Lady Dhampir
Chapter 49

Milena's surprise must have shown on her face, because Chartiana tilted her head, silently wondering what was wrong.

"Who is that?" The young duchess muttered.

"You haven't heard of him, Lady Milena?" Replied Briseis. "That man appeared a few weeks ago, as Lady de Winter's assistant. He calls himself the Saint..."

"The Saint?" Repeated Milena, shocked.

She hadn't even realized it was actually a male... Next to Briseis, Tiphania nodded.

"He has divine power, like the Queen's Oracle... He says it's a gift from God. He can heal the sick of most diseases. He has been going to hospitals with Lady de Winter to help the poor and sick, lately."

"You mean he helped her improving on her self-promotion..." muttered Yasmina.

The Saint... Milena glanced down at her skirt, underneath with Blanche was hidden, as a snake, but she was sure she had never mentioned that name. Was he a creation too? He was way too similar to the Oracle and Blanche, and that divine power...

Milena wasn't happy about all this. She was fine with Philomena playing the good girl and getting the support of the Church, but she hadn't expected for her rival to put her hands on a divine power while she was gone. Was healing the only thing that man could do, too? The Oracle could foresee the future, Blanche could shapeshift. Where did those holy powers come from? How many more were roaming this country...

Philomenie came to greet the crowd and her friends, and, to Milena's surprise, a familiar face was among them. Helen de Hyacinth.

Milena was truly shocked. For a while, she observed her cousin's attitude, but after a few seconds, she was clearly laughing along with Philomenie's friends and happily chatting with her. And she hadn't even come to great Milena. The young Duchess De Crescent clenched her fist.

"That little... I can't believe her nerve!" Exclaimed Yasmina.

"How dare she do that to you!" Added Chartiana, just as angry. "And she didn't even come to greet you!"

"Milena, did you know about this?"

Behind her, Valentin and his fiancé had just arrived, both glancing in Helena's direction, confused. Raphael and Lucian joined them too. "Absolutely not," admitted Milena.

"Do you want me to go, sister in law? I'll go and tell that girl how she should be ashamed!"

Milena hesitated a bit. She knew Eugenie probably wouldn't have any problem with causing a scene for her, but it wasn't the right place and time. While Milena was deeply affected by Helena's unexpected betrayal, she didn't want to show it, not to her rival. The young Duchess took a deep breath and turned to her siblings and friends.

"No. Don't worry, I will settle this later. Come on, let's go get some drinks before their Majesties arrive."

Actually, as time went on, and more people came to greet Milena, it became obvious that the Royal Family was late to make their entrance. Unlike the usual protocol, the dances started before they arrived. While a lot of young nobles were happy to start dancing, most people in the room were wondering what was going on. Milena agreed to a couple of dances with Briseis' older brother and Raphael, she couldn't really focus.

Did something happen? While she was dancing with Lucian, her heart suddenly grew cold, thinking about Rayan. What if the Prince's condition had suddenly worsened? What if he suddenly turned into a Wendigo, after seemingly getting better? While all those thoughts tied her stomach into a knot, Lucian gently called her name. Milena missed a step, unfocused, but he managed to rectify their position. That's only when she noticed the couple that had appeared next to them. Valentin and Eugenie suddenly approached and, with the expertise of a couple used to dancing together, proceeded to swiftly exchange partners. Faced with her older brother, Milena asked what was going on.

"Father just got called to the Palace," said Valentin. "I saw some Crescent Knights accompanying one of our family carriages outside. It wasn't grandmother's."

Milena couldn't help but frown. Their father? It probably wasn't related to Prince Rayan's condition, then, but...

"Don't worry, Milena, I'm sure it won't be too bad."

She smiled to her older brother, but her heart wasn't there. As they danced to the end of the song, Milena felt a bit dizzy, overwhelmed with worry. Valentin accompanied her out of the dancing area to the side. As Milena was about to take a seat, the arrival of the Royal Family was suddenly announced.

The King and Queen made their entrance, having everyone bow respectfully, and made their way to their thrones. Right behind them, Ellias and Rayan walked in together, and Milena felt a bit of relief as she saw them standing just fine. Both brothers were wearing beautiful Knights outfits, each with the color of their battalion. Thanks to Lucian, Milena already knew about those colors. Ellias was training with the High Solarian knights, the core of the Royal army, all in white and gold, while Rayan was sporting the dark colors of the Special Operation knights. Each was strangely wearing the colors that suited them best. Knowing Rayan, she wouldn't have been surprised if he had chosen that battalion just so he could keep wearing black.

Once again, the crowd bowed for the Princes before they went to join the nobles. As always, a bunch of young ladies and gentlemen gathered to Ellias, while Rayan only chatted with a couple of adult men. There probably had never been such different twins... Milena kept watching at the door the Royal Family had come from, but her father was nowhere to be seen. She glanced at her brother, but Valentin seemed as clueless as her. The siblings gathered together, along with their friends, to listen to the King as he stood

up.

"My dear friends, thank you for gathering here tonight. This Spring Ball, like every year, is the occasion to celebrate our young generation, their bright future which is also the future of our Solar Kingdom. However, tonight is a special night. My sons, my heirs, will soon choose their brides among the young flowers of our Nation."

Milena took a look around, but no one seemed surprised. As expected, the word had already spread in the Noble Families of the Princesses being picked before the crown Prince was chosen. Behind the King, Queen Lyriana stood up and joined him, with a solemn expression.

"I have decided, with my sons and the Senate's agreement, to elect twelve candidates among the noble young women who are still unmarried. For a week, the elected young women will come and leave with us in the Royal Palace. Of course, each one is free to refuse or agree."

For a week? Milena was shocked. This was so short! Her father had initially talked about something like several weeks or a month at least. Why the change? With only one week to stand out, the Ladies were going to fight fiercely. Some would be desperate to lessen the number of rivals... Milena doubted any young lady the Queen would pick would dare refuse this once in a lifetime opportunity. She couldn't see any reason to.

"I will watch, evaluate and freely take off the candidates' list any young woman I see unfit to become a Princess. The final decision, however, will remain in my sons' hands to pick their future wife."

In other words, the Queen had already made her choices, but would still watch them for a bit longer and not allow any mistakes. Milena was rather confident, but knowing the Queen's cunning ways, she should be prepared for anything...

Next to the Queen, a young man appeared with a list, handing it to her. Milena held her breath. What if she wasn't picked? She was one of the three young Duchesses... The Queen couldn't possibly dare to ignore her, right? It would be such an insult to her, to the whole De Crescent family. Her father would be absolutely furious. It couldn't be why they called him, right?

Next to her, Raphael stepped up and gently and secretly took her hand, as to calm her. Milena smiled to him and looked for her main rivals. While Rachael didn't seem to care at all, Philomenie's eyes were telling everything. She wasn't even trying to hide her excitement, with her eyes wide open and her whole body reaching towards the Queen. Milena took a deep breath.

"Are invited to the Bridal Selection Lady Rachael de Nova, heiress of the Duchy de Nova; Lady Philomenie de Winter, first daughter of the Duchy de Winter, and Lady Milena De Crescent, first daughter of the Duchy de Crescent."

Milena let out a sigh of relief, and kept listening, wondering who the remaining nine candidates would be.

"...Lady Valentina de Rosella, first daughter of the County de Rosella, Lady Verona de Narcissus, heiress of the County de Narcissus, Lady Penelopia d'Orchid, first daughter of the County d'Orchid, Lady Clorence d'Iris, second daughter of the County d'Iris, Lady Prudence d'Iris, third daughter of the County d'Iris."

Milena turned to Eugenie, but her sister-in-law seemed just as surprised as her to hear her both of her younger sisters' names.

"Lady Bella de Camellia, heiress of the County de Camellia, Lady Aurora de Camellia, second daughter of the County de Camellia."

Milena was a bit surprised. Picking the two daughters from the Camellia family meant a lot about the Queen's intent: while Bella was a vampire and the heiress despite having a younger brother, Aurora, her human younger sister, was also picked. "Lady Chorea de Zinnia, first daughter of the County de Zinnia, and finally, Lady Helena de Hyacinth, first daughter of the County de Hyacinth."

Milena couldn't be surprised when her cousin's name came up at the end of the list. As she had understood earlier, the Queen had simply chosen to pick every young Duchess or Countess who was single and older than fifteen years old. All the young Baronesses and Marquesses that had held on to a tiny bit of hope until the last minute couldn't completely hide their disappointment, but none of Milena's friends were surprised.

Briseis got closer to her to whisper.

"It's a total of four vampires and seven humans prospect brides."

...And one Dhampir, thought Milena