Lady Dhampir
Chapter 87

The next morning, Milena woke up her face in a bundle of fur. She frowned and pushed Blanche away. Her friend growled a bit but did not bother to open her eyes. It was barely dawn outside. Milena got out of her bed and stretched a bit. As expected, she was terribly sore from the previous evening. Her bath hadn't done enough for her poor muscles. The young Duchess internally scolded herself for her lack of practice. She should probably work out more, but she had never been very into working out without an actual purpose. She was obsessed with sword fighting when she was younger, but once she got to a more than good level, she only did the minimum practice once in a while... Certainly not as much as her brothers.

However, Milena doubted she would have the luxury to practice much more if she was named Princess. Her schedule was going to become an utter nightmare... She opened her window, and a cold wind invaded the room. She took a deep breath in. She loved the smell of fresh snow in the morning. Though her skin wasn't as resistant to cold as vampires, she still enjoyed it better than being too hot.

"Millie! Cold!" Grumbled Blanche from the bed.

Milena chuckled, and grabbed one of the cushions on the floor to throw it at her.

"Get up, Blanche! Time to get ready."

"I hate you..."

"I know, I love you too," chuckled Milena, walking to her wardrobe.

She opened it wide and took a deep breath.

This was the last day before the Bridal Selection. The Princes would pick their chosen fiancees and announce it to their father the next morning. If it was validated, the King and Queen would then give the results in front of all the candidates remaining and the whole Council, while the official announcement would take place in the evening, as part of a grand celebration, since both twins would be betrothed at once.

Milena realized that the next day, she would be fianced already. She chuckled. Though she was a lady, she wasn't sure to be ready for marriage life. Her cheeks blushed slightly, thinking about her short meeting with Rayan in the forest. Once again, he had betrayed her expectations and kept himself from biting her... Milena was even more upset that he had probably done this just to tease her. Rayan was annoyingly good at guessing what she was thinking. Just like he had seen through her about her necklace... She glanced towards her little desk, where she had left it the previous day. She felt like an idiot, now, just staring at it.

Milena decided to ignore it and go on to pick her dress for the day. After hesitating for a while, Milena decided to settle for a dark green dress, one she hadn't put on much before. It was a rather classical dress, with black embroideries, that wouldn't stand out and be fine for the day. Milena didn't felt like put much more effort into the last day. At best, she was expecting some more bickering with the Queen, perhaps from Rachael or Aurora de Camellia, but she wasn't feeling up for much of a fight today. "Ugly dress."

"Thanks for your opinion, Blanche," sighed Milena. "I have no one to impress today anyway, so... Green dress it is."

As usual, Blanche helped her put on her full outfit and lace her corset, letting Milena to do her hair by herself before the maids finally showed up to help. As usual, her friend was only too happy to squeeze back in the bed. Milena was wondering what would happen to Blanche.... Rayan seemed aware of her, except for her human form. She couldn't see herself living without her best friend around. Blanche had been her most important emotional support for years now, she just couldn't part with her or live apart. A few minutes before she was fully ready, Bella and the De Iris sisters showed up as usual and congratulated her for her results in the hunt the previous evening. Milena had almost forgotten that, with everything that had happened, she had barely seen then after returning with Rayan and leaving the grounds with his twin. Hence, they chatted a bit and took their time on the way. Milena noticed that Bella didn't mention her own sister not even once, despite Aurora having ranked better than she did during the hunt... She couldn't help but wonder how the relationship between the sisters was at the moment. In comparison, Clorence and Prudence seemed quite unbothered. Milena wondered if her friends were relieved that this was all coming to an end...

When they arrived at the breakfast, the atmosphere was quite tense. Rachael was already sitting, against the proper etiquette that commanded them to wait for the Queen, and so was her friend Verona. Milena chuckled and decided to take a seat too, under the other candidates' shocked eyes. After a hesitation, Bella and the De Iris sisters decided to do the same, in silence.

"Morning, De Crescent," said Rachael with a snicker.

"Acting quite naughty so early, arent you?" Chuckled Milena.

"Oh, well. We both know I don't care much about all this competition anymore, and it's not like our beloved Queen can do much to me, so... You better do your share once the time comes, though."

Milena glanced at Philomenie. The human duchess was a bit too far to hear their conversation, but she couldn't keep herself from sending half-surprised and half-scared glances towards Milena and Rachael, seating next to each other at that table. The Dhampir Lady sighed.

"Well, I guess we will know soon how it goes..."

"He was upset, you know. Seeing you with his brother..."

"Was he?"

Rachael shook her head.

"You're both so cunning, it'll be a miracle if you don't end up murdering each other. I don't really get what is between you two, but you should at least learn to be subtle when you're trying to make a man jealous, De Crescent. People were watching." Milena scoffed ironically, grabbing her glass to take a sip.

"People can watch," she whispered. "Isn't a show all they are waiting for anyway..."

"Mh, true."

Right after they exchanged those words, the Queen's arrival was announced with the usual ceremonial. All eyes turned towards her, but the Queen instantly noticed half of the candidates already seated. Milena couldn't help but feel a bit happy when her eyes glowed of a ruby red in anger. The Queen narrowed her eyes, glaring at their duo and everyone who had dared to follow their lead, but she didn't say a word and sat down.

Philomenie, her friend Penelopia and Aurora did the same, but one could tell the atmosphere was horribly tense at the table. For once, they had only one long table instead of several little ones, which made it even more obvious. Moreover, the Queen took an awfully long time before saying anything. Milena had a hard time hiding her satisfied smile. The proper etiquette would have had her congratulate Rachael for her win at the Hunt the previous night, but Queen Lyriana was also probably not so blind as to ignore who had instigated this little protest this very morning...

"Are you alright, your Highness?" Suddenly asked Philomenie.

Facing her, Rachael snorted, immediately getting another glare from the Queen. Milena had to hide behind another long sip to hide her snicker, too. Even if she knew Philomenie probably hadn't done this on purpose, her timing and lack of delicacy couldn't have been possibly worse.

"I am perfectly fine, Lady de Winter, thank you for asking," coldly said the Queen. "However, it is not thanks to Lady de Nova's terrible attitude this morning. I hope the House de Nova trains their daughter better than that!"

Rachael's smile instantly stopped, as she turned to glare right back at the Queen with a vicious smile.

"The House de Nova is already happy to still have a daughter, Your Highness, though it is not due to the hard efforts of the Royal House. Thanks to my family I am actually trained enough to fight off my assassin by myself because the security here is rather lax." "Indeed," suddenly said Bella de Camellia, much to Milena's surprise. "It is a bit upsetting that so many dangerous events happen on the Royal Hunts, Your Highness."

Milena was astonished to hear the usually quiet Bella help Rachael call out the Queen like this. Though, her friend had probably caught on her relationship with Rachael from their short interactions earlier. Bella was very smart, as Milena had already noticed, so she was appreciative of her friend actually meddling in to help Rachael. If Milena had stepped in herself, it may have exposed her as an ally of Rachael a bit too much, whereas Bella talking could be counted as any of the candidates being genuinely worried. The Queen, however, was still quite upset about all those accusations.

"The Royal Guard is already doing their best at catching the instigators, Lady de Nova. It is truly regrettable that such a tragic event happened during yesterday's hunt, but I will not tolerate you insulting the Royal House anymore!"

"I won't," replied Rachael very calmly. "However, I do hope that the next Queen will be very much aware of the issues going on with the Castle's security. After all, not only myself but also one of their Royal Highnesses were targetted. I think it would be relevant for our future young princesses to pay more attention to what is going on around here."

Just as she had said those words, Philomenie's eyes sparkled, as if she was about to take notes. Of course, there was more than a warning towards future princesses. Rachael was most likely trying to remind the Queen that her days of reigning in the Royal Castle were coming to an end very, very soon. From what Milena had understood, after the Crown Prince was decided, the King would most likely step down within a few years' time.

Milena couldn't help but wonder what would be the criteria for deciding who the Crown Prince would be, and when they would be crowned King. After all, it could very much happen in several years. However, with the war coming up, it was very unlikely that the first matter would be delayed much longer. Rayan had mentioned that the one Prince that wouldn't be picked as the Crown Prince would be sent to the battlefront. While Milena had thought their achievements in the war could be one of the things the Princes would duel on, this proved it wouldn't be the case. Maybe the King didn't want to risk losing both of his sons in the war, as he had no other male heir.

"Your Highness, will you stay around to help the Princess get used to her duties?" Asked Philomenie.

Milena immediately glared at her, pissed off by her choice of words.

"You mean the Princesses, Lady de Winter. Have you forgotten that there are two Princes to be betrothed?"

As soon as Milena addressed her, Philomenie went white and silent as a grave. Rachael shook her head, annoyed too. Philomenie was so oblivious, she would even forget about Prince Rayan's existence. Milena couldn't help but wonder what would happen if she was picked as his wife. She would probably cry and lament for days... Sometimes, she wondered how the House de Winter had produced such a mindless doll. They had focused on all of her outer appearances, but the inside was horribly... empty. Though she still doubted each and every word Philomenie said, Milena couldn't help but compare her to a doll, beautiful as an angel but as mindless as could be. Would she even survive with all the schemes of the Palace? It was even surprising that she had made it that far! That's when Milena remembered the cheating notes and got upset again. She still didn't know who sent them to Philomenie, but she suspected it might have been the Queen herself.

"I hope to learn a lot from your Highness," suddenly declared Aurora de Camellia. "Becoming a Princess surely isn't an easy task, but your Highness is quite an example in all domains."

All the candidates turned to her, surprised. They hadn't heard her speak in so long, she had almost forgotten Aurora was considering herself as one of the best candidates, on the same level as the three duchesses. Milena exchanged a quick glance with Bella, who slammed down her drink.

"Do you think so, younger sister? You seem quite invested now, aren't you?"

Aurora turned to her, glaring at Bella as if she was some annoying flea.

"Why not? The Duchesses aren't the only ones here, are they? Are we just here to hold their dresses and make conversation perhaps? I thought her Highness had said all the candidates were on equal ranks. I don't understand why some of us are that desperate that they need to cling on to someone else!"

Everyone else around the table looked like they had been slapped. Milena had a hard time remembering to close her mouth. That girl was even more shameless than she had thought! She turned to Rachael, who she thought had befriended Aurora, but the young vampire duchess was shaking her head and sighing, looking helpless. So this was definitely a lost cause. Milena sighed too and grabbed her drink of blood.

At this stage, if Bella couldn't shut up her own sister, she wasn't a worthy ally.

However, the older sister looked neither surprised nor outraged. She delicately put the spoon she was holding down and turned to her younger sister with a cold smile.

"Ambition is just fine, Aurora, when put at the wrong place. The same rank? You are talking in front of Her Highness herself, the Queen of Solaris; Do you think anyone can achieve that role just because they act up and study a bit to match the Prince's taste?" "You're the one who's being mindless!" Retorted Aurora. "I don't understand you sucking up to a woman who has no chance to become a Princess! Don't we all know she can't even bear children with the vampire prince? She's a Dhampir, for speaking out loud! At least you should ally with a real, proper candidate if you need to! Isn't the House de Camellia strong enough anyway? We have this unique chance to..."

Before she could end that sentence, Bella's red eyes suddenly starting glowing of a scary red color, making Aurora's expression change into fear.

"If anyone has anything to say on whom we rally ourselves too, it's me, Aurora," she said with an ice-cold voice. "I am the older sister, the heiress to our house. I am tired of your attitude and you ruining my efforts so far. Unless you really want to have me mad, you'll learn to shut up once and for all."

"B-but..."

"I think you are done eating today, Aurora," said Bella with a scary smile.

"We will see you at dinner, Lady de Camellia," suddenly declared the Queen.

The Queen suddenly speaking out in Bella's favor had Aurora look as if she had just been slapped. She was still shaken, but she slowly got up and left the room. A few seconds of silence followed, and the Queen stood up too.

"I think we are done for breakfast, ladies. I hope to see everyone in a much better disposition tonight."

"Of course, Your Highness," retorted Rachael.

Her hypocrite smiled duped no one. The Queen turned her heels and left, slamming the door behind her. Everyone finally relaxed. Milena chuckled.

"Right, can we eat in peace now?"