Lady Dhampir
Chapter 120

"Rowena."

The baby girl turned her ruby eyes towards Milena, making the young Duchess smile. Her niece was growing fast, able to sit up already and turn to her with a little curious expression. She had black hair, of course, and today, the maids had put her in a cute little purple onesie. Maybe because of her outfit, it looked like her eyes had a shade of burgundy in them. Rowena pouted a little with her cute lips, and crawled her way to the future Princess' chair. Milena watched her wiggle cutely and struggle to get to her. "...Why are you torturing her like this?"

Milena raised her eyes. Looking tired, Raphael had just arrived, still wearing his coat with some fresh snow on it. A maid ran to take it from his shoulders. Meanwhile, Rowena, having recognized his voice, suddenly beamed with joy, and began crawling back towards him. "You're the one who abandoned your daughter to me," retorted Milena.

"I just asked you to watch over her while I went to check on my horse... Aren't you about to leave for that Diner with the King, anyway? Shouldn't you be busy getting prepared right now?"

Actually, Milena was already wearing her makeup and a brand new dress, without which she would have taken her niece in her arms instead of letting her play with her toys on the carpet. However, she was still barefoot, her heels waiting in Olivia's hands. She sighed.

"I'm making my fiancé pick me up."

Raphael chuckled and walked over to carry Rowena.

"Making him pay for neglecting you for a week?"

"There's a bit of that. Also, I need to talk to him before that stupid Diner, since we will have company there..."

That was one of the reasons Milena was in no hurry to go to this dinner. Just thinking she'd have to endure a full meal at the same table as Ellias and Philomenie was enough to make her sulk. Only the King could send such an invitation she couldn't refuse. At least, Rayan would be there, but at the moment, she was a bit mad at him too. Watching over her niece had come as a perfect excuse to make him wait a bit and be fashionably late, but her future spouse was actually the one late at the moment.

"... Are you still not talking to Valentin?" Asked Raphael with a sorry look.

Milena rolled her eyes.

"I am still waiting for his explanation and excuses. Anyway, I don't want to talk about Valentin. Can you watch the Oracle for me while I'm gone?" "Sure," he replied with a nod. "She hasn't done anything suspicious so far, has she?"

"Not really... She's just reading books and answering questions when I ask her, but... I still don't trust her. Neither does Blanche or Rayan, so..."

On her lap, the white cat opened an eye as her name was mentioned, but she quickly returned to her purring under Milena's fingers. Milena sighed. She still couldn't make up her mind about the Oracle. She wanted to believe that woman was on her side, but Rayan had legitimate doubts, and so did she. First, despite her own words, Ora only seldom answered Milena's questions. She would do any Prophecy she wanted, and despite Milena's attempts to write everything, most were hard to decipher and rendered useless. It probably made more sense to the people concerned, but for Milena, it was just a waste of her time. The young Duchess didn't feel comfortable asking about her Ladies-in-waiting's future either, ever since she had discovered part of the Prophecy could include one's death...

"I understand, I'll be careful. To be honest, she offered to watch Rowena a couple of times, but... I'm not leaving them alone."

Raphael's tender smile at his adoptive daughter was adorable, and make Milena even more certain he wouldn't let anything happen to her. She sighed, and got up, Blanche jumping down at the same time. The shape-shifter wasn't fond of kids, so she had made sure to stay higher than Rowena's hands could reach the whole time, but everyone in the House De Crescent knew she would still watch over the baby's sleep many times during her naps. "Evening, my Lady."

Without knocking or being announced, Rayan suddenly appeared at the door. Milena crossed her arms, a bit annoyed. He was looking surprisingly well dressed and groomed that evening, sporting a new leather ensemble, and his hair cut a bit shorter, too. "Did you get so late trying to impress me?" She asked, while her brother left the room with his daughter and a little smile on his lips.

Rayan politely saluted Raphael has he left, and walked towards Milena, still smiling.

"Oh, please. I'm always trying my best for my Lady. Plus, for once we're having diner together, and it's been a while since I haven't shared anything with you."

"I'd better tell you now, I'm not really as enthusiast as you are about this diner."

Rayan chuckled and got down on one knee before her, gesturing for Dinah to hand him the shoes while Milena sat back down, still pouting.

"Really?" He asked, gently putting one of the shoes on her feet. "You're not thrilled at the idea of facing my insufferable brother and his fiancé for a whole dinner?"

Milena kept quiet, very aware he was being ironic. She let him delicately put her shoes on, and make the laces around her ankles. Dinah and Olivia kept exchanging glances and trying hard to repress their smiles, but Milena ignored them. The Prince got back up, and extended his hand for Milena to take. She sighed, but still got up, as they were already late anyway. He gently kissed her forehead, cautious of her make-up.

“Come on, as cute as my precious fiancé's pouting face is, I think you should look forward to this."

"How so?"

She put her hand on his arm as they left the room together, followed by the maid and preceded by Blanche.

"Well, the two of us shall make this fun. One of the most brilliant minds of our world said, two devils at work can turn any dinner into a hell of a party."

Milena frowned.

"...Who said that?"

"Of course, me."

This time, a smile finally appeared on the future Princess' lips. Maybe it would be fun indeed, with her fiancé by her side. She got down the stairs with him a bit less reluctantly and, once again, Rayan took her coat off the maids' hands to put it on her, making sure she was warm. Milena raised an eyebrow, putting on a cunning smile as well.

"Aren't you trying hard to be a gentleman, tonight?"

"I've always been a gentleman for you. Plus, I know we haven't seen each other for a while. We are getting married in three days, I hope you won't think I'm the kind of husband to neglect his wife yet." "True..."

Although, Milena didn't really believe that yet. As a Duchess herself, she knew how busy Rayan could be, and moreover, it would have been much easier if they worked in the same area, but even in the Royal Castle, their schedules barely allowed them to run into each other. Not only they had different sleeping times, but Rayan's position in the army had him outside a lot with his men, even more so with the war coming up.

The two of them finally left the manor to get on their horses. This time, it wasn't snowing too much, and as long as some Crescent Knights came with them, Milena and Rayan could ride to the castle. Since it was more of an informal diner, Milena had asked Yasina to come up with a dress she could ride with. Her friend had done wonders again, and under her Prince's surprised eyes, Milena took off her skirt by undoing the belt, revealing the shorter skirt and pants she was wearing underneath. The Prince let out a whistle while his lady got on Black Bella, putting her ankle boots in the stirrups.

"So comfortable," she said with a satisfied look, while straddling her horse.

"Mh... I love this look on you, my Lady, but I'm wondering if I'm going to need to order for some eyes to be removed."

As Rayan's glare was going behind her shoulder, Milena glanced back, and indeed, the few Knights suddenly looked away, a bit red and embarrassed. The young Duchess smiled. She really liked the effect of the large fur skirt going down to her knees to cover her hips while letting her wear pants, but apparently, the leather covering her calves was making those men blush. It had never been a secret that Milena was extremely beautiful, but her body's curves were those of a woman now, and getting her even more glances. Although, she didn't mind the attention.

"Let's go," she said with a smile, making the first move.

The horses, used to that road, took the Royal grounds without any efforts from their riders. Although they were a bit late, Milena and Rayan took it easy, enjoying the ride and the calm, not too cold weather. After a while though, the young Duchess started glancing on her right and brought her horse to ride closer to her future husband's.

"Rayan..."

"I know. They don't approach, though..." "Riders?"

He nodded, and Milena frowned. Even if they were keeping at a distance, she didn't like being followed, she felt like she had a target on her back. They were almost at the Castle, too, so it was unlikely their pursuers would try anything now, but still... Milena remained nervous until they reached the gates. In other circumstances, she would have sent Blanche to scare them off with her wolf form, but she hadn't parted with her for more than a minute or two since the last incident. Even Blanche was more cautious in making her nightly rounds and even avoided the Oracle too.

When they finally reached the Royal stables, Blanche took the appearance of a weasel, and climbed up to curl herself around Milena's neck, resting on her shoulder.

Finally, they got inside the Castle, and Milena put her skirt back on, making sure to undo any folds. Their coats taken away, the future Princess was radiating in her red and silver dress. As always, Yasina had tried to innovate a bit, this time with a large necklace of pearls that acted as a turtleneck for the dress, and no sleeves, but a tear-shaped hole that showed off Milena's cleavage. While most of the dress was a deep red, the necklace and the bottom of the skirt were silver and covered in transparent beads. Rayan had a large smile on when the beauty put her hand on his arm, and they arrived at the dinner together.

As promised by the King, it was a rather intimate dinner. The five seats were installed at a long table, but put together on one end, His Majesty seating at the end of course.

Ellias and Philomenie stood up to their arrival in the room and, to Milena's surprise, the two of them were wearing assorted clothes. Or more like, Philomenie's dress was more elegant than usual, and in the same colors as Ellias' ceremonial outfit. For a dinner that was supposed to be something casual, both parties had put on some extra efforts in this. However, the couples taking their seats couldn't have been more different.

"Evening, Brother, Lady De Crescent," said Ellias, only looking at Milena the whole time.

"Evening."

As all four of them took seats, the King nodded, glancing towards Rayan and Milena.

"I was a bit worried to see you arrive so late, Rayan."

"My apologies, father, I was late in picking my lady up."

"It's fine, it's fine. As I said, this is only a little dinner between the five of us anyway. Lady Milena, the Oracle didn't wish to join us?"

She had already sent a polite refusal to the King, but Milena guessed he was more curious than that, and judging from their expressions, so were Philomenie and Ellias.

"I fear not, your Highness, she has been comfortably staying at the De Crescent Manor but not so keen to leave."

The King nodded, an undecipherable expression on.

"I see. Well then, it will be all family tonight! By the way, you Ladies look gorgeous tonight. I'll be the happy father-in-law of two of the most beautiful Ladies in our Kingdom in a few days."

While Philomenie and Milena politely thanked the King, the servants got into movement, serving the starters and pouring wine and blood into the silver cups. Milena couldn't relax. She was seating right in front of Philomenie, with the King on her right and Rayan on her left, and she could tell the atmosphere between the twin princes wasn't as calm as it appeared to be. She gently put a hand on his knee under the table, and he immediately took it, focusing on her instead of a glaring game with his brother. "Lady Milena, have you everything ready for your... bachelorette party?" Asked Philomenie, obviously trying to make conversation.

"I hope so, but I let my Ladies-in-waiting organize it."

"It's probably better," chuckled Rayan. "You would have organized a seating in the Royal Library..."

Milena pinched his leg, taking her hand back with a sulk. The Prince grimaced, making everyone aware of the situation under the table. The King laughed despite his hoarse voice.

"Ha! No that's one future couple in the making! You're doing great, Lady Milena, this boy could use some harsh taming."

"It will be my pleasure to exercise on it, Your Highness," said Milena with a wide smile.

"Anyway, I will look forward to some festivities. Although, you two are in a hurry! Doing everything so quickly and privately, is that really alright? Don't you want something more... grand?" Indeed, Rayan and Milena's wedding was the first to happen, and, for a Royal wedding, one could say both the nuptial agreement and the wedding's preparations had been expedited. The two of them had agreed they didn't mind the wedding much, as long as it could be done quickly and be over with. Milena didn't care much more than that either, aside from sharing a bedroom under the same roof, there was nothing in their relationship that would change drastically after their wedding either. Moreover, she hated having all the attention on her, especially from people she didn't like. The wedding invitations had been a nightmare to organize without upsetting all the nobles who wanted to attend, even just by curiosity. As Rayan hated having attention drawn to him as well, they had been on the same page about most things and left others to handle the trivial details. They would follow the common rule to hold it at the Royal Castle, but they didn't want to do a religious ceremony and had reduced the guests to a minimum. That was also part of a strategy from the two of them, as well as some form of security measure. Yet, Milena was confident her wedding was going to be beautiful without being too much. She wanted a clear contrast with the grand wedding she knew Philomenie's family was busy preparing.

"We have agreed to keep it as intimate as a Royal wedding can be," responded Milena.

"How sad," said Ellias. "Such a union shouldn't be concealed. One would want to make it very obvious to everyone."

The prince had said so while clearly glancing at his brother, and Milena was suddenly surprised to see Ellias be the one with a slight smirk on. Yet, Rayan was not one to be beaten on that ground. With the exact same cunning smile, he put his hand on Milena's, and answered right back at his twin.

"Oh, fear not Ellias. We are both really happy and in a hurry to seal the deal."

Ellias' smile fell. While Philomenie didn't seem to catch the hidden meaning behind that sentence, the King grabbed his cup a bit fast to drink. Milena, too, put a thin smile on, just to add to Rayan's words.

While the two brothers glared at each other for a while, Milena grabbed her cup and smiled at Philomenie.

"To our future wedding?" She proposed.

The blonde Duchess immediately reacted to Milena addressing her, her face beaming with joy. She lifted her cup so fast she almost spilled her wine, but no one else seemed to notice. The King, too, let out a sigh of relief and nodded, doing the same. "That's right, let this old man have a toast for the four of you. I wish the... two couples a happy married life!"

Despite their sourness, the twins had no choice but to play along and participate as they clicked their glasses together. Only then, they all began eating. Yet, Philomenie, so excited that Milena had made the first step towards her, was almost jumping on her seat and stealing many glances at the Duchess. Finally, she spoke, looking like she couldn't wait anymore.

"I'm so happy to be getting a sister!" She said. "Let's do our best for the four of us to get along and have many dinners with His Majesty like this. Oh, how wonderful would it be if we got pregnant around the same time, Lady Milena!"

Just then, everyone else around the table froze, and Milena loudly let her fork fall down her plate.