand…"
Her voice carried a hint of a sob, filled with bone-deep despair.
"If it were Alya… if only Alya herself had found out and called to question me, or secretly left a note saying 'I know your secret' in my homework book… I… I wouldn't be this scared at all!" She explained incoherently, "I would just think that her damned detective intuition, sharper than a bloodhound's, had kicked in again!
I would find a way to deal with her, to fool her, to make up a thousand reasons to deny it! I would be confident… I could trick her…"
She paused, and a shimmering film of tears, on the verge of breaking, appeared in her beautiful eyes.
"But… the person who called, it was him."
"It was him… who called personally."
This sentence seemed to drain all the strength from her body. For Marinette, Alya's suspicion was a crisis that required her to rack her brains to deal with;
but Jaden personally saying it was equivalent to the person she cared about most in her life pressing the start button for her doomsday.
"He knows… This means that in his mind, he has already put 'me' and 'Ladybug' together for comparison!"
"He said he didn't believe it… but was it true?!
He's so smart, so gentle… He just… he just said that on purpose so I wouldn't be embarrassed! He must already know! He must have figured everything out!"
The thought that Jaden might be dissecting her in his mind with a new, scrutinizing, and even… disappointed gaze, made Marinette feel as if her heart was being gripped by a cold hand, aching to the point of being unable to breathe.
"He must think I'm… a liar who tells endless falsehoods! I…"
"Stop!" Tikki, seeing she was about to fall into a self-destructive loop again, immediately flew in front of her and interrupted her, "Listen to me! The only way now is to confirm! You must call Alya! Immediately! Right now!"
Its small face was filled with unquestionable determination.
"Judge from the tone of her voice when she answers, from her attitude when she speaks! Whether she just said it casually, or if she really has some evidence! This is the only thing we can do right now!"
These words were like a faint, flickering light at the end of a dark tunnel. Yes, instead of scaring herself here, it was better to face the root of the problem!
Marinette suddenly awoke from despair! She instantly grabbed her phone from the table, her hands, which had been trembling with fear, now erupted with an unprecedented strength. She quickly unlocked the screen, found Alya's contact, and without hesitation, pressed the dial button.
However, what came through the receiver was a cold, mechanical busy signal.
"No signal?"
She looked at the empty signal bar in the upper left corner of her phone screen with confusion, and that ominous premonition rose again in her heart.
She immediately rushed to the skylight, struggled to push the window open, and held her phone high towards the night sky, hoping to catch even a faint signal.
But, it was still futile.
Just as she was getting so anxious she wanted to stomp her foot, she inadvertently glanced behind her own rooftop. On the roof of a neighboring building, a figure in a work uniform, secured by a safety harness, was suspended next to a tall signal tower, performing circuit maintenance.
In the night wind, she could faintly hear the "zzzzzt zzzzzzt" sound of electricity.
"Hey! Miss!" The maintenance worker also noticed her and shouted to her kindly from a distance, "Don't bother! The signal tower in this area is undergoing emergency maintenance, and the signal is temporarily cut off!
It will probably… take about another hour to restore!"
"…Alright, thank you."
Her last hope was completely shattered by the maintenance worker's words.
Marinette weakly lowered her hand. She quietly closed the skylight and returned to her desk.
The whole world seemed to be against her. She looked at the mountain of homework on her desk, then at the last glimmer of light outside the window, gradually swallowed by the night. Anxiety and panic, like vines, silently crept back into her heart.
"Forget it…" she muttered to herself, "For now… I won't think about these things… I'll finish my homework first…"
That night, she didn't sleep soundly. In her dream, she sometimes dreamt of Alya chasing her like a detective with a magnifying glass;
And then she dreamt of Jaden looking at her with an extremely disappointed gaze, then turning and leaving… While she was tormented by nightmares, tossing and turning, she didn't notice that the little red Kwami, who had been quietly resting in a small box by her pillow, had quietly opened its eyes.
Tikki carefully flew out of the box. It circled once in the air, confirming that Marinette had fallen into a deep sleep and wouldn't be easily woken. Then, an unprecedented solemnity and determination flashed in its tiny eyes.
It couldn't let Marinette bear such pressure and fear alone anymore.
It had to seek help.
Its tiny figure, like a red lightning bolt in the night, silently passed through the half-open skylight and merged into the deep, star-studded night sky of Paris.
On the second floor of an unassuming massage and physical therapy shop in the center of Paris, filled with ancient oriental charm.
Master Fu was sitting cross-legged on a meditation cushion, eyes slightly closed, breathing long and steady, performing his daily meditation.
The room was filled with a faint scent of sandalwood, and only an old phonograph was playing soothing, Zen-like guqin music.
Suddenly, Wayzz, the little green Kwami who had been quietly lying next to the phonograph, suddenly raised its head.
"Master!" Its voice carried a hint of alarm, "I sense a familiar aura of a companion rapidly approaching us!"
Master Fu slowly opened his eyes, and a hint of confusion flashed in his weathered gaze.
Before he could even ask, a red ray of light "whooshed" through the wall and appeared directly in the center of the room! It was a very anxious Tikki!
"Tikki?!" Wayzz flew over in surprise, "Why are you here?! Shouldn't you be with your owner?!"
"It's an emergency, Wayzz!" Tikki, panting, flew directly in front of Master Fu and, in an unprecedentedly urgent tone, reported everything that had happened that afternoon, in detail, to the great Guardian.
When it finished, the entire room fell into a deathly silence.
"What?!" The first to break the silence was Wayzz's shriek, full of shock and disbelief, "Someone… someone guessed the true identity of the Ladybug holder?!
How… how is this possible?! The secret of identity must never be revealed! What should we do now?! Master! What should we do?!"
The two Kwamis, like ants on a hot pan, anxiously spun in circles in the air.
"Quiet."
Master Fu slowly spoke. His voice wasn't loud, but it seemed to carry a power that could soothe all anxiety, instantly making the two frantic Kwamis stop.
He pondered for a moment, and the light of wisdom flickered in his deep eyes.
"Tikki," he said, "You go back first. Stay with Marinette, calm her emotions, and don't let her overthink things. Tomorrow, everything will be resolved."
"But, Master…"
"Go." Master Fu's tone was unquestionable.
Tikki looked at the Master's resolute gaze, and although its heart was still full of doubts, it chose to believe. It nodded, and once again transformed into a red light, disappearing into the night.
"Master, do you have a solution?" After Tikki left, Wayzz still asked with deep concern.
Master Fu didn't answer directly. He slowly stood up and walked to the old, seemingly unremarkable phonograph.
He extended his wrinkled hands and, on the base of the phonograph, pressed several hidden rotary buttons in a specific sequence.
"Click… click…"
As a series of intricate mechanism sounds rang out, a hidden compartment slowly opened on the side of the phonograph. An octagonal wooden box, filled with mysterious oriental patterns, lay quietly inside.
It was the miraculous Box.
Master Fu carefully took out the miraculous Box and placed it on the table.
He turned the mechanism again, and the top lid of the box slowly opened, revealing the neatly arranged small drawers inside, each containing a different miraculous.
All the drawers opened simultaneously. For a moment, the entire room was illuminated by the faint yet mysterious glow of the various miraculous.
Master Fu's gaze swept over the ornaments one by one, and finally, precisely, he took out two of them.
An orange and white, fox-tail shaped necklace—the Fox miraculous.
And a thimble-like finger cover, resembling a rooster's thumb—the Rooster miraculous.
"The Fox miraculous can create any illusion that is indistinguishable from reality."
Master Fu slowly said, as if explaining to Wayzz, yet also talking to himself, "And the Rooster miraculous, its power is 'Sublimation', which can grant the user any extraordinary superpower they desire."
"Master, do you mean…" Wayzz looked at the two ornaments in his hand, seeming to vaguely understand something.
"Exactly." A profound, enigmatic smile appeared on Master Fu's lips, "
Tomorrow, when an Akumatized Person appears again, I will personally go out.
Using the power of the fox, I will create an illusion of Ladybug.
Then, using the power of the rooster, I will bestow that illusion with the true, indestructible power belonging to Ladybug."
"This way…" Wayzz suddenly understood! "
When that 'Illusion Ladybug' is fighting outside, the real Marinette can openly stay with her classmates!
She can even find an excuse to go to the restroom, which will completely dispel all her classmates' suspicions!"
"Precisely."
"But…" A deep worry reappeared on Wayzz's face. It looked at Master Fu's slightly stooped back, "Master… your current physical condition… simultaneously using two powerful miraculous, will it…"
"Don't worry, Wayzz." Master Fu waved his hand, a confident smile of an old but strong man appearing on his face, "I'm not that old yet!
I'm only one hundred and eighty-six years old this year! This little matter won't trouble…"
"Ow—! My old back!"
Before he could finish his sentence, he suddenly strained his back because he stood up too quickly. He painfully clutched his lower back, his entire face crumpled in agony.
Wayzz: "…"
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Jaden stood alone in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of his apartment, overlooking the sparkling night view of Paris.
He was also replaying the events.
Replaying the magnificent yet uncontrolled "Winter Knight" show that he had personally directed.
The last time he transformed into Winter Knight, he didn't completely lose consciousness. On the contrary, his consciousness was clearer than ever before.
He could clearly feel Hawk Moth's dark energy, full of temptation and a desire for control, trying to erode his soul.
But he could also feel a completely different, deeper, colder latent power within himself.
The two forces reached a delicate balance within his body.
That's why he made that foolish mistake that even a third-rate villain wouldn't make—after defeating the hero, he didn't seize the miraculous, but instead expended a huge amount of energy to build a grand but impractical ice palace in the sky.
Because that was not his goal at all.
Hawk Moth wanted the miraculous.
And he wanted to test.
To test the limits of that power, to test the strength of his will, and also to test… how every "key person" in this world would react when faced with such an extreme, aesthetically pleasing "despair."
The moment the Akuma Butterfly flew out of the broken parasol, he actively severed the link with that dark energy.
The ice fortress, symbolizing the manifestation of his power, naturally collapsed with it.
Everything was within his calculations.
Except for… He instinctively reached out and, with his fingertip, gently touched his lips.
That soft, unexpected kiss, carrying the unique scent of a young girl.
That beautiful variable, the only one not within his calculations.
His lips, under the clear moonlight, slowly curved into a barely perceptible, playful smile.