Lady Dhampir
Chapter 121

Was she doing this on purpose? Milena had no idea how to react just then. It couldn't simply be a mistake, she couldn't possibly be that oblivious. Once again, she was thrown back into a loop about Philomenie's character. She glanced up, her amethyst eyes cold as ice aimed right at the young Duchess De Winter. It took Philomenie a full minute to realize something was wrong, as not only Milena's answer didn't come, but all three men had stopped eating too. "It... I mean it doesn't have to be... at the same time," she muttered with a tiny voice.

Despite her fork dropped down, Milena still had her hand tight around her knife. If it wasn't for the King seating right next to her, she might have considered chopping off a finger or two. She didn't even feel like joking about it, she was just upset. It was easy for Philomenie to talk about something like pregnancy. It should have been a normal topic. Yet, it was common knowledge that a vampire would always have more difficulties having children with their human partners. No one could ignore it would probably be even harder for a Dhampir woman. It couldn't be that Philomenie wasn't aware, when her own entourage had most likely started those rumors in the first place, to hurt Milena. That wasn't something the young Duchess De Crescent was going to forget, but it looked like her counterpart had. Or maybe she thought this was some trivial matter, something irrelevant. Yet, most people would have had some decency, been cautious about it. However, there was one person in this Kingdom who could say such a thing out loud, to the Lady dhampir's face.

Rayan put a hand on Milena's, and gently took the fork off her plate to drop it deliberately on the floor. The sound was even louder, making Philomenie jump and finally look at him like a terrified rabbit. The vampire prince smiled, his fangs shining, without a hint of joy in his eyes, while a maid ran to change the fork.

"We are no hurry, Lady De Winter. We will have other priorities first."

"I wonder what other priorities would you have than giving this Kingdom an heir?" Asked Ellias, eating a piece.

This time, Rayan stopped smiling, both brothers sending daggers at each other. Milena, too, was too upset to stop either of them. Unlike Philomenie, Ellias couldn't simply be playing dumb. How dare he say that now, to her face too? Milena's glare at that moment was almost as intense as her fiancé's. After a sigh, the King loudly cleared his throat, putting his cup down a bit louder than necessary to break the current tension between the four of them.

"I am sure each couple will do wonderfully on its own," he said. "Lady Milena, please be careful with your hands, you're still healing those injuries. We will need those precious hands in the future..."

After saying that he glanced Ellias' way, not looking so gently anymore.

"Meanwhile, the four of you will have to work together in the future to keep this Kingdom afloat. I hope all of you can keep this in mind from now on."

No one dared to add a word anymore after this, like children caught loudly bickering. Everyone returned to their plate and ate quietly for a few more minutes, but Milena wasn't going to forget so easily, neither was Rayan. Meanwhile, Ellias was acting like he had said nothing offensive, eating slowly and ignoring the pitiful glances of his future bride.

The poor King was starting himself to doubt this dinner had been a good idea in the first place... After the death of his wife, he thought it would be good to bring some new feminine presences inside the Castle, but he hadn't foreseen how much his sons would actually bicker over it, or how quickly could a conversation between in-laws take a wrong turn...

"Anyway, Lady De Winter, how is the hospital doing?"

After her faux-pas with Milena, Philomenie was happy to replace something to chat about with the King; She started speaking with a shaky voice, but Ellias made sure to praise her benevolent actions each time he could, giving her a bit more courage and blood to her cheeks. Meanwhile, Rayan and Milena ate slowly and in silence, not taking part in any of this. The young Duchess De Crescent was still upset, and she had f****d so much on her knife that her injury was painful again, making it hard to bring the food to her mouth. If Rayan noticed, the Prince didn't say a word about it, mindful of his fiancé. He knew well Milena hated above everything showing her weaknesses to others.

From time to time, people would sip down their cups, but after a while, the servants changing the bottles twice finally caught the King's attention. They were drinking down each bottle at an impressive speed. He turned towards one of the servants. "What is it today? We all keep drinking endlessly, and this fish is too salty, too. Did the chef change something?"

One of the butlers ran to the King's side, looking a bit nervous and embarrassed.

"That is... The price of salt has recently dropped, so the Chef has made a few changes to our usual seasoning, your Highness..."

"The price of salt?" Repeated the King, raising an eyebrow.

Yet, just then, he caught a distinct smile on Milena's lips, and her Prince glancing at her, as the young Duchess was sipping from her cup. The King gestured for the Butler to leave, and turned to the young Lady.

"Lady Milena, something tells me you have something to do with this?"

"I fear so, your Highness," chuckled the Duchess with a satisfied expression, taking her towel to wipe her lips.

After a few seconds, Ellias frowned, apparently catching on quickly.

"...You're the one manipulating the prices of salt? Don't tell me you're actually doing this on purpose? Is that why the Guild of Merchants have been so insufferable lately? All the merchants are getting mad at the price of salt dropping!" Milena chuckled, very satisfied with herself.

Indeed, she was behind this, and so was her friend Tiphania. For the last few days, the two of them had been very active behind the scenes. However, Ellias was wrong in stating she had angered all the merchants in the Capital. Actually, this was a plan very well done. Not only Milena had found a new way to make money for herself, but she had also found a way to punish the Guild without them being able to lift a finger about it, precisely because of the merchants.

For a couple of days, a very large amount of salt had been put on the market, at a fifth of the lowest usual rate. Such a huge quantity at a cheap price was bound to overthrow the current balance in the market. Salt wasn't just for seasoning: it was used in various processes for food preservation, and almost all of the merchants in the Capital would buy salt regularly from the further ends of the Kingdoms, ones near the sea.

However, Milena and Tiphania had just worked together to destroy the Guild's hard work to maintain the price of salt at a valuable level. Their salt was so cheap the Guild couldn't afford to match this and hence, a lot of merchants were upset with the Guild who tried to maintain their prices. Tiphania had been smart to select a few of her merchants' friends to sell this precious salt, and not let the Guild buy their stock directly.

Now, anyone who wanted to buy salt had to replace one of the shops under Tiphania's care, but they couldn't buy in large quantities as they did with the Guild. Hence, many merchants were getting frustrated, stuck between buying little stocks of cheap salt, or the usual big quantities from the Guild that now looked extremely overpriced. It was insoluble for the Guild, as they had no control over the other stock, and couldn't afford to align either.

"I'm only trying to make some profit," replied Milena, acting all innocent. "The Vermillion Lands' Glass products have become a very flourishing business for me, I thought I should let my accountants take over and focus on something else. Salt is another product from the sea, I only did what I had to replace another business I could take on. Nothing that surprising about it."

Ellias wasn't happy with Milena's acting. Any smart businessman or scholar could see exactly what the Duchess had been doing. She could have entered the market with her salt at any time, but she should have followed the Guild's usual prices to be a competitor. Even a little bit cheaper would have been fine, but she had wrecked the market entirely with a huge stock of very cheap salt.

Not only that, but the drop in the price of salt would lead to a crisis in the other domains as well, as it was related to food preservation. It would have financial repercussions for weeks on the food stocks of the Capital. Yet, due to her status, the Guild couldn't even stop her like they would have stopped anyone else.

"You can't do that, the Guild will be put in a difficult position! If they don't get the support of the merchants back within the next couple of weeks, they might even collapse. They won't be able to control the markets anymore and..."

Seeing that Milena was turning a blind ear to his plea, Ellias turned to his father, shocked.

"Father, I cannot believe you are supporting this! She is merely manipulating the prices to enrich herself! If it was any other noble, they might even have been arrested!"

The King opened his mouth, but he didn't really want to take part in this, and no sound came out.

"There's nothing illegal in what I am doing," retorted Milena. "I'm a merchant with a product to sell. The Guild should remember who is in real control, and it's not them." Her answer infuriated the Prince even more.

"The Guild won't tolerate this! They will get payback and... Rayan, even you!"

Just as he finished his sentence, Rayan let out a theatrical sigh, rolling his eyes.

"What should I do about it, then? Scold my future wife?"

While Ellias still had a shocked expression on, his twin sighed again and turned to Milena.

"Really, dear, didn't we have that conversation about making adult men cry?"

"Did we?" She chuckled, innocently bringing her fingers to her lips. "I must have forgotten. What was it again?"

"You can't make adult men lose their money and cry, dear. It's a little bit too embarrassing for them. Men tend to be sensitive when you touch their purses and dignity."

Milena paused, pretending to think about it for an instant.

"Then what if they pissed me off first?" She asked with a little smile.

Rayan pretended to think about it for a few seconds, holding up his chin and looking up. Then, after a while, he shrugged.

"Oh, well. Then, I guess it can't be helped. Of course, you should make them cry in public and beg for forgiveness."

Ellias was speechless at those two's little scene. It was obvious neither of them cared about the current issue, and moreover they were making fun of him. Rayan smiled at his brother, happy to show off his chemistry with Milena. The future Princess was very satisfied too, grabbing her cup of wine.

At his wits' end, Ellias turned to the King, who looked like he was very tired already.

"Father!"

"Milena is right, Ellias. She is managing her own affairs, it's for the Guild to solve this with her. We can't intervene, they would think the Royal Family has issues already. I do not want that. Moreover, I believe Lady De Crescent is highly educated in the financial department. No doubt she will have measured the consequences of her actions already."

"Of course, your Highness," said Milena. "I am not that mindless. Actually, it has been proved in history that a little financial crisis will appeal a boost a bit later. This concerns food stock, and people with too much salt will replace ways to use it or stock it." "That's easy to say when you're on the winning end!"

Milena turned to Ellias, a bit irritated with all his comments. She frowned.

"Your Highness wants to educate me about finances, perhaps? Or even better, about how the Guild of Merchants works?"

The way she was tilting her head, with a cold expression and her piercing purple eyes, shocked Ellias. This wasn't the Milena he had always known, this was the Duchess De Crescent, the Lady behind a little financial Empire, the businesswoman who could make the strongest merchant organization tremble. Ellias has many qualities, but he didn't have that boldness Milena had to tackle the Guild of Merchant's upfront like she did.

Since his brother couldn't come up with a response, Rayan loudly cleared his throat.

"Looks like you're the one who could use a lesson, brother."

The human prince turned his glare towards his twin, clearly not appreciating his spite.

"Aren't you the one getting too bold there, Rayan? What happened to you? Since Mother died, do you think like you can do anything?"

The mention of their mother sent a cold wind throughout the room. Even the King's face sunk, and he turned to Ellias like he was about to say something, but Rayan was faster.

"There we go. Mother's death. If you have something to say, Ellias, say it. I can overlook your future wife's petty remark and put it on her limited ability to read the room, but if you have your mouth open about Mother, I strongly suggest you do it now and we settle this once and for all."

Even Milena was a bit shocked and uneasy. Once again, she was caught between the twins fight, and this time, the King was there, making it worse. She couldn't blame Rayan for wanting to clean the air between them: she wouldn't want to endure more of those dinners anytime soon if they were all going to be like this...

The poor King looked completely shaken up as well, unable to arbitrate between his sons. Finally, Ellias slammed his hand on the table, making his fiancé jump. Milena closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Yet, he didn't say anything. All the rage contained in his eyes didn't come into words, but they could see his clenched teeth. Rayan took a deep breath, staring very seriously at his brother.

"She was my mother too," he said. "I may not have been her favorite, but that didn't mean I didn't love her. The thing I killed wasn't our mother, and you know it too. So know, grow up and stop your petty attitude, because this isn't the attitude of someone who wants to tell others what to do. You can't even control yourself."

Ellias' expression went livid.

Rayan was right, but Milena realized how deep his twin's problem was. Unlike Rayan, Ellias couldn't get over Lyriana's death. She hadn't thought about it because Rayan wasn't especially close to his mom, but for Ellias, her death was probably a very different story. The gap between the twins had gotten even wider not only because of the upcoming weddings but because of the Queen's funeral they had been obligated to hold in silence.

The King took a deep breath and turned to Ellias.

"Ellias, son, please. Enough of this. Enough of you two twins bickering, and enough of..."

Before he could end his sentence, the King's gaze seemed lost for a second, and his cup fell. Milena's eyes went wide open, shocked, but Philomenie jumped on her feet, touching his neck.

"He's about to faint. Quick, help me lay his majesty down!"

Milena was so shocked to hear Philomenie give orders, she was the last one to react. Rayan and Ellias were quicker, helping put their father down and following Philomenie's directions. In a span of a few minutes, the dining room was filled with concerned servants, and two doctors ran over.

Completely useless, Milena stood to the side, her arms crossed, a bit shaken up. The King really was ill. She couldn't shake off the Oracle's words from her head, but now, it was becoming all too real. The doctors and Philomenie kept chattering about what to do, medication, and the such, blood pressure and that kind of thing, but Milena was completely helpless. Seeing her baffled expression, Rayan left his father's side an instant to come to her.

"Milena, it's alright, the doctors said there's nothing too bad..."

"He is sick, isn't he?" She whispered.

The prince slowly nodded. She could tell Rayan's expression wasn't too good, and he probably was thinking about the same thing as her. He caressed her hair, gently, the two of them bystanders of what was going on. After a few more minutes, more servants arrived, and the King was taken to his apartments under heavy medical surveillance. The four of them were left there, a bit at a loss.

Suddenly, Philomenie turned to Milena, biting her lower lip.

"Lady De Crescent, can I... speak with you? ...privately?"

Milena noticed her gaze was going to Rayan, still looking scared of him. So that was why she wanted a private conversation. In other circumstances, Milena may have refused, but... Just then, Philomenie had been better than her. She had shown that she not only could be quick to react to a life-threatening situation, but she was proficient in medical knowledge. Until then, Milena had only seen her as some useless doll going around hospitals and smiling around...

The Duchess De Crescent nodded, very slowly.

"Alright... Let's go take a walk."

She turned to Rayan, glancing over to his brother's way too.

"Can you behave?" She asked.

With the King gone, it would be bad if those two got into another argument... Yet, Rayan sat back into his chair, grabbing a cup of red wine.

"I'll do my best," he sighed.

Ellias said nothing, but he stood to the side. Although Philomenie said nothing, she was staring at her fiancé, too, and the two of them exchanged a glance before he crossed his arms. He didn't say a word, but the young Duchess looked satisfied, too. She turned to Milena, nodding.

"Shall we?"