Lady Dhampir
Chapter 289

"How is she doing?"

"Holding on the best she can. Like a Queen, to be fair."

Philomenie smiled, and nodded sadly. Sir Raelius' jokes didn't affect her at all. In fact, she was far too sleeping, one of her tiny hands holding on to a blonde curl of her mother's hair.

"If only there was something we could do," muttered Henry De Boreal.

The Duke had that dark expression on his face for quite a while. Having the Queen in his domain had present had even touched the teapot and cups on the table. They were all sitting in a triangle, each o Raelius was visibly the one most relaxed. His ankle over his opposite knee and his fingers interlaced t had said he could trust them, he wanted to make his own opinion first. The Queen had been the faste sister-in-law. In just a few days, all testimonies he had gathered about the Queen did seem to portray in the high nobility circles. She had clearly broken her mold.

"Her Ladies-in-waiting are all here, but they are each more focused on whatever they can do in the Ca "Milena instructed them otherwise," said Raelius. "And she was wise to. It can't be good to have all of out her remaining allies. While his Majesty terrorizes the population for no good reason, all her allies "... His Majesty has truly lost it," muttered Henry, dejected.

He glanced towards the window.

It was chaos throughout the City. While word that the Grand Princess had tried to rebel with an army individuals. While they did manage to arrest some people, it was clear the most prominent figures we with them as well.

rned about her sister-in-law to even consider being offended. Her blue eyes gently shifted to the baby girl on her lap. The little princess was peacefully

to his worries, but now, to think the Grand Princess was being held captive by the King was an even worse matter to think about. None of the three people nfortable armchair and with different expressions on.

er, he was studying the Queen and the Duke's expressions. He wouldn't have trusted either of them based on his descendants' opinion alone. Even if Raphael onvince him. Her deeply concerned expression whenever Milena was brought up had to belong to a great actress, or to a woman genuinely worried about her oung woman as a simple and sensible person. He didn't really like weak women, but this one seemed a bit different than the usual dolls that could be found

nodded Philomenie. "I wish we could receive Lord Raphael and the rest of their party too, so we can protect them here..."

ies in one spot at the moment. With the Duke De Nova arrested, she probably foresaw that the King would order more raids throughout the Capital to seek ore free to move and act in the ways they can to support her."

pires and failed, the citizens had been even more anxious to see daily raids from the Royal Guards, barging into noble houses and seeking specific eluding them. The game of hide and seek had been dragging on for a few days, and while the King's side grew more impatient, people were getting angrier The news of Milena's arrest had set off a wave of problems throughout the Kingdom. People couldn't penly, but many were replaceing new ways to voice their unhappiness. Some shops had stayed closed, and half of the newspapers weren't being printed anymore, or came out with blank pages, as a silent protest against the King-bound ones. In just two de effects of the Grand Princess' arrest could be felt. On the prices of some products on the market, and in the Capital's general atmosphere. Many people were unsure of the future, and the Royal Guards trying to search for the Grand Princess' allies were facing glares and criticism from the people. It was quite ironic that, when the Grand Princess should have been in her weakest position, her influence was actually felt the most. Some Noble Houses that hadn't partaken in the battle nor taken a clear side were openly ignoring the Royal Castle's summons. Henry was starting to see what Milena meant, when she had said he was too slow to act. The gears of their political world were spinning incredibly fast, yet silently. There might have been no fighting going on in the streets, but there sure was a war happening. A silent war. He could almost feel the flame, burning closer to a powder keg, ready to explode any second. Both sides were well aware that the battle at the De Crescent Manor had only been the opening act. The rumors of the vampire prince's return were growing, and the anger was rising in every corner of the Kingdom. People were less and less sure about the future, and that made them anxious, restless. The King himself was strangely silent outside of the Royal Proclamations issued daily like a church bell ringing, new names of people being wanted for arrest and interrogations being brought up every day. Although they had tried to silence it, the rumors of the Queen's defection were also going around. People were aware that the Queen herself wasn't supporting her husband's actions anymore, and in fact, it was even said that she had taken refuge under the Duke De Boreal's roof, one of the Grand Princess' allies of all people.

To top it all, this man had appeared.

"Let him run wild and waste his energy," chuckled Raelius, his eyes going to the Queen. "This King of yours is growing more and more powerless, and the more obvious it gets, the closer we will be to unveil the people responsible for this."

"I just want Lady Milena free soon", Philomenie muttered.

She was feeling the guilt of her sister-in-law's imprisonment as if it was her own. After hearing of the horrible conditions Milena was held in, Philomenie had felt twice as bad. She couldn't help but wonder if she could have done something by staying in the Royal Castle. She had tried to instruct the servants she knew to be reliable to make her sister-in-law's stay more bearable by any means. She couldn't even believe Ellias had gone to such lengths, imprisoning her in a cold tower instead of at least giving her a bedroom. She had shivered while listening to Milena's ancestor describing the conditions in which she was held.

"Is there really nothing we can do to help her escape?" She asked.

"Not that I can think of," Lord Raelius shook his head. "I can't transport an actual human with me, and there seems to be limits to what I can carry, too..." Philomenie nodded.

She had seen for herself this man experiment quite a bit since he had appeared in the De Boreal Residence. He kept going back and forth between this place and the one Milena's brother and other allies were hiding at, but, from what Philomenie had seen, she could guess he spent slightly more time here, most likely because it was more comfortable. She could guess the others' accommodation probably wasn't as fitting to a Prince... and his personality. She had realized he was quite wilful when he had strongly gotten mad at the servants for what seemed to be a gap between the service he was used to, and the current practices. Not only that, but he had been quite unsatisfied with the fashion trends too, almost emptying the Duke's wardrobes before he found something he actually liked. Still, she could tell th wrecked in his experiments as well. surrounded by piles of books, tryin he was able to give them details ab "The Saint took a while to reveal th "The Saint?" Raelis repeated, visibly "Another White One," Philomenie e> brother, the Duke. I have been f**** "Darling, I don't care much about yo

elp Milena. He kept using his power from one corner of the Manor to another, testing it endlessly. She had seen fruits being almost dropped from the sky, and several pieces of furniture had been where he could land and how, how much he could carry and all the rules that applied to his new capacity. When he wasn't busy appearing randomly in rooms, he could be found in the library, intrigues. The appearance of this man had been surprising, to say the least, especially as he had remained mostly an enigma. The only reason Philomenie had believed his strange words was that as her brother's. As insane as his story seemed, she had heard stranger things already... muttered.

"It's as her Majesty said," sighed He

Philomenie nodded, as if to confirm

"So... Those are all the five known White Ones, at the moment?"

something like that."

ing people, from any injury or sickness. He was introduced to my family by the Church, and he is now my best friend, but... at the moment, he is confined in the De Winter Manor by my older by daughter... Well, I think he had to make a deal for our safety, but-"

upted her. "But I think Milena mentioned him. Why isn't that guy helping, if he's on your side?"

Manor, our enemy's. The Church has always kept him close due to his capacity." s was frowning.

"The Oracle was murdered a while ago, and we know now that Blanche, Lady Milena's companion, is another White One. There's also the Saint, and Lord Raphael, plus you, and, according to the Grand Princess' Ladies-in-waiting, there's another on of."

"So there are three White Ones on Milena's side," smiled Lord Raelius.

"The Saint won't be an enemy," immediately said Philomenie. "As I said, he is my best friend."

Lord Raelius seemed to hesitate for a moment. He put his hands on his chair's arms, his long fingers tapping against the leather.

".... apparently can't land in a place I have never seen before, unless there's someone I've seen there. I would have loved to confirm by myself his power, but I cannot go there so easily. My power is attached to people as much as it is to locations, s will have to stay there for now, Darling."

Philomenie nodded, despite being visibly disappointed. Raelius took a deep breath in, and looked outside.

"My Milena is working hard to make her plan a reality, but it is our turn to act also."

"Didn't Ind. Coalmont dann with the antidata?"