Lady Dhampir
Chapter 77

Milena stayed there for a few seconds, hesitating. She had not expected that at all. Her greatest rival, crying by herself in the middle of the garden. Well, not exactly in the middle, but more precisely it some isolated spot... From what she could remember of this garden's situation, Philomenie was in a little area with a simple stone bench. What was the young Duchess de Winter doing there by herself? Blanche curled up around Milena's neck, rubbing her white fur against her cheek. Milena suddenly remembered. Philomenie was supposed to meet with Prince Ellias that morning. However, the human prince was nowhere to be seen. Had their meeting ended already? Or was it later? Milena wished she had woken up even earlier, to be sure... She looked around, but no one was here. Not only Ellias wasn't around, but none of Philomenie's friends either. That was unusual. Milena had very rarely seen the young Duchess de Winter being by herself. There was always someone from her family or one of her friends sticking to her.

Milena hesitated some more. It wasn't like Philomenie was bawling out. Actually, she could tell she was struggling to muffle her cries, probably holding on to some tissue or something. She definitely wasn't acting this time.

Truth was, Milena was very tempted to turn back and not give a damn about this. However, there was a part of her conscience that was pushing her too go. Her curiosity, too. It was really rare to catch such a display of emotions among nobles, and whatever had upset Philomenie was putting her in such a state... Milena sighed silently, annoyed at herself. She knew she would regret not going for sure. She only hoped she wouldn't regret going either...

"Lady de Winter," she called gently, not to scare her. "Good morning."

Despite Milena's attempt at calling her softly, Philomenie jumped, looking all around to replace her. When her eyes fell on Milena, they were obviously teary, puffy and red. She was so surprised to see the young Duchess de Crescent, it took her a few seconds to remember where she was and clumsily try to wipe her tears.

"L... Lady de Crescent, good morning... I'm so sorry..."

While she was trying to wipe her tears frantically, but by doing so, she got a bit too agitated, and her belongings fell from her lap. A silver flash ran to steal one of those, while Milena, acting like she hadn't seen that theft, slowly picked it up. There were two books, both looking brand new. One was about the military history of the Solaris Kingdom, the second about the rules of Royal hunts? Milena frowned. What an odd choice for Philomenie.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," stuttered the young Duchess, grabbing the books back, visibly embarrassed. "M... My family just sent those, I wanted to read them this morning."

Milena raised an eyebrow. Could it be her family had realized how she had been lacking during the topic of military accomplishments? It certainly didn't look like something Philomenie would pick herself. The young Duchess de Winter's fingers were shaking on the covers. She stared at the title as if it was some scary beast.

"I... I'm truly too lacking on some matters, aren't I?" she suddenly whispered. "I wish I was like Lady de Crescent... You know a lot about military matters. I spent the whole night reading about Princess Silvra after you mentioned her."

Once again, Milena was completely surprised to hear that. She had thought Philomenie's answer was completely dumb that night, but she hadn't expected her own answer would have inspired her too. After Rachael, who had liked Milena's answer as well, even Philomenie? Milena sighed. Princess Silvra was truly one of her weaknesses... She crossed her arms.

"I only know because I'm passionate about her life. She was the previous Lady Dhampir before me, and the only one we have records left off. I've been studying everything about Princess Silvra ever since I was a child... Plus, my family is highly involved with the Army, so I've been taught about that more than most people."

Philomenie nodded as if she was drinking every word Milena said. That only made the Lady de Crescent a bit more annoyed, as she didn't like to be in this position towards her rival.

"Still... You're really... perfect. You're smart, beautiful..."

Milena was astonished. What was wrong with her? She didn't even know how she was supposed to react to the flattery! Was she sick or something? Milena was so uneasy, for once, she had nothing to answer to that. Philomenie wasn't particularly bright, but she wasn't that dumb, and she was far from ugly, too. What was wrong with her? They were rivals, what was the point of praising her enemy now?

"Lady de Winter, would you mind telling me what's wrong?"

"I just... I'm very lacking, compared to you. I'm supposed to meet His Highness, later, but... I'm so worried he only sees me as some stupid doll, only smart enough to please the masses..."

Milena was astonished. Was that some sort of trick? Moreover, if Philomenie hadn't seen Ellias yet, what was making her doubt herself like so? Did her family scold her or something? They couldn't already know about what she had said at the dinner? She crossed her arms, trying to figure all of this out.

"His Highness Prince Ellias did mention he had a meeting with you later. However, I wonder why Lady de Winter is rarely... I mean, never seen trying to meet with His Highness Prince Rayan?"

Philomenie suddenly went white, turning to Milena and looking shocked.

"P...Prince Rayan?"

Milena raised an eyebrow.

"His Highness Prince Rayan, Prince Ellias' twin?"

"Oh... Of course, I know, but..."

The pure look of terror on Philomenie's face was speaking volumes. Milena understood why Rayan had never been interested in Lady de Winter. It was obvious she was absolutely terrified about the vampire prince. Sure, his scar was rather frightening, but as a Duchess, she should at least have been able to contain her emotions a bit better than that. Milena was starting to understand why Ellias didn't even have to make any efforts with her... While she was obviously completely in love with him, there was probably no way Philomenie could be convinced to marry Rayan, not even for political reasons. Somehow, Milena felt a little wave of relief after realizing that. However, it didn't solve all of her problems. She took a deep breath.

"Lady de Winter, you need to toughen up. You're a Duchess."

"I know, but... This whole bridal selection is really... I'm not good at competing with others, and there is so much pressure coming from all sides. I know I'm a shame compared to you and Lady Rachael, who are both so brilliant. I really want to be able to honor his Highness, but..."

Milena had enough. Of her pitiful crying, of her complaining, too. One thing Milena hated most was people playing victims in any given situation. Sure, they were under a lot of pressure, but they were not in any place to complain either. "Honestly, I don't think I'll ever be able to understand you, Lady de Winter. If you're tired of being some doll for people to manipulate, do something about it. Sitting here to cry over books won't solve anything, and it's ruining your makeup pretty badly, to be honest with you. If you're tired of people using you, don't let them. You're the one born with the name of a young Duchess. I honestly replace tiring to hear you complain when there are people struggling every day to survive outside, people with real problems, more than any kind petty competition."

Philomenie seemed absolutely struck by Milena's words, looking at the young vampire Duchess with a perplexed expression, her blue eyes wide open without blinking once.

"Even if our families and their backgrounds are different," Milena continued with her ice-cold tone, "you and I have exactly the same status, Young Duchess de Winter. We both have money, power, relationships, and yes, even the looks. If this is not enough for you to be able to do whatever you want and act however you want, I don't know what else do you need. So stop crying and deal with it."

"We are not the same!" suddenly retorted Philomenie, standing up, her books falling once again. "I know... I know how much His Highness cherishes Lady de Crescent. I'm so jealous of you because I'm afraid I'll never catch up to you! His Highness is always praising you, even when he's with me! I know... I'm well aware of how smart Lady de Crescent is, but do you know how frustrating it is to be compared to all the time?"

This time around, Milena was the one flustered. Prince Ellias was praising her? In front of Philomenie? What for? He had mentioned several times that he held her in higher esteem, but still. From Milena's point of view, Philomenie was the one getting the upper hand between them! It couldn't be... Was Ellias seriously more inclined towards her, and pressuring Philomenie? Or the other way around?

"I... I know I'm not the favorite to be picked by Prince Ellias, but... If only I was a vampire or at least a dhampir like you! I know how important it is for His Highness to keep the balance between the vampires and humans going, but..."

As she was whimpering, Philomenie couldn't catch on Milena's flustered expression. Of course, this balance of having the King marry the other kind was very important, but it could be overlooked, in some circumstances... Even if it was the King's will, it wasn't as if there had never been any precedent, before. However, what was Ellias truly thinking about this? Milena kept replaying her discussion with him. What if she was his first choice, and Philomenie the back-up...? No, her support from the Church was too strong! "Lady de Crescent, what are you doing!"

Milena hadn't realized they weren't alone anymore. She heard someone coming their way and raised her head, a bit annoyed. Sure enough, the last of Philomenie's supporters showed up, Penelopia d'Orchid. She hadn't really shined or been particularly stood out among the candidates until now, but she had always been seating right next to Philomenie. The young countess walked in, glaring at Milena and standing in front of Philomenie. Milena raised an eyebrow, annoyed.

"Lady d'Orchid," she simply said, not bothering more with any kind of greeting.

"Lady de Winter, are you alright?" Asked the Countess, acting all worried in front of Philomenie's tears. "Lady de Crescent, what did you say for her to be in such a state!"

"I wasted more of my time than I thought, apparently", coldly replied the Duchess. "Lady de Winter, I'll leave you to reflect on what we discussed. Next time I won't bother to give you lessons."

"How much more arrogant can you act!" Protested the Countess.

"Try me," retorted Milena, with a deadly glare.

She walked away, leaving the Countess with her words stuck in her throat. Milena felt like an idiot for having wasted so much time on Philomenie. So they were both jealous of each other? So annoying! Milena truly couldn't endure any more of her annoying crying and pitiful complaints. Maybe because Milena hated to complain about anything herself, Philomenie's wailing had truly annoyed her. Even more so when her friend had stepped in.

The young Duchess de Crescent made sure to walk away far enough from those two, when she couldn't hear any more of Philomenie's act. She still couldn't make up her mind about that girl. Either she was an award-worthy actress, or she was truly born in the wrong cradle...

As soon as she was sure to be far enough in the garden, Milena looked around, making sure she was alone and extended her hand.

"Blanche."

Sure enough, Blanche showed up between two bushes, carrying a little piece of paper in her mouth. Still in a weasel form, she jumped onto Milena's hand, leaving the paper there and quickly climbing up her arm to get back to her spot around her neck. Milena had seen the theft earlier and had been dying to check what her friend had stolen among Philomenie's things. She opened it, and quickly read the content.

"Morning topic: court issues. No lunch. Dinner outside. Hunt in the evening."

She re-read it a couple of times. It couldn't be, right? There was no hunt planned that evening, and they hadn't talked about anything related to a court yet. Milena crumbled the little piece of paper, tearing it to shreds.

"That damn little..."

"Blondie big cheat. So annoying."

"It appears so," hissed Milena, her eyes turning almost red in anger.

Her hands were almost shaking. All this time, she had thought they could play on equal grounds in front of the Queen, but this was truly too much!

"...Millie stupid."

"Thanks, Blanche..." grumbled the Duchess, furious.

There was no way she was going to leave Philomenie with any more advantage. Milena had a score to settle with a cheater, and she was feeling stupid for having been in the dark for so long. Her grandmother would have certainly scolded her for being blind for so long. The young Duchess took a deep breath, trying to calm down and compose herself. If Philomenie could cheat, so could Milena.

She was just taking a late start.