Lady Dhampir
Chapter 125

"Here."

As Dinah put a bathrobe over her shoulders, Milena nodded. She was exhausted, and it was late, but the young Duchess knew there was no way she could find sleep now. She had refused to go back to the Royal Castle until Rayan had insisted she be closer to her father and brother, Raphael. Milena felt bad about leaving the Manor, but it was now nothing but walls. Compared to her family's well-being, she could afford to not see it for a few hours.

Moreover, Valentin had stayed behind to take care of the situation there. Maybe because he felt bad about the events, her older brother had completely wanted to take care of things while Milena got some decent sleep. After all, he was the next Duke, and she was their youngest sibling. Even Lucian had seemed upset at his brother when the two of them met.

Milena had been brought and settled in Rayan's apartment. No one had dared to mention the protocol after what the future Princess had been through. Anyway, those two would be married in the next few days, and the clock had already struck midnight a while ago.

She just couldn't believe such a thing have happened two days before her wedding. It felt horrible... like she had just had the worst nightmare. Milena took the cup of warm tea that her maid handed her; not because she wanted it; but because she needed to keep, or keep her hands busy with something. The injuries to her hands were aching, but she didn't care. She just wished the warmth of the cup would spread to her body already. Her muscles were in pain from everything that her body had gone through earlier. She needed some sleep, but there was no way she could pass out comfortably at that moment. She had taken a quick bath to get rid of all the soot, and she let Dinah dry her hair for her, simply sitting and waiting for news, curled up on a sofa as if this were her own

rooms.

Finally, the doors opened, and her fiancé appeared, alone. Her heart felt the faintest wave of relief, but she was still glad to see him come back so soon. Rayan walked up to her, and she noticed he had found time to change clothes and clean his face. Unlike Milena, he wasn't physically tired, but the events had nonetheless taken a toll on him too. He had a slight injury below his ear and on his neck, but it looked like it had been cleaned already.

The vampire Prince sighed and came to sit next to her on the sofa.

"Please tell me you have good news," she whispered, scooting as close to him as possible.

The Prince nodded, and gently took her hand.

"Your elder brother is almost done handling the fire at the Manor," he said. "It's completely extinguished inside the building, and they have checked that there was no more danger. No bombs, no explosives, and nothing that could cause more damage. It's only the garden now, but they might already have extinguished by now. They also called professionals to help start clearing all the debris, and everything that won't be restorable tomorrow... I mean, first thing this morning."

Milena nodded faintly. At least it was good to know her idea had worked, and the damages had been somewhat contained.

"Do you have news about... Raphael?"

She had sent Olivia to ask for an update half an hour ago, and she was impatient for an answer. However, Rayan shook his head.

"No, nothing so far. But I sent my personal guards to watch over him and the Duke, so don't worry about his safety, nothing will happen to him at the Royal Hospital."

Milena felt like crying again, as her brother's state was still undetermined. She had a heavy heart. She had been prepared to become a Queen, to endure a war, treason, even assassination attempts, but such a direct attack, and on her family? She wasn't even married yet. It was more brutal than anything she had imagined.

"Why Raphael?" She muttered. "Why him?"

"That man was a fanatic, Milena. You heard him. We have sent his body to be searched and inspected, but from his words, it looked like he was involved in some anti-vampire delirium..." Milena shook her head.

"No, there has to be something else. Of all vampires, I don't see why Raphael would have been a target, more so than my father or my great-grandmother. He's quiet, not very involved in Society. Even if he was attacked because of... his relationship with the Society of Vampires, it doesn't make sense for a fanatic to target the House De Crescent. Why not Rachael's family? Or even you?"

The man's words were still waving heavily in her mind. Something felt wrong; as if she was missing a clue there. No matter what, Milena had a feeling that the situation was more complex than it seemed. An attack on her brother didn't make sense in her eyes, and the timing of it was odd too.

Moreover, there was the whole situation with The Oracle, and. Why had that woman taken the baby away? Why would she stab Raphael? Knowing her brother, Milena knew he wouldn't have entrusted his daughter to Ora. Was that why she had stabbed him, to forcefully take that little girl? But why? Why would she have any interest in in the first place...?

"...You're not wrong," sighed Rayan. "However, I don't get what else it could be. That man was almost dead, I don't think he was lying. His... craziness didn't seem fake or forced."

"It didn't seem fake, but I don't think we interpreted it right either," retorted the young woman.

She slammed her cup down on the table, and stood up, making Dinah jump. Milena needed something to occupy her mind with, and she had it. The cogs in her brain were rolling at full speed. "Let's imagine we got it wrong, and that man wasn't talking about Raphael," she said.

"The maids said he specifically asked for him, though."

"That was before the explosion," said Milena, her finger pointed out towards her home. "When he was still lucid and not going crazy about blood monsters. He said to our people that he was looking for my brother, but nothing actually says Raphael was the main target. It could have been his way to go to that specific area of the Manor. My brother is the only one who usually went there, but it doesn't mean Raphael really was that monster whom that man was rambling about."

Milena remained quiet, trying to repeat the scenarios in her head over and over again. It was like watching out for any missing piece of the puzzle, looking for any possible mistake they could have made that would throw them off course. If going for the simplest way wasn't working, they had to circle around every error again, and again until everything fit together.

Moreover, the more she tried to think why Raphael would have been the main target, the more it didn't make sense. Her brother was stabbed, but the explosion itself didn't seem like it had really reached him. That man had both hands blown off, and more servants had died in that explosion, but Raphael made it. Who would sacrifice their hands in an explosion that didn't reach its target?

"... Then who else could he have been targeting?" She muttered.

"...Your father comes to mind first."

Rayan wasn't going to stop her now that she was so focused. He liked his fiancé better when she had that determined expression on, and that fire in her eyes, rather than to see her cry and lament. Milena was never as attractive as when she was showing her strong will to survive. Right now, the young Duchess had returned to her stronger self, ready to find the culprits and make them pay.

"My father was on the other side of the Manor. His desk is opposite the area where the explosion happened. If he was really the target, it would have happened in the main area, but that man went as far as that aisle. No, he wasn't after my father; or even my great grand-mother."

"...What if he was after the Oracle herself?"

Milena froze. What if, indeed? She turned to Rayan, frowning, her hands almost shaking from the frustration. She kept thinking, remembering her brother's words before he passed out.

"He said the Oracle took, but why would she take Roe? Raphael had said she seemed interested in his daughter before too, but I didn't think much of it."

"...As far as I know, the Oracle was never interested in children before," said Rayan. "She never paid attention to my brother and me while we grew up, not even our little cousin."

The young Duchess frowned. That was the piece of information she didn't have before. So the Oracle didn't have any interest in children, but she did look out for her niece, an orphan child adopted by Raphael? "....Then why is it that she was interested in ?" muttered Milena.

From what she had seen, didn't show anything peculiar. She was growing a bit faster than a normal vampire child, but nothing was strange about it, according to their family doctor. So why would the Oracle have any interest in that child? Moreover, she took her from Raphael before the explosion and disappeared.

Milena had sent some of their Knights to look for the two of them. She even asked Olivia to send word to Bandit, so that her spies could look for a white-haired woman and a baby, hoping they were somewhere in the Kingdom's Capital. Yet, she had an odd feeling about that duo.

"Where did he get that child?" Asked Rayan.

"I entrusted her to my brother," sighed Milena. "She was an orphan someone found in the streets, she was just a few weeks old and too young to be cared for..."

She shook her head.

"Anyway, I took her home and suggested Raphael adopt her, making it seem as though my brother had an affair."

"So no one would question his... real inclination?" Said Rayan, raising an eyebrow.

Milena frowned and turned to him.

"How the hell do you know?"

"I'm not that handsome, but I do notice you and your brother appear to have quite similar tastes."

Milena stayed stunned for a few seconds. Raphael and she had similar tastes? Had she missed something without knowing? She would probably have been more upset about this if she didn't have other matters to think about, and her brother's terrible state, weighing on her mind. Milena shook her head.

"Anyway, I can't figure out why she'd be interested in. She is not peculiar in any way that I know, and she has no relation to the Oracle either..."

"... Not that we know of."

Milena froze and turned to Rayan. The Prince was frowning as well now, looking lost in his thoughts.

"What if the Oracle knew something about the child that we don't?"

The young Duchess realized he might be right.

It had felt a little strange that Ora insisted on coming to the House De Crescent, but now, her sudden interest in Raphael's daughter seemed a further peculiarity as well. On the surface, nothing was linking the Oracle to an orphaned child, which Milena had picked up in the streets just a few months back. It could have been any child. Yet, something felt wrong.

"She may have seen something with her power," said Milena. "What if she knows something about 's past or future, then that was the reason she took her?"

"It would explain... a lot," muttered the Prince. "Why she became much more talkative, her wanting to come with you, disappearing with, and even why she attacked your brother to take the child away..."

Milena took a deep breath. She could almost hear all the pieces coming together; like they were unlocking something. She nodded.

"If she could predict more than she told us, maybe she saw that explosion coming, but she decided to attack Raphael and take before it happened!"

"She may have used the explosion to cover her escape," added Rayan. "This timing feels too perfect, it had to be premeditated. Even if she wasn't involved with that attack, she probably saw it coming."

"But why?" exclaimed Milena. "What would necessitate her to kidnap ? She could have simply warned us about something being wrong with the child, and the explosion! Raphael is a good father to her, so why would the Oracle go as far as stabbing him and running?" "...maybe she already knew Rowe?"

Milena was so surprised to hear Dinah's voice at that moment that she almost jumped. Her maid blushed a bit, as she dared to voice her opinion in the Prince's presence. Yet, she bit her lower lip, glancing his way before coming back to look at Milena. "Not from her power, but... on a personal level?"

Milena froze. What if, indeed?

After all, they knew nothing about 's background, aside from that she was abandoned in the Capital. What if the Oracle had known the newborn, or knew who her real parents were? Milena had asked Bandi, and the others to look for that information, but there was nothing to be found about her.

Suddenly, she saw the Oracle again, from a while ago. She remembered how her dresses always felt too big on her, too misshapen for her body. Milena glanced at Rayan, unsure. This was a very crazy idea, but, after all, the White Ones were supposedly originally vampires... She shook her head. No, this seemed too far-fetched. It couldn't be.

"...What if the Oracle was the original target?" Suggested Rayan.

Milena had thought about it too, but something didn't match that.

"I don't think so. I don't see why that man would have looked for my brother. Nothing guaranteed Ora was actually with Raphael. Only a few people inside the manor knew that she seemed to like, it's not been long enough. Moreover, even outside of our territory, very few people knew about her residing in our domain."

"You're too optimistic, Milena," said Rayan. "If it is known in the Royal Castle, you can count on it that all the nobles already know. Each House has its spies around my father, even I can barely filtrate any information."

The young Duchess remained silent for a few minutes. Indeed, she couldn't underestimate her enemies, especially not now. She let out a long sigh.

"Let's assume that the Oracle was the target then, not Raphael. We need to find her and as soon as possible. My brother is fighting for his life. I don't want to have to tell him that I couldn't find his daughter when he comes back."

Rayan smiled.

Despite how tired and sad she was, he knew there was nothing that would stop his fiancé now. Once Milena had something to get herself busy with, she was unstoppable. She'd look for that child in heaven and hell; if needed. Rayan nodded and stood up to walk to her, grabbing her hands gently.

His touch felt like a bit of a spark on Milena's skin, bringing her out of her deep thoughts and back to reality. She turned to him, sighing a bit.

"You're doing great," he simply said.

She nodded, feeling all the fatigue falling back down on her shoulders.

"I just hope Raphael makes it," she whispered. "I don't know what I'll do if..."

He gently grabbed her chin before she finished that sentence, having her look at him.

"No 'if'. He'll make it, I promise. We will have our wedding with your whole family in the front row, Milena."

She nodded, but there was still another shadow over that plan of theirs. Ruby hadn't returned yet, and she could feel every second passing without any news of her grandmother. Suddenly, someone knocked at the door, gently. "My Lady?"

The Crescent Knight walked in with a dark expression, and Milena knew, even before he opened his mouth. Her heart sank, as he put a knee down, and opened his hand, showing her the brooch of her great-grandmother. "...I'm very sorry, my Lady."