Lady Dhampir
Chapter 142

She now had her hair dyed black and cut short, and wore a much humbler dress than before, something akin to a maid's dress, but Milena instantly recognized the Oracle and her striking eyes. The two women stared at each other, baffled, for a few seconds. "What are you..." "We caught her, the night after you fainted," explained Rayan. "Lady De Nova's people were sent to chase her, and we found her in a nearby village."

"...Rowena. What about the baby?" Asked Milena, worried.

"She was sent to your brother, secretly. She's hidden in the De Crescent Manor, no one but your family and their servants know she's there. Rachael promised none of her men would talk, either."

Milena let out a long sigh of relief. At least, it was one thing to know Rowena was fine and safe, and back with her adoptive father. She glanced at the Oracle, again. She still couldn't believe that woman was back here, in the Royal Castle; Judging from all the precautions her husband had taken to guard this room, Milena knew her capture was also most likely still a secret to everyone else.

Milena walked towards Ora, and as soon as she was close enough, she slapped her.

Although she was a woman and had been quite weakened for the last few days, Milena was still of considerable strength, as her arms had been trained to wield weapons. The Oracle landed on her knees with a whimper of pain, holding her burning cheek. "That one was for my brother, you damn bitch," hissed Milena.

"I'm sorry..."

"My great-grandmother died because of that fire. Are you sorry about that too?"

"I swear I did not cause that fire," immediately retorted Ora, getting back on her feet.

"How could I trust a snake like you! I invited you into my house, shielded you, fed you, and gave you a bed, and this, this is how you thank me? By stabbing my family!"

"I knew he'd survive!" Exclaimed Ora, stepping back. "I swear to God, I knew your brother would survive, I did not stab him mortally, Milena!"

"Don't call me Milena as if we were friends," hissed the Princess, annoyed. "If I had any trust in you, it went down in flames with my house."

She looked away from Ora, annoyed. Rayan was standing to the side with his arms crossed, fully waiting for his wife to act however she wanted. Milena was just furious. She couldn't bear to see Ora's face again after what had happened to her family. The death of Maribella was still a deep wound in her heart, and she'd never forgive those who had caused the death of her mentor. "...I had no choice," said the Oracle.

Milena glared at her, but she didn't stop her from talking. Ora sighed, putting her fingers through her dyed hair. One could tell she wasn't used to wearing it so short from the way she moved her hand in it.

"I knew the manor would eventually be attacked, and I had to flee."

"How did you know?"

"The same way I always know, Mil... your Highness. I wasn't sure when, so I stayed around your brother and Rowena as much as I could, getting the signs. When a maid announced a stranger had come to deliver something, I knew that was it. I had to go. "You didn't need to stab Raphael!"

"Would he have let me take Rowe otherwise?" Retorted Ora. "You know who she is to me. Would there be any woman in this world willing to leave her child behind?"

"Didn't you abandon her anyway? I found her in a street Orphanage."

"I didn't," hissed the Oracle. "The Queen took her from me. I didn't even get to see her face when she was born, and Lyriana sent her away. I knew I'd be reunited with her, so I had to be patient and wait for... the events I needed to happen." "...My mother's death," said Rayan.

The Oracle glanced his way, and slowly nodded.

"Yes. Lyriana was nothing without me, but I also knew I needed her to protect me. It was an inextricable relationship between us. We needed each other. We shared our darkest secrets as a way to bind ourselves together."

Milena hesitated. She felt like she couldn't trust Ora anymore, but now, it looked like that woman was finally willing to talk. It was too confusing, and too much of a change. She couldn't understand that change in her, and it made her even warier of that woman. "... Why did the Queen take Rowena from you?"

Ora chuckled.

"Don't tell me you haven't already guessed."

Milena and Rayan exchanged a glance. They had both thought of one possibility, but it seemed... a bit far-fetched. However, it explained a lot of things, especially the Queen's disgust of that child. "Lyriana hated the idea of my daughter posing any threat to her half-brothers. As soon as she found out I was pregnant, she made me swear to keep it a secret, even from the King himself."

Milena felt completely torn about the news, she didn't know what to think. Of course, the thought that the King might be Rowena's biological father had crossed her mind. Compared to Lyriana, whom he didn't love, Ora was a sweet and beautiful woman, also living a recluse life in the Royal Castle. It may have been a one-time thing, most likely, but Rowena was born. The only reason the Queen would have insisted Ora got rid of her child was if she was a bastard, and posed a threat by her sole existence. Still, it seemed too... unreal.

"Why didn't she make you abort?" Asked Rayan, very serious. "I know this isn't the kind of thing my mother would have been reluctant to do."

"Curiosity," chuckled Ora. "Although she already hated my baby, she still wondered what the child of a person like me would be born as. If it could potentially hurt the Church..."

"She may have wanted to keep it."

"But Rowena is a normal vampire child," said Milena.

"Of course she is. The transformation I underwent had no reason to affect my daughter. As soon as she knew that, Lyriana was decided to get rid of her. So, to protect Rowena, I had to threaten Lyriana myself." "How?"

The Oracle chuckled.

"I told you, we knew each other's darkest secrets....Like how she tried to sell her best friend's daughter."

Milena's heart went cold. Sold her best friend's daughter? Why did it feel so familiar, all of a sudden. Rayan stepped forward too, looking furious.

"What are you saying, Oracle? My mother tried to sell whom?"

"Didn't you always wonder, Prince Rayan?" Said Ora. "How come Lady Elizia had been shot, Milena kidnapped but you somehow survived?"

Rayan went pale, incredibly pale considering his skin color. Milena, too, was shocked beyond words. Her lower lip twitched, and she even was afraid to ask more. Could it be? It wasn't possible. Even Lyriana wouldn't have... Rayan suddenly drew out his sword, and pointed it at Ora's throat, who stepped back, looking terrified by the blade. The vampire prince was much more terrifying than his weapon. His eyes were glowing like furious rubies. "Speak."

This only word made her shiver, as if the life-threatening threat it contained could be heard. At this very moment, it was clear the Oracle wouldn't get away with anything but the truth. Her eyes carefully shifted to Milena, but she was still extremely scared of Rayan and his weapon pointed at her throat, the tip less than an inch away. They all knew his skill, and he could end her life without blinking if she made one wrong move, or spoke one wrong word.

"L-Lyriana was threatened by the Church. They had wanted you for a long time... But you were Lady Elizia's daughter. She didn't want to do this to her best friend's daughter. She always refused to cooperate, asking them to leave you alone. They grew bored of waiting, but they could only act when you were here, in the Castle. So they tried to poison you, but it failed."

Milena frowned, and turned to Rayan.

"You said I was often sick... And I once had a very bad fever..."

"Your mother always told me you had a bad health," said Rayan. "You really had fevers..."

"Oh, some may have been of natural cause," said Ora. "Milena's condition certainly didn't help. Although, not all of your fevers were due to your condition or young age. You were the target of several attacks since you were young. Because you still hadn't developed any resistance to poison, your mother never left you alone. She didn't trust the servants of the Castle, and she was right to."

Milena felt her heart waver from hearing this. Her poor mother... They had probably hidden the real reason for her fevers to Rayan as he was too young, but how Elizia must have felt, seeing her daughter was the constant target of these people... Rayan looked even more shocked than she was.

"Although, the main reason for which you survived was probably that you were a dhampir."

Milena frowned, even more intrigued now. This had been on her mind for a long while. She had been uncovering little clues until now, between the fact that she was a vampire, her mother's death, her own k********g and, more recently, the whole wendigo thing... "They wanted me alive," she whispered.

"That's right. Although you were a threat to many because of your birth condition, you were most certainly also a valuable asset while still alive."

"Why?"

"Your blood."

Rayan glanced towards his spouse, but this time, Ora chuckled.

"Do you know how old I am, Milena?"

"...They said you're older than the Queen herself."

"That's right. Although, my own birth is unknown even to me. See, becoming a white one, or a Holy One as the Church likes to call us, involves a lot of mysteries."

Suddenly, Blanche popped her head out of Milena's pocket and jumped on the ground, growling under her wolf appearance. Milena could tell her friend wanted to know the truth too.

"What do you mean? You... lost your memories?"

"We all do," said Ora. "The first thing I remember was opening my eyes as the Oracle. I was already a young adult, and that was decades ago. However, I have no idea who I was before that. Your beloved Blanche is the same, isn't she?"

The wolf's growling got a bit lower, and she glanced back at Milena. They both knew that. Blanche couldn't remember anything about herself, only vague memories of that lab.

"...To be honest, I wouldn't even think Blanche was created intentionally."

"What? What do you mean?"

"There were animals in the Laboratory, I woke up as the Oracle. However, none of them had been turned into a White One. They only resulted in monsters, horrible creatures, deformed by the experiments. They'd catch strays and try to experiment on them, but the only ones who could turn into us were vampires anyway..."

Milena looked down at Blanche again. She had never forgotten those nightmarish visions of deformed creatures, violent beasts who would still screech in her nightmares. Were those things victims of those horrible laboratory experiments as well? Milena felt disgusted. Not only they had probably kidnapped adults like Ora, children like her, but even some innocent animals?

"...You're saying Ora was an animal that survived unexpectedly?"

"Maybe she wasn't even supposed to be in that laboratory. Why would they have sold away a White One?"

Milena frowned. It did make sense... For all she knew, Blanche had unprecise memories of being in that laboratory. Actually, Milena had noted that her friend had never described being in a cage herself, although she did see the others in cages. At least, not until she was with Milena in one. She could have been a small animal, lost in that Lab, who had just... slurped the wrong thing and changed unknowingly. It would have explained so much, especially why she struggled with the human language despite being able to shape- shift into one. If she had just been some stray cat or mouse, anyone could have mistaken her for a regular, white animal...

"Enough," said Rayan, angry. "Go back to Lady Elizia's death. What do you know!"

Ora turned her eyes to him, and that was as if she had suddenly a reminder of that blade pointed at her throat. She lost her smile, and spoke a bit more seriously.

"...They wanted Milena. They wanted her, as a Dhampir child. Moreover, since another Human Duchess had been born just months before, you were a threat to a lot of people. Still, you were more valuable alive..."

"Because of her blood, isn't it?" Said Rayan.

"Yes. You had figured it out already?"

"We read Prince Sleverin's disgusting research on the matter," nodded Milena. "We knew Wendigos were created by forcing vampires to drink vampire blood or eat vampire flesh. It enforces their abilities, but it also drives them mad and gives them a crazy hunger for more blood. They slowly lose reason and start attacking their peers..."

"That's right. A lot of people had always been trying to study the Mad Prince's Research. Did you know Sleverin himself had tried hard to destroy his research, after one of his younger brothers passed? Some rumor said it wasn't the King that ordered for him to be detained, but the Prince himself who begged to be stopped. All of the creatures he had created were executed, and his research stopped there."

Rayan and Milena exchanged a glance. They didn't know how hard the older Prince had tried to redeem himself, but he was still responsible for those crazy experiments, and the death of his younger brother nonetheless...

"Still, wasn't it strange that such a devoted scientist would suddenly stop his research? According to some legends, even in his cell, Sleverin kept searching how to stop the wendigos, just in case. He wanted to make amends for the families of the victims of his experiments, and have a solution, in case another mad scientist tried the same... or perhaps he just couldn't bear not to finish the work he had begun. So, he left behind a journal, detailing not how to stop a Wendigo's transformation, but how to prevent their madness and thirst."

Milena felt her blood get colder the more Ora speak. Although she already knew where this was going, it was terrifying to hear. Prince Sleverin had freed a monster that had re-emerged centuries later... And only a few knew how to cage it back again. Maybe King Silvius had done the best thing in destroying most of his research, but one couldn't stop an idea like you could burn notebooks... Plus, Milena's book she had found in the Royal Library was the proof that research had survived. It may have been crazy science to some, but it had turned into a dangerous weapon in the wrong hands...

"Unexpectedly, the answer came from his own Kin. When they arrested the Wendigos still in transformation, one violently bit Princess Silvra. They said the attack was so violent, the Princess got sick from it."

"So it's true," whispered Milena. "My... Dhampir blood can stop a Wendigo's transformation."

"Yes. But only used at the right time, and in the right amount. This is an extremely dangerous procedure that does not always end well... as you already know."

They knew all too well. In the span of a few weeks, they had faced two wendigos, including Rayan's late mother. Milena had no desire to see another one ever again. Just thinking about it was enough to make her skin crawl...

"How did they do it? How did they... make you?"

"They must have had another Dhampir's blood, I suppose," shrugged Ora. "Although, remember that was years ago. Considering how rare dhampirs are, it was..."

"They might not be as rare as we think," hissed Milena.

Rayan frowned and turned to her, but she ignored him. Milena was mad, and her blood was boiling.

"You said I was targeted from my very birth, right? What if those people were always... still actively looking for Dhampir children, just like I was. How many dhampir children could have been born in more humble families, and captured? How many could have been stolen, or taken off the streets?"

She turned to Rayan.

"It all makes sense! That maid said there was an offer for a Dhampir Child on the Black Market. It wasn't even about me, they were looking for any dhampir child! I was found as a beggar in the streets, but it could have been anyone else. Any child..."

Milena was furious just thinking about it. She had always thought she was so unique because there were no records of another Dhampir child being born. She wasn't an extremely rare kind. She was just lucky enough to have survived long enough for people to know she even existed! "How many?" She asked. "How much dhampir blood does it take to stop a transformation?"

"Not much," said Ora. "Dhampir blood has a unique gene that stops vampire transformation, which explains why you're neither fully human nor vampire. Your blood is a cure in itself. It stops the thirst, the anger, and instead of madness, it wipes the victim's memories, more likely."

It made sense.

There wasn't much research on Dhampir Blood. There actually hadn't even been enough Dhampirs recorded throughout history for scientists to research them, just like Princess Silvra or Milena. They were all wiped out, used by crazy scientists for those disgusting means. Milena was beyond shocked. Not only was her kind targeted, all other Dhampirs were singled out the second they were born, but it had been so for generations. Many, many generations.

In the past few weeks, she had seen two wendigos, and three White Ones, which meant another Dhampir, other than her, had been captured. Was it safe to assume that she and that other dhampir had been the only ones? How many more could have been wiped out and nobody knew?

Milena was absolutely disgusted and terrified. This meant she only owed her survival to being born in the right family, a family that shielded her and protected her from these people. Yet, that also meant she had been walking with a target on her back her whole life...