Lady Dhampir
Chapter 93

Milena woke up at dawn.

This time, she hadn't slept well, and welcomed the first rays of the sun with a grin. She regretted not pulling her curtains more. She had fell asleep content, thinking about her mother and her family, but she had woken up too many times that night, feeling all the anguish she had piled up those last few days.

More importantly, a part of her had hoped the Vampire Prince would have shown up, this time. His relationship with Aurora De Camellia had opened a wound in her heart, a wound she needed to be mended. Yet, he hadn't come. He hadn't even tried to see her since the hunt, and had just acted... mysterious. Milena was sick of mysteries. Couldn't he had spared her a single minute to explain himself? Instead of acting all familiar and touchy-touchy during the dinner!

Milena's heart was torn. She remained in her bed, her eyes contemplating the ceiling. What to do? She was scared of betrayal. What if she was simply betrayed and thrown away today? She would go home her head down, beaten by a countess? She closed her eyes, trying to chase that angst from her thoughts. She wasn't ready to face the truth yet. She had waited for that day all week, but now, she was more anxious than ever. Her stomach was painful, she didn't want to go. If only she could simply skip all this, or have a glimpse of the future...

Her prophecy suddenly came back in mind. Did the dark crown really refer to Prince Rayan? She wished she knew all of the candidates' prophecies, if there was any truth in them. The fact that hers was so similar to Philomenie's was troubling, but Milena wished she knew Rachael or Aurora's, to compare. Maybe all the Ladies had a crown mentioned in their prophecy, and it was just another meaning. Milena wasn't sure of anything anymore.

Next to her, Blanche, in her cat form once again, curled up on herself, creating a ball of white fur next to Millie. She wasn't much of a morning fanatic either. Milena caressed her, more to calm herself than for her friend. Somehow, caressing Blanche the Cat was a bit soothing. She tried to close her eyes once again and breathe slowly. She was holding on to the facts. Rayan had promised her a crown. He had no valid reason to chose Aurora De Camellia. It had to be a strategy... Everything would be resolver in a matter of hours. Once she felt calm enough, Milena slowly got up. Blanche stayed in bed, but the young Dhampir Lady went to open her windows wide, letting the cold air in and making the shape-shifter growl a bit. Milena grabbed one of her biggest fur cloaks and stepped on her little balcony to watch the sunrise, and the snow. It had snowed all night, judging from the deep holes her feet made in the white coat. While she was looking at it, something caught her attention. A little bump on the balustrade, where the snow had piled up on something. Milena frowned, and step forward to look at what that was. She had to swipe away a bit of snow, for it to show up.

She stayed speechless for a few seconds.

A white rose.

She felt herself chocking up a little, immediately understanding who had left it there. With hesitant fingers, she took it, the poor flower who had suffered from the cold all night was almost frozen. Milena caressed the iced petals with a little smile. So that was it... The answer she had waited for. He had left it there.

Her confidence regained all of a sudden, she turned around and walked inside. She couldn't give up now. She wasn't someone who gave up, she hadn't been raised to be one. Milena threw her coat on the bed, covering the poor Blanche who growled, and walked to her wardrobe with confidence. Carefully stored in the bottom of her wardrobe were two large boxes, but Milena only took out one. She put the box on the table, and took a deep breath before opening it. "...Pretty," said Blanche.

Milena thought so too. She was even a bit excited and impatient to wear it.

With Blanche's help, Milena put on her dress. She absolutely loved this piece. However, it also had a deep meaning, and once she left her bedroom wearing this, there would be no going back. It was rather innovative compared to the current trends, too, and a bit of a controversial piece, but she didn't care today.

Once she was done, she called the maids in early to help her style your hair and do her makeup. Milena wanted the focus on her dress, hence she only put some of her glass hairpin pieces to hold it somewhat out of her face. For once, she even got a bit bossy with the maids about her makeup. Somehow, the young Duchess de Crescent was feeling quite competitive that day, and had no intention to leave any room for her rivals. She had to be stunning.

She was only ready about one hour later.

Because the King and Queen had to receive their sons' answers regarding the candidate they chose first, the candidates had some extra time for themselves that morning. Hence, as usual, Bella and the De Iris sisters came to greet Milena. The three young ladies stayed speechless as she stepped out, though. Prudence was even blushing, in awe.

"Lady Milena, you're so pretty..."

"Prue, close your mouth," her sister scolded her with a frown. "It's true you're more beautiful than ever, Lady De Crescent."

"I concur," said Bella with a gentle smile.

The young countess De Camellia had tired eyes, though she had tried to conceal it with some make-up. Had she been unable to sleep properly because of her sister's behavior? Or was it simply part of her trouble sleeping during the night as a vampire? Milena had never liked that the Queen imposed a completely human-fitted schedule on all the candidates. She couldn't understand why she had chosen to favor the humans ones from the start... "Thank you, Ladies. Shall we head for breakfast?"

Though there was no obligation in the queen's absence, Milena felt like taking her breakfast in the Winter Garden once again, and that's where they naturally headed. After seeing that rose, the weight on her shoulders had been lifted, and she was now walking with the pride of a Queen.

It was their luck, no one was there yet, or the other ladies hadn't thought of coming back to this place. Hence, Milena and her friends had all their time to take their breakfast there peacefully. The servants present only had them to serve, and it was a very pleasing morning, when the tension and rivalry wasn't constantly on them. Milena couldn't wait to enjoy more of those breakfast and tea parties with her other friends, too. She was starting to miss them. Normally, she would have a dozen of letters to write everyday, and each every one or two weeks, at least one of her friends would visit the De Crescent Manor. It had been harder since her return from the Vermillion Lands and this whole Selection taking place, and she wasn't sure how things would go after that. For that morning at least, she wanted to take her time, and wait for the servants to ask them to gather in the Great Hall for the announcement. Of course, Milena was still nervous, and her stomach barely accepted any food, but it couldn't be helped in the current situation. She did her best to ignore it and swallow at least some blood, that would keep her from fainting later.

The four of them enjoyed a long breakfast without any interruption for a while. A long while, actually. After a couple of hours, something started to not feel right. Milena turned to the servants, but it didn't look like they had received any order. "Ladies, let's head towards the Great Hall," she said. "I'm wondering what is taking so long..."

Bella nodded, and so did the sisters. It had indeed been a bit too long since the Princes should have picked their partners. The young ladies left the Winter Garden and headed back towards the Central Area of the Royal Castle. Milena was getting more nervous with each step. What was taking so long? The servants should have called the candidates to come and hear the results by now, the Princes were supposed to propose not this late that morning.

When they finally arrived in the right aisle, it felt a bit odd for Milena to be able to enter freely, but after all, the restrictions placed by the Queen were now lifted, as the Selection was coming to an end. She wasn't sure whom to ask about the situation, until she entered another room, actually the waiting salon before the Great Hall. To her surprise, all the other candidates were there, with no exceptions. The atmosphere was cold as ice, and all the stares turned to her as soon as she walked in. "Lady de Crescent," muttered Lady Verona. "That's a... gorgeous dress."

"Thank you, Lady de Narcissus. However first, does anyone knows what's going on?"

"No idea," sighed Rachael, her arms crossed as she was standing against one of the walls. "The servants only came twice earlier to tell us it was going to take a bit longer, and since then, nothing."

Just as she was about to ask more, Milena had to step out of the way to let two guards and a man run through. All the ladies stood up, but the men had no time to stop for them, and ran inside. They closed the door behind them, leaving the nine young ladies speechless. "That was... The Royal Doctor?" Said Philomenie.

Next to her, her friend Penelopia nodded, looking worried. Milena and Rachael exchanged a glance. The Royal Doctor? Why would he be called now? Was one of their Highnesses unwell?

They waited a bit longer without any news, before two servants finally came to open the doors.

All twelve Ladies walked in, announced by their name and title by a servant as usual. Milena had seen that room a couple of times before while accompanying her father or older brother, but she was still as impressed.

The Great Hall was a large circular room, with seats all around on several stairs to welcome the senators, the King's advisors and other important members of the court, such as Royal Family members or the Representatives of Guilds. That day, a lot of those seats were empty, as the Bridal Selection only concerned a few of them, but if all the seats had been taken, Milena could easily imagine being surrounded by about a hundred people or so... The King and Queen's thrones were situated at a central spot of the Hall, where they could see and hear everyone, though it wasn't on the highest level.

For today, six seats had been added on the floor level, for all the candidates. They were invited to place themselves in front of those seats, though they waited to the authorization of the Queen to sit.

However, the Queen wasn't there.

Her throne was empty, and all the candidates exchanged surprised glances and whispers. How could the Queen be absent at such an important moment? The King was there, however, and his sons were standing tall, each on one side of his throne. King Silverius sighed, and invited the ladies to sit with one gesture of his hand. Milena glanced briefly towards the Princes. Though Ellias acted impassible, she caught a movement of his throat, as he swallowed his saliva. On the other side, Rayan had his red eyes fixated on her with a smirk. Milena took a breath and sat down, her eyes on the King instead.

"Welcome, Ladies," said the King with a tired voice. "My apologies for the wait, her Highness felt... unwell and had to retire. It's a pity for the protocol, but... anyways."

The Queen was sick? Since when did vampires fell... sick? Milena couldn't help but feel a bit flustered by that news. It didn't mean anything good, yet neither of the Princes look upset about this...

The king caressed his beard with a tired sigh.

"I know this Bridal Selection week has been... quite tiring for you, Ladies. As the King of this Country, I wanted to personally thank all of you for your work as the young generation of Countesses and Duchesses of this Kingdom. No matter who is betrothed to my sons, I consider us as a large family. The Noble Families of Solaris should always support each other in order to support our people best."

Milena felt the strong meaning of those words. It was true. Behind the marble floors and stone walls, the coldest weather was raging, and straining their people. They couldn't properly act if the nobles were busy fighting each other instead of worrying about the well-being of their servants. Milena bit her tongue a bit. She would have to make peace with whoever became her sister-in-law, no matter their feelings for each other. It was probably going to be her first and hardest task...

"Anyways... It has been... a complicated decision to make, and I'll apologize for making you wait for so long."

Milena squinted her eyes a little. A complicated decision? Had the Princes fought with their father or the Senate over this? She glanced up, at the rows of elders, most in their forties to sixties, some about twice older for the vampire ones... Now that she was looking at them, a lot of the Senators had a sour or unhappy expression on. At least one of the Princes' choices had displeased them.

However, now that the Ladies were here, it was probably hard for those senators to say anything without angering their Noble Families. A lot of them were probably part of at least one of the Candidates' family, actually. Milena only knew one of her great maternal uncle, but after the Helena episode, she didn't care much for them.

"Anyway. My sons shall now make their proposals. Ellias, you shall go first."

Milena's blood suddenly went cold, as a doubt came in her mind. However, Ellias only glanced at her, but he only took a couple of steps forward, and headed towards Philomenie de Winter.

Milena stared at the two of them, but she didn't hear a thing they said. Something was like blocking her hearing, she couldn't. Or maybe she didn't want to. She was controlling her expression. Even if she knew, it hurt. It hurt to witness Ellias take a knee down, and ask Philomenie. The young Duchess De Winter was brought to tears, and nodded frantically. "This is ridiculous..."

Milena looked up, at many of the vampire senators who were watching the scene with disgust. The wave of protest was growing, despite most of them being only whispers and mutters. It was obvious why they weren't happy with that choice... The King, too, sighed. "Congratulations, Ellias, Lady de Winter. You will be officially fianced tonight... Silence, everyone!"

The King had no choice but to get mad at all the men and women protesting upstairs. They obeyed immediately, but they weren't any less unhappy. The new couple was getting lots of glares, but both of them did a good job of ignoring those. While Philomenie was crying in joy, unable to restrain herself, and almost jumping on her chair, Ellias was walking back to his father's side without one glance at his fiancée. Instead, he was stealing glances at Milena.

The young Duchess de Crescent ignored him, her purple eyes riveted on Rayan. He was looking her way with a little sneer. She felt her heartbeat accelerate considerably.

"Your turn, Rayan," said the King.

"Thanks, Father."

The Prince took a step forward, with that arrogant smile stuck on her face. Behind him, Ellias' eyes spread wider and wider in horror, when he realized where his brother was going. There were only three Ladies on that side: Aurora de Camellia, Milena De Crescent, and Bella De Camellia. Milena's heartbeat accelerated again, and she felt like she could faint, her whole body electrified. Next to her, Aurora was almost leaning forward, obviously waiting for Rayan to come to her. Milena was stuck on her chair, but otherwise, she felt like she may have fainted from all the stress.