A/N: Just a short fic that I wrote on Tumblr for ML Countdown week Day 3. Which was quite a while ago, haha. Enjoy!


The Duke's Son and The Damsel in Distress

Adrien was simply passing a village, on an errand for his tutor, when he heard rumours of goblins living in the forest.

This wasn't uncommon because, in a world of magic and dragons, a few goblins was nothing to be surprised about. But what was concerning was that a baker's daughter went missing from the village.

There was no corpse to be found, nor a note at her house, so people began to assume she was kidnapped by the wretched monsters. Her parents were beside themselves with worry and the villagers dreaded the possibility of more abductions.

Feeling sorry for the girl, who must be terrified out of her wits, and wanting a little adventure of his own to get away from his depressing life at the castle, he decided to venture into the forest where the goblins were rumoured to live, decked out in his best armour and favourite sword, Cataclysm.

Adrien was confident in his ability, at least, confident that he was good enough to thwack a few puny monsters. He didn't think he would be able to take on something like a dragon yet but if it turned out to be one, Adrien would give it his best shot anyway.

But the victim was just a baker's daughter. She couldn't possibly know how to fight or defend herself, and she was probably in tears, losing more and more hope of rescue as time went by.

Well, she no longer had to cry because Adrien was on his way to save her!

As Adrien travelled through the forest, he suddenly heard noises of a scuffle. He heard yells and grunts of pain as well as some rather nasty death threats. Adrien hurried in that direction, fearing that his damsel in distress was already in grave danger.

He arrived at the scene but it certainly wasn't what he was expecting.

Ugly goblins were beaten black and blue and stacked in one big smelly dogpile, courtesy of the young girl clad in plain commoner's clothing, who was casually wiping dirt off her cheek.

Her short dark hair was a complete mess and her clothes were so rumpled and dirty that all the court ladies he knew would die before letting their clothes get to that state. Despite all that, when she turned to look at him, he found himself mesmerized by her sky blue eyes and smirking face.

"I'm afraid that you're a bit too late, Mr Knight." she laughed. If there was any sound that could sound sweeter than her laugh, he doubted it existed.

There was no questioning it, Adrien was in love.

"So," she spoke again, snapping Adrien out of his trance. "Who are you? I might as well thank you for coming all this way for nothing."

"Me?" he answered stupidly. Then he realised his helmet hid his face so she couldn't recognise him as the duke's son. For some reason, he didn't want to reveal his identity just yet.

Suddenly, he remembered an ancient hero from the stories his mother used to read to him. Taking that as inspiration, he bowed.

"Chat Noir, at your service, My Lady."