Lady Dhampir
Chapter 39

"Lady Milena, I really don't like this," sighed Dinah.

"Don't start, Dinah, Olivia annoyed me all afternoon already."

Her Human maid sighed, and exchanged a look with Olivia, who was silently sitting on her left. Really, their mistress was too bold and reckless. The three women were in a carriage, headed downtown. For once, there was no escort, no knights with them. Blanche was resting on Milena's lap, in her usual silver cat appearance, purring under her lady's caresses.

"It's strange to see you wearing one of our dresses..."

None of Milena's dresses would have been humble enough to enter the House of Dreams discreetly. Hence, she had borrowed one of theirs. This way, people who would see her would think she was a member of the low-nobility hiding between her maids, perhaps, but nothing like a Duchess. Milena had also prepared a mask, as Mint had advised, one hiding all of her face, including her eyes. Olivia had stitched a veil to it, so that her black hair would be hidden as well. In any case, nothing but her gender could be seen once she had everything on.

Dinah and Olivia, wearing masks as well, helped her get ready a few minutes before their carriage stopped. As Mint had described, it was a surprisingly low-key establishment. Even the name was written on a simple plaque hung at the door.

As they exited the carriage they noticed the neighborhood was entirely silent. Both maids stood closely to Milena, wary. However, it was unlikely anything could happen here, the owner probably paid bodyguards to ensure the safety of customers and workers. As expected, they crossed paths with a few guards while walking in.

Once they passed the first doors it was very different from what the Duchess had expected with candles everywhere, velvet curtains and wood furniture, in a subdued atmosphere.

As soon as they walked in, a young woman with a red mask walked up to them, bowing politely.

"Welcome to the House of Dreams, honorable guests. Do you have an appointment tonight?"

"Take me to your owner."

Looking a bit surprised, the young woman looked up at the silhouette that had spoken, before bowing again.

"I'm very sorry, honorable guest, but you must have an appointment to meet with Madam Red. It may take several months, though. I can introduce you to another dream of your choice if you would tell me your..." "Is Midnight Sky available, then?"

"Yes, honorable guest. Follow me. Will your party..."

"They are my servants. No need to bother with them."

"Understood, honorable guest. Your servants may wait in this room on the left."

The two silhouettes behind her walked to the room indicated by the young woman, while the honorable guest was taken upstairs. Once in a large room, the two young women took off their hoods, only keeping their masks on. Milena was smiling, just like Dinah.

"You're getting more and more mischievous, my lady."

"Why? Olivia deserves some fun from time to time, too. Come on, let's explore this place."

As expected, servants were supposed to wait for their masters to be done, not walk around the place. Milena, however, had a different idea. Keeping her mask on, she led Dinah out of the room, picking the closest corridor and walking silently. The two women didn't have a precise destination, but it only took a couple of seconds to hear which rooms they shouldn't walk into.

They walked into some workers, but each time, they only had to look like they were confidently going somewhere to not be asked anything. The idea of concealing people's identities worked both ways. After checking some rooms, though there were some empty, they found something on the second floor.

A large office, with lots of cabinets, two closed windows, and a desk. Milena looked around, and walked to the desk.

"I'm pretty sure I didn't have any meetings tonight."

When she turned around, a gorgeous young woman, with long red hair and green eyes was standing at the entrance, arms crossed over her gorgeous crimson dress. Dinah couldn't help but stare open-mouthed, as this woman was strikingly beautiful. Milena, however, tilted her head.

"Interesting... I'll take it that I'm talking to Madam Red?"

"So you're the one who asked for me?" Said Madam Red, frowning.

"Indeed. I could've booked an appointment, but my demand is quite urgent and has nothing to do with physical services."

Madam Red sighed, and went to sit behind the desk.

"Judging from your voice, I think so too. So, how may I help you, young miss?"

Milena smiled behind her mask, and sat on the sofa.

"Just some questions."

"Oh... about my girls? I heard the orphans from the church said their benefactor was asking questions... I guess that's you."

Milena nodded slowly.

"I see," huffed Madam Red. "Honestly, you should already be expelled from here if you were any intruder, but... I like people who do good deeds. And I remember hearing a lot about the Lady in Black. So, just this once, I'll tell you. What do you want to know?" "The girls who were killed... you knew them, didn't you?" Asked Milena.

"Of course. Three of them worked here, the others had tried to. If I knew the horrible creature who did this..."

"Were they pretty?"

Madam Red blinked, a bit disturbed.

"W...What?"

"The women killed, would you say they were pretty?"

"Do you think I would employ ugly people? My establishment is the best among the..."

"Fine, fine, I don't care about your ranking or whatever. Did they have customers in common?"

"No, and we call them guests, young lady. What are you looking for, anyway?"

"A culprit, of course."

Madam Red frowned, visibly shocked.

"Young lady..."

"Weren't you supposed to call me an honorable guest?"

"Whatever! Anyway, the Royal Guard said some voracious, rogue Vampire sucked them dry..."

"And what do you think?" Softly asked Milena.

Madam Red sighed, staying silent for a little while.

"... Alright, I did think something was odd. Those three weren't just pretty, they were also among my most popular girls. They had a handful of customers willing to pay very high prices for them. Trust me, their deaths upset a lot of people that won't show it in public. I did think it was strange. They were found far from here, too. The bodies were in places they would never have gone by themselves."

"I thought the same thing... The targets weren't simply blood bags, but pretty, popular girls. Enough to draw some attention, yet no one would raise concern out loud about the victims' identities..."

Madam Red frowned.

"Are you saying you think this is all... staged?"

"I think so. A rogue Vampire wouldn't risk attacking three people of the same establishment. Twice, maybe, but if you're any kind of careful, you'd suspect the third one to be either an accident, or a really poor choice. Especially if those girls had nothing in common. No, I think someone chose those girls because they were popular among the nobles. If your lover was suddenly killed, you would want the culprit dead, yet you wouldn't want to have an official investigation done, because they were prostitutes." "So what?" asked the owner of the establishment. "You're saying my girls were picked to incite some nobles to run after a stupid Vampire?"

"It's not about the Vampire itself. I think someone is trying to upset more people and show the danger Vampires can be for Humans..."

Milena kept thinking, but it was definitely something like that. It all made sense, when the senate was still caught between the pro and anti-Vampire factions. But, who among the nobles would do this? And why draw negative attention to the Vampires now? Was this a plot against the supremacists, or on the contrary, a way for the supremacists to scare common people? The more she thought about it, the more Milena couldn't help but be intrigued...

"I'll get going now. I'll send my maid again if I have more questions."

"Are you expecting me to sit on the side?" asked Madam Red. "I want to get to the bottom of things too! My girls died!"

"Just help me gather intel for now. Watch who comes and goes, and tell me if anything seems... odd."

"Why would I do your bidding! Can you tell me why I should..."

Milena sighed, and without warning, slightly lifted the veil off her face. Although it was brief, with her purple eyes, her identity was made obvious instantly. Madam Red sat back on the chair, mouth open, in shock. "You... You're the Dhampir girl..."

"I don't trust you, either. So, if you lie to me, you'll pay."

"I won't lie to you," sighed Madam Red.

Milena frowned, but left the room without adding anything. Dinah, following after her, was too intrigued not to ask in a whisper.

"Are you sure she won't betray us? She could be hiding more things from us about those deaths..."

"Obviously, Madam Red lied. I doubt we were even talking to the real Madam Red."

"What? How do you know she..."

"Because it was not a she. That person in the office was male."

Dinah was speechless. A man? How did the young mistress even know! That person was the most beautiful Human she had ever seen! And with all that make-up, the long hair and everything...

"....Are... Are you sure?"

"Positive. I'm half-Vampire, remember? If it was a woman, my fangs shouldn't have been tingling like they did inside that place... I'm even wondering if they aren't using some sort of pheromones to confuse people. My instincts can't be wrong, though. It was a man..." Which meant, either Madam Red had been a man since the beginning and fooled the customers on purpose, or she had been replaced. Milena was afraid someone had been faster than her, and took over the entire establishment to keep lips sealed... If only she could know who truly owned the place! There was always some sort of patron behind that kind of establishment...

As they were walking down the corridors, trying to replace Olivia, a door suddenly opened on Milena's left, and a hand pulled her inside.

The young duchess took out a little dagger hidden inside her dress, but he was faster. They fought for a bit, but whoever was behind that black mask was much stronger and faster. She was overpowered in a few minutes despite trying to fight him off. It took her a few more seconds to catch her breath behind her mask. Ruby and Blanche hadn't attacked, making her think whoever was holding her was either a friend, or someone they couldn't attack.

"What a charming encounter... I was wondering what kind of lady would venture into such an establishment, Lady De Crescent..."

"Right back at you, Your Highness," she hissed, annoyed.

Behind his mask, Rayan smiled.