𝑰'𝑽𝑬 𝑮𝑶𝑻 𝑨 𝑫𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑴 - 𝑫𝑬𝑺𝑪𝑬𝑵𝑫𝑨𝑵𝑻𝑺

𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝟒

NOTE: 3 things:

1: School has started back up, but that means RA training is over, which means I can finally start writing like normal again so woo-hoo for that!

2: I am painfully aware of the existence of Rise of Red and not only do I think it just shouldn't exist in general, but at this moment, I cannot and do not want to think of a way to fit Rise of Red into my universe. So for everyone asking about whether we will see Rise of Red worked into this trilogy or any characters from Rise of Red, the answer is presently no and will probably stay that way.

3: In that same vein, I dropped a small hint about who Jane's father is in this chapter, which is another reason why Rise of Red isn't happening, but you'll only spot it if you're apart of a certain niche side of the internet/pop culture ;)

~~~

Evie snorted at Delphina's pained accusation, continuing to tighten the laces of the corset the redhead was currently wearing. The two girls stood in Evie and Mal's dorm, which had been taken over by Evie's startup seamstress company. Since the beginning of the school year, and even a month before, Evie's clientele list had been booming, desperate for a gown from the young designer.

Despite the chaos of Ben's coronation, the tabloids had still managed to laud Evie's craft after seeing her and Mal's coronation gowns, both of which she had designed. That, combined with the fact that seeing the Isle kids support each other was good for PR, left Delphina in her current predicament; being strangled to death by the worst undergarment in history for a few stupid dress measurements for this god-awful cotillion she couldn't seem to escape.

"Beauty is pain, my darling. Now, suck your gut in," Evie ordered, bracing herself to tighten the laces. Delphina just scoffed in amusement, holding a hand to her now-constricted abdomen.

"If I suck any further, I will pop like a balloon. Is a corset seriously necessary?" she asked warily. In the mirror before them, Evie shot Delphina a stare of disbelief as she began to unlace the tester corset.

"I have designer prototype gowns coming in from every corner of this country just so some random company can pay us a fortune to tack our names onto their promotions. If they want the corset, you're wearing the corset."

Delphina snorted, but nodded in surrender. Evie undid the last bit of lacing on the corset and Delphina gasped in relief, stepping down from the fitting podium to slide her robe back on. Evie began scribbling Delphina's measurements into her notebook when the royal news came on the TV with the typical royal fanfare, signifying some sort of interview was approaching. Delphina perked up, raising the volume of the TV as a newswoman appeared on screen, beaming.

At the sight of her face, Delphina knew what it was immediately. Ben had gone to a pre-recorded tell-all interview a few weeks ago, giving the kingdom the rare opportunity to hear what was happening in their king's personal life.

They had to brainstorm for weeks about how to answer questions without giving away that the king's soul was slowly dying.

"Ooh," Evie mused, setting her notebook down and leaning against her desk. "Is this the ever-anticipated inside look at the monarchy?"

Delphina hummed in a confirming response, folding her arms expectantly. As much as she and Ben had prepped for the interview, she hadn't been present for the actual filming. She had been stuck in negotiations with Ariel and Eric for the construction of a new shipping port and whatnot.

"Are we placing bets?" Evie asked lightly. "Smooth sailing or accidentally reaffirming dating rumors?"

A small grin crossed Delphina's face as she leaned against a bedpost with a light sigh. "We made sure to take precautions. Plus, if he screwed this up and didn't tell me, I will rip–"