"The kiss was amazing!" Audrey declared in the privacy of Ben's dorm room later that evening. "I didn't want it to end!"

At the moment, Audrey paced the room as she reminisced her special moment with her new boyfriend. Ben, on the other hand, was sitting on his bed as he tried to read during the distraction.

"You're moving a little fast," Ben teased, though a majority of his attention was focused on the worn-out book in his lap. Continuing to squint at the first page, he commented, "I didn't think you were one to kiss somebody on the second date."

Audrey scoffed at the accusation. "Please. You'd kiss your crush before the first date."

Finally turning to face her friend, the Isle princess tilted her head curiously. "I haven't seen you read that book before," Audrey claimed. "Where did you get it?"

"Gil gave it to me before the second Tourney practice today," Ben admitted, keeping his narrowed gaze on the page. "He said it belonged to my mother. Apparently, she dropped the book on the way to my father's cursed castle. Gaston found and kept it as he traveled to the castle to save her. Gil claimed to have used the book to help him read English. He thought—I thought, it could help me too."

"That's a wonderful idea!" Audrey encouraged. "Can you read anything yet?"

"Maybe," Ben stated somewhat reluctantly. "Problem is, I don't know if I'm reading this correctly. Could you check me?"

"Of course." Taking the short strides toward her friend, Audrey leaned over to gaze at the old picture book as well. "Start whenever you're ready."

Nodding absentmindedly, Ben studied the page with as much concentration as he could. "The . . . " he slowly began, "blue . . . bird . . . flies . . . over . . . the . . . dark . . . wood."

Glancing up at the princess expectantly, Ben wondered, "How did I do?"

"Pretty good for your first time," Audrey complimented as a genuine and eager smile graced her lip. "You pronounced every word right. If you keep practicing, you'll be able to read English as naturally as you do French! Do you want to make this a daily routine: me coming to your room so you can practice reading?"

"Probably for the first few weeks," Ben agreed as he adverted his gaze to the other page. "After I read this book a few times, hopefully at a normal pace, I'll try reading the English version of our Remedial Goodness textbook. I'll struggle with bigger words, but that's part of learning. If I have trouble with a word, maybe you could translate it to French, so I know what it is."

"That may help you learn quicker," Audrey speculated. "Do you want to try the next page?"

Before he had the chance too, the bedroom door suddenly flew open, revealing Chad Charming as the perpetrator. As he burst in, Lonnie, Doug, and Jane followed him inside, appearing as confused as Audrey and Ben were.

"Turn on the television," Chad instructed—more like demanded—closing the door after everyone had entered. "The Royal Family is making an announcement. We need to see it!"

After taking a few moments to figure out the remote—giving Ben enough time to hide his mother's book from the others—Audrey managed to power on the television. The channel was already set to the Auradon News Network, where it indeed showed the royal family. Princess Mal was standing in front of her parents—almost hiding them in a sort of way—dressed in a simple purple dress with a silver tiara in her matching purple hair. King Hades was dressed very professional, as a king should, but it was hard to make out what Queen Maleficent was wearing. Her enormous were wrapped around her body, almost like she was hiding something.

"First, I would like to say 'thank you' to those of you who are watching," Mal began, addressing the 'audience' with a formal tone. "This announcement will affect everyone in the kingdom to some extent."

Taking in a breath to calm her nerves, Princess Mal continued, "As I am sure you are all aware, my coronation was intended to take place on my sixteenth birthday, which is now over a month away. Due to an unforeseen, but wonderful circumstance, I have decided to post-pone the coronation."

Ben raised a surprised eyebrow while the others gawked at the information. "They're making the announcement already?" He wondered to himself. "They just found out yesterday."

"You knew?" Chad interrogated incredulously. "How? Why is it being post-poned—"

"My parents, the current King and Queen of Auradon, will inform you what the circumstance is," Mal added. Smiling softly, the princess stepped out of the way to allow her parents to move forward.

Stepping into the spot-light, King Hades addressed the entire kingdom, "Before we decided to make this announcement, each of us wanted to tell someone about it first. I chose my brothers, my wife chose her god-daughter, and my daughter chose a new friend.

"Yesterday, while I was driving the transfer students from the Isle to Auradon Prep, Maleficent went to the doctor and made a discovery. She learned that she will be sick for quite some time, and will feel better after a few months have passed. My wife will tell you about her condition."

At the center of the entire kingdom's attention, Maleficent allowed the gentlest of smiles to grace her lips. Moving her wings from her concealed body, the queen revealed that her stomach had a small bump to it, which seemed to have appeared over-night.

"I'm pregnant," Maleficent softly revealed, imaging the gasps that could be heard across the kingdom. "The newest addition to our family is not due until next year. Mal wishes to wait until he or she arrives before the coronation takes place, so her brother and sister can be in attendance. When we discover when our new child is to arrive, we will inform you of the new date for Mal's coronation. We apologize for any inconveniences this may cause you, but we hope you can forgive us since this is such wonderful news for us. Thank you for your time, patience, and forgiveness."

The broadcast ended there, leaving nearly all of the Isle children in the dorm room dumbfounded—

Except for Ben.

"They're more discreet about the gender," Ben commented, taking a moment to turn off the television set. "But I thought they would wait longer than a day to make the announcement."

"Mal told you about the baby?" Audrey clarified. "Why?"

"She thought telling me would make up for an argument we had with each other," Ben answered, rolling his eyes at them looking even more shocked at his reply. "Mal told me after Remedial Goodness class today. Her family wanted to keep it a secret for a bit and I promised not to tell. It's not that big of a deal since I don't consider her a friend."

"Postponing the coronation is good news," Chad claimed with a scheming smile. "Now we have extra time to plan how we are going to take the wand!"

"So, while placing innocent lives in danger, you also want to potentially harm the Royal Family's newborn son or daughter?" Ben summarized. Shaking his head in disgust, he declared, "You are a despicable human being and I sincerely hope all of your plans to take the wand fail. You don't even know if the wand will be used in the coronation!"

"But you or Audrey can find out," Chad insisted, temporarily ignoring the jabs made toward him. "You two have talked to Mal more than any of us. The coronation will eventually be brought up in a conversation and you can ask about the wand then. It would be perfect!"

"And Mal would become suspicious," Audrey argued knowingly. "In case you didn't know, Jane already asked Mal for the wand today. The princess asked her parents, and they denied the request because it is a powerful weapon that belonged to a villain. If anyone asks about the wand tomorrow, the Royal Family will know you are conspiring against them. I am enjoying my life here and I have a boyfriend who makes me really happy. In other words, I don't want anything to do with taking the wand, so leave me out of your plot."

"The same applies for me," Ben interjected. "I already told you I wanted nothing to do with it too. I don't want to get sent back to the Isle because you decided to do something stupid. Leave my room and don't come back. In fact, don't talk to me at all."

"Ben," Lonnie scolded with a slight scowl on her features. "Don't say that. Chad is your friend."

"The hell he is!" Ben shouted in denial. "We have never been friends. I don't know how you can already forget in a day, but he harassed Audrey nonstop on the Isle! Aziz and I had to physically fight him every day to make him stop! I have said it before, and I will say it again: Aziz deserved to come Auradon instead of Chad Dumbass Charming."

Fuming at the insult, Chad spat, "After what happened between you and him, how could you still consider Aziz to be your friend?"

"He wasn't my friend," Ben corrected defensively. "He was my brother. We may not see eye to eye, or get along some days, but I still consider him to be my brother. My opinion of him is way higher than my opinion of you. You don't mean shit to me. So get the hell out of my room and get the hell out of my life before I drag you out the door by your neck."

"Ben," Lonnie chided once again, but this time out of concern. "You need to calm down before you lose your temper again."

"You need to leave before I lose my temper on you," Ben threatened, a slight growl evident in his voice as he spoke. "Everyone, but Audrey, get out of my room!"