The kiss, as gentle as a butterfly's wings, softly brushed a dew-kissed, budding rose, yet it was hot enough to completely ignite the entire cold, dead winter night!
As their cold lips slowly parted, Jaden gazed quietly at the beautiful "princess" before him, who was slightly breathless from the sudden kiss, with an indescribably tender and doting look.
"...You, go first." His voice was so soft, so full of reassuring power, "...It's dangerous here."
"...No!"
Rose refused without even thinking!
Her slender arms, like the most tenacious and clinging vine, tightly wrapped around his broad and warm waist.
She didn't want to be separated from him anymore! Not for a second!
"...Be good."
Jaden slowly lowered his head and whispered in her ear in a voice so soft, full of comforting power, that only the two of them could hear, "...Whether it's success or failure..."
"...I will come to the hospital to find you."
That promise-filled statement, like the warmest sunshine full of healing power, instantly soothed her heart, which had become anxious and restless due to the impending separation.
She slowly released her arms that were tightly embracing him, then gently placed the black perfume bottle, which she had been clutching tightly in her hand and was filled with an ominous yet sweet scent, into his hand.
"...If," she raised her beautiful small face, adorned with a black mask, and gazed at him with a resolute and unquestionable look, "...If you are defeated..."
"...Then,"
"...We will undo the Akumatization together."
After speaking, she no longer lingered.
She turned, like a beautiful phantom of pinkish-purple, full of determination, and quickly disappeared behind the luxurious and coldly designed boutique's grand entrance.
In her pure white, quiet hospital room, filled with the smell of disinfectant, a beautiful girl with short pinkish-purple hair lay quietly on the pure white, cold hospital bed.
She was just quietly waiting for the return of her only prince.
"...Have you finished your homework?" Chloé's cold, arrogant young lady's voice rang out in the boutique, which had temporarily returned to a strange calm.
"...J-just...just a few more minutes! I'm...I'm almost done!" Sabrina's timid, fawning voice, almost on the verge of tears, came from the other side.
Jaden sat quietly on the huge burgundy sofa made of top-grade Italian imported velvet. He ignored the two poor girls still struggling with that damned chemistry homework, and just waited quietly, waiting for the arrival of that last damned "protagonist."
And in the dark, damp, and unpleasantly smelling sewer,
"Hiccup—!"
Tikki let out a sweet macaron-flavored burp without any regard for its image!
Then, it looked at its master, who was in an unprecedented state of vulnerability and self-doubt, with a look of lingering fear, almost on the verge of tears!
"...Marinette! You...you calm down!"
"How can I calm down?!"
Marinette's voice was filled with an uncontrollable, violent tremor, "Cat Noir!"
He...he was defeated in such a short time!"
Her beautiful blue eyes were fixed on the impactful, suffocating replay on her phone screen!
In the video, the elegant and magnificent "Prince of flowers" merely waved his hand casually, and the always confident, arrogant Cat Noir was tightly bound in place by beautiful yet deadly thorns, like the most fragile, helpless doll!
Then, the powerful miraculous symbolizing "destruction" was easily taken off! The entire process didn't even take five minutes!
"...He can not only control those mists that can bewitch people's hearts..." Marinette's voice was filled with a tremor bordering on despair,
"...He can also control those destructive flowers and thorns!"
"I...I don't even know how long this damned handkerchief on my face can last!"
"I have even less confidence in defeating him before this handkerchief fails!"
"And! And he has already gotten Cat Noir's miraculous!
If...if I also fail! Then...then everything will really be over!"
"...There...there will always be a way!" Tikki desperately encouraged her in a tone it didn't even quite believe itself!
"...What way can there be now?!" Marinette's fragile, taut nerves were almost on the verge of a complete breakdown at this moment!
"...Unless..." Her desperate voice abruptly stopped.
In an instant! A bold, crazy, and imaginative idea.
Phasing through walls?!
Tikki looked at its master, who was on the verge of a breakdown one second ago, but whose eyes suddenly sparkled with a bright light the next, and its tiny body uncontrollably shivered violently!
It felt that something bad was about to happen!
"...Why isn't she here yet?" Jaden murmured softly in a lazy and bored tone.
He casually placed the powerful Cat Noir miraculous, symbolizing "destruction," and the black perfume bottle, symbolizing "Princess Fragrance" and filled with an ominous yet sweet scent.
Like two ordinary, inconspicuous small toys, he casually threw them onto the cold marble coffee table beside him.
"...You just put them here so casually?" Hawk Moth's voice, filled with a hint of worry and vigilance, once again rang in his mind, "...Isn't that a bit too careless?"
"...Relax." Jaden replied in a reassuring, nonchalant tone.
If he wasn't so casual... he let out a playful, almost malicious chuckle in his heart... how could he make a grand exit after achieving his sole purpose?
...I'm done!" Just then, Sabrina's voice, filled with relief and a sense of having narrowly escaped death, almost on the verge of joyful tears, came from the other side!
"...Oh." Chloé merely responded indifferently in a cold, arrogant, queen-like tone, then continued to cast her anxious and expectant gaze towards the luxurious and coldly designed boutique's grand entrance.
She now desperately hoped that damned girl in the red and black bodysuit would come quickly!
She hoped she would use her damned yo-yo to severely teach that damned, heartless, incompetent, and unfaithful scoundrel a lesson!
Just then!
"...Look! It's Ladybug!"
"...Has the protagonist finally arrived?!"
The flower sea outside, which should have been strangely silent and dead, suddenly stirred a little!
Jaden slowly raised his black eyes, which always carried a faint, gentle smile.
Outside the huge transparent floor-to-ceiling window, a figure wearing a red and black bodysuit with ladybug spots, and a large red and black motorcycle helmet that obscured his face, was slowly walking towards them!
Jaden's face, which always carried a hint of laziness and cynicism, froze slightly.
This outfit... isn't it a bit too unprofessional?
Before he could think about it further! That strange "Ladybug" had already swung the red and black yo-yo in his hand and attacked him directly!
However... too weak. Too powerless.
Jaden didn't even bother to use those beautiful and deadly petals and thorns anymore.
He just casually waved his hand, and a few seemingly slender and delicate vines that emerged from the ground easily bound that strange "hero," who moved as clumsily as a baby who had just learned to walk, in place!
"...Well done! Quick! Take off his earrings!" Hawk Moth's voice, filled with uncontrollable excitement and greed, roared wildly in his mind!
Jaden, with a confused expression, slowly walked up to the strange "Ladybug" he had so easily subdued, then reached out and slowly took off his large and comical motorcycle helmet.
Beneath the helmet was a small face he was all too familiar with, filled with terror, paleness, and stubbornness!
She didn't even wear the iconic red and black mask!
"...Marinette?!" Jaden froze.
How could it be you?!
"...No...shouldn't it be Ladybug?!" Hawk Moth's roar, filled with extreme disbelief and fury, exploded in his mind!
And just then!
"Whoosh—!"
A small red and black figure, almost impossible for any human eye to catch, silently passed through the thick, cold wall!
Its target was the cold coffee table made of top-grade Italian imported marble!
Those two items, casually thrown there by that powerful and arrogant "prince"... the fatal weaknesses!
On the other side, Jaden had already removed the earrings, but they had a cold, hard, and cheap plastic feel.
Jaden's hand gently crushed the two "miraculous" taken from Marinette's ears.
"...Fake?" He looked at the "earrings" that had turned into a pile of pathetic red and black plastic fragments at his fingertips.
—Damn it!!!"
—It...it's actually fake?!"
Hawk Moth's towering rage, fueled by being fooled and betrayed, was about to completely incinerate the last vestiges of his elegance and reason as a top fashion designer!
He had just been fantasizing like the most idiotic, naive TV viewer: this ignorant little girl must be Ladybug!
Perhaps she was harboring some ridiculous, foolish plan full of wishful thinking.
However! He never expected that this was really just a damn fake through and through!
A damn imposter full of insult!
"—Nathalie!!!" he said quickly,
"—Quick! Get me the surveillance footage from the store!"
"...Sir!" Nathalie's always cold and steady voice, for the first time, carried a clear hint of panic, "...I can't!
All the surveillance footage... all of it... has turned to static!"
On the special compact tablet in her hand, whether it was the surveillance footage inside the boutique or from the surrounding streets!
At this moment, it had all turned into a damn static screen full of snowflakes, as if it had been completely blocked by some extremely powerful, mysterious signal jammer!
—Again...
...it failed again..." Gabriel's always ramrod straight back, at this moment, seemed to be struck hard by an invisible, heavy sledgehammer again.
He slumped back onto the cold throne, symbolizing absolute power and control, his ice-blue eyes slowly extinguishing their light of hope, replaced by an endless darkness full of dead silence.
Just as Jaden was about to turn back to deal with the "real" spoils of war he had casually left on the coffee table—
A wave of weakness, like a surging tide, instantly swept over his entire body!
The elegant and magnificent dark energy that enveloped him quickly dissipated like a receding tide.
Of course, under his ingenious and "benevolent" calculations, the seemingly tough vines binding Marinette also quietly loosened at the same time.
The girl, regaining her freedom, didn't even spare a glance for the boy who had already reverted from his Akumatization and stood blankly in place!
She quickly rushed towards another pre-determined target!
And the dedicated reporters present also ignored the already insignificant "imposter"!
Like a pack of sharks smelling blood, they surged towards the "newsworthy" boy who had just recovered from his mysterious and powerful Akumatization!
"—Mr. Jaden! Mr. Jaden!" A female reporter, dressed in a sharp burgundy professional suit with a matching short, neat burgundy haircut, was the first to break through the chaotic encirclement!
She practically shoved the cold, metallic microphone right into Jaden's face: "I'm Nadja, a reporter from 'Paris Focus'!"
Her bright, ambitious eyes were fixed on the boy who was in an extremely weakened state, "Please! What do you have to say about your Akumatization just now?!
Do you know how much chaos your actions caused throughout Paris?!
Do you feel even a shred of guilt for your violent, irresponsible behavior?!"
She had long coveted this "Poet Knight" who had such high topicality in Paris!
She was almost driven crazy by that damn old-fashioned boss who only cared about her so-called "ratings"!
If she couldn't come up with some exclusive news that would explode across the city, her prime-time show, which she had worked so hard to get into, would really be canceled completely!
So! Today! She would absolutely not let go of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
Meanwhile, inside the chaotic encirclement of reporters, in the luxurious and coldly designed boutique, "Okay!" Tikki's small figure, full of excitement and pride, passed through the thick, cold wall!
It nodded heavily at its owner, who had been anxiously waiting for it at the door!
Marinette's heart, which had been hanging in mid-air, full of tension and unease, finally settled back into place!
She quickly glanced around—good!
Everyone's attention was currently completely captivated by that damn "big news"! No one noticed her, this inconspicuous "imposter"!
"Tikki! Get ready—!!!"
A light full of creation and hope instantly enveloped her body! When the light dissipated, the girl in the funny cosplay costume had transformed into a truly heroic figure in a red and black, ladybug-spotted catsuit!
She didn't even spare another glance for the poor boy who was surrounded by countless reporters; the red and black yo-yo in her hand, like a lightning bolt bringing hope, "whoosh" easily captured, purified, and then released the ominous Akuma butterfly that had just flown out of the shattered perfume bottle.
And then, she tossed the small, high-tech signal jamming device, randomly created by Lucky Charm, high into the sky: "—Miraculous Restoration!!!"
A light full of healing and warmth instantly enveloped all of Paris! The beautiful and deadly sea of flowers dissipated, the wildly poisonous thorns withered, and the "puppets" whose minds had been bewildered all regained consciousness.
Everything returned to normal,
Except for... except for Miss Chloé's bank account.
Ladybug, with elegant steps full of a victor's confidence, walked step by step to the cold coffee table made of top-grade Italian imported marble.
Just a second before the "original" young lady, who had just been released from the restored sea of flowers, was about to reach out her noble and greedy little hand to touch the ring shimmering with cold silver light.
She was the first to take the powerful miraculous, symbolizing "destruction," into her hand!
"...I think," she said slowly in a tone full of absolute justice and allowing no room for argument, "...this should be returned to its rightful owner."
After speaking, she didn't even spare another glance for the golden-haired young lady, whose entire body was already trembling slightly with anger, and turned to walk away gracefully.
On the other side, Jaden finally used up all his dwindling strength and, with great difficulty, carved a bloody path out of the encirclement of the wildly dedicated reporters!
The night gradually deepened.
On the ancient yet romantic streets of Paris, warm and dim streetlights slowly lit up one by one.
Jaden walked alone, somewhat tiredly, down a quiet, deserted alley.
"...Jaden?"
A small, tentative voice suddenly sounded behind him.
He turned his head and saw a girl in a funny red and black cosplay costume standing there somewhat awkwardly under the dim streetlight.
"...Marinette?" Jaden looked at her unique outfit, still in the "Ladybug" style, and a clear hint of playfulness appeared in his black eyes, which always carried a gentle smile, "...Why are you dressed as Ladybug?"
"Ah?! I... I..." Marinette's cute little face instantly flushed crimson!
Her beautiful blue eyes uncontrollably began to dart around:
"It... it's like this!
I... I just happened to be passing by there!
And then... and then Ladybug suddenly appeared! She... she said she needed my help with something very important!
Something very important!
I... I, of course, agreed!"
She explained quickly in a flustered tone, not even knowing what she was saying!
"...Oh?" Jaden looked at her cute, self-incriminating appearance, and the smile on his face became even more "gentle," "...Understood."
"...This plan was pretty good," he said softly in a doting tone, as if praising a child who had done something remarkable, "...Everything went smoothly."
"...Huh?! You... you remember?!" Marinette's beautiful blue eyes suddenly widened!
"...I really don't remember," Jaden slowly shook his head, and a flicker of indescribably complex and profound emotion quietly passed through his black eyes, which always carried a gentle smile, "...I only remember..."
"...After I finished calling you in the hospital corridor..."
"...A very sad girl threw herself into my arms..."
"...She said..."
"...She was dying."
Marinette's heart, which had been pounding violently because of her lie, was instantly seized by a bitter and indescribable emotion!
"...So,"
she asked softly in a small, pained voice, "...you got Akumatization?"
"...Mm."
"...Then... then Rose... how is she now?"
"...I don't know," Jaden slowly raised his head, looking towards the brightly lit hospital in the distance,
"...Let's go see her together."
"Okay!"