Lady Dhampir
Chapter 113

Milena almost stood up from the shock, but her fiancé was quicker to react. He put his hand on his, on her knees, and made sure she remained seated by this simple gesture.

Yet, Milena just couldn't possibly calm down. What was Blanche doing on that stage, in that cage? The wolf was growling furiously. How the hell had she gotten herself in such a situation? It couldn't be, right? Milena was so nervous, her hands couldn't stop trembling no matter how hard Rayan pressed them. She couldn't endure anything happening to Blanche. Not her, not her best friend and companion.

"Calm down," whispered her future husband.

"It's Blanche," Milena whispered back, her voice shaking. "I'm sure, it's..."

"I know. It's alright. Calm down."

His words were uttered with his usual confidence, and though it might have annoyed her at other times, Milena was grateful. His calm voice helped her get her emotions back in check, behind her mask. The young Duchess couldn't bear to see her friend trapped here, but she would have hated much more to do nothing about it.

What could have Blanche gotten in this situation? She was smart, and she had never been caught by anyone. She could shape-shift into so many forms and shapes, there was no way she would have herself gotten caught easily. First, it was odd for someone to even be able to keep her in a cage. Milena frowned. Blanche could shape-shift into something as small as a rat, so why would she remain a wolf inside that? Was there someone with her at all times? Either she didn't dare to shape-shift into someone else's presence to keep her secret safe and simply pass off as a silver-furred wolf, or something was keeping her from shape-shifting.

Milena glanced around, checking other people's reactions in the room. A lot were amazing and whispering about that silver-white fur. At least, most of them didn't even know what she really was. The silver wolf kept growling, her golden eyes sending furious glares to anyone approaching her.

Milena turned towards the man who had introduced her friend. A Holy One? What was that supposed to mean? She had never heard this kind of name, except maybe for the Oracle, but she didn't like the link...

On the side, a few seats away, she finally found the white one. Milena squinted her eyes. The Oracle? She was so frustrated, with all those dark outfits and masks, it was hard to tell... Would the Oracle have been able to stand? She was in a wheelchair most times Milena had caught a glimpse of her. Why would she attend an auction, anyway? The Saint, then?

"Ladies and gentlemen, for this magnificent, fierce creature, our starting price is at three hundred silver credits!"

Several people raised their hands, and the prices quickly took off. Milena shuddered what were those people bidding for anyway? Couldn't they see that wolf was not one to be kept as a pet! She wanted to raise her hand, too, to try and win her friend back, but Rayan kept her from it.

"Let's wait and see," he whispered. "Who is interested in those Holy Ones. Moreover, this might be a trap..." Milena realized he was right.

People had seen Blanche in that appearance before, with her. Just days ago, in the Royal Castle, she had shape-shifted into her wolf form to intimidate a maid, where anyone could have seen her. Was this a trap to lure Milena out instead? By whom, then? Although she was dying to yell a crazy sum to be sure to have Blanche back, Milena didn't want to betray Rayan's trust. She was scared she might commit some mistake and get themselves exposed stupidly.

Still, it was nerve-wracking. Seeing those strangers try to buy her best friend like she was some pet or prize made Milena want to kill each one of them. Or at least suffer for a long while... She wouldn't have been able to keep herself this calm if it wasn't for Rayan's proximity, but also Blanche's attitude.

They had definitely crossed eyes, but Blanche was pretending not to care about Milena more than anyone else in the room. So she had the same train of thoughts as Rayan... She knew this was putting Milena in danger too. Or could it be, this was all part of her plan? To be captured, to see who would want her?

Not knowing what was going had to be the most nerve-wracking. Milena hated not being in control, and she wasn't patient either. Behind her red velvet mask, she was just staring all around the room, trying to find what was going on, who was raising their hands. Most were just excited about her exceptional appearance, but as soon as the prices went higher, a lot gave up. It narrowed down to three people.

The Lady who had been interested in Princess Silvra's jewelry set, whom Milena hated de facto, an old man wearing a white cape, and a young man with his long hair in a catogan.

That last man caught Milena's attention. She had seen that guy before. Where...? She tried to remember, from his looks, where she had already seen that guy.

"Alright, we have an offer at Two thousand and two hundred credits! This is quite a generous sum from the gentleman in white!"

Milena felt a wave of panic overcome her. She noticed the elder, smiling underneath his mask. Who was that man, and what was that feeling? She was about to raise her hand, but suddenly, she noticed Rayan smiling.

"What is...?" She whispered, but just then, the young man raised his hand, and Milena recognized him.

"Two thousand and five hundred credits! Amazing! Is there anyone to bid higher?"

The old man shook his head, but he was still smiling, which intrigued Milena. Compared to the Lady who looked so frustrated she was almost biting her fan, he looked pretty fine with giving up...

"To the young gentleman with the blue mask, once... Twice..."

"Dear," Milena insisted, grabbing Rayan's hand with worry.

"It's fine," he whispered with his smile.

Just like this, Milena watched Blanche being sold to that young man. Rayan had better stick to his world... Even if she had guessed who that man was, she wasn't sure he was entirely willing to give Blanche up now. She just was so nervous about her friend's safety, Milena felt bad and unsure. She felt like she had failed Blanche, somehow, and the guilt made her mad.

However, that auction wasn't over. Rayan did her best to calm her down, gently caressing her hand with his thumb as Blanche was taken away. Milena shivered, but she did her best to not let her emotions pass through. Taking deep breaths, she focused on the rest of the auction. After Blanche was another set of jewelry, something about a curse from a forgotten family... Milena wondered how much they had to lie to get those ugly things sold. Yasina would have called them unfashionable.

After that was some weapon, which Rayan looked a bit interested in, but Milena was just bored and tired of it. The man's high-pitched and fake voice was giving her murderous thoughts.

"... Well then, that's a bargain for you, sir, this magnificent piece of art is attributed to the gentleman with the mustache on the right! Congratulations!"

Some people clapped politely, while Milena sighed, putting her head on her fiancé's shoulder. How many more? This painting was a fake, anyone with a decent knowledge of art could have said so. What was there to spend money for? After this, she was even worried Rayan had spent a crazy sum on some stupid jewelry...

"Now, Ladies and Gentlemen, we shall take a short break before resuming for some more exciting prizes!"

She and Rayan remained seated while a few people left quickly, chatting excitedly about the goods attributed. Then, Milena stood too and walked towards one of the resting rooms. The Prince smiled and followed her. Luckily, they had chosen and empty one. Yet, they were careful not to remove their masks, even after the door was closed.

"You knew he'd be there?" She asked.

"I figured we could use a couple of allies on site."

"I want Blanche back now," Milena said.

The Prince chuckled, kissing her forehead, but she wasn't in the mood for playing lovebirds. Just then, someone knocked on the door, and as expected, the man with the blue mask and the catogan walked in. Milena crossed her arms, still a bit sour about what had happened earlier. Meanwhile, Rayan stood by her, his arm still around her with a confident smile.

"Evening, your Highnesses," said the man, bowing politely.

"Marquess..." whispered Milena. "I wonder what is the Vampire Society doing, sneaking around such a gathering?"

Alban De Carseus smiled. Despite his mask, it was much easier for Milena to recognize the man once she was facing him directly. He was tall and had a beautiful face and memorable face features. Honestly speaking, he was a handsome young man, but just like Rayan, also good at hiding his emotions behind a sneaky smile...

"Nothing that should make the Princess upset, I promise," he said. "Although, we are also curious about the events going on in that establishment. We just happened to hear about His Highness showing up here tonight, and decided we shall stay around as well." Milena glanced towards Rayan. So he knew... or he had realized sooner than she did that the Vampire Society had sent their spies as well. Alban probably wasn't the only one, either. Still, that didn't make the Duchess any happier.

"I want my wolf back," she hissed.

The man bowed again.

"Of course, my Lady. The Society or I had no intention of offending you, but it was obvious your Highnesses were trying to keep your identities a secret. Please consider it as merely a... gesture of goodwill on our part."

"If you were willing to spend so much money on my pet, it means you're waiting for something in return, Marquess. I do not believe in sheer goodwill."

Rayan smiled behind her and stepped back to lean against the wall. He was clearly letting Milena lead this. Even if he had a history with the Vampire Society, letting his future wife lead this interview was a way to establish her authority as well as letting Milena confirm their intents for herself...

The Marquess De Carseus smiled and bowed again a bit.

"To be honest with you, My Lady, you are not the only one we had our eyes on... The rumors about that pet that you keep around are interesting. Even more so about people who ask questions about it."

Milena's anger grew by an inch. People were asking about Blanche? It was true they had been a bit reckless for a while, now. It was hard to have her concealed all of the time when she was constantly near Milena, who was always the center of attention wherever she went. Moreover, recently, Blanche had gotten angry for her sake and shown herself several times, as a wolf or a cat. It looked like their secret would be able to last much longer...

She exchanged a look with Rayan, but the Prince wasn't saying anything, letting her lead this conversation as she wanted. From his stance, Milena realized he may not be as close to the Vampire Society as she had thought. Perhaps it was better to keep some distance, too. Being allied to an organization could end up to be quite a double-edged sword.

"...They called her a Holy One," said Milena. "What is that supposed to be?"

The Marquess raised an eyebrow.

"So that wolf is a female? Interesting... The Holy One is how the church calls those... silver-haired ones, my Lady. The Oracle, and the Saint, and now that wolf. Somehow, the Holy Church is well aware of their existence and keeping their ties with them. I would assume it is very convenient for them to stake a claim on something as extraordinary...

Milena was starting to understand. Regardless of if they had anything to do with their actual creation, the Church was fine pretending to know what was going on and using them as a miracle, to increase their fame. The support to the Church had never been on the decline, but still, they were never missing an opportunity to gather more believers or strengthen that faith. She hated such an organization that took profit from other people's gullibility...

"Could they have anything to do with... Where the Silver Ones come from?"

The Marquess shrugged.

"We haven't found anything that would confirm that theory, Princess."

"You mean you don't have proofs yet."

The Marquess smiled, confirming Milena's suspicion. So the Vampire Society thought the Church was somehow involved, too... Milena had that hunch for a while now. However, they had no tangible connection yet, and the De Crescent family disliked the Church. Most noble families either followed the Church or ignored it, but the latter were usually families involving vampires.

Milena turned towards the man again, her arms crossed. She had noticed he was already calling her Princess, which was in itself a great form of respect. It made sense that the Society of Vampires would align their allegiance to the vampire prince and his fiancé, after all. There was no big surprise there, but Milena was actually not expecting them to show up so soon. It meant that they really despised the other alternative, for them to take a stance before the official betrothals to even be over with. "You can't simply be there to buy my... wolf back," said Milena.

"No, your Highness. We also had our suspicions towards tonight's auction, and we agreed to share it with His Highness when we got the news he would be attending tonight. I only came as a representative, but I do have my own agenda in the Society's name." "...I'm listening."

Milena knew she could request anything from them at this moment. The Vampire Society simply couldn't afford to ignore her or Rayan anymore, as proven just before when they had bought Blanche back for her. Things were different from the first time she had met them, back then, she was a young Duchess, but now, she was a Princess, and actually, one of the two most powerful women in the Empire since the Queen's Death.

"Just as your Highnesses probably suspect already, we believe Her Highness Queen Lyriana had been poisoned for a while through her usual Blood supplies. The Royal Guards already arrested the people responsible for supplying the blood, but... We believe someone else was pulling the strings."

It made sense. People smart enough to manage to poison the Queen for such a long time probably wouldn't get caught so easily. Milena didn't like this either. She and her fiancé would have to be twice as careful within the Palace. Not many people had the connections and means to get a member of the Royal family poisoned, but the culprit were still probably roaming free.

"...Her Highness was never much of an ally to the Vampire Society, was she Marquess?"

Milena's cold voice made the man bow a bit lower.

"I cannot deny this, Princess. However, she was no direct threat either."

It was true. In any case, Lyriana was basically waiting to have one of her sons take over the throne. The main threat would have been if she hindered Rayan in some way, but aside from meddling with the Bridal Selection, the Queen had no mean to... Milena was also keeping in mind that the Vampire Society was also a network, and didn't always function as one. Even if Alban De Carseus was the representative for some of it, no one could guarantee other members hadn't acted of their own accord. However, the main suspect wasn't a vampire, in Milena's opinion. It wouldn't have made much sense to get rid of the Queen at that timing.

"Anyway, I want my wolf back," she said. "Now."

"Surely. We had her put right next door."

"Already?"

"Well, those people are quick to handle the goods once they are paid for..."

Milena snickered. Indeed. If this business was shady, and by now they knew it was, it made sense that they would get rid of the auction goods as soon as they had been able to cash it in. The young Duchess turned to Rayan, but the vampire Prince still had his eyes on Alban, suggesting the two of them had more to discuss.

"Will you excuse me, gentlemen," said Milena with a sigh.

"Dear..."

Milena turned to Rayan with a gentle smile.

"I'll be quick, just the time to get her back."

The fast that Rayan had called her name let his worry show, but Milena wasn't too worried. The Marquess wouldn't have risked anything against her now, and even in this building, it was unlikely anyone had figured out who she was so soon. Even if they did, it would have been risky to attack a Princess in such a place.

Hence, Milena gave a quick kiss on Rayan's cheek and left after the Marquess bowed to her once more. He was really eager to keep them on the same side...

As the Marquess De Carseus had promised, the young maid waiting for her outside took her literally next door. Milena had been confident before, but now, she was just worried about Blanche. What had happened to her, exactly? She wouldn't have let herself be caught so easily!

Milena almost ran into the room, and a big wave of relief came of her heart as she saw the silver wolf, although she was still trapped in that cage.

"Blanche! Blanche, what in the world happened..."

"That's a precious pet you have here."

Milena froze and turned around. The Marquess hadn't mentioned at a guest. Yet, a man was seated there, and Milena recognized him. It was the old man wearing white that had tried to buy Blanche too. The old man smiled, putting his chin on his cane. "...Who are you?" Hissed Milena, putting herself between Blanche's cage and that man.

"Oh, just a curious old man, young Lady De Crescent."

Milena froze. Who the hell was this!