Lady Dhampir
Chapter 99

Only once in the De Crescent carriage did Milena realize how tired she really was. She kept dozing off on Raphael's shoulder all the way back to the Manor, and she didn't even protest when he carried her inside. She had been reluctant on leaving, but somehow, she was also too tired to truly protest. She knew Rayan didn't want her around while he'd confront his brother, but she also wondered what the twins had to say after this... Their mother was dead. This thought was haunting Milena on her way back the De Crescent Manor. Had she done her best in that fight? Should they have tried to capture her instead? No matter what, the young Duchess couldn't put her heart at ease.

She leaned against Raphael, hoping this night would end soon. Their father had decided to stay back to help Valentin and Lucian at the Royal Palace, and the three of them would come back later in the night. However, they had also pushed Milena to go back, while they stayed behind. She couldn't actually sleep, too worried about Rayan, but this fight had left her completely exhausted. Milena hadn't realized how everything had only lasted a few minutes, yet left her out of strength. Her arm that had held a g*n too heavy for her was aching, and her feet were killing her. She vaguely heard voices inquiring about her state when they reached the estate, but she couldn't be bothered to listen. Milena kept thinking about Rayan's injury, wondering if he was going to fight with his twin about what had happened tonight.

The Queen was dead... No one had dared to mention it, and it was sort of a strange thought after all of this mess, but Queen Lyriana had been shot down by her son. Or were they supposed to consider she had died the minute she had turned into a wendigo? Milena wasn't too sure, and it felt like something too heavy to think about as they escorted her back to her room, and her maids helped her undress. Her head was hurting, and she totally let them do everything, unable to move a muscle. Her life as a Royal Princess had taken a very rocky start, and she was just worried about too many things now.

"Do you want to drink something before going to bed, my Lady?" Asked Olivia.

Milena shook her head and made her way to her bed. Blanche jumped up to lay by her side, too, but even the gentle feel of her white fur couldn't appease Milena this time. The young Duchess chased everyone outside, and once the door was shut behind them, she kept lying like this, her eyes staring at the ceiling.

She just couldn't sleep. Her whole body felt heavy, but her head had this ringing headache that wouldn't go away. Milena sighed, and sat down, wrapping her knees in her arms, looking around her bedroom. This room had been hers for years now. It had all she liked, as her father had promised when they brought her home. It's wasn't too big, nor too small. She had a lot of space, and only a bit of furniture, including her desk with the letters piled up, her personal bookshelves, and that dressing table where she could see her reflection. She wondered if she'd miss it all once she moved to the Royal Castle... What would happen to this room? Would her father keep it as it is?

Suddenly, Ruby appeared in front of her, just as she was looking down. The assassin had a knee down and was bowing low.

"My apologies, madam. I failed to protect you appropriately. Please, punish me as you see fit."

Before Milena could answer that, Blanche jumped down the bed, too, and shape-shifted back into her human form. Ruby was the only one who probably already knew about this in Milena's entourage. However, the shape-shifter turned to Milena with her big golden "Millie silly!"

eyes.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Ruby," said Milena. "I did not call for you, hence you didn't have to appear."

"Your life was in danger. I should have ignored the orders and come to your rescue..."

"Enough! I decide when you come out or not."

"Millie!" Insisted Blanche.

"That goes for you too, Blanche," Milena retorted. "I'm fine, and I refuse you showing up unless something happens. There are already too many people aware of your existence, and I'm not fond of that."

The white-haired girl frowned, crossing her arms angrily next to Ruby. Blanche and Milena may be friends, it didn't keep them for disagreeing with one another often. The young Duchess sighed, massaging her temple.

"I know you two wanted to protect me, but there were too many people, and I don't want anyone to know I have a Silver one with me."

"Silver?"

"Whatever it is you want to call it, Blanche. You, the Oracle, and the Saint, you're clearly something different. However, I don't want them to know about you. Whoever made you has no idea you're with me now, and it probably wasn't in their plans." "My Lady, what do you think will happen to the Oracle now?" Asked Ruby. "Shall I put a tail on her?"

"... Yes, send someone. I don't think the Oracle was helping the Queen entirely out of friendship. With Her Highness dead, she may change her objectives, so keep an eye on her."

"You don't... want to meet her?"

Milena hesitated. Truth was, she still had many more questions to the Oracle, but none of them felt pressing at the moment. She nodded slowly, staring at the snow falling behind her large window.

"I will... I'll be moving to the Royal Palace anyway, there will be plenty of occasions. Still, I don't trust her."

"Millie don't trust no one but Crescent."

Milena chuckled.

"You still don't like Rayan, do you?"

"Sneaky prince? No. But better than quacky prince."

"...Quacky?" Repeated Milena, chuckling.

"He don't deserve Millie. He lie and lie and lie. Quack-quack all the time. Nothing but Quack!"

Even Ruby had a hard time containing her chuckle next to her, but Blanche was very serious. Milena felt a bit relieved. Blanche's honest and direct opinions were sometimes perfect to balance her own. She always thought too far-ahead sometimes, while her friend was always thinking about the present instead. Milena definitely liked it better. She chuckled again, thinking about Blanche's new nickname for Ellias... "Alright, well he's not an issue anymore, I suppose..."

"My Lady, shall I investigate... What happened to the Queen?" Milena sighed.

"No, let the Royal Family do their share, Ruby. If they replace someone from the House De Crescent putting their nose into this, we will get on the suspect list. Unless Grandmother or Father intend to, I won't. It has to be someone from the inside or one of the Imperial Candidates who did this."

"Millie sure?"

"You have to replace someone vampire blood for a long time for them to turn into a wendigo, or all at once. I doubt anyone could overfeed the Queen by force, so they probably tricked her food for a very long time..." "Why would one of the candidates be involved, My Lady?"

"The timing. The Queen was basically gotten rid of right after the Princes made their choices. She was very involved in this Bridal Selection, to the point she probably helped Philomenie cheat, and yet this happened to her. Doesn't it look like retaliation? Either she failed in whatever those people were expecting of her, or she had become a nuisance. Either way, someone got rid of the Queen awfully fast..."

"Do you think they work with the De Winter Family? If they cleared the path for the young Princess to operate without any obstacle..."

"I am probably their most bothering obstacle, at the moment."

Blanche and Ruby exchanged looks upon hearing that, but Milena was strangely calm about it. She had expected this much, from the second she'd be named Princess. Everyone was going to put a target on her back. Either people would try to have her do their deeds, or get rid of her if she didn't. It was a truly cold world for a young Lady after all.

"I understand, my Lady," said Ruby. "From now on, please do not hesitate to call me out if you need me. You know I'll always be around."

Milena frowned. She wasn't sure about how to feel with her personal assassin always around when she'd want some privacy, but this was probably something she should forget about. She nodded.

"Where was Philomenie during the fight?" She asked.

"Lady De Winter was shortly taken to safety by her brother, my Lady."

"I see... Did you notice anything unusual?"

"Actually... was probably aware such a thing might happen soon."

? Milena frowned. She hadn't heard directly from that organization in a while. Actually, she had deliberately left her brother Raphael to deal with them, so she wouldn't get too involved, but she still considered them her ally... Even more so since she had befriended Bella and confirmed her partnership with Rachael. Milena w as almost sure that Rachael was part of the Society of Vampires by now, and she even strongly suspected Prince Rayan was one of them as well.

"Why do you think that?"

"I noticed Lady Rachael was quick to react to the Wendigo, and her weapon seemed tailored for the Hunt. Also, she sent you a g*n almost right away, as if she knew you'd be a primary target, my Lady."

Milena tried to remember the scene as accurately as possible, and indeed, it made sense. First, Rachael had gotten fire weapons inside the Royal Castle despite the rules against it, which wasn't a small detail. It took some skill and good relations to smuggle something into such a highly-guarded place and occasion. Moreover, she had sent her spare g*n to Milena, of all people. Even if she was a very good shot, Rachael could have sent it to any other good hunter in the room. It couldn't be something as simple as out of friendship for the young Duchess. No, Ruby ought to be right. Rachael suspected something could happen, and Milena would be one of the main targets...

"Ruby, did you feel like the Wendigo was attacking anyone in particular?"

"It acted to fast and strangely to tell, my Lady. However, the Queen undoubtedly had no issues attacking her own son. I doubt she had any reason left."

Milena thought so too. Those creatures had lost all reason, it was unlikely anyone could control them... Had she been just sent to throw chaos, then? If it had no target, it could have been injuring anyone, and Philomenie had been taken to safety strangely fast. Yet, no one had bothered to evacuate Milena except for her own family.

It worried her even more. Whoever had done this to the Queen, their roots ran deep inside the Castle. Milena had thought she could relax after the Bridal Selection, but it looked like she was wrong. She grabbed one of her robes, and ignoring all her tiredness, left the room, Blanche shape-shifting into a cat to follow her. Ignoring her maids who jumped as soon as she stepped out of her bedroom, Milena went a few corridors away, to Raphael's quarters. She did knock but didn't wait for answer to get in.

Her second brother was sitting on a chair, and feeding his adoptive daughter with blood in a bottle. Milena's first niece was growing slowly but surely, her little ruby eyes like two gems turning to her as soon as she entered the room. For a strange moment, Milena was struck with the vision of that baby. She had always liked Rowena, but that night, she seemed even more adorable. For a minute, Milena had to refocus and turned to her brother, putting her feelings aside.

"Milena, I thought you were sleeping?"

"Raphael, I need to meet with the Society."

"The Society?" Repeated her brother, surprised. "What do you want with them at such an hour."

"I have a few things I need to ask them about tonight's attack."

"That's..."

Milena frowned. It wasn't like Raphael to act so flustered around her. He seemed to hesitate for a moment.

"Raphael, do not make me go to the De Nova's estate in the middle of the night."

Her brother sighed, shaking his head.

"If you already know Rachael seats at the Society, then why can't this wait until you get to see her?"

"I need answers now. I do not like for the Society of Vampire to act on their own like it happened tonight. Did you know about the attack, Raphael?"

"No! Of course not, do you think I wouldn't have told you if I knew you'd nearly be killed?"

Milena remained quiet, but her amethyst eyes were burning with questions. Her brother knew she wouldn't let go. The younger De Crescent heiress was not one to give up easily, and she was way too smart to get lied to by her own kin. Raphael hesitated. "Fine... We had our suspicions, alright? Since the attack of the previous Wendigo, the Society had been keeping a close eye on all the blood supplies of the Palace. Especially since you, Lady Rachael and the other Vampire heiresses would be there too. We told everyone to try and get their own supplies instead of eating those from the Palace as much as possible."

A memory suddenly came back to Milena. The servants, giving her human food and Rachael, offering her a bottle of fresh blood. Back then, Milena had found that gesture a bit surprising, but not totally unexpected. She had taken it as a sign of goodwill from her new ally, but this...

"Rachael supplied me blood so I wouldn't risk being turned...?"

Her brother nodded.

"Yes. We knew there was a very limited chance you could even turn into a wendigo, but the members still voted for your supply to be mixed with some of our own, just in case."

Milena chuckled, shaking her head. These people were the same as always. Doubtful and using all their means to get to her without telling her. She couldn't blame Raphael, however. Though she hated to have been tricked, it had been done to save her life. "Shall I take it they still see me as an ally, then?"

Raphael made a grimace, but just when he was about to say something, his daughter started crying, and he stood up to carry her, soothing her a bit. Milena unconsciously took one step back, looking down. She was having strange feelings now, but she had to push them somewhere at the back of her mind.

"They are not sure, Milena. Truth is, the Society is rather split these days. They are certainly not too happy about the selection, you know."

She could guess this much. Having a fully human Royal couple was probably a big blow to the face of all the vampires of Solaris. Ellias hadn't shown hostility to the vampires, but he would surely be twice as watched from now on. The vampires that had slowly been taking more and more seats at the Senate ought to be sweating right now. Milena let out a long sigh. It was a really, really long day. She sat down on one of the chairs, Blanche hopping on her lap. "Alright, then. What about my Selection, then?"

Raphael frowned once again, though his attention was caught by his daughter, whining a bit. He gently put her into her crib, next to his bed, leaning over the little bed and caressing her hair. "They are split about it... Many hoped you'd stay out of it. They are still not too fond of having a Dhampir Princess, but they certainly hate Philomenie much more."

Milena could understand this much. Without a vampire Princess, all the factions were going to be completely fractured. It wasn't a surprise that the Senate was so astonished by Ellias' choice. A Royal Couple was going to be named, and one of the races would get the lesser end of it.

"You know, they think the King is going to be conflicted about picking his heir. The War will be here next year, Milena, it only leaves him a few months to decide."

"A few months... You're generous."

"Hard to say, but you already know that. He may not send one of his sons right away. You'll be married shortly, but he'll leave some time for the Royal Couples to establish themselves, so the Princes can be sent to war while the Princesses are..." "...Able to take the Queen's duty."

Milena shook her head. She was going to have to replace Queen Lyriana in her duties, now. The Queen's seat couldn't be left cold when the Kingdom was in that state.

"... The Society will support you in all the ways they can, Milena. I'll push for it, and so will Lady De Nova."

Milena frowned.

"Raphael, what do you mean?"

"They think that's how the King will decide, now... King Silverius will first look into how to appease the Senate. If you look at it, two royal couples were just formed, but there is no way to pick the better one with the Prince's picks. Yet, Queen Lyriana is dead. Isn't it obvious? ...Anyone who'd think His Majesty will pick as the Crown Princess whoever will do the best job in replacing Queen Lyriana."

Milena remained silent. She wasn't so sure of that. There was another factor that could be taken into account as well, and it terrified her.