Lady Dhampir
Chapter 239

The King pulled out, hurriedly trying to get his pants back on, while his mistress, visibly a bit behind on what was going on, was recovering her senses, out of breath. Her blonde curls were all over the place, in a complete mess, and Milena was even more irritated to notice that woman had sort of gotten prettier in the meantime. Had she actually set her sights on the King intentionally? Milena felt like slapping her, but she was too far for that. She clenched her fists while the blonde kept staring at her with a dumbfounded expression.

"Y-You..."

"I should have killed you when I had the occasion," hissed Milena. "You pitiful whore. So this is how low a s**t like you gets, huh? Jumping on a husband the minute his wife, whom you're supposed to serve, isn't looking?"

Her words seemed to wake Valentina up. She stood up, pulling down her skirt and readjusting her dress with a smirk.

"Oh, please," she chuckled. "With where I've gotten, I would say I'm in a pretty high position... Even better than her Majesty, perhaps."

"...So you really do have a death wish, you dumb bitch."

Her glare seemed to finally take an effect on the countess, who went white, realizing her situation. "Valentina, get out," sighed Ellias, annoyed.

"Oh no," said Milena with an evil smile. "She is not going anywhere. Neither are you, your Majesty."

"Don't start, Milena," he grunted. "This is just..."

"This is a pathetic excuse of a man, who just can't bear to keep it in his pants, even as his wife just gave birth to his one, first, and only child. That is, as far as we know. Who knows, you may have a bastard on the side if you have god knows how many mistresses." "Milena, I forbid you to-!"

"Oh, shut up!" She roared. "You dare forbid me anything? You don't get to scold me or order me around now, Ellias! I'm not Phil, I won't back down while you trample over your wife's honor, in her home! She's only a few corridors away, you shameless scum! What in the hell do you think you're doing! Taking that whore in the middle of the day, where and when all the damn servants can know what's going on? Or do you not have an ounce of shame left in that body at all!"

He rolled his eyes, crossing his arms with a bored expression that annoyed her all the more.

"You don't have a right to lecture me, Milena. All our previous Kings had a mistress or two... And they will shut up if I tell them to....This is nothing."

"Nothing?" Repeated Valentina, offended. "You didn't seem to think it was nothing just a minute ago!"

Ellias glared back at her, annoyed. It was clear his mistress' ego was hurt, but he had no consideration for her. Milena crossed her arms, still utterly disgusted at the two human beings in front of her. She was angry for Philomenie, who had been left alone while her husband was cheating on her, the very day their daughter was born. Although cheating and taking mistresses wasn't uncommon amongst nobles, there was still a limit to how indecent they would be. There was a tacit rule to keep those affairs a complete secret, even taking it to their grave if needed. The deceased Lyriana probably was well-aware of the King's affair with the Oracle, too, but everything had been kept a tightly sealed secret to this day. Meanwhile, what Ellias was doing wasn't discreet. Just from the expressions of the guards around, Milena could tell they all knew what was going on. The identity of the mistress was only a detail. All that mattered was that the King was spending the evening with another woman while his wife was resting with their newborn. This whole affair was nauseating.

"It not enough that you won't even be by your wife's side on the day she gives birth to your child, and isolate her, you even had the damn guts to f**k a second-grade hoe right next door!" "Hey!" Exclaimed Valentina.

"You shut up before I pull your snake tongue out of your mouth!" Milena shouted. "If I had known what a little vixen you were, I would have gotten rid of you long ago! And believe me, you'd be bleeding on this floor already if I didn't believe you deserve to suffer first!"

The countess went mute, suddenly realizing how serious and furious the Grand Princess was. No matter how little she knew Milena personally, the threats of the House De Crescents were never to be taken lightly. People had died or disappeared overnight for less than this. Ellias, too, seemed at a loss for words.

"What, you're growing a sisterhood with my wife, now? Since when do you really care? Isn't this serving your interests! Go around, tell everyone how the King cheats on the Queen from the House De Winter! Make me lose the support of the Church! Isn't it perfect for you?"

Milena scoffed.

"...Seriously? You're thinking about your political interests now? We both know the Church and the De Winter couldn't care less who you f**k, Ellias. But your wife..."

"Is now lying in bed and has been little of my wife for the past seven months! Wake up, Milena! You didn't seriously think I married Philomenie to simply play house with her, did you? I bet she'd even thank her friend for taking her part of her marital duties off her back! ....What do you think men have something to do about being faithful? Wake up, Princess. Your husband probably takes countless women to make the war less insufferable! Do you think the Duke has never relieved his needs for the past twenty years? It's a man's privilege too-!"

"Just shut up, Your Majesty," said Milena, surprisingly calm. "You sink as low as you want, but you're sinking alone. Don't you think you can drag my husband or my family with you."

"Right. I forgot anyone but me is so perfect around you, Milena. You can keep pretending, blinding yourself. I'll bet my title and fortune that my brother has taken a woman or two to comfort him at night..."

"I'd hold you to those words if they weren't as empty as anything you say, Ellias," chuckled Milena.

"So confident, as always..."

"And you're turning more and more into a pathetic coward every day, your Highness."

"Watch it when you insult me, Grand Princess!"

"At least when you're sober you've got spite. However, I'm afraid it's too late to try and impress me. Or anyone, for that matter. I didn't even need to wait until you made a fool of yourself, yet here you are, serving your own shame on a platter to your enemies. If you wanted to pretend to be a good King, you'd actually try to act like one. Turning the Castle into a fortress when we have murders in the streets, seriously? What are the guards for, to protect the tapestries!"

"I can't control wild vampires. But I can protect my heir from my enemies!"

"Oh, your daughter is sure doing fine while her father f***s some hoe. Daddy can't even be bothered to protect his own daughter, so he has soldiers scattered around? Half of them are new to the Castle, this is a ridiculous display, a pathetic show portraying how scared you are!"

"I don't have lessons to receive from someone who hides in her daddy's manor!"

"At least my Father's men are some I trust and know! ...Who provided so many soldiers, Ellias? Don't you know the nobles will take notice if you suddenly replace so many men? When we can't protect our own citizens!"

"You can't blame me when your dear vampires are the ones causing an uproar!"

"You haven't seen them roar yet!" Milena shouted back. "Everyone's getting restless and pissed off at your shitty attitude, when the hell are you going to step up instead of acting like a damn coward! What happened to the boy who was trained to become the perfect King? You're so scared to lose your position you're handing all your mistakes to your enemies on a silver plate!"

"Isn't that fine for you? You're just waiting for your dear husband to come back and take it!"

Milena sighed.

"...There, again. You're blaming your twin for everything, as always. Lyriana did an awfully great job of making Rayan pass for your rival, didn't she?"

"No, Milena. You did. You did the moment you chose him over me."

"...I chose a man who promised he'd never betray me, Ellias. From where I'm standing now, I can tell I've made the right choice."

She glared at Valentina, and smirked.

"Congrats, you're a dead woman, De Rosella."

"Are you threatening to kill me?"

"....No. His Majesty will be the one to take care of it once he realizes why you're really here, and who sent you. Have fun trying to lie your way out, you dumb bitch."

The blonde's expression fell into an absolute look of terror. She glanced to the side at the King, who was already glaring furiously at her.

"N-No, no!" She screamed. "I swear, I didn't! It's not true! Your Majesty!"

Milena turned around, unwilling to hear anymore. She left that office, and walked away, making sure she had put enough distance between the office and herself to stop, and let out a long sigh. She was still angry, but she knew she couldn't dwell too much on this. Sadly, Ellias wasn't completely wrong. He wasn't the first King who had taken a mistress...

"My Lady," whispered Dinah. "Can I ask... how do you know who sent Lady De Rosella...?"

Milena smirked, and began walking again. Olivia was the one to explain to the clueless Dinah.

"Most likely no one did, Dinah. Our Lady is simply using the King's paranoia to have him get rid of his mistress himself... Nothing she'll say will save her now."

"Oh!"

However, this didn't feel like a victory at all to Milena. She was upset on her sister-in-law's behalf, and worse, she realized she had lost her cool once again in front of the King. This was the first time Ellias had really taken offense at her insults. While she doubted he would really punish her when he was the one caught in a compromising position, it set another precedent he wouldn't forget between them. Milena was worried she was starting to pile up excuses for him to retaliate against her or her loved ones sooner or later. The events of the previous days had made her much too emotional, and she had to rectify that as soon as possible. Rayan would be on his way back soon, and at the very least, she hoped Lucian and Blanche had the twins in a safe location. Soon, she'd get confirmation of that.

"...I never realized how little I had come to like this place," she sighed for herself.

"I think my Lady enjoyed it better when His Highness was there."

Dinah's words hit Milena violently.

She was right. The days were filled with happiness, excitement and carelessness when Rayan was by her side; Every day was over in the blink of an eye. She counted them in dusk and dawn rather than night and day. She didn't have to see her in-laws outside of their official duties, and more importantly, each hardship could be shared with Rayan. Forgotten, if they took the time to solve it together, or spent time together doing something... funnier.

She let out a long sigh, and instead of resuming her way, stared at the window next to her. Since when had this place gotten so dark and gloomy? Everything had slowly been going downhill since her husband had left. Their days should have been filled with happiness, caring for their newborns and enjoying life together... She clenched her fists.

"... Do you want to go see the Queen, my Lady?" Asked Dinah. "To let her know..."

"No!"

Milena wasn't so cruel as to tell her sister-in-law about her husband's debauchery, at least not today. From what she had witnessed, Philomenie's mental state was already weak, she didn't want to push the Queen further down. That woman was too different from her for Milena to evaluate properly how she would react. At any rate, she had no desire to be the one to tell her, not so fast and not this way. It was already annoying as it was, and Milena knew she herself didn't have as much control over her emotions as she should have. She combed her long dark hair, trying to think about her next step.

"...Let's just head to my office for now."

She hadn't stepped foot there in a while, and she wanted to meet Prudence, tell her about the recent events and, unfortunately, about the spy that had come from her own family.

She climbed the stairs up to her office, and announced herself before opening the door. Behind the desk, as expected, Prudence jumped on her feet, looking tired but relieved to see her.

"My Lady! I thought I had seen a coach from the De Crescent Family... How have you been? How come you're here, in your state..."

"It's been a while, Prudence. Thank you for everything you've done here... You've done well."

"Thank you, my Lady, but you seem preoccupied.... Are you alright?"

Being asked that question had Milena choke up a bit, but she nodded, thinking this was half true.

"...I'm alright, for now. But we have a lot to catch up on. Olivia, get us some tea, please."

While her maid walked away, Prudence and Milena went to sit on the little receiving area by the window, Milena letting out a long sigh.

She couldn't tell about her baby's birth so she spoke as if she was very much pregnant, and their births hadn't happened. However, she did her best to explain to Prudence how tense the situation was, with Jeremiah and Sofia's death, and how the Duke had found out about her sister's maid being implicated. The more Milena spoke, the more Prudence's expression fell. It was clear she was either completely shocked, or an exceptionally good actress. When Milena was done, including the news about the King's affair, which Prudence seemed to have barely listened to, the young woman threw herself on her knees.

"My Lady, I am so sorry!"

"Prudence, what are you doing...?"

"For my family to have done such a thing... I-I can't believe it! I am so, so sorry! I... I want to talk to my parents myself! I can't believe such a thing happened, after everything you've done for us, for a spy to have come from my own family! I am so ashamed!" "Prudence, enough. Get up."

The young woman was crying, visibly shocked and very upset about this. Her fingers were clenched on the hem of her dress, and big tears were falling down her cheeks. Milena sighed, and took her hand gently. At the very least, she believed the innocent Prudence had nothing to do with this.

"I already don't believe any of your sisters had anything to do with this. I even doubt your family was aware of that spy, she might have been bought out by someone else."

"Still! This is our responsibility as the family who recommended that wrench! I will write to my father about this-!"

"There's no need. Calm down. Lady Eugenie is already investigating the matter, she's just as furious as you are, and Clorence won't let this go either. We will get to the end of this, but I need you to remain focused here. You've been doing great work, so just update me on what I need to know about my affairs while I'm here. I don't have any plan to stay in the Castle longer than necessary, my brother will most likely come to get me out of here soon."

Prudence nodded, but it took her a few minutes to calm down, and properly tell Milena everything about what she had been handling so far.

From the hesitant and shy girl she had once met, Prudence had definitely bloomed into a proper lady-in-waiting. She made astute decisions, and knew when to step back and let Milena handle things. Her only flaw was her desire to do too well, and constant need for validation. She was so afraid to make a mistake she wouldn't trust herself enough to surrogate for the Grand Princess, and Milena scolded her a couple of times, just for the sake of reminding her to take her right to meddle. Perhaps because she had grown as the third daughter in a family of five children, Prudence was too used to sitting in the side lines, or being in someone else's shadow.

"We're almost ready," said Prudence, a bit proudly. "I've finalized all the contracts with the shareholders of the Institution, most of them have already filled the contracts. They want to hold a meeting with you as soon as possible, but given the situation..." "I'll hold it," said Milena.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm healthy enough," nodded Milena.

Now that her babies were in fact born, it would be even better if she could use all her sponsors as witnesses of her pregnancy, and then pretend she had miscarried.

"The sooner the better, Prue. Prepare to invite them all, and ask Bella to help you for the invitations and organization. She's been much more of a socialite than us lately, and you two have been working well enough together."

"I will, my Lady! But... Shall we hold it here or at the Manor...?"

Milena smiled.

"...Let's hold it at the Institute's building instead. The preparations have been finalized, haven't they? This way, as soon as the Sevira sisters are ready, we can launch it. No need to waste anymore time."

"Yes! They said the furniture arrived, even the chandeliers from your Glasslands. Lady De Tourmal sent us such beautiful pieces!"

The mention of her sister made Milena think about her friend Lilyn. She hoped everything was alright on her end... She nodded. At least, Prudence's happiness was heart-warming to see. Once her Institute was launched, she would be able to come back at the very front of the political scene, with all her supporters. Ellias would focus on her blood rations business rather than her babies, and perhaps that would keep him busy until Rayan was back...