Lady Dhampir
Chapter 34

"Oh, Lord, that is so gross!"

Coming into his sister's new study room unannounced, Lucian had walked in on Milena drinking from Jeremiah's neck. His sister licked her lips while the knight, who was on one knee in front of her, turned his head to her, worried. "Did you have enough, my lady? You can drink more, I'm fine."

"Master Lucian, you should knock before you come in!" said Olivia, glaring at him.

"I'm fine, Jeremiah, thank you. Go and lie down."

The knight bowed, but felt a little bit of disappointment, though he did his best to hide it. He left the room, annoyed that the lady's meal had been cut short. Milena wiped her lips with a tissue.

"You're up early," noted Lucian.

"I was thirsty..."

"Don't we have bottles of blood for that?"

"Well, sometimes I like it fresh. And we might need to save on the bottles for later."

Lucian never liked seeing Vampires drink, even his own siblings or father. It was considered something indecent to do in public, and their shiny fangs were a bit too unsettling.

His sister got up and Olivia quickly put a little shawl on her shoulders. They had set up summarily the previous night, picking rooms randomly to spend the night in, but the castle had cracked windows letting the cold air in, and too much dust everywhere. No one had really slept comfortably, and the Human maids had dark circles under their eyes.

There was no time to rest, however, as there was much to do.

"Olivia, you stay here and make sure some cleaning is done before I return. I will go downtown with Lucian and Dinah."

"You're going somewhere?"

"A lady needs her digestive walk after breakfast, Lucian."

"Please take a couple of knights with you, my lady!"

Milena shrugged.

"I'll take Lukas and Lucian, that'll be enough."

"I have to go with you?" asked her brother, surprised.

"Would you rather stay here and help clean up?"

He took one glance at the dust in the room and frowned.

"Let's go out..."

Their little group walked down to the village that was slowly waking up. The few shops were opening and people were coming out of their houses, heavy coats and hoods on, staring at them.

With their outfits, they couldn't hide their noble status. Both Milena's jewelry and their clothing were not something common people could afford. Hence, after strolling around a bit, a small crowd approached them. Most of the men wore different uniforms from the ones that were worn in the Capital, and an elderly woman was leading the group.

"Welcome to the Vermillion Lands. I didn't know the young Baron had visitors. I am the mayor, Lady Trillian."

Milena respectfully saluted her.

"Mayor Trillian. I am Milena De Crescent, daughter of the Duke De Crescent. It seems like the news hasn't reached you yet, but the Baron is no longer in charge or the owner of these lands. I am, by Royal Decree."

The mayor seemed surprised indeed. She exchanged glances with the men behind her, some of them looking doubtful. The Capital had few interests in such an isolated and unwealthy piece of land. They were part of the West Lands, on the fourth territory, and received close to no help and poor management. Communication with other lands was seldom too. Seeing someone as high-ranked as a young duchess was truly too uncommon!

Despite their confusion, they immediately bowed to Milena and Lucian after hearing her.

"My apologies, young Duchess. We truly had no idea; otherwise, we would have made the right preparations..."

"No importance. There is more to do than have any kind of celebration."

While saying that, Milena was looking around at the shops and the folks observing them. The mayor immediately frowned, unsure. Who was this young lady? She had never dealt with young noblewomen, and she didn't want to. She was probably some rich child just coming to have fun and order them around...

"Oh, Lord, that is so gross!"

The mayor was an old woman, but she was smart and not easily impressed.

"I'm sorry, Lady De Crescent, but maybe it would be better for you to rest in the castle. I'm sorry there won't be much entertainment for you here, and-"

"Entertainment?" repeated Milena.

Her cold voice made everyone freeze. She didn't sound angry, yet she clearly was. Lucian sighed. Milena was one of those people who could even make her smile scary...

"I am not here to play, Mayor. These lands need better management, and so does your economy. I've come here to change things."

The mayor frowned. What was that spoiled brat talking about? They couldn't let her meddle in their affairs! If she made things more of a mess than they already were... At least the young Baron didn't care about whatever was going on in the village! They already struggled so much to get through the harsh months...

"We are doing fine, my lady, the village may look a bit dormant now, but once winter is over, we-"

"How can things be fine with half of the shops closed? You can barely fish, I doubt anyone comes here more than once a week, and those forests are covered with ice!"

The mayor stood speechless, unable to answer back. Milena, however, took her gloves off, handing them to Dinah before putting her hair back.

"First, I want to meet all your artisans, and the young people too, anyone that can be employed in a workforce."

"...Excuse me?"

"Those forges, why are they inactive?"

Seeing the mayor standing silently, one of the men behind her stepped forward.

"We used to produce weapons, madam, but as the ice and snow covered more and more roads leading here, importing metal to the village became too expensive. We tried increasing our prices, but buyers found cheaper and closer options... so the forges were closed one by one."

"Could they work again?"

Surprised by her question, some of the men hesitated, but they eventually nodded.

"Yes... The last one was extinguished five years ago. It might take a while to have them all hot enough again, but with some good coal, it probably wouldn't be a problem, madam."

"It's useless, however," said the mayor lady. "Even if they work, importing any kind of metal is too expensive! No matter how much money you use, young Duchess, within a few years, it will be the same problem all over again. Moreover, there is too much competition now. We can't keep up with the market prices, and we still have to export all those weapons, if we do it, that..."

Milena rolled her eyes, but not being too rude, she actually closed her coat tighter around her. It was colder near the sea, even for her.

"Who said anything about weapons, Mayor?" she said. "Even I am not that stubborn. As you said, metal is not a good market to get on nowadays, and yes, there are much better suppliers, closer to our Capital. Our own family has their supplier within the Capital itself, and we won't change. No, those forges won't be used to work metal anymore."

"Then... what do you have in mind?"

Milena smiled.

"Believe it or not, Mayor Trillian, we have everything we need here. We have the raw material in large amounts, craftsmen, and shops. Yes, I think we will do well..." "My lady?"

Milena turned to her, her skirt flying a bit. She had a confident smile on.

"...Let's produce gla*s."

Everyone was speechless or whispered between themselves, but Milena walked over to one of the houses, stroking the window with her fingers.

"Glass is a rather new material, mostly found in raw forms, and ninety percent of the national production is used for mirrors, windows, or glasses. However, a few years ago, young craftsmen from the Capital found new ways to improve it, making it thinner and smoother, or changing its color. It is not very known yet, and cheap metals such as silver or copper are the most common materials for day-to-day objects, like cutlery or jewelry."

The mayor was an old woman, but she was smart and not easily impressed.

"You want us to work... glass?"

Milena nodded, still with a confident smile on. Lucian was giving her glances on the side, just as surprised as the townspeople...

"Exactly. It's a niche market. Glass is prettier than metal and better in many aspects. We are only using it for its transparency so far, but we shall go further. Make jewelry, art, and day-to-day objects."

"It's also very brittle! Why would people like it better than silver...?"

Milena chuckled.

"That's the thing with nobles. If it's pretty, they will want it, because even if it breaks, we can replace it. The wealthy care about appearances, not practical aspects."

She turned around, taking a glance at the village around her. Yes, this would be perfect to have the economy flourish here. The mayor, still a bit doubtful, was unsure how to respond. A lot of the village people had gathered around the newcomers by now, and some of the adults were listening to Milena with a lot of interest.

Lucian, too, was a bit surprised by his sister. Despite using her status and wealth anytime, Milena was also able to take a step back and see the bigger picture... He often forgot she had also lived on the other side of the barrier.

"You do have fresh sand for miles and miles," said Lucian. "Millie, this is brilliant! Producing glass won't be affected by the weather, and with those forges, they can begin working right away!"

"We can also fill the empty shops with glass products, making this village a local curiosity for the villages around," added his sister. "They could target lower-income families with simpler products, like glass bottles, mirrors, or simple jewelry."

"How do you think we'll replace people who can craft glass!" yelled the mayor, feeling the situation was quickly turning to the young duchess' command.

Milena turned to her, a bit annoyed, looking at her like that woman was an i***t. How much more stubborn could she be?

"Don't you have a full workforce here? If they crafted weapons, they can learn to craft glass! And those shops, they did not come out of nowhere, did they? You have merchants among you, don't you?"

Behind the mayor, some of the folks were actually already staring at her with eyes filled with hope and expectation. Some were really interested in her idea, already thinking this could really work and save them from poverty.

"First," said Milena, counting on her fingers, "we will split people who want to work in this glass industry and the others who can keep their lives as they are in the village. I need to know what workforce I am dealing with, and how to manage it. We will not only need craftsmen but also people to handle the accounts, the orders, good salespeople..."

"Fine," sighed the Mayor. "We will... see to it shortly. What about the others, young Duchess? We can't possibly have everyone work in the forges and shops as soon as tomorrow, we need to have our artisans learn about this crafting, collect as much sand as we can, wait for the products to be ready..."

"You have three months," announced Milena. "Bit by bit, but we will launch the first products in three months, for the Spring Ball at the Royal Palace. I will go back with a few craftsmen and our products and show them to appeal to our future customers." "Don't worry," sighed Lucian. "My sister certainly is not the type to sit still and live in a dusty castle... You do know how to use a broom, don't you?"

People looked at him in awe, a bit surprised. Milena turned to him, with her little malicious smile on.

"Indeed, everyone will be busy. Of course, you need to make yourself useful too, Lucian."

"Useful?" he asked, a bit worried.

"Of course. Someone needs to feed Olivia and Ruby..."

After a few seconds of silence, Dinah and Lukas chuckled, while he looked at her in horror. "You want me to-!"

"Why do you think I brought you?"