Lady Dhampir
Chapter 224

"I will be right back," Milena quickly said to her Ladies-in-waiting. "You should go and enjoy the Celebration." "Are you sure?"

"We don't care for those celebrations," said Tiphania. "You know we came here for you, My Lady."

"I'm grateful, but I will be fine. I don't want to attract too much attention while I talk to the Head Priest. I won't be long. Yasina, you should enjoy this with your fiancé, and please, help Raphael with a dance, he could use some exercise." "Millie!"

Before he could protest anymore, Milena walked away from the little group, not allowing any more complaints. Having her move alone was quite unusual, and earned her many stares. Since she wasn't on her throne but alone amongst the nobles, it would have been easy to talk to her, so she made sure to walk quickly and without sparing any glances to the side.

Despite the crowd, it was easy for Milena to follow the Saint's tall figure. Not only that, but his blinding purple outfit got him many stares, and people were quick to get out of his way, intimidated by his absence of taste or his uncommon appearance. He was more eye-catching than the Grand Princess, which was saying a lot. Thanks to that, however, he quickly led her to where he intended to. Much to Milena's surprise, they stopped in front of a young man, who almost seemed to have been waiting for them; He was rather tall, with long limbs, his brown curls cut rather short, and wore a very simple white attire, with a black rosary hanging around his neck. He had gorgeous blue eyes, and a gentle expression on angular traits, making him look like a statue. "Evening, Head Priest," said the Saint without much ceremony, visibly bored already. "This is Grand Princess Milena, but you probably already know that..."

The Head Priest chuckled a bit at the Saint's manners, and turned to Milena, bowing very politely to her. Technically, their status didn't need for him to be excessively polite towards the Grand Princess. The position of Head Priest meant he was one of the highest authorities of the Church, a status equivalent to a Duke, or a non-major member of the Royal family. There were no official technicalities, but the power held by the Church was enough in itself. They ought to show some reverence to the members of the Royal Family, but they were somewhat immune to them as well. The complex relationship between the Church and the Royals had to be re-evaluated with each new King, and for this generation, Milena wondered if Ellias hadn't managed to make it somewhat worse than his predecessor. She could almost feel the Monarch's eyes on them, which she did her very best to ignore, acting as if she was speaking to a member of the Church's High Authority every day, and the Head Priest was acting just the same.

"Of course. How could I not?" He said with a honeyed voice. "The Grand Princess Milena, the one and only. Good Evening, my Lady. Your reputation precedes you, Princess, but I have to say, you're even more surprising in person. I'm sorry we were never meant to cross paths earlier."

"Evening, Grand Priest. It is sad indeed. Unfortunately, my family was never very much of a faithful one, at least not towards the God you serve."

"Is there any other you'd like to report?" Chuckled the Head Priest. "My apologies, I am a poor joker. Things tend to be too serious when you preach every day. I fear I'm not very prepared for social events like these, or entertaining his Majesty's subjects." "I never thought Your Holiness was to be the subject of entertainment," retorted Milena, a bit wary of his words.

"I know, my Lady. But people are so quick to make good shows out of nothing, aren't they? You and I both know that very well. I have to say, it surprises all the more that you would be interested in meeting me. When I heard the De Crescent family was now attending some of our Masses, I thought God had granted us a quite unique miracle."

His tone was perfectly balanced between his light-hearted jokes, and the hidden meaning behind it. Milena could tell she was facing a man who was much more used to politics than he let on. She was even more struck at how young he was. He didn't seem older than her, and yet, this young man was the Head Priest? Before he had opened his mouth, she had almost believed the Saint was fooling her. However, now, it was clear he was a singular character, but no fool. Her new visits to the various churches had been noticed, and he had mentioned it right away, meaning she was definitely being watched. Milena put on a polite smile.

"Both of my sisters-in-law are believers, your Holiness, and it makes one wonder about the faith people give to the Church. I came to see what I was curious about."

"You seemed to be very curious, my Lady. Visiting almost all of our churches in just a few days... Even our most fervent believers aren't that enthusiastic. Unless it was to visit our architecture? I would love to mention, we accept donations to renovate the oldest of our churches."

His business smile wasn't working on Milena, and she replied with an ice-cold smile, not really convinced by his sugar-coated speech.

"My apologies, but most of my financial benefactions go to our military efforts lately."

"Very understandable. We will keep praying for our brave soldiers to come back home safely. They might be free, but I hope our prayers do them some good. A lot of people seek refuge in God in troubled times. I wish I could offer this comfort to the Grand Princess and her husband as well. I remember your mother was quite a faithful woman, as well. She attended every Mass, and naturally, she prayed for her family. It is saddening she didn't get to transmit this passion of the Creator to her children." Milena was struck.

Her mother? How could he remember her mother who had passed away, more than fifteen years ago? The Head Priest was saying this as if he had known Elizia De Crescent himself, how could that be! Was that meant to be a threat, towards her? Was he hinting that the Church had something to do with her murder? She hadn't expected this at all. She knew her mom was a believer, even after her wedding to the Duke, she had continued to attend church. Why did the Head Priest involve this in their discussion, however? How could he say such a thing?

Realizing she had let her trouble be seen, Milena tried to regain her confidence, and cleared her voice slightly.

"Her prayers didn't save her life," she retorted.

"No, but the true believers rarely pray for themselves. Perhaps her prayers saved her beloved daughter, Lady Milena. The voice of God works in mysterious ways. Now, I wonder what motivated you to visit several of his homes, if not to pursue faith?" "...I am looking for someone. A man from the Church I happened to run into, some time ago. In an ungodly time and place, too. He disappeared while I still had questions for him. I believed him to be of high rank with the Church, yet I couldn't see him anywhere I went." "That is surprising indeed," said the High Priest. "There is no man of faith that would hide from the Grand Princess, I can assure you. Our hearts and souls may belong to God, but we still appreciate good company. May I know that man's name, my lady? Perhaps I will be able to help you."

"If I knew his name, replaceing him would have been easier. Sadly, I don't. All I have are his looks, notably a very vivid scar that was left on his throat... by my husband."

The Head Priest frowned, and slowly rubbed his chin with his fingers, seeming to try and think.

"Let's see... A foolish man would it have been to dare anger the Prince, but it does seem like the man my Lady is looking for is the late Bishop Anatour." "Late?" Repeated Milena, frowning.

"Alas, the poor man passed away, quite a few weeks ago already. I am sorry you couldn't replace him while he was alive, but Bishop Anatour had stepped back from all public services to only care for a few of his long-time believers. God called our regretted brother back to his side, with a terrible fever he eventually found an eternal rest from."

"You can't be serious!" Milena protested, annoyed.

The man from the auction she had been searching for all this time was dead? How could it be! All this time she had spent attending those insufferable sermons, all for nothing! That Bishop had died from a stupid fever? She couldn't believe that wretched human being had simply died like this. The Head Priest sighed.

"I understand the Grand Princess is upset. You went to extreme lengths to replace my brother of faith, Grand Princess. I am truly sorry about this. Is there, by God's grace, any way I may be of any help to you in his stead?"

Milena hesitated. She wanted to replace the bishop to know more about the Wendigos, the White Ones and what the Church had in mind for them. However, she also had come to meet the Head Priest with non-hostile intentions, at least for the moment. She tried to keep in mind Eugenie's words, that a large organization such as the Church may still hold some truly innocent followers of God.

From what she had seen so far, she knew this Head Priest was much smarter and more cunning than this act of a peaceful man of faith he let on. There was no way he had risen to his position without any schemes, either. A man didn't get to lead one of the most powerful organizations of the Kingdom on luck alone. It was too unlikely. She had to make a decision here and now, for better or worse. With Ellias watching and himself at odds with the Church, she had to maneuver very carefully. Milena took a deep breath.

"I was seeking information from the Bishop. He let me and my husband know the Church was no stranger to the Holy Ones, nor their creation."

"The creation of the Holy Ones is a miracle of God," immediately answered the Head Priest, with a large smile. "Their existence is venerated as such."

"Oh, please," said the Saint, rolling his eyes after he had been silent all this time. "You barely let us breathe without a leash, and you're taxing as hell until we found our new master."

"God should be your only master," said the Head Priest, very calm. "He is the one to guide you his blessed children, like Her Highness the Queen. She is one of his most blessed children, it is only by his grace that you have been allowed to serve her." "Yeah, yeah. Sure," scoffed the Saint.

Despite his attitude, he was clearly unwilling to speak too much against the Head Priest. Since earlier, his eyes had been wandering everywhere in the room rather than towards him. She didn't wish to prolongate this discussion any longer, either, especially as she was aware of all the eyes on them. Many were probably wondering what was that unlikely trio discussing about, and she didn't want to gather too much attention... Although it could help her a bit. "What about the Wendigos, then?" She asked with a composed tone.

The Head Priest didn't even flinch, or she missed it. He sighed a bit.

"I feel a lot of pity for those unfortunate creatures," he said. "All beings in this world deserve the love of good, but those... are not worthy of his grace. We can only pray that no more of those will appear."

"The Bishop didn't shy away from admitting they were also the Church's creation," said Milena, fearlessly.

"...That is a very grave accusation," said the Head Priest.

"I'm merely repeating the words of your brother of faith. What I am more curious about is to understand how the Bishop seemed so confident about everything regarding the Wendigos. Funny how the previous one to appear was also someone who had been formerly blessed with a White One?"

This time, the Head Priest's smile gradually lessened. Milena wasn't particularly whispering, which meant that anyone who wanted to eavesdrop on their conversation could potentially hear every single word of it. The Head Priest took a step forward, very small, and regained his composure.

"I understand the Princess' concerns. However, the Church is merely responsible for spreading the Grace of God to his followers. We cannot foresee the choices of those who cease to believe in Him. Perhaps her Majesty would have found herself blessed a bit longer if she had remained faithful to our Holy Creator."

"Or to the Holy Church?" Retorted Milena.

"Although we create them, the White Ones are unique, blessed beings," the Head Priest resumed. "We cannot begin to understand God's ways when he sends one of them to one of his blessed children. Sadly, the trial can happen to be too burdensome, and result in the tragedy we witnessed."

"I am tired of witnessing tragedies, your Holiness. I would rather try and stop them at the source. I do not believe in the Creator you preach about, but I sure believe the Church should stick to prayers and sermons."

"It is also my belief, Grand Princess. I would hate you to think we have done anything other than try to spread God's message of love and compassion to the good people who come to the Mass. I am saddened this isn't what you witnessed with all the Masses you blessed your presence with. If there are any ungodly events occurring within the Church, I will personally seek out to chase the perpetrators as soon as I hear of them."

Milena was growing tired of the charade the Head Priest was playing. His endless speech about God and the White Ones being godly creations was getting annoying and leading her absolutely nowhere. The only thing she had discovered from their discussion so far was that he was completely going to keep up his character all the way through. She could tell apart a corrupted liar from a real man of faith, though. If there was something wrong going on within the Church, he definitely knew and was playing along. At least, she was now sure he was involved in what was going on behind the scenes.

"...I see," she sighed. "Well then, I will keep praying to my God, Science, that no one else dares to give an unnatural birth to those horrible creatures."

"There is no unnatural birth, Grand Princess. Only God's will and his mercy."

"If it pleases you to keep singing that song," Milena shrugged.

The Head Priest sighed, joining his hands together.

"I'm sorry I couldn't convince you of... my good Faith, if I may say so myself. I will keep praying for you and your husband, and the blessing of the life you carry. You will be welcome back anytime at any of our Masses, Grand Princess Milena. It is the Church's privilege to welcome you."

"I don't believe so," said Milena. "But thank you for the invitation, Head Priest. I will leave you now, I still have many people to greet."

"Good Evening, Grand Princess. May God watch over you."

Milena turned around, feeling unhappy and defeated. This was not exactly what she had expected. The Head Priest had remained incredibly calm and composed all along, and she felt like she had been completely ignored. She was leaving with almost more questions than she had before.

Next to her, the Saint sighed, before emptying his cup of wine in one go with a bitter expression.

"I told you it would be pointless, Miss I Want It All. The Head Priest is just an old, annoying piece of trash. If you think politicians are an eyesore, try spending a day with him. He's even more cunning than you, and I mean that."

"I noticed," scoffed Milena. "He avoided all my questions and kept playing me as if I was in the palm of his... Wait. What did you call him?"

She stopped and turned to the Saint, speechless for a second. He frowned, and shrugged.

"An old piece of trash. What? Too much for your precious ears? Oh, come on, you've heard me say worse than that."

"Why are you calling him old?"

The Saint scoffed.

"Oh. I guess you don't know... Well, it's not really out there. Well, he is old. Very old, for a human, actually. That guy looks like that, but he is older than your father. Can you imagine? That's why he's so venerated by all the believers. And he wants to pretend he's just blessed by God's grace or whatever... Blessed, my holy butt. This old crone is more tampered and modified than I am!"