Lady Dhampir
Chapter 253

If the Queen's panicked and crying expression hadn't been enough, her pleading voice took Milena by surprise. She couldn't understand what was going on, but rarely had she seen her sister-in-law in such a mess. Moreover, Philomenie looked panicked, and almost... scared. It was obvious she had been crying a lot even before that, her eyes all red and puffy. "What in the world is going on?" Muttered Milena. "...Come."

With a sigh, she pulled the Queen to a nearby salon and chased away all the present servants, getting them some privacy.

"Olivia, I'm going to need that dress after all," she grumbled.

Milena had hoped to go straight home after the Council, and to change there, but from the look of things, she wouldn't get that opportunity. And she couldn't stay by the Queen's side to hear her out while keeping that b****y and soiled outfit... "....And Matheus, guard the door for us," she added. "Make sure no one eavesdrops."

"Yes, My Lady," they answered in unison.

After this, Milena sighed, and turned to her sister-in-law. Luckily, her hands were cleaner than the rest of her body, and she wiped the Queen's tears, who wouldn't calm down. The baby was asleep, luckily, not bothered by her mother's silent crying. She couldn't understand why Philomenie had even gone through the trouble to bring her newborn all the way across the Royal Castle, even carrying the child alone...

"Calm down," she gently said. "What happened?"

"I'm sorry," cried Philomenie. "I'm so sorry. Ellias, he... He had me talk, and... He scared me..."

"Did he get violent?" Immediately asked Milena, triggered.

"N-no," she shook her head. "But... But he scared me, and... He f****d me to tell him... Milena, you need to go... Your... Your babies, he knows..."

"You idiot woman," suddenly groaned a voice.

"Your Majesty!" Roared Matheus, who had failed to keep him out.

However, Milena's knight couldn't keep the King out, no matter what. Even if his mistress was fierce, the difference in authority between the King and a knight was too much. Milena left Philomenie seated on the couch next to her and stood up, a hand on Philomenie's shoulder to tell her to stay back, even placing herself between the Queen and her angry husband.

"Your Majesty, this is a private discussion," she stated. "...Is the Council over already?"

"I dismissed it," he hissed. "After the mess you and the Dukes made, there was no point to continue!"

"Then you're even less busy than I thought," Milena retorted. "There should have been plenty of other topics for your Majesty to bounce on. But, you even have the luxury to come and meddle in a women's discussion? Don't you have any decency left?" "I have every right when it comes to my wife! But you already knew that, didn't you, Milena? You lied to her!"

Milena didn't even flinch. Philomenie's crying eyes kept going from her husband to her sister-in-law, completely lost and unsure about what they were talking about. It took her a short while, and to realize how calm Milena was, to react. She grabbed Milena's hand on her shoulder, as if to give herself even more support.

"The... The children..."

"They were not in the White Palace!" Angrily shouted Ellias. "Once again, she played you!"

"Looks like I was right to."

"See? You're nothing but another one of her pawns against me!"

However, far from being offended, Philomenie let out a long sigh of relief. She had agonized for hours over giving out her nephews' hideout, she couldn't help but be so relieved to know it was completely wrong. She absolutely didn't care that Milena had lied to her; instead, she was glad her sister-in-law had seen through her relationship with her husband. Far from hating Milena's cunningness, she now knew she should have been grateful for it. Philomenie had long learned that beliefs in the other didn't matter much, in the political world, or at least, far less than the results.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Your Majesty," scoffed Milena. "My children aren't anywhere to be found. You should have heard the unfortunate news of my miscarriage." "Bullshit! How dare you lie, again and again!"

"Why does it bother your Majesty, where my children could possibly be?" She retorted. "Seeing how little you concern yourself with your own child, I don't understand the time and energy spent on mine! I'd appreciate it far more if you actually cared for your daughter and the rest of your people instead of wasting both of our time here!"

Milena aggressively stepped forward, and Ellias stepped back, worried about what she could do. She still was wearing a leather ensemble full of fresh red blood, and her eyes were glowing with anger, her disheveled dark hair making her look like a goddess of wrath. She was not afraid to stand up to him, and this would be the second time today.

Ellias suddenly seemed to calm down; His green eyes were still expressing anger, but he knew he couldn't win against Milena, not now. Moreover, after his defeat in the Council Room, he wouldn't be able to handle losing publically to his sister-in-law, again. He wanted to avoid drawing attention to them, especially given the topic...

"...I suggest the Grand Princess retires for today," he said.

"Sure; After I'm done chatting with my sister-in-law, I will happily leave the Royal Castle grounds."

"The Queen is fine," he retorted. "I'll take care of my wife-"

"Allow me to doubt that," Milena cut him off. "From what I've seen, Your Majesty hasn't been able to care properly for your wife in a while. Not only you, actually. It seems like all the staff in this place has forgotten who their queen is, to leave her alone in her bedroom, alone in her appartements and even alone to wander around with a newborn!"

"The Grand Princess has no right to lecture me about how the Royal Staff is handled. In fact, you only visit this place once or twice when you feel like it, and you pretend to judge everything going around? Your arrogance knows no bounds!"

"That's a pathetic excuse. I've lived in this place long enough, and I also happen to know how a young princess and Queen should be cared for"!

"This is a private matter!" He shouted.

"No, this is a woman's matter," Milena hissed back, stepping forward once more. "I understand your Majesty has been negligent due to a lot of ongoing political issues. From now on, I strongly suggest you leave the domestic tasks to your wife and myself. We are more than capable of handling those. ...Or is your Majesty so free that he has time to oversee the servants?"

Ellias very visibly clenched his fists.

Of course, Milena was entirely right. Overseeing the staff and anything that was pertaining to the Castle's management had always historically been among the Queen's duty. It was the most highly-ranked woman in residence that was in charge, as a symbolism of her power within the family. Being the mistress to all the servants had a double advantage: allowing a woman to know everything going on in her house, and treating her guests however she liked through the servants. The situation in which Philomenie was in, completely abandoned and left on her own, was unthinkable. Milena was sure Lyriana would have thrown a thunderstorm under the roof if just one maid had ever dared to step out of line. Perhaps she would even have made things much, much worse if she had been there to see how her daughter-in-law was treated...

"Fine," shrugged Ellias. "The Queen can take any right she wants over the staff. I never did anything to prevent her, anyway. I believe my wife was simply too busy to..."

"Too busy having a child to care about people who should have been the ones caring for her instead?" Milena raised an eyebrow. "Your Majesty, am I hearing that right? We're talking about a Queen. The only thing she should have been busy with was giving birth to a healthy princess, while the maids should have done their job and been there to obey every single one of her words and whims! Some duchesses even have their husbands travel across the Kingdom to get them some specific food they need, yet you'll tell me this Castle's staff can't bother looking after their Queen? What kind of Kingdom is this! Where the masters have to be the one chasing their staff around! I am appalled that someone like you, always so concerned with your authority, allowed your own Queen to be mocked like that!"

Ellias was turning redder and redder. Milena had just rubbed salt on a large wound, but she knew manipulating Ellias to do her bidding was easier when he thought it would serve his own interests. Whether he liked it or not, Philomenie was his wife, and the other face of his authority. If she couldn't get at least as much respect as she was owed, or worse, less than the other nobles, he really was married to a puppet wife with no authority. No nobleman should have allowed their wife to be mistreated like this, no matter how bad their relationship possibly was. This was too much, and Ellias himself knew it. He let out a long sigh.

"...Fine, then," he grumbled. "Since the Grand Princess is so concerned about my Queen's authority being underestimated, feel free to do what's necessary for the adequate changes to be made. As you said yourself, it's no man's job, and I am indeed busy with many things; Notably trying to get the nobles and anyone in the Castle to do their work!"

"Praise the Lord," chuckled Milena. "Then, we shall rectify things right here and now."

Just as she had finished her sentence, Olivia came in, carrying a large dress and followed by two maids who had brought in a mobile screen for her to change behind. Milena gently patted Philomenie's shoulder and got up, stepping behind the screen to change as if she was merely getting tea. She only had to change out of her leather suit; she could take a proper bath and get into new underwear once she was back at the manor.

"Call the Royal Butlers," she told the maids. "Their Majesties and myself want to see every single one of them, now. Have them enter the room one after another." "Understood, Your Highness."

The maids hurriedly left, too smart to stay in a room with those three. While Milena changed, an awkward silence appeared at first. Then, she heard Philomenie sniffle. "You never came when I asked for you," muttered the Queen. "Only when I meet with the Grand Princess do you run here..."

"I was busy, I told you. And the Grand Princess is busy too, as you ought to know. Not everyone has the luxury to rest in their room all day and only care for a newborn..."

"A newborn? Is that all you can call your own daughter? You haven't held her once! You only came to see her twice, and never came back! You didn't even congratulate me in any way! Do you know how much I went through to have my baby?"

"Stop making a scene here, the Grand Princess is present. We'll talk about this la-"

"When! Next month, when you'll show up again on a whim to berate me? When!"

"I said enough!"

"Stop shouting!"

Strangely though, the baby was still quiet despite all the shouting. Milena frowned behind the screen. How come the baby wasn't even afraid of her parents' shouting? She had Olivia finish lacing her back and stepped out from behind the screen, glaring at Ellias and stepping between him and Philomenie again. Ironically enough, she had traded a bloodied leather suit for a dark red dress. Milena glanced at the baby in her basket. She seemed to be sleeping soundly, her head on the side and her little mouth moving along with her breathing. She didn't make any comment, and at the same time, the first butler walked in. He greeted the King, the Queen and the Grand Princess, and stepped aside, visibly a bit confused. Ellias, too, sent glances to his sister-in-law, but Milena was resolutely standing there with her arms crossed, listening to one Royal Butler after another. The Royal Castle had sixteen Royal Butlers, seven senior ones and nine juniors. Unlike the Manor, the Royal Castle was too large for only one Butler and his apprentice to handle all of it and the very large staff, so there had to be at least ten of them, junior or apprentice. The numbers had always varied with the different eras. If a Royal Family was very large, busy or threw regular parties, more butlers were needed. On the contrary, if another generation of the Kingdom's Royals were particularly quiet or only a handful of members, there was no need for too many. Sixteen Butlers seemed a bit much given the few members of the current Royal Family, but it wasn't unreasonable. After all, the number had reduced only recently, and there were more children expected to be born in the near future. Still, it meant a few of them were expendable.

Milena's purple eyes were cryptic, but analyzing each of the butlers as they entered like a hawk. She was paying attention to their overall attitude, looking for clues in their moves and speech while Ellias and Philomenie remained quiet and confused. There were four women amongst the Butlers, one senior and three juniors. All the others were male, and most of them were about thirty years old, the median age for the senior ones higher.

When all sixteen of them were finally lined up, still extremely professional and standing very straight despite their confusion as to what was going on, Milena stepped forward.

"You, you, you and you," she said, pointing out her index. "You're fired."

Before those four could even utter a world, she pointed at two more.

"You two will be demoted to junior Butlers. And you," she said to one of the women," shall become senior Butler."

For a few seconds, all sixteen of the Butlers were rendered mute by the shock. They all exchanged glances, stunned and completely unable to understand what had just happened. It seemed like Milena had pointed them out in seconds regardless of their current age, gender, position or previous achievements. Ellias, too, stepped forward, completely unable to grasp this. "What is this!"

"The Butlers are the spearhead of the Royal Staff," Milena calmly said. "I just saved you and Queen Philomenie a lot of time in sorting them out. Those four are fired for their lack of proper training, they clearly need to be trained all over again. The two I demoted greeted your majesty first before the Queen. In a Royal Castle where her Majesty should be in charge of the staff, it is custom for them to greet the Lady first. Only this female Butler respected proper etiquette, and she even greeted the newborn Princess. No one else greeted your child. No matter how young she is, she's still a Princess, and most likely, the future Queen as well."

The butlers turned white upon realizing their mistake. It was true they had been too relaxed without proper management, out of late. Milena sighed.

"You're all dismissed," groaned Ellias.

Ignoring him, Milena then turned to Philomenie, who had been quiet for a bit. The young queen still had red eyes and some tears in them, but she seemed a lot calmer than before. Milena gently grabbed her hands, rubbing them. She was well-aware of the King still in the room and watching the two of them, but it didn't change things.

"Lady Philomenie, I did this out of friendship for you, but this is merely a short half of the work. Simply because they followed the etiquette doesn't mean they truly respect or believe you are the one with the higher authority over them."

Philomenie glanced over her shoulder at Ellias, this time a hint of anger appearing in her eyes. Of course, Ellias didn't care about a few butlers being demoted. He probably had much more of the staff in his pocket...

"Phil," Milena gently called her. "Listen. You cannot run to me at each hardship. I know you're not going through anything easy, but from now on, you're going to have to learn to fight back without my guidance. You'll have to figure out by yourself how to get the authority over the staff. I'm doing this to protect myself. I'm doing this so you realize this is also about my niece, from now on."

Philomenie almost jumped off her seat, and her eyes went to the baby in her basket. Although she was very quiet now and had no idea of the situation, the baby girl looked very vulnerable where she was... When the Queen looked up at Milena again, she looked much more resolute. Milena smiled. Now, that was the look of a proper woman, a mother ready to do anything to protect her child.

"That's it," she smiled. "You're stronger than you think, and from now on, you're going to have someone who's relying on you in life. You need to fight back, to help her make her place in this world, even if you have to fight alone. I will help when you really need me, but that is not my fight; it's yours. I'm sure there are still many allies you can replace on your own side, Philomenie. You are more respected and loved than you thought, and more than before. Use that. You're no longer a helpless princess. ...Alright?" The Queen nodded. Perhaps because she was more of a mess than her usual perfect doll looks, she also looked fiercer. Philomenie glared back at her husband, before turning to Milena again, and nodding even more strongly, even holding her hand back. "I will....I'm sorry, once again."

"Don't apologize. I wouldn't be a politician if I couldn't predict this much. But you have to not give in again, Philomenie. I can forgive you once, but not twice. Not when it's about something like my own children. Please get stronger, and get your own support, so we don't have to be enemies in the future."

"I swear that will never happen," Philomenie said. "I'm sure we will remain good friends... Good sisters in law."

Milena smiled, and stood up. She was on her way out, but she stopped in front of the King, doing a minimal bow.

"See your Majesty, my chat with her Majesty is done. No need to get all worked up or come with pathetic excuses to arrest me."

"... One day you'll fall, Milena. You should be careful of your words and actions."

"I always am, your Highness. Always."