Lady Dhampir
Chapter 262

"...You were so brave, my Lady!" Exclaimed Dinah, all proud. "That wretched man deserves to be cut in two!"

"Next time, maybe I will," groaned Milena, giving the sword back to Matheus.

She went back to the couch, and let herself fall on it with a sour expression.

"That bastard wouldn't act so bold if he didn't have the confidence," she muttered. "He thinks the Church will always be behind him, but they are not that foolish. At least, not as much as that idiot is."

"It didn't sound like he knew about... my Lady's babies," muttered Dinah, careful about her voice.

"No, but if he confessed about being behind the attack, it's because he still thinks they have the upper hand... They are not done. I hate to say it, but the Oracle was right. There's definitely something bigger afoot."

Milena got lost in her thoughts for a little while, replaying that argument in her head. At the very least, regardless of how unpleasant it had been, it had at least confirmed that they didn't buy her stories about her children being stillborn. Even better, they also had no idea as to where her twins were, which meant they were very likely still safe and probably still with Lucian. Milena sighed, and rested her head for a bit. She had to replace relief in the fact that the children would be away from the eye of the hurricane... A quick knock on the door, and Chartiana came back in, followed by the Oracle, wearing a dark brown dress that Yasina had prepared at the last minute for her. Milena quickly let them both know about her recent visitors. Chartiana's eyes got redder and redder as she listened.

"That... pig!" She exclaimed. "How dare he! This should be enough to have him condemned for offense to a member of the Royal Family! And to openly admit to trying to murder children, too? This man is worse than a monster!"

Behind her, Dinah kept nodding vividly, visibly in full agreement with her. Next to them, the Oracle seemed a lot less bothered by the situation. In fact, she looked completely unsurprised, shrugging.

"What surprise is there? Everyone already knows which side he is on, and the Duke De Winter was always so full of himself, a brat who grew up so pampered he never got to know his limits."

"Any prophecy you'd care to share?" Frowned Milena.

"Not really. Lady Lyriana wasn't as fond of the De Winter as she let on, at least not their male brats. I barely interacted with them at all. Moreover, there probably wouldn't be much more to add to what you already know. I may be a White One, but I am a woman too. I can tell this one uses a different organ than his brain to think..."

"Which makes him the perfect pawn," frowned Chartiana. "If the Church is merely using him, they probably don't even care if he ever gets arrested, for insult or for murdering someone. They let him think he's all-powerful and show their support, so he'll take the fall if anything happens while he does their dirty work..."

"He's their only pawn that we do know about, though," grunted Milena. "...We need to start pulling the dirty branches off the tree, one by one."

"You have just about no contact in the Church," scoffed Ora. "Isn't that too ambitious, Lady De Crescen

"Then what do you recommend?"

"Stick to what you know, in this case, the vampires; If you want to cleanse the Church, you have to begin with what you can indeed control, which are your relationships."

"...You're talking about Philomenie. How, though? She even lost the Saint. She's barely coping against her husband..."

"Aren't the King and the Church clearly not on the same ground, though?"

Milena remained silent for a few seconds. Although she agreed there wasn't much she could do herself, it was hard to entrust something so complex, risky, and important to Philomenie, of all people.

"...You should decide yourself soon," suddenly added the Oracle. "But that girl is no longer a child. In fact, perhaps she will turn out even stronger than you, Lady De Crescent..."

Not only her smirk, but that little flick at her ego annoyed Milena plenty. She didn't like how Ora was always playing with riddles, acting as if she had the whole world playing in the palm of her hand. Milena shrugged.

"I sent a note to my sister-in-law. We will see if she actually shows up for the Banquet... Speaking of which, the guests should be starting to arrive. We should make our way, too." "Do I have to come with you?" Asked Ora, raising an eyebrow.

"You have to enter with me," Milena retorted. "And you'd better stick to me and stay where I can see you. If you try anything funny, this time I'm letting my father slice you in two." "And here I thought we were almost going to become friends," chuckled Ora, standing up.

Milena ignored that remark. She grabbed Blanche, who jumped in her arms, and swiftly turned into a small mouse to hide in her clothes, like usual. However, Milena frowned. "...Blanche. Show yourself, tonight."

The mouse popped her head out of Milena's pocket, staring at her with her big golden eyes.

"I might need you to get away from me, or attract some of our enemies," explained Milena. "Sorry, but I would feel better if you're where I can see you, too."

Milena didn't only want to show off that she had two White Ones by her side; if she showed Blanche in the open, it would be much harder for someone of the Church or one of their allies to do anything to her. Moreover, everyone had already seen her around with the white wolf. Even if they didn't know she was a shape-shifter, at least showing Blanche should turn out to be more of an advantage than a risk. Or at least, she hoped so.

The mouse jumped out again, and before reaching the floor, shape-shifted effortlessly into a majestic white wolf. Far from being annoyed about this, Blanche even rubbed her head against Milena's palm, indicating everything was alright with her. Milena smiled, and petted her head.

The three women finally left the room. Chartiana, a bit cautious, was almost stuck to Milena, looking around as if she expected some bothersome Duke to appear out of nowhere. They hadn't discussed her staying by Milena's side again, but it would most likely be useless. Chartiana could be quite stubborn when she wanted, even more so than Yasina. Moreover, there would be suspicions if really none of Milena's ladies-in-waiting appeared at the Banquet. The human ones could easily explain their absence by the lack of interest for the product, but having her two closest vampire friends not attend would have been strange. Hence, even if Bella was staying away, having Chartiana by her side should be enough not to raise any suspicions. Anyhow, Milena hoped people would focus on her, and nothing alarming would happen.

In one of the waiting rooms by the Banquet Hall, they met with her father, who was fully dressed up for the occasion, and offered her his arm.

"You have nothing to fear," he said as if she was an impressionable child. "Those vampires are animated by greed, and you're about to offer everything they've been waiting for, for years."

"I know, Father. Most are only coming for convenience, anyway; they already know what they came to see."

Milena was mentally reviewing the whole program of the evening that she already knew by heart. She was to make a short speech, then her main vampire contributors would do the same, mostly her biggest investors, then Genia De Sevira would also do a quicker, scientific explanation of the product before Milena herself presented it. Raphael should have been the one to demonstrate with her, but since he was absent, her father would substitute. They prepared to enter, and Milena took a deep breath in. How much she would have wanted Rayan to be by her side right now, instead of her father... She tried not to think about it.

The doors finally opened, the Royal Butlers announcing their arrival aloud to the whole audience.

Milena and her father stepped forward, and all faces immediately turned to them. Their entrance was made a couple of stairs above the rest of the room, so it was easy to see the dozens of pairs of eyes, mostly red, looking up at their improbable four people-party, plus one wolf. Immediately, the whole crowd bowed politely, in one movement, but the whispers arose just alike. A thick wave of low voices, with many questions floating in the air, and all those who raised their heads quickly to double-check what they saw. The Oracle's reappearance left a lot of people completely baffled. Some were even glaring at her, others blinking exaggeratedly or checking with their neighbor if they were seeing the same thing. Next to Milena, Ora was acting perfectly calm, one step behind the Grand Princess and her face slightly down, as if she was just one of her maids. However, her appearance wasn't one that could be mistaken. Not only that, but a few people's eyes were going from the silver-white wolf to the Oracle, as if just now realizing their strange similarities. Milena confidently smiled at the audience, glad to see the expected reaction. She and her father slowly stepped down to cross the crowd, making their way to the other end of the room, where the host's throne was waiting for her. While they walked, Milena kept an ear out for the whispers, but she also swiftly glanced left and right to see who was present. Most guests had confirmed their invitations ahead, so there were hardly any surprises; most of the vampire population of the Kingdom was present, some of those who had been holed up in their houses for weeks. Even the Duke De Nova was there, his lips pinched with a sour expression.

There was one surprise appearance though. A couple of steps before her seat, Milena was shocked to see none other than the Queen herself, smiling at her and waiting in a lavender dress. Milena was in awe. Not only was this a color she had never seen before, but the whole atmosphere around Philomenie seemed different from before. The young queen had arranged her hair into a high ponytail, her long curls going down her exposed collarbones, and even her dress was in a darker shade than most of what she wore, and less puffy, a more triangle-like line. Her makeup was slightly darker too, and she wore little jewelry, for a woman of her rank. The two young women quickly bowed to each other, Milena taking her arm off her father's. "Lady Philomenie," she muttered. "I'm flattered."

"Do you like the dress?" Chuckled Philomenie. "I thought I'd choose something different. Isn't it perfectly suitable?"

Seeing Philomenie so confident, when she was in a room almost entirely full of vampires, was a shock to Milena. In a good way though. The young Queen's eyes were shining confidently, and she was keeping her head high on purpose. For someone extremely experienced in social circles like Milena, she could tell she was overdoing it a little bit, but in the Princess' case, she could exactly see why. She was almost on foreign ground. The human Queen, who was openly supported by the Church and most of the human population, was attending a vampire-filled banquet orchestrated by her sister-in-law. No wonder some people were extremely intrigued by the situation. The purple dress she was wearing was almost too clear of a signal, as if anyone could have missed it. The Grand Princess and the Queen were obviously allies; no one could ignore that. A Royal Butler had quickly placed another throne next to Milena, the same size, but because Milena was the host, Philomenie's seat was supposed to be placed a step back. However, she refused, and instead, they were to be seated side by side, while her father stood by her side like a bodyguard. Philomenie sat, while Milena turned around to face the crowd.

"Thank you, everyone, dear friends and business partners, for attending my banquet. As you know, what we are about to start tonight will change the future of this Kingdom. Not only that, but we might hold in our hands the future of generations of vampires to come. I know the vampire kind, like my brothers, my father and so many of my ancestors, have struggled to replace their blood supply. Our servants might not always be willing, available or fitting to our needs. The ability to keep blood fresh is extremely limited, as it can barely survive a month outside of its supplier's body. What we will launch tonight, you all already know. But beyond a single product, I only hope you will all willingly listen to our hopes for the future of what I call the Institute. I have no intention of stopping with only one creation, and those who know me also know I am not the type to be satisfied with only one successful enterprise."

A few chuckles in the room, to show their support. Milena smiled, and her eyes circled around the room once more. While she was giving that speech she had been preparing for a couple of days, she was also mentally crossing names off her checklist, making sure all of her guests were there. She wouldn't have been surprised if some had changed their minds, or decided to boycott her or her product for some reason, but it was rather unlikely, now that her main rival, the Duke De Nova, had shown up himself. As expected, the old man had been unable to stay away, be it by curiosity or greed. Milena decided to pay little to no attention to him, and to wait and see. So far, he had more or less avoided her, well aware of their conflicting interests. With her father by her side, Milena was curious to see if he'd dare do anything at her Banquet.

"The Institute shall become the first foundation of the very spearhead of science, education, and specialty crafts of our Kingdom. We will invest, quite literally, in the future. Not only using our money to invest in new products, new medicine, and future projects, but also to encourage more of the youth of the Kingdom, as long as they are promising, to raise them to the greatness they can achieve. As we all already know, the future is in our children, and in all those who will come after us. If we can start investing now into our Kingdom, I am sure we will be able to replace solutions to the greatest issues we have been facing for decades. Please, raise your drinks with me, to the beginning of a new... a new dawn for the Kingdom."

Everyone raised their glasses, smiling and looking very invested in Milena's speech, but her eyes had drifted to the side, to the Oracle, who was smiling at her with that cunning expression of hers. A new dawn. Why had she suddenly felt like using that expression in her speech...?

They all drank and many clapped, cheering and congratulating Milena out loud.

"Thank you, everyone. I am most happy you all came to rejoice with me at this Banquet. It is only a launch, but this will be a stepping stone for our future. Now, if you'll excuse me, I will let our dear business partners say a word, as they were the first ones to believe in this project. We are, of course, looking forward to welcoming more people into our enterprise."

Milena greeted her first business partner to speak, Lady Carseus' father, and took a step back, regaining her seat to catch a quick break.

"Nice speech," Philomenie whispered to her with a smile.

"Thank you... I am happy you came."

"I hesitated, but... I believed it was time I made my own decisions. Moreover, you were right. From now on, I need to be more... assertive of my personal beliefs."

"I'm supposing we can expect His Majesty to barge in some time soon...?"

"I'm surprised he hasn't yet," sighed Philomenie.

The two women exchanged an understanding smile, and moved away from each other, ending their brief chat there. While the Count De Zinnia spoke, she couldn't help but glance around again. Something felt odd. Everything was going a bit too well... She spotted Henry, not far from her, who had quickly changed his tie and was visibly waiting to say a word, probably his way to show his support and finally confirm his position. It was good that he didn't stand too far from her father, because many eyes were already staring at him with intrigued expressions. No doubt many of those wolves would jump on the Duke the first occasion they got to have him make his point, or try to drag him to their side...

"My Lady," muttered Chartiana. "Is everything alright?"

"Have you seen Genia?"

Chartiana looked around, suddenly realizing. The Sevira sister wasn't there. She was supposed to participate in just a few minutes, but Genia De Sevira was nowhere to be seen. "...She might only be late," muttered Chartiana. "Or perhaps she plans to arrive last minute. I believe she isn't fond of public events."

"Normally not," muttered Milena. "But this should be her family's biggest chance to be recognized as this Century's very best scientists. I don't see her missing such a thing. We had agreed she'd come alone for security reasons, but I'm sure all four of the sisters would have come here otherwise... No, something's wrong."

"I-I'll go check right away."

Chartiana left, and Milena tried to not show any of her worry on her face. It was alright. She could replace ways to stall time; this Banquet was meant to last a few hours. She even had a back-up plan if Genia was held up for too long. However, she was starting to worry as to why she would have possibly been held up...