Lady Dhampir
Chapter 154

Milena woke up, like always, a little before dawn. Once again, as the fire in the little chimney had grown cold, so did their bedroom. She sighed in silence and stood on her arms. Rayan was sleeping next to her, his face half-buried in their pillows as usual. She smiled and gently leaned forward to kiss his cheek. She was the only woman in the world able to approach this man without him waking up. If anyone else had set foot in the room, he would have opened a red eye and glared. Still, she could touch him as much as she wanted, and he wouldn't flinch. How did he know?

Milena moved slowly, keeping some of their bed sheets around her n***d body. She sat on her end of the bed, and stretched her neck and shoulders a little. She was sore all over, but it was the right kind of muscular fatigue in her opinion. It wasn't as if she'd ever get tired of the exercise either...

Leaving her husband to a much deserved sleep, she grabbed her bathrobe and made her way to her beauty table, as always she started by brushing her long dark hair. It soothed her to do so. Blanche wasn't in the room, she had probably gone for an early morning hunt as always.

Milena got ready by herself, with no patience to wait for her maids to come in. Somehow, this morning, she was feeling like the snow outside. Calm, quiet, and icy.

She picked her favorite rubies to wear like a man would pick his armor. She chose a deep red dress, one with an inventive design, slits on each side that allowed her to wear pants and move better. Milena settled for a traditional corset though, one that contained metal, just in case... She hid her weapons, adjusted her hair, and stared at herself in the mirror. Yes. This morning, she felt more determined than ever. She had that fire in her heart and that ice in her smile. She felt like she could conquer the world today, but her battle was about to happen elsewhere. Milena put on makeup by herself, which reminded her of her days as a candidate. Deep red on her lips to match her dress, and a thin, dark line to accentuate her eyes. She was a demon gearing up for a battle today. Blanche finally appeared at the window, just as Milena selected her most feminine hairpiece, two rose pins, and attached them, completing her attire.

When she silently walked out of her bedroom, precedented by the white wolf, two maids in the corridor paused for a second, stunned by the Princess' appearance. They politely bowed and moved on. "Your Highness."

Ruby appeared, on one knee and her head down.

"What is it?"

"The news about the Supremacists is causing unrest in the Capital; I couldn't confirm nor disregard the rumors yet, but the fear is growing."

"... Make sure our people find the truth, quickly."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Milena frowned. Ruby being unable to find out the truth wasn't good. Olivia appeared at the end of the corridor, carrying wood, and stopped, surprised to see her mistress already awake. She bowed politely but hurried to Milena's side. "Your Highness, are you rested enough? You ought to be tired..."

"Olivia, I need to check in with Bandit and the others. Ask him what he knows."

"Yes, my Lady, I'll send Dinah and come back right away. Shall I bring your breakfast to your office?"

"Bring me the newspapers as soon as you can get them."

"Yes, my Lady."

Olivia left quickly and as she had said, Milena hurried to her office. It was so early, she had to ask servants to prepare the chimney for her, and order hot tea. After the previous incident, the butler in charge of her aisle and most of the staff had been changed, but Milena couldn't care less what her husband had done with the previous ones...

"My Lady," said Olivia while coming back in. "I did everything you ordered, Dinah will be back soon."

She brought a tray with Milena's breakfast on it, but unlike Blanche who almost jumped on it, Milena ignored the food to grab the newspaper. She began reading while still standing, and suddenly, a smile appeared on her face.

Sometimes, only Olivia could witness how alike his Highness and Princess Milena have become. She now had the same icy smile that would slightly show her fangs, and intimidate people who didn't expect it. Milena's fangs weren't as obvious as those of vampires, but still pointy and shiny enough.

"M-my Lady?" Asked Olivia, a bit surprised.

"The Revolution is starting," chuckled Milena, throwing more confusion into the room.

She kept reading, visibly really pleased with the contents of the daily newspapers. Olivia regretted not having taken a peek at it before she brought it.

"Have you heard about Philomenie?" Suddenly asked Milena, her eyes still on the newspaper.

"Yes, my Lady. The Princess insisted she wanted to rest, but... uh... The maids are whispering that she and the Prince are at odds. They think she is upset with him somehow..."

Milena nodded. She had expected this much. Ellias and Arseus de Winter had tried to take Philomenie for a fool one too many times. Although she hadn't expected the other Princess to side with her on this one, Milena was pleasantly surprised by the outcome. At this rate, Arseus was going to be kicked into war and Ellias was going to lose his allies.

This was only a nice bonus to what she had already put into action, but Milena enjoyed this. If Ellias was so determined to fight to the end, so would she. Now that she had sent all of her allies to plant those seeds, Milena just couldn't wait to rip the fruits. Indeed, about two hours later, while she was deeply involved in her work, Milena heard people shouting outside her doors and a terrible ruckus.

She smiled, but remained focused on her work, until Ellias slammed her office doors open. Even Olivia, standing behind Milena, dared to glare at him. Yet the Prince, escorted by two soldiers, paid her no attention, and slammed the newspaper on Milena's desk. "...So much for Marquess De Sevira's answer," she sighed.

"What is this!" He shouted.

"That looks to me like today's newspaper, Your Highness. A great edition too, in my opinion."

"I know this has to be your doing! This is ridiculous!"

"Ridiculous?" Repeated Milena, raising an eyebrow. "How is your Highness finding this ridiculous? I can't wait to hear."

Ellias suddenly calmed down, as if he had understood getting mad at Milena where ears could reach wouldn't be good. He took a deep breath but was still visibly upset.

"What was your goal, Milena? How much did you pay the..."

"It's Lady Milena, Prince Ellias," Retorted Milena with an ice-cold glare. "Even for you, there are some limits to be respected. If you're so curious, I did not have to pay anyone to have this edition printed. I just sent the right articles to the right people, and the right people to the right journalists." "You're manipulating the media for your political gain, Milena!"

"Am I really?" She tilted her head, unapologetic. "I simply emphasized our women's work in this Kingdom, Prince Ellias. If we boast about men's accomplishments all day all year, how does it hurt anyone to have it all focus on the women, for once?" She grabbed the journal he had rudely slammed on her desk, and tapped her finger against the headline and the associated picture.

"Isn't this your wife right there? You should be thanking me, I put Lady Philomenie as a heroine."

"She didn't need your help!"

"Well, the women in pages two, three, four and all the way to the last one needed it. You call this manipulating the media? How could I possibly do that? I don't own this newspaper, and I didn't bribe anyone."

"You're highlighting women's doings to promote the Council's vote in your favor! You're making the public see everything you want them to see just to make them more sympathetic to your cause!" Milena chuckled.

"...Says the man who had his woman throw up in front of the whole Council."

She couldn't have slapped him and gotten such a stunned expression. For a second, Ellias seemed at a loss for words. He laughed nervously.

"You can't be serious," he said. "You think I would have made Philomenie sick on purpose? Are you kidding?"

His reaction seemed so honest for a few seconds, Milena herself wasn't sure. She sighed, and crossed her arms, annoyed as she just couldn't decide.

"Wasn't it awfully convenient, Prince Ellias? Your wife very obviously showing signs of a possible pregnancy in front of the whole Council, right after you refuted your own Father's decision?"

His surprised expression quickly transformed into obvious anger, although this time, he seemed to be purposefully controlling himself;

"You have to think of me as quite a heinous character, Princess Milena, to think I could cause such damage to a woman possibly carrying my child. If I wanted to leverage my unborn child, I would have simply stated the pregnancy in front of the Council, there was no need to make her sick. Moreover, you dare talk to me about poison? Wouldn't it be your husband's meddling if anything happened to Philomenie?"

"You mean like what happened to me? Aren't you purposely switching positions now?"

"Your husband threatened me to my face, that he wouldn't stop anyone from poisoning my wife! How should I know when he's going to strike when he's going to be so desperate!"

"Once again, ignoring my poisoning to your convenience," hissed Milena.

Ellias threw her words away like one would have chased an annoying fly away, with a dismissive move of his hand.

"You had no child to lose, may I remind you."

"And Philomenie hasn't been poisoned yet either," she re torted.

Ellias answered once again, with a glare. Still, Milena didn't move an inch. She wasn't going to be intimidated by him, not now and not ever.

"Always so quick on your feet," he hissed. "If only you'd have been smart enough to use that by my side, the Kingdom wouldn't be so divided right now."

"I'm afraid you're putting the fault on the wrong person," calmly said Milena. "First, I never intended to be a backup for anyone. Secondly, I wouldn't be the one responsible for any divide at the moment. If anything, I am trying hard to unify the Kingdom." "To unify? By making a newspaper full of women's merits? Where are the men in this, Lady Milena? What is next, you ruling the country? Are you already sweeping your front door before your husband's even gone!"

Milena chuckled.

"You should know I am not the type of woman to be sweeping anything, your Highness."

Ellias was confused by her words, and Milena smiled. Yes, she was fine with giving him any kind of doubt about her intentions, right now. She wasn't one to tame her ambitions, and as they had already confirmed the previous night, her husband was totally fine with that. She wasn't like Philomenie, a side character to support a man. Milena had the confidence and the resolve needed to stand up to a Prince by herself, while hers was sleeping quietly.

She grabbed those newspapers with a fine smile and pushed it to his chest.

"Read this newspaper, Prince Ellias. Read, and learn what women are capable of when they are not confined to making children, picking curtains, and damn embroidery."

Milena walked up to the door, but she didn't leave. This was her office. Instead, and to the servants' surprise, she opened the door herself, addressing one of those treacherous smiles to Ellias, still standing a few steps away.

"See you at the Council, your Highness. If you wish to see me before that though, I strongly request you learn to knock beforehand."

Ellias slowly turned around, but he didn't step aside, his eyes still glaring her way.

"You should stop putting on a show, Milena."

"Once again, it's Lady Milena, Lady De Crescent, or Princess Milena," she retorted coldly, her smile disappearing. "You may not like me, but you could at least show me respect."

Ellias' lower lip twitched.

"...I don't like you? You really think I'd be this mad, if I didn't?"

Milena's hand froze on the door. She had no heart to smile anymore. The door was opened, too, and they weren't alone, but Ellias' aides had their eyes resolutely stuck to the floor, and Olivia, too, was trying to keep herself busy with ordering Milena's desk. "...I suggest you leave, now," said Milena, barely louder than a whisper.

Ellias opened his lips, but before another word could get out of there, a chuckle resonated. Milena turned heads, to see Rachael standing there, and leaning her shoulder against the door's entrance.

"... What an interesting time to pop in", she said. "Princess Milena, I would have knocked, I promised."

It was obvious Rachael was enjoying this, and this time, it was enough to convince Ellias to leave. He didn't say a word, but the glare he sent both women spoke volumes. Rachael, arms crossed, waiting until he was far enough to roll her eyes.

"Is it me, or glaring has become the new way to politically correctly insult a woman?"

"You interrupted another one of his tantrums."

"Sounded more like a painfully broken heart to me."

"Don't you start going there, Lady Rachael, please," sighed Milena, gesturing for Olivia to bring her jacket.

Rachael shrugged.

"This is why I don't want to get married. Men are awfully petty, egocentric and whiny. I don't want to handle any adult or child....And they say women are difficult!"

Milena chuckled, finally feeling better after chatting with her rival-turned-friend.

"How did it go?" She asked.

"As expected, selling like oven-fresh bread. Now we just need to take the bullet until the controversy ends, but I doubt many will come forward. You were smart to suggest we don't focus on our people only... How did you decide not to? Last time I checked, Philomenie wasn't front-page material in your handbook."

"....I think she might be working her way there, actually. Moreover, she stood up to her brother and made her first act of rebellion against her husband. We might as well give it a little push..."

"Conquer and divide. Now that's the De Crescent I know. Prince Ellias will be in a tough position. His allies are deep conservatives, they won't like handing more power to women, but if he does help us pass this vote, his child will be recognized as the heir regardless of the gender if he becomes Crown King... aren't you afraid he'll leverage that?"

Milena let out a long sigh.

The two of them had left the office, and were walking side by side in the corridor, headed downstairs.

"He'll leverage anything he can. This is the final battle before the actual War for him or my husband... and this is happening within the Castle's walls."

"As if we could afford it," hissed Rachael. "This is just ridiculous. We should be focusing on the Giants. This war will be ugly, Milena. There are no records of a war with the Giants that ended well. Regardless of the win, the losses were too great each time. With that and the current seasons getting worse, we might not be able to rise again this time."

"...I know."

The two women remained silent, but Milena could feel the anger rising outside of these walls.

Each hour the army didn't leave was more ground conceded to the Giants. With their struggle for power, both Princes were going to be called out for putting their citizens at risk. The issue wasn't that the King had announced his decision late. Milena knew neither Prince wanted to go because the Commander in Chief was very likely to die in the frontline. However, this fight was just blatant selfishness if it continued until there was no Kingdom left to reign...

"The Council will demand an immediate decision anyway," nodded Milena. "It will most likely be down to a vote."

"Ellias will play on his popularity, but... It is complicated for now. Princess airhead is still more popular than you, but you're certainly more popular than either Prince at the moment." Milena chuckled.

"Rayan did specify something like he would have left gladly if I was the one left in charge behind..."

"You will be anyway," retorted Rachael. "Let's face it. Your Father will back you up, you have the most powerful down on their knees, and certainly more power will come from the vote about Ultimate Progeny."

"That would barely give me enough power if it does pass, but if Rayan is gone, I may lose the Vampire support..."

"And who will they support?" Rachael rolled her eyes. "The duo of blondies? They wouldn't even drink from them even if they starved! Ellias has been following his mother's tracks in treating vampires like dangerous extremists and predators from day one!" "Watch your words, Rachael, we are still inside the Castle... Moreover, I know it should be fine. With you by my side, I..."

"Milena, I won't stay."

The young Duchess stopped, and turned to Rachael.

"... What nonsense are you spouting now?" She whispered.

"You heard me. This battlefield is my battlefield, Milena. You know I was never made to settle here and have a family, behave like a good wife to whichever husband my family would pick for me."

"What are you talking about, you're the heir of the De Nova House!"

"A Female heir without anyone to succeed her, Milena. My family was always struggling to produce children because of our vampire bloodline. Each generation wasn't sure if she'd produce a child or two to succeed. My parents were so desperate, they overprotected me from everything until I was old enough to rebel." "Which is why you can't possibly think of going to sacrifice yourself!"

"No, Milena. I'm not going there to die," retorted Rachael. "I will go there to show them what a woman can do. I do not care about a legacy that would only be a couple of children and a name in a record. However, I want to be like the Princess Silvra we both admired so much. I want to be a fighter, a warrior. I want to make them look back proudly and show them what women can do when we give them enough power. You'll stay here, and I'll be there Milena. Each a battlefield, for the next generation. This isn't about our Houses, our Noble name. This is about our people's survival, and what we'll give the next generation to build on."

Milena gasped, a big knot in her throat.

"B-but..."

"I promise, if I survive, I'll come back here and regain my seat on the House De Nova right away. However, for now, there is something more important I have to do. We will build the first path with that vote and then, if Alexis and I return, we will do even better. But I cannot simply sit back and stay put, not with the Historic time and unique opportunity we are living right now. Silvra didn't choose her fights, but she picked her weapons. This is the time we make our mark, Milena. Like I said. You here, me on the battlefield." "...To each woman her own battle," Milena whispered.

"Exactly, Princess; We have to show them what we are really made of."