Lady Dhampir
Chapter 206

"My Lady, I'm very sorry," cried the young maid. "W-we just didn't dare to..."

"It's alright," gently whispered the Queen.

She put a hand on the young maid's shoulder, taking that tray off her shaking hands. It was just tea, but half the content of that cup had already been emptied from all of that poor young maid's panicked trembling. "...Will you be alright?" Asked the Saint behind her.

"Yes. Wait here, please. I'll be right back..." "Suits you."

As always, he'd do exactly as she asked, even if he had to put that sullen look on. The Saint let out a long sigh, and leaned his shoulders against the door, in a not very good position, but Philomenie and the staff were used to it. She took a deep breath, and walked into the room.

It was an utter mess.

One of the curtains had been ripped and thrown on the floor, and a table was still on the side, the dishes spilled all over the floor. Noticing this right as she stepped in, Philomenie stopped, and let the little tray on one of the tables against the wall instead. There was no reason to stain that carpet any further...

However, the room was still strangely quiet in there. She looked around for her husband, and her eyes set on the crown first. With a little pinch in her heart, she slowly walked up to it to pick it. It would be annoying to bend, but if she just was careful not to lean too much...

"...Leave it."

His raspy voice came from the side.

Ellias was seated on the floor, his back against the frame of their bed, his face hidden in his hands. He looked more of a mess than this room... There was nothing left of that presence he had left their apartments with this morning. His blonde hair was a mess, his shirt was half-open, and his shoulders low... She gave up on the crown, leaving the precious and heavy thing there, and walking up to him instead.

"...What happened?" She asked softly.

She had already heard echos of it, and truthfully, Philomenie had been shocked to hear her sister-in-law had attended a Military Council this very morning after she had taken in the news of her brother's passing. For some reason, she had thought Milena would take perhaps a day off or two to grieve, but she had underestimated her. No, she hadn't even thought there would be someone who could have the strength to do that... "Milena happened, that's what happened!" Shouted Ellias. "Why the hell... Why does she always... Damn it!"

She didn't even jump anymore to his shouting. By now, Philomenie had strangely grown used to this. Ellias just needed to let it out, and this was the only place he did. Always in their apartments, and only when he was alone, or she was there. Even in front of the Saint or their servants, he wouldn't allow himself such a thing. Philomenie sometimes wondered if it was foolish of her to take some bittersweet pride in that...

"How does she even know her brother's death? How! I thought I was getting all of her mail, that we were watching all of their spies!"

Philomenie didn't answer that. She would probably never understand his paranoid need to watch everything about his brother and his sister-in-law's relationship, and in fact, she didn't want to think too deeply about it. She already knew what she had to. "They have other friends on the battlefield, and Valentin was very loved," she whispered softly. "... Why does it even matter? You knew..."

"But she knew before me. I can't stay ahead if she knows things before me! Damn, I thought she'd just stay holed up in that tower as long as I turned a blind eye on her pregnancy, but now she does this! I made a fool out of myself at the Military Council, in front of all of them! She humiliated me just for the mere pleasure of it while I almost begged her to replace a compromise!"

Ellias let out a long frustrated groan. Tired to stand up, Philomenie came to sit next to him, unafraid. She knew most of the storm had passed already and, in any case, he'd never hurt her. Even in the worst of his anger, he was always careful not to turn it towards her, especially since she carried his heir...

"I can't," he muttered. "I can't lose to them, again. If Milena succeeds... and if Rayan comes back..."

"Why are you always so scared of your brother coming back?" Philomenie asked, shaking her head. "They are not trying to be your enemies, Ellias..."

"You don't know!" He suddenly shouted, getting up on his feet and turning to her. "You think I'm not his enemy? Who do you think everyone wanted to see in my stead! Who they think is a failure!"

"You're not a failure! You've done what you could, but..."

"That's not enough! It's never enough! Mother..."

He pulled his hair, visibly torn, staggering back and shaking his head.

"Mother, she always said I'd be the one. I'd be the one with the crown, that it had to be me. There can't be a vampire King! The Kingdom will fall into chaos... They are all scared of vampires! And Milena isn't even human! If Rayan gets the throne, the vampires will take the power and every human citizen will have to flee to nowhere to survive!"

"You don't know that! The vampires need humans..."

"You heard the mission reports from our spies like me, Phil! Stop pretending everything is going to be all cute and nice in this world, it isn't! I saw my mother turn into one of those disgusting things, and I'm supposed to pretend there is no danger now? I can't! People are terrorized, and they think I can't protect them!"

"I know," sighed Philomenie. "But... the supremacists arent your brother nor Lady Milena, you know they aren't."

"You don't know that. Rayan hated me, Phil. He hated me ever since I wanted to take what he thought to be his... Ha! I thought everything would be fine once he was gone... But he'll never let me win. This is so like Rayan... Pretending like he doesn't care so he can just me stab me in the back! He's gone, yet I hear his name every single damn day! Prince Rayan would have done this... Prince Rayan would have said that... Can't they just all see he's gone! Gone!"

"They still need to look up to him," said Philomenie. "Ellias, your brother is still the Prince, and a lot of people appreciated him..."

"Him? He did nothing! What did Rayan do, when he actually showed up at Court? All he ever did was act like a know-everything, act mighty and say what they all wanted to hear! And Milena by his side, they'd be willing to believe anything that liar said! Rayan knows nothing of what I went through! Nothing of how harsh mother was with me, how hard she made me work so I could be the perfect King one day! Better than my Father, who couldn't even take my side just once! All because he was won over by Milena's resemblance to her mother! Even if he never liked mom, he could have at least looked at me, but Father never cared! Rayan is a cheat!"

Philomenie just waited until he was over. It was always the same anger, the same thing...

Truth be told, she could empathize with Ellias probably more than anyone. Because his mother and her family had always strongly hinted at them being engaged since childhood, she had witnessed it a few times. Queen Lyriana, that tall and scary woman. Always so strict, her glowing red eyes terrifying anyone who couldn't live up to her standards. And for Ellias, those standards were higher than anyone else. Something had been... broken and shaped again young in him. He was still trapped by his mother's voice in his head, his father's absence, and that poisoning rivalry with Rayan, his twin. Philomenie couldn't help but feel pity when she watched her husband like this. She had seen a lot of miserable people since she had been young. People ravaged by disease, hunger, cold, poverty and grief. Ellias was ravaged by something much darker and insidious, something that poisoned his own mind rather than his body...

"... Did Lady Milena say anything else? ...Can't you help her in some way she'd accept."

"Money. That bitch told me all I could do to help was money! That's all she wants from me. She'll never agree to my help, she's way too happy to just stand there, act mighty, and b****y piss me off! I feel like I'm can almost see Rayan's damn shadow over her, smirking at me! I just want... I just..."

Exhausted, he fell down again, his head in his hands. Philomenie was at a bit of a loss on what to say, what to do.

"Ellias... You can't always be the one to push and pull."

"Don't you try and give me advice," he hissed, sounding annoyed. "You and you goody-two-shoes damn attitude..."

"Who else will tell you then?" She retorted, annoyed as well. "You won't listen to anyone, and no one even dares to talk back anymore. Perhaps I'm too kind and too nice, but wasn't it what you wanted?" "You're just getting taken advantage of and smiling about it too! If Milena slapped you I'm sure you'd show the other cheek!"

"...You know that's not true at all. You're just mad because I get along with her now."

"I'm telling you you're being used."

"If I was being used, at least I'd know why. You're just always so mad about Rayan... Milena has taken a step back from politics all this time and you're still not satisfied. Moreover, she just shows up this morning and you're like this again? Ellias, this can't go on!" "What am I supposed to do! As soon as that witch shows up, they are all just so happy to lick her damn boots and gawk at her and agree to everything she says! I had almost the same damn idea as her and no one b****y supported me! They all try to ignore me, not listen to me!"

"This is a democracy! You can't just have them all do what you want because you're the King and shouting!"

"I am the King regardless of if they like it or not! They can't ignore me!"

"They can if that's the only thing they can do, Ellias. I may be dumb, but even I don't want to deal with you when you're like this, and won't hear a thing we say..."

"I've tried listening, Phil. I was born and raised for this crown! Mother taught me all there is to know, everything. I know I can make the best decision, but they won't support me!"

Philomenie glanced at the crown. Indeed, he had coveted that crown for so long... She stood up, and went to pick it up this time. It was a bit heavy in her hands, as always. She gently put it down on their bedtable, and left it there, staring at it with mixed feelings; It ought to be heavy to wear, when he had fought for it all of his life, to only replace out there was an even harder fight coming after...

"...Ellias, please. Stop fighting with Milena. She doesn't need this right now, neither do you."

"So you're really on her side, now," he scoffed.

"You know I'm not; But she's still part of our family, and I don't want us to fight anymore. If you keep pushing her, you know she will fight back just as much... Just fund her project, like she asked and step back and see."

"I can't do that, Phil. If she succeeds, they'll say the Grand Princess saved the Kingdom and I was useless!"

"They will say worse things if you try to interfere or prevent her from doing so. And we need all the solutions we can have, right now. If your brother loses the war."

"I know that b****y bastard won't lose!" Groaned Ellias. "He won't... Rayan will never leave me be. He'll come back, he still hates me. He'll always hate me for what happened with Milena... He'll never leave me, Phil. The prophecy..."

Philomenie frowned. Their prophecy? She had heard, a long time ago, that there was a prophecy about the twin princes, but no one but the Queen had supposedly been allowed to hear it, and the Oracle had disappeared since. She had never thought Ellias would know, too. Did his mother tell him? ... Was that part of why he was always on edge about his twin brother? Was there something about Rayan that... scared him?

"Ellias? What about the prophecy?"

He shook his head.

"No, nothing. It will be fine. Just..."

He stood back up, taking a deep breath and massaging his eyelids with a tired expression. The King always looked tired these days. He barely got any sleep at night these past few weeks... Several times, she'd wake up to replace him at the end of their bed, his back arched, his shoulders sometimes shaking in silence. He never wanted to talk, so she had given up, unlike at times like this one.

Then, he opened his green eyes again, his eyes going to her. All traces of anger had vanished, leaving instead this tired, passive look in his eyes. He slowly walked up to her, and gently put a hand on her round belly. Philomenie smiled. Only once in a while, did he show concern for the baby...

"...As long as our son is born, it'll be fine."

Philomenie's smile lessened. He always referred to the baby as a boy... Wouldn't a daughter be as legitimate though now, thanks to Milena's law? Yet, her husband seemed to be set on the idea she'd give birth to a baby boy. Philomenie didn't dare ask why anymore. She slowly nodded.

"It will be fine, I promise."

"...Ask your brother to be the godfather."

"A-Arseus? Why...?"

"It will be a way to show we're a close family. The Church has been distancing itself from us, lately. Don't ignore your father's messages, Philomenie. We need his support more than ever now."

"...I understand," she sighed. "But Ellias, please... About Milena's project, think about it."

He didn't answer, his eyes turning to the window. He was harder and harder to decipher... On one side, she was glad Ellias was finally beginning to see her value as more than just the mother of his future children, but she wasn't fond of her own families' activities as of late. She hadn't forgiven Arseus betrayal, and still resented him a bit more each time a letter came from the front from Philip...

However, Ellias' main issue right now wasn't with the House De Winter. It was with Milena. Philomenie slowly stood, trying to remain calm and composed. She couldn't be the one to lose her cool, she had to think clearly, and replace the best outcomes. It wasn't an exercise she was familiar with, and she didn't have the confidence to keep the peace in their family. However now, she still believed she was the best bridge between Ellias and their sister-in-law.

It just looked like she would have to work a little bit harder at building that bridge, before something else happened that would have it all collapse beyond repair...