𝑨 𝑫𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑴 𝑰𝑺 𝑨 𝑾𝑰𝑺𝑯 𝒀𝑶𝑼𝑹 𝑯𝑬𝑨𝑹𝑻 𝑴𝑨𝑲𝑬𝑺

𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝟒𝟗

TW: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS MENTIONS OF TOXIC RELATIONSHIPS, HOMOPHOBIA(INTERNALIZED AND OTHERWISE), PEDOPHILIA, AND PREDATORY RELATIONSHIPS. READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOURSELVES. YOUR MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS. <3

Thankfully, the attention left Delphina and her family fairly quickly as all eyes turned to the garden pavilion, where the school choir was performing an acapella rendition of Lumiere's welcome song 'Be Our Guest', which he had crafted when welcoming Belle to Adam's castle all those years ago. Ben, Chad, and Audrey were all in the choir while Delphina stood in the audience with Ella and Kit, bobbing her head to the melodies and harmonies. Ella and Kit were smiling in appreciation and Ella's eyes began to roam the garden, admiring its beauty when her eyes locked onto the balcony and she grimaced.

"We can never get a break, can we?" she muttered bitterly. Delphina frowned, turning to follow her aunt's gaze and instantly realizing why she seemed so disturbed. Mal, Jay, Evie, and Carlos all stood at the stair balcony of Auradon Prep, dressed nicer than Delphina had ever seen and surveying the gathering below.

Delphina bit her tongue, fighting the swear words that wanted to spill out and reminding herself that this was necessary. Ben had laid it all out that morning, while Ella was helping Delphina get ready.

Despite how much he didn't want to, Ben and his parents had to make the decision to allow Mal and her friends to attend Family Day. Mal's threat of maintaining the image of a relationship still loomed and Ben's soul core was still missing, so he had to pretend to be the doting boyfriend that was desperate to get the country to welcome Mal and her friends with open arms.

Nothing like a life-or-death PR stunt, right?

Delphina clenched her jaw and flexed her fingers, trying to rid herself of any homicidal urges that began to bubble up. "It's for Ben's safety. We just have to deal with it," Delphina muttered, both to herself and Ella. Her aunt nodded in agreement, and Delphina cocked an eyebrow in mild amusement.

"Plus, she knows she should stay away from us if she wants to keep her teeth."

Kit and Ella both snorted as the choir finished their performance with a perfectly-harmonized flourish. The audience clapped politely as Madame Fifi announced a brief intermission while they prepared the next performance. Delphina slipped away to the snack table, using a toothpick to pick up pineapple cubes and inhale them when Audrey came hurrying up to her, visibly panicked.

"We're so fucked," she wheezed, grabbing Delphina's arm. "We both forgot and we're so extremely fucked." Delphina paused, blinking at Audrey in confusion, a pineapple half-shoved into her already-full mouth.

"What?" Delphina asked, voice garbled from the unchewed fruit. Before Audrey could respond, Madame Fifi came flouncing over in excitement.

"Mademoiselle Tremaine! Princess! Your duet is next!"

Delphina frowned in confusion, her brow furrowing. Duet? Since when were they doing a duet?

Oh.

Oh.

They were so fucked.

Delphina quickly snatched a napkin, spitting out the pineapples and wiping her mouth, giving Madame Fifi her best smile.

"Of course! Our duet!" Delphina chuckled, chucking the napkin into the nearest trash can and linking her and Audrey's arms together. "We can't wait! We've been practicing it every day!"

They, in fact, had not been practicing it every day.

"And your voice? It is fully recovered?" Madame Fifi asked nervously. Right. Not only had Delphina completely forgotten about the duet, but she had also convinced Madame Fifi that she had lost her voice while she was unable to talk to anyone.