Lady Dhampir
Chapter 79

The three young ladies walked very quietly to the Hunting Grounds. Even if the Queen had taken the time to send each of them a maid with the location of the Royal Hunting Grounds, it wasn't necessary for Milena. She still remembered the location clearly, even if it had been a while since she had been there personally. It was a bit ironic. The last Hunt she had attended with both Princes and the Queen herself hadn't ended under the best circumstances. It felt like one of those some strange dreams where she was reliving the past. Her steps felt a bit heavier on the snow. Though there miraculously no scar, Milena could still vividly remember the pain of the gunshot. She stopped walking suddenly, almost stuck by that memory.

"Lady de Crescent?" Clorence called her, a bit worried.

Milena looked at them. It wasn't Chartiana or Yasina anymore accompanying her, but Bella and Clorence, two ladies of higher rank. She took a deep breath. Those were nothing but memories. Things were different now. The security would be heavier. Looking at it, all the highest-ranked young people of her generation were gathering for a hunt. There was no way such a thing could happen a second time, not on the Queen's watch. The first one had been a terrible insult to her Highness, actually. To think something so serious could happen right under her nose, not only to the young Duchess but to her son...

Milena took a deep breath and smile to her friends, with a bit more confidence. She couldn't stay like this. She was stronger than before. Actually, getting stupidly killed here certainly wouldn't be acceptable for a future queen... or princess.

They resumed walking, Milena taking the lead. Though she wasn't wearing a gorgeous dress like her friends who wouldn't participate in the hunt, Milena was still rather beautiful. The purity of the diamonds was enhancing her natural beauty, as Bella mentioned on their way there. This compliment made Milena blush slightly, but not for the reason her friends thought. Somehow, she couldn't stop touching the one hanging around her neck. She felt as if she was almost wearing a statement. No one would notice she wasn't wearing her usual jewelry, right? After all, this was a hunt. She couldn't be too noticeable, or it would be meaningless for her to be among the hunter.

Milena secretly hoped there wouldn't be too many hunters participating. Her skill was a bit rotten since she hadn't practiced in a long time, and hunting at night would be a disadvantage for her. Unlike vampires, Milena's night vision wasn't perfect, and she would be at a disadvantage.

As they arrived on the hunting grounds, she was surprised to see how quickly everything had been set up. A few tents were reading to welcome those who would only watch, and two large tables had been set up for a buffet under a much bigger tent. If it wasn't for the thin layer of soft, they could almost have held a ball outdoors. Milena was impressed, as she didn't think this would have been possible during such a cold month.

The most impressive, however, was the number of people present. The Queen has clearly lied about only inviting a few people! Milena had imagined maybe a dozen people aside from the candidates, but there were at least the double of that amount of people standing there! She tried to look for some familiar faces, and quickly realized a lot of the people present were female, most of them from the Queen's entourage. There was the Queen's own sister-in-law, the wife of Duke de Boreal, a nice lady Milena had met several times at similar events. There other ladies-in-waiting, all of them noblewomen from the Queen's side and powerful families, including the Baroness d'Aventur, Tiphania's mother, and Countess de Camellia, Aurora and Bella's aunt. The girls went to greet the Queen, as it was the custom but fortunately, her Highness was too busy entertaining her guests to keep them.

Hence, Milena and Clorence quickly walked out while Bella went to the side to discuss with her aunt. As they walked away, still looking for familiar faces, Milena almost froze once she recognized someone. A few steps further, chatting with Bryce and Reo de Boreal, was Arseus de Winter, Philomenie's older brother. Milena felt her skin crawl just looking at him. She could never endure his horrible looks on her, and that wasn't going to change today. She quickly walked away from him, hoping he hadn't noticed her yet and would leave her alone. "Lady de Crescent, look!"

Milena followed's Clorence rejoiced gaze, and sure enough, she smiled wildly upon recognizing the young couple. Both girls rushed to them, trying hard not to run. "Older Brother! Lady Eugenie!" "Older sister!"

The young couple turned around, just in time to greet the young ladies. Milena couldn't hold back, and hugged her older brother happily. It felt like she hadn't seen Valentin in ages, but it was only a few days! Seeing him with Eugenie was a happy surprise. "Millie, how are you? Is everything alright so far?" the young Duke asked, a hint of worry in his blue eyes.

"Of course I am alright, big brother," said Milena, though she was trying hard to repress some tears. "How come you're here? Lady Eugenie, too?"

"We were lucky!" Replied his fiancee. "I had decided to come to the Palace to bring some late afternoon snack to your older brother, and I heard about the Hunt on my way to his office! The old Ladies de Boreal were talking about it loudly in one of the Palace's resting rooms for the ladies! I told Val... I mean, your older brother, and he sound found out all the details to be there. I'm so glad I decided to drop by today!"

"Older brother, your fiancee drops by to give you snacks in the office?" Said Milena, teasing him. "Aren't you too lucky for someone who is not married yet?"

"It's quite a long journey from our manor to the Royal Palace, too!" Added Clorence, smiling.

The future husband blushed, making the ladies laugh. It was so rare for Valentin to show his feelings, but Milena was almost jealous to see how important Lady Eugenie was for him. He sighed and put an arm around his fiance, nodding.

"Indeed, all the colleagues in the office won't stop teasing me about her delicious cakes."

"There are all teasing him that he's taken some weight," whispered Eugenie, chuckling. "I'll have to hold back a little, or you won't be able to fit in your wedding suit!"

Milena frowned, surprised.

"Your wedding suit is ready already, big brother? I thought the fitting was one of the last things you did before the wedding, usually?"

Valentin and his future spouse exchanged glances, all smiles disappearing from their faces.

"Actually... We've decided to do a formal wedding sooner than planned."

"What? Why the rush?" Asked Milena, worried.

She had been a witness of the many months of planning their wedding carefully in every detail after the engagement itself had been such a big deal! She couldn't understand their reason to rush it now? Valentin hesitated, glancing at Eugenie, but his fiancee, taking his hand, gave him a little smile.

"Milena, don't worry, but... The war with the Giants might start sooner than we had anticipated. I might be sent to war soon, and with regards to Eugenie and her family, I initially didn't want to marry her until I came back, but..."

"I'm not waiting to marry you," retorted his fiancee. "If I marry you before the war, everyone will see how strong our love is. I refuse to give up on you just because you are going to the battlefront, darling."

Milena and Clorence were almost brought to tears. This was really a beautiful proof of their love. If Eugenie was married to Valentin before the war, and if anything happened to the young duke, she would be a widow. However, if she had decided to wait, she would be free to marry someone else in the case Valentin didn't come back. Getting married before was definitely not something trivial for her.

"Big brother... Lady Eugenie..."

"Don't worry, Lady Milena, my family knows my feelings and they had already agreed. I will be the first madam de Crescent, or no one's madam! Moreover, I promised I would soon be your sister-in-law, didn't I?" She said with a wink.

Milena nodded, trying hard not to cry. She turned to her older brother. She couldn't believe they were really moving forward with their wedding because of the upcoming war. It was becoming all too real, and Milena hated that. She couldn't imagine her brother being sent to the front at all.

Valentin noticed her expression and caressed her cheek.

"Don't worry, Millie, we've already discussed this with Father, Raphael, and Lucian, too. Everything will be alright."

Milena didn't like those words. There was no way everything would be alright with them going to war!

She took a deep breath. They couldn't chat about all of this, now, she was going to cry and it wasn't the right time and place for crying. To help her, Clorence went on to explain to her sister and future brother-in-law about everything that had happened so far during the Bridal Selection. Lady Eugenie raised an eyebrow.

"There are only nine candidates left already? Gosh, they are really ruthless..."

"Her Highness is probably trying to make a statement," said Valentin. "If she made it look easy, the nobility would think the selected princesses are no better than the others. Be careful, Millie, even with only two days left, she could be harder on you." "Oh, I have no doubt about that..." Hissed Milena, staring in the Queen's direction.

She was still mad about the Queen's actions, even if there was nothing more that could be done now. Milena could only hope that her ally would show up and set things straight for her.

Little by little, all the candidates arrived. Compared to the huntresses, the ones who were not going to hunt had put some extra efforts into their toiletries. Lady Philomenie was wearing a gorgeous light blue color, with some white fur and beautiful jewelry. Milena didn't give her any extra second of attention and went to get herself some drinks. Aside from herself, there would be only four ladies to participate in the hunt: Rachael de Nova, of course, Aurora de Camellia, and Verona de Narcissus. However, the Queen had apparently invited her nephews to join the hunt, as well as a few younger count and countesses. Milena didn't like that at all. The youngest hunter would be fourteen. It was a very young age to start hunting. Was the Queen hoping for some unfortunate mistakes? Or was that another way to see how the young Duchesses and Countesses could handle the pressure? This was truly so dangerous... "How pleasant to see you here, Lady de Crescent!"

Milena's hand froze on her glass of wine. With all those talks about the war and the perspective of the hunt, she had almost forgotten about that horrible character. She looked up and, sure enough, Philomenie's older brother was gawking at her with those snake eyes of his.

"Young Duke de Winter. How surprising to see you here," she coldly retorted. "I wonder how you happened to come here on such short notice of this hunt?"

"Well, smart people have their ways to know what is going on in the Castle, Lady De Crescent," he replied with an arrogant smile. "After all, how would I be able to help my adorable younger sister if I didn't know better?"

Milena's hands were crispated on her glass. She tried to remember Arseus De Winter's position in the Royal Castle, but she couldn't. He was a Knight, in the same unit as Prince Ellias and Lucian, but that wouldn't be a good way to get any first-hand information about the Queen's matters, was it? Milena couldn't picture Arseus being the one to give his younger sister the notes to cheat on the Bridal Selection.

First, she didn't think that man was smart enough, and secondly, he wasn't close enough to the Queen in any way to be able to accomplish such a thing. His wording was probably some strange coincidence. After all, he was indeed a very arrogant type. "I wonder what kind of help Lady de Winter could be getting from you, young Duke?" Said Milena with a faint smile.

As much as she disliked him, Milena wasn't going to give up on an occasion to get a bit more information. That idiot was so filled with himself that he couldn't even see how fake she was with that smile. It was actually more of some rictus, as Milena couldn't stand him enough to produce a convincing smile.

However, Arseus couldn't help but reply to show off.

"Well, you know. My sister will most likely be the future Queen, won't she? Also, I am the future Duke de Winter. I can know anything I want about the Castle; I am good at making people talk."

"Sure..."

Milena was already bored with that idiot. Just like his younger sister, Arseus de Winter had the looks, and the young ladies probably loved his blonde hair and blue eyes, but for Milena, it was just like staring at a fish tank: it was blue, but there was nothing but water inside!

"Well, if you'll excuse me..." she sighed, trying to walk away.

"Lady de Crescent, I was not done talking!" Said the young Duke de Winter.

Milena tried hard not to roll her eyes over. This was exactly why she hated wasting her time with this man. He was so unbearably annoying! She turned around, with nothing left of her smile from earlier.

"I have many interesting people to greet, young Duke. Surely whatever you had to say can wait until a lady is more available to listen."

"I doubt you'll have many more interesting people, Lady de Crescent. Aren't you here to ensure your future as a wife after all? You should know there are other options than their Highnesses for you future, right?"

Milena stopped. She sincerely wished she could hit him with a wonderful volume about feminism and how her life wasn't all about being someone's husband right now! Moreover, she'd rather puke than consider him, of all people.

"Young Duke de Winter, surely you're not thinking about stepping in before a Royal Prince, or you?" suddenly said a gentle voice behind her.

Milena glanced, and right next to her, Prince Ellias stepped forward with a gentle expression.