Lady Dhampir
Chapter 225

"... What did you say?" Milena gasped, utterly shocked.

She had even stopped in the middle of the way, when they were supposed to go back to her brother and friends. The Saint rolled his eyes and put his hands on his hips. "You really had no idea, did you? Alright, come here, your Highness..."

He put on his usual fake smile, and did an overly polite reverence in front of her, offering his hand in an obvious request for a dance. Milena tried hard not to glare at him, because so many eyes were watching their odd duo, but she was frustrated nevertheless. "What is this now?" She hissed.

"Come on, we need to talk privately and in a way that won't be too suspicious if you want to avoid the dozens of male eyes ogling at you. They just saw the Grand Princess De Crescent chatting with the Head Priest, a dance with me won't be a bigger stain on your reputation."

"The stain will come from your foot if you try to pull some crazy stunt," she sighed, taking his hand nethertheless.

"You know, that would have been scary if Your pregnant Highness wasn't wearing flats, for once. Your dress is long but I know your usual height, remember? You can't scare me."

"I'm still heavy enough to crush your toes," she warned him.

"Oh, you have me terrified, then."

His dull and sarcastic tone wasn't satisfying, but she didn't have much more time for their banter. In front of many people with their jaws ready to drop, the Saint and Milena began to dance, very slowly and awkwardly. An invisible circle appeared around them, where no one dared to step in, just as the Saint had predicted. A few steps away, Milena spotted Raphael, dancing with a stiff Briseis and the two of them sending her curious glances. She sighed a bit. "So? Was what you said earlier true?"

"I am not so much of a liar that I would make up such a big lie, Princess. It's the truth. That guy must be over sixty by now, and he has been at the head of the Church for maybe twenty years already. Care to spare thoughts on that?" "How can it be?"

"How can I heal people from incurable conditions? How can your furry friend change her appearance at will? How could the Oracle predict the future? They are experimenting. They call them miracles to gather believers, but you and I know this is just mad science... Do you have any idea how many people they experimented on before they made me? Even I don't know. But, those things do happen. Rarely, but the Head Priest is probably the privileged one who gets to enjoy eternal youth of some sort..." "This can't be," muttered Milena, still in utter shock. "How come no one has ever investigated this before?"

That explained the uneasy feeling she had all the time she had been talking to the Head Priest. She could feel something was off about that man. Perhaps because she had spent a lot of time with her grandmother, Milena could tell when someone had an older way of speech, and mannerisms that belonged to the elderly. He didn't have any physical signs, but the Head Priest had definitely given her the impression of someone from the older generation. Which made absolutely no sense, when he just looked a handful of years older than she was, no more!

The Saint scoffed, making her slowly spin. Their dance was slow compared to the other couples, but it could be explained by Milena's pregnancy, and the Saint being deliberately careful.

"Oh, come on, Grand Princess, you know the politics better than I do. Who would dare investigate the Church? If they claim it's a miracle, people won't have any other choice but to believe it. What else would they think, anyway? They believed the Oracle's crappy prophecies, although most of it was rubbish."

"You seem to know a lot about the Oracle."

"You can say she was their prototype before me. I was made from the same mold, with different results. It was almost expected that I would be taught at least what my predecessor had done and become..."

Milena still had bitter feelings each time she had to think about that enigmatic and wretched woman. She couldn't dissociate her from the late queen, and the horrible way Lyriana had ended.

"So how is it? How do they do this? I never believed this kind of thing could happen in... a human!"

"They can turn vampires into wendigos and white ones like me," scoffed the Saint. "Who knows what years of crazy scientific experiments led them to do on humans, too... I'm jealous of that bitch Oracle that was able to escape them somehow. I know they are still watching me like an experiment roaming free but under their scope... Your little friend Blanche too, you know. I am impressed they are even letting her stay with you."

"They don't know what will happen if they try to take her back..."

A faint growl concurred from one of Milena's dress pockets; she knew Blanche had been somehow lucky to escape them. With the pieces gathered until then, she could tell her shape-shifter friend was one of their non-intentional experiments, and most likely, a failure in their eyes. Blanche was seen as a mere animal, a pet that wouldn't have been very useful to them. Milena was pretty much sure Blanche was an animal to begin with, though she had trouble understanding how a small pet had been transformed with the same process that turned vampires into beings with almost divine powers...

"I doubt she is their priority, at the moment," said the Saint. "Luckily for her. The Church is too scared of you."

"They are? Really?"

"You're a dhampir, young Lady. The only dhampirs appear in noble families because that's where they are protected, and have a chance to live until adulthood without being used for scientific experiments... You're lucky you made it out after being captured once, too."

Milena's eyes darkened. Not only did she hate hearing about that part of her life from someone else's mouth, when there was still so much lingering trauma for her, but she couldn't remember ever discussing this with the Saint, or even Philomenie. "You know a lot already," she hissed.

"I do my homework, Your Highness" chuckled the Saint, bitterly. "My Lady isn't the only one with a nice information network... Plus, when you've been in the same spot, it's easy to put the pieces back together." "...Do you remember your life before you became... that?"

"No," the Saint shook his head. "It was completely wiped out, I only retained the most basic information I needed... For a while, I just had to re-learn how to act like a human, customs and all that crap. I had the mentality of a seven or eight-year-old in the body of a grown adult man. Strangely though, us white ones seem to need an actual master to give our loyalty to. Isn't it odd? Those who conceived us can't even keep us from changing alliances. I wonder why that is. Perhaps a part of us remembers what they did and keeps us from trusting them... Which I am quite grateful for, in all honesty."

"...So you really aren't loyal to the Church anymore?"

"I'll be loyal to the Queen," retorted the Saint. "But the Head Priest, and all those people? It's as if they only made my leash, if you will. They can't always control it, and once they handed me to another master, it was over. Not only that, but I will gladly bite back, too..."

He said that while showing his white teeth, a bit sharper than normal human teeth. Milena was interested in those strange characteristics in the White Ones, too. The only exception seemed to be the Oracle, but from what she had understood, she had begun straying away from Lyriana when she got pregnant with the King's child... Perhaps her real loyalty had changed, too, leading her to betray her master.

"...Do you know of any others like you?"

"I told you, no," the Saint sighed. "No survivors. The process kills most, and they have no idea what makes it work for some of us... They aren't working with the full research Sleverin left behind."

Milena grimaced. Again, the Mad Prince was coming back. His work had put their Kingdom's science domain forward by several centuries, but also created its worst monsters. She could understand why he had been executed by his older brother, if it had been as bad back then. He had even killed one of his own siblings...

"About the Head Priest," Milena said. "What else do you know about him?"

"He controls most of the Church, as expected..."

"He mentioned my mother, and her death. He knew her."

"Well, he was alive when it all happened, I guess."

"It makes me wonder how involved he was," whispered Milena, suddenly angry. "Lyriana was pressured by the Church to trick my mother. What if they ordered my kidnapping."

"The Church k********g a little dhampir princess? How not-very-holy of them..."

While he said that ironically, Milena could tell he definitely believed it was a possibility, too.

She felt like a heavy curtain was slowly being lifted, and all the pieces were falling into place. Her k********g, and her mother's death. Rayan's harsh treatment by his mother, while Ellias was molded into the future King. The Oracle's appearance by the Queen's side. The Church had definitely been behind so many things, yet, their own creations being somewhat out of their control, they had to pull the strings from behind the scenes. Manipulating the future queen after the previous one was rendered useless... And it couldn't have been Milena. They couldn't control her, but they also needed her alive. As a dhampir, she was probably precious prey they would rather keep alive, and in their line of sight... In a way, her fate was similar to the Oracle, or Blanche's.

The song ended, and the Saint stepped back, grimacing.

"Thanks for sparing my toes, Your Highness..."

Raphael quickly arrived at her side, sending a suspicious glance toward her partner.

"Anything I missed?" He asked.

"I will explain it to you later," sighed Milena.

"Now, if you're done using me, Your Highness, I need to go back and see if I can talk to my Queen's so-called friends," said the Saint, with his usual sullen look. "Apparently, I'm on duty to entertain the fussy little birds while she can't come..." "Is Philomenie alright?"

He paused, and turned to her, raising his eyebrows in a theatrical way.

"Is it me or is Your Highness genuinely inquiring about the Queen's situation? Out of real, friendly concern?"

"If you're done, can I have an answer? I know you're in no hurry to go and suffer by the ladies' side, but I am busier than I look..."

"She is fine, just upset that her idiot of a husband is being the usual douche... But, as much as it makes my tongue sting for saying this, Phil does miss you. Think about her, once in a while. She could really use a friend in the Castle... Just like you did need her help at some point."

The Saint then left without any more ceremony, his flashy outfit catching more side glances on the way. Milena sighed, while Raphael got closer to her, with a confused expression;

"I don't think I'll ever understand that... person," he muttered.

"Raphael, why do I feel like there is something you're not telling me about the Saint?"

Her brother grimaced.

"Since he said it first... I learned recently he and I have... similar tastes, if you will."

"Are you kidding?" Milena frowned.

"Is that so surprising?" Raphael asked, sounding a bit upset.

Just then, Briseis arrived by their side, carrying two glasses, one full of juice made for Milena. The Grand Princess sighed, and took it, taking a sip before sighing again.

"No. It's just that I thought he had something going on for Philomenie..."

"Oh, not at all. From what I've seen and heard, I would say he just treasures her as a friend... or a little sister. Friendships between men and women aren't always based on seduction, you know."

"How many female friends do you have, again, Raphael?"

"Are you joking? I have a lot!"

"That are not our family or my friends?"

"I can't even have friends in common with you now?"

"...Fine," chuckled Milena. "I'm letting you off the hook for this time. But I still want you to see what else you can learn about the Saint."

"Oh, by the ancestors, you're giving me extra work because he and I are in the same circles?"

"Well, you'll probably get to him better than I could, won't you? Moreover, he dislikes me but he trusts me, so it's not like I'm really sending you to do all the work. But the Saint is our best lead about the Church and their intentions for now. He's obviously not on their side, but I'm afraid they will try and keep using Phil."

"...It looks to me they might use someone else instead, my lady," Briseis whispered.

Milena frowned, and turned her head. Indeed, the Head Priest was now happily chatting with none other than the King himself, which made her blood boil. Ellias... If he couldn't get the approval of the Council, the King was obviously going to try to get the Church's. This made her even madder, when she thought about the power wielded by those two men alone...

"Damn Ellias," groaned Milena. "Let's leave him alone for now. I need to speak to my investors."

"They are almost literally lining up," sighed Raphael. "Don't overdo it, though..."

Milena nodded, but she had also come here for this.

One after the other, she casually entertained her followers, all the nobles who had been impatiently waiting to talk to her up until then. A lot were already part of the upcoming federation she was building up, or deeply interested in it. Some were almost begging to be allowed to invest in it, and Briseis and Tiphania quickly had to help Milena answer all their questions before she got exhausted. Raphael was also doing a great job of offering her a time out from time to time, pretending he had something to tell her, or he needed her to escort him to talk to someone else.

Still, this was a pretty exhausting turnaround for Milena. In just a span of an hour or two, she felt like she had spoken to dozens of people, and her tongue was going to fall out for chatting about business plans all evening long. She was grateful for Prudence and Yasina regularly helping her get a drink, or replaceing her chairs to sit in. Because she was the Grand Princess, no one could really come and talk to her while she was sitting down, as it would have been considered impolite to stand while the Princess sat, so Milena could take a quick break every now and then thanks to that. The only time she couldn't really avoid talking to people were the dances, and a few of them she really couldn't refuse, although she used her pregnancy to always only dance one song at a time. After a while though, she found herself exhausted for a bit, and Prudence and Tiphania pulled her to the side, her ladies-in-waiting ready to create a wall between her and the rest of the people present.

"Are you alright?" Yasina asked, handing her another cup of juice. "I can't believe how much that old Marquess talks, the man already has one foot in his grave and he's still dreaming about his next house!"

"I feel like you're going to be able to buy the whole Kingdom soon if we hear about any more investments," chuckled Tiphania.

"That might not be far from the truth," said Briseis. "I'm sure some of those nobles offered more than what they declare on the Royal Taxes..."

"You'll send them their paperwork later, Lady Briseis," retorted Yasina. "For now, we should let the Grand Princess replace a place to take a break, she has barely gotten more than five minutes away at a time..." "My Lady?" A Royal servant suddenly appeared behind them. "His Majesty is requesting to see you."

"Oh, I swear that-!" Exclaimed Yasina, but Prudence jumped to have her stop talking.

Milena sighed.

"I'll be there in a minute," she grumbled. "I just need to carry myself all the way there... God knows how long that will take, so His Majesty shall wait a bit."

With all Milena's Ladies-in-waiting staring at him, the Royal servant had no choice but to nod, and turn around, a bit defeated.

"You can rest all you want," Said Yasina, crossing her arms. "You're a pregnant lady, even the King has to show some understanding!"

"I doubt there's much left he's ready to give me," sighed Milena. "Don't worry. I doubt this will be long, His Majesty looks... like he won't last the whole evening. At least not sober..."