Lady Dhampir
Chapter 101

Milena remained quiet. She had somewhat suspected it, but... To have her doubts confirmed by her father was a bit strange. Since she had been brought back, Milena had an understanding that the Duke wasn't willing to speak about her k********g or her mother's death. She got that. But he had never mentioned anything about Prince Rayan being implied as well, only that those events had occurred in the Royal Castle... "He was with my mother and me?" She asked softly.

Her father had a dark expression as if each of her questions hurt him deeply. Milena felt sorry about that, but she wanted to know. While her mother's disappearance was probably the deepest, most painful injury the Duke had ever suffered, to her, it was a void in her heart that needed to be filled.

"He was... Though since he was so young, he was only seen as a witness and interrogated by his father. I never thought it was relevant, either. Moreover, the King didn't want his presence to be mentioned." "People would have gossiped," whispered Milena.

It was easy to imagine. The Duchess was murdered, her daughter kidnapped, but the Prince, one of the heirs to the throne, had been left behind alive? All the nobles would have been quick to point fingers at the Royal Family, especially as it had happened in the Royal Castle itself...

"Is that why you don't like Prince Rayan, Father? Because you're suspicious of him?"

Her father sighed and resumed caressing her hair. There were many reasons the Duke didn't like his daughter marrying into the Royal Family. The vampire Prince was just one of many, actually, but that incident with Elizia had always left him wary of the young man. It was unlikely for him to be guilty of anything, yet he had been the last one to see the Duchess alive...

"A culprit was found, back then."

"Really?"

"With the information Prince Rayan gave, we found a man... He was hired, but he killed himself before we knew by whom. It was a dead-end, and he never said what had become of you either."

Milena frowned. Sometimes she resented her missing memories. She vaguely remembered her life in the streets, with Bandit and the others, but it was very vague... until that rainy day, when her father and the De Crescent soldiers had finally found her and freed her.

Her family had never tried to force her to remember, either. They had focused on earning her trust back first. The nine-year-old Milena was a lost, terrified child. She didn't trust anyone but Blanche, not even those men who claimed to be her kin. What she had seen from that cage had traumatized her, and her memories had been buried underneath her new life as the young Lady De Crescent. Even now, she was still recovering small pieces, that sometimes made no sense. Her life as Purple Eyes, the stray child, was the most vivid one to her. Milena had vague memories of running barefoot in the snow, grabbing a ridiculously small piece of bread on a stall, and getting a beating by an older kid.

"...You still don't remember?"

Milena slowly shook her head. The one thing that saddened her the most was to not be able to remember her mother. She only had that family portrait to help her and her imagination. How was Elizia to her only daughter? Was she a caring mother? It would have made no sense for her to remember something from when she was two years old, but Milena couldn't even tell how old she was in her oldest memory. All of her memories from before she was nine were mixed up, she couldn't even guess her own age or put them back in chronological order.

"Don't worry," sighed her father. "We will replace the truth... eventually."

Milena was surprised to hear her father still hung on to that, and she didn't say a thing. Was the person who had targeted her still in the picture? What was their goal, why target a little girl at all? For politics, because she was a Duke's daughter? Because she was a potential bride to one of the young Princes? If so, the other Noble families would have been the prime suspects. Or was it someone seeking revenge against her father?

"Are you set on who you want to bring with you?"

Milena took a minute to realize her father was talking about her entourage as a Princess. It was rather common for young Ladies to bring their personal maids and a few Knights once they married into another family, to not let them feel too lonely or at a loss. It probably was a bit rarer for Ladies who went to the Royal Family, but with the previous events, no one would condemn her for being cautious.

"Of course. I don't intend to bring too many, just Olivia and Dinah should be enough."

"That's it?"

"Well, I'd steal Digory if I could, but he's the Head Butler of the De Crescent family, not mine... As for the knights, I want to take Jeremiah and Luke." "....Are you sure about Jeremiah?" Asked her Father, frowning.

"What's wrong about him?" "...Nothing"

Milena sat up, curious, to glance at her father, but as usual, The Duke was a master at hiding his emotions. She couldn't really understand why would it be problematic to bring Jeremiah, but unless her father expressed his disapproval more strongly, she'd ignore it. They remained like this for a while longer, until Digory knocked at the door, though he did not enter and spoke from the outside.

"My Lady, a lot of letters have arrived for you. May I suggest you take a look before going to the audience with his Highness?"

Milena sighed and left her father's lap. Their butler was probably concerned they'd have more to deal later if she didn't take care of this before going to their audience with the King. Anton De Crescent stood as well, and gently grabbed his daughter's shoulder. "Don't worry too much about us, Milena. You can come back here whenever you want."

She suddenly realized she would be the first of the De Crescent siblings to leave the family Manor. While Valentin, as the next Duke, was expected to live here with his future wife, Raphael and Lucian would most likely leave to live in their own estates later on. While she knew Raphael wouldn't marry, it would have made sense that Lucian left the Manor before she did.

"It's alright, Father. I'll go to annoy my beloved brothers when I'm a bit bored..."

"Remember to bother your old father too. Though I'll doubt you'll be bored so soon."

Milena chuckled. It wasn't often that their father would call himself old. He was indeed in his late fifties, but it wasn't considered old for a Vampire. She gave him a little kiss on the cheek before leaving the room, leaving the Duke to his thoughts.

As Digory had warned her, a pile of letters was already waiting for her on her desk as she returned to her room. Milena made a grumpy expression. Though she could handle the paperwork, answering letters from unknown people was probably the one thing she hated the most. The head butler made a sorry expression as she took a seat.

"They started coming very early, my Lady."

"Don't worry Digory, you probably did your best to sort them out already..."

"I took the liberty to set aside the ones you don't need to answer to, My Lady. However, may I suggest you take in a secretary promptly? The volume of work will only get bigger once you leave us..."

Milena smiled. It was so like him to worry about her work even after she'd leave the Manor. Milena nodded, grabbing the first letter.

"I plan to ask the third Lady De Iris as my Companion. Could you please help me look into that?"

The Butler raised his eyebrows in surprise, but immediately regained his professional attitude and bowed.

"Of course, my Lady, I will inquire of the formal procedures and share with the House De Iris."

"I also need my files about the Businesses of Lady De Nova, we are probably going to work closely from now on..."

"With the House De Nova?" Repeated Digory, visibly surprised. "Pardon me, My Lady, but... I don't think the House De Nova... I mean, your Father and the Duke De Nova..."

Milena chuckled.

"I know, Digory. But this isn't between our fathers, it is between Lady Rachael and I. Feel free to inform my father, but Lady De Nova and I have our own understanding."

She could easily understand how surprising this was. The Feud between the Houses De Nova and De Crescent had never been a big one, but it was common knowledge that they had never been fond of each other either. A business partnership between the two families probably was unheard of, at least not in recent decades...

The man sighed. He knew very well that Milena had her own mind, and was not the type to stick to old quarrels that belonged to History. He nodded with a sly smile.

"Understood, my Lady. I shall happily help you then. My understanding is that the House De Pristin will be involved as well? Would you let me organize all the files for you? We will also start sorting through your belongings for the moving." "Are you alright with that?"

The Butler smiled a bit wider, amused.

"My Lady, it is my honor to send you off the best way possible. If you'll allow me, I'll organize your moving myself, you'll only have to validate the listing before we begin."

Milena sighed, resting on her chair with a sullen expression.

"I really should steal you from my father, Digory."

"Thank you for the compliment, my Lady. I'll assist you in the best way I can from here."

Milena smiled. Digory was an outstanding butler, and she liked his wit. His polite refusal was enough for her, she knew she could always ask him for advice from the Royal Castle if she needed and anyway, she was free to leave some of her belongings here. Marrying Rayan didn't take her from being a daughter of the House De Crescent in any way.

After chatting some more with Digory about other matters that would need for her to take care of before moving, Milena only had a few hours to get engulfed in her work. She actually enjoyed being able to do some paperwork in silence, while sipping some tea. She felt like this was the first time in a while she had enjoyed some real quietness, and dedicated her mind to a simple, monotone task. The formulas were so common she could answer all the letters without thinking too much about it. Most of them were congratulations letters that had come first thing in the morning, not only from the noble houses, but also from renowned shops she frequented, plus a few senators, scholars or merchants. Everyone was hurrying to congratulate the new Princess, hoping they wouldn't forget them once she took her new status. It was merely a polite thing to do to keep good relations, and Milena was sure her family was keeping a clean list of people who would fail to congratulate the young lady.

Just like that, Milena only paused a bit for lunch, snacking the little dried meat sandwiches and hot cheese and honey toasts her maids brought her, with a sip of blood, and worked without raising her head from her desk until Digory came back. It was time for her audience soon. Milena changed into more ceremonial clothes, a dark teal dress with silver fox fur she hadn't used much before, with a black corset that made her grimace, and went downstairs.

Even if he had probably napped in-between, Anton hadn't been as diligent in picking his outfit as his daughter, keeping his usual black suit. The Duke had only made an effort in picking a fur coat that was tied with a gold chain, but that only made him more imposing. Milena smiled and took her father's arm.

"Aren't you tired, father?"

"I'll be awake enough for this... Let's go."

Milena felt a bit nervous while getting in the carriage, remembering what this was about. Truth was, it felt a bit strange for the King to receive them for such a topic when the Queen had been murdered just the previous day. She would have thought everything would be postponed until the funeral or something, but on the contrary, this was rushed. Or did King Silverius want to settle everything he could before the uproar rose?

The trip back to the Royal Castle was silent and somewhat strange. Milena hadn't gotten on a carriage with her father in a long time, as they both usually liked riding horses better. When they finally arrived, Anton helped her out, and she noticed her father already had his frown on. She didn't say a word, though. One of the Royal Butlers accompanied them inside, but to their surprise, The King was already in the Hall, with one of his counselors, the Elder Marquess d'Artsein, Briseis' grand-uncle. "Good Afternoon, Anton, young Milena!" Said the King, dropping all honorifics.

"Your Highness."

"It's good to see you, Lady De Crescent," said the Elder. "Allow me to extend my sincere congratulations, you'll do a marvelous princess." "Thank you, Elder," replied Milena with a polite smile.

She actually quite liked Berethon D'Artsein. He was a famous archivist of the Royal Family, and had written a couple of Philosophical books she was fond of. She and Briseis had actually become close friends while discussing books that included those. He was also one of the oldest human nobles alive, and in quite a good shape for someone who had celebrated his eightieth birthday the previous season. He didn't have any hair left on his head and was extremely thin but tall despite his layers of clothing. Milena remembered she had thought that man was the definition of skinny the first time she had met him.

"Well then, your Highness, if you'll allow me to retire, I'll go and start working on this."

The old man retired after politely bowing to them, leaving Milena a bit curious. The King guided them to his private office, sighing.

"I asked the old Marquess to help me look into our Archives if there are any precedents about those creatures," he explained. "I don't doubt we already did plenty of research when my sons were involved last time, but who knows, maybe the Artsein Family will replace a clue we missed..."

It made sense. Each family had their own private collection of books, but the Archives of the Artsein family were almost legendary, and even the King himself couldn't access it easily without approval from one of the family members... Though Milena doubted the Elder would replace anything new. She had herself asked Briseis for help a while ago, and the young Marquess had been unable to replace anything else. It seemed like a miracle for Milena to have found the only book with records of this.

They finally took seat in the King's Office, and while the servants were serving the tea, Rayan arrived.

Milena felt a little heatwave hit her as he walked in. She had seen him the previous day, but somehow, every time they parted, it was as if she lost all immunity she had built up against his presence. Even worse, the memories came back. The bite, and the feelings of their hands together. She saluted him politely but was struggling to keep a neutral expression on. At least, she hoped her father wouldn't notice.

Anton De Crescent was seated next to her, but his eyes were fixated on the young Prince. Rayan actually looked tired. Milena realized he may have worked all night on his mother's tragedy, trying to replace the culprit. Having a meeting about their nuptial agreement in the middle of this felt truly unreasonable...

"Your Highness, if it is uncomfortable for you to be doing this now, we can..." She said, but the King raised his hand to interrupt her.

"Lady Milena, I deeply appreciate your concern, but on the contrary, I'd rather give people something else to talk about my wife's disappearance. I hope you won't mind me, but with what happened, I feel it is more urgent than ever to have you take a seat in the Court as soon as possible."

Milena finally understood the King's intentions. With Queen Lyriana gone, the struggles of power were going to rise once again, between her and Philomenie this time. Having both future princesses move in as soon as possible would prevent many nobles from trying to get to them. Plus, it would indeed shift the focus from the Wendigo to the new Princesses. It was a bit cruel on the King's part to send her and Philomenie to the lions, but Milena thought she would have done the same...

A young secretary was called to take notes, and advise them over the legal matter. It didn't seem necessary though, as this meeting was only going to have both fathers agree over the most important parts and details would be settled through letters later. Milena found herself blushing a bit already. Or was it this room that was too hot for her?