Lady Dhampir
Chapter 204

Ellias glared at his sister-in-law for the longest time, furious. Milena's words were a direct blow to his face.

"Princess Milena, I strongly suggest you reconsider what you're offering here. Do you realize the consequences of your actions?"

"What about it?" arrogantly retorted his sister-in-law. "I am in a position to offer a solution to this war, and I am doing so, as my obligation as a Grand Princess would have me." "You're talking about creating an opposing power to your King!"

Milena let out a long, exasperated sigh.

There he went again. It was true, that Corporation's power would possibly outshine the Royal Family. No one had dared to create such a global power, because it required connections. Milena had the connections, but she actually had almost too many. What she was offering was no less than a global corporation, centralizing the power of several already powerful families. In reality, this was something the Royal Family itself should have done earlier, but it just wasn't possible for Ellias; There were too many opposing factions, and as the King, he was already in a position of power towards the Noble Families, and couldn't act as Milena did. He couldn't just use the appeal of capitalism when he was already in the top position, and, presumably, getting the taxes from the richest. In fact, many people here were already trying to keep their capital and not get taxed anymore. If Ellias had been the one to require all the Nobles to work together in such a fashion, it would have led to massive disputes. Moreover, Milena was in a position where she could reach out her hand, and let the opportunists take it. Her brother-in-law would have been able to seize it all, but not out of goodwill or genuine interest.

This was the truth behind Milena's move; she was deliberately using all of her assets at once. She wasn't powerful enough to scare those men, but she was still enough of a leading figure to appeal to them. She was a businesswoman, which, ironically, made it less of a competition, and more of financial interest, especially given her own successful ventures. She wasn't too present on the political scene, as of late, so it didn't look like some political move to rally people in her. Finally, as the wife and sister of a soldier herself, her interests in winning the war were obvious, and trust-worthy.

All of those things only Milena De Crescent could have pulled off, and of course, she was well aware of what she was doing. The risks and possible outcomes were already ruled out in her mind, and she was ready as soon as she had put her offer down on the table. In her mind, there was a need to act, that overruled all those risks, no matter how great she knew those were.

"I haven't uttered a single word about going against your Majesty," she calmly said. "In fact, I believe my main aim is to help this Kingdom win a war that's been going on for too long already. As a member of the Royal Family, I don't see how not acting within my power and given rights would be any more decent than this."

"You're gathering nobles' power under you. Asking for finances and military power," hissed Ellias between his teeth. "Do you think I don't see where you're possibly going?!"

Milena remained quiet, only staring at him with an impeccable calm. She knew all too well what Ellias was thinking. If she succeeded, she'd possibly have more power than him, free of any political control. Ellias was probably terrified that, under the pretense of doing this to win the war, Milena was preparing for her husband's return. Seeing all those nobles already ready to join her was humiliating for the King to watch, but it was a troubling reflection of the current state of the Senate. Divided, and desperate for solutions, or a powerful leader. Milena had the inevitable asset to be a woman, hence naturally seen as less ambitious, controlling, and politics-driven. People weren't just ready to throw money in their enterprise, they were also happy to have someone to turn to, a decent lead to follow.

She had already realized how empty that military meeting was. There were no real solutions offered, only history books quotes and empty budget arguments. She was offering a radical but efficient solution, and, regardless of what Ellias was thinking of, this was precisely what they needed.

"...As I said, I am offering a solution," Milena calmly repeated. "Your Majesty, do you have a better alternative?"

All eyes suddenly went to the King and his big green eyes.

No, he didn't. If he had, he would have done it long ago, or perhaps withheld it. Although Ellias feared his twin actually coming back victorious, he wasn't so foolish as to hope they'd actually lose against the giant. He had been prepared to be a king his whole life, and, unlike appearances, he did care about the Kingdom. He just didn't want to also risk losing the respect he had gathered as a king.

Nothing mattered more, at the moment than making himself legitimate. It was his ultimate dilemma ever since he had succeeded in getting the crown. In fact, he had never thought things would turn out this way, he hadn't wished for this, for that open confrontation with his sister-in-law. Mistakenly, he had thought becoming King would be his end goal, and solve everything. Even if Rayan lost, he thought it would only be fair, and his twin brother wouldn't dare cause a ridge between them. They had never been close, but he believed in his brother's temper. How could he have known things would be so different? Far were the days of their childhood, where nothing mattered than his future title, his future queen. His future. Yet, the future now felt like a bitter, restless present...

"The Royal Family shall fund this enterprise, then," he said. "I will personally oversee..."

"I believe I am part of the Royal Family, Your Highness," retorted Milena. "Moreover, this is my idea. Although I strongly appreciate your Majesty's support, I will remain in charge."

A few people in the room coughed, embarrassed. Milena was pushing it a bit, not only refusing the King's lead over this project, but on top of that, requesting him to invest in it... Ellias became a bit redder, as no one there was blind about that current struggle for power. "Lady Milena, the Royal Family is still governed by me, the King and head of this family. Although you have a lot of legitimacy as my sister-in-law, I believe an enterprise which shall reveal to be crucial to the survival of our Kingdom should be held of utmost importance, and thus given the best opportunity, hence why, as a King, I shall personally oversee it."

"I see," scoffed Milena. "Your Majesty thinks this Princess can't perfectly rule this enterprise by myself? What am I lacking, then? Money? Power? Connections? Military knowledge? Understanding of how to run a business? Leading skills, perhaps?" Ellias frowned repeatedly, visibly at a loss of arguments; Although he was the King indeed, he had no valid reason to take Milena's project away from her. In fact, everyone was aware of the real reason the Grand Princess deliberately refused to hand it over, but there was more at play than that. This was obvious defiance towards the King, from a woman who had taken a seat on the sidelines for too long. Milena herself regretted she had to come to such a head-on confrontation with Ellias. In fact, she had hoped this wouldn't happen until Rayan was back, or she had at least given birth.

However, Valentin's death was a major wake-up call; she couldn't stand in the shadows any longer, and let Ellias run the show by himself. The damage caused was increasing every day, and the gaps between nobles getting alarmingly deep and wide. In this very room, their supporters could clearly be seen; there was no shade of grey, as no one had hesitated to take her side, or remain silent to keep the King's trust. Which meant Milena had no way to play political games this time, and nothing she could do to avoid this duel. She had to demonstrate her power alone here and now. Of course, most would see her husband's shadow over her, but this was the duality of her position: some saw her as a powerful woman of her own; the others saw her as her powerful husband's proxy, and both worked.

"Grand Princess," said Ellias, visibly trying to stay calm. "I believe it would be best for you to accept my help."

"I'll accept your financial support."

"If you make this an initiative of the Royal Family, I can support you fully. You can have all the financial support, as well as mine. You will have all the access to the Royal Libraries, all our military archives, and years of knowledge." Milena was genuinely impressed by Ellias' calm and apparent amicable position right now. He had somehow erased all anger from his expression, and was looking at her with those green eyes that could appeal to anyone.

Unfortunately for him, the young Lady Dhampir had grown numb to those green eyes' effect. She didn't trust Ellias anymore, that was something that was broken, and even if it got repaired, there would be visible cracks along those lines. It didn't matter how many years, what words he'd use or what he'd do. Milena had spent too many years seeing the damage caused by the twins' rivalry. She could see and realize for herself the dangerous situation their Kingdom was in. She turned her eyes to Briseis' great-uncle, the old Marquess d'Artsein.

"Does the Chief of the Royal Archivists believe there is any information this Grand Princess cannot access at the moment that would be a valuable piece of information for our current issue?"

"I believe not, my Lady," said the old man, bowing with a gentle smile. "The d'Artsein Family as well as all the Royal Archivists and Librarians would be more than glad to help." "Thank you, Marquess," she answered with a gentle smile.

Milena turned to her brother-in-law once again, with no need to add anything. Ellias was still doing a great job of hiding his inner turmoil, but that vein was beating at his temple, and his knuckles were white. Milena had just no intention to give up, and if she had to, she would do any strength demonstration she needed. She took a deep breath. They were losing too much time on this banter.

"Your Highness, I believe this initiative needs to run freely and out of political control that would slow it down. As you already know, there is no reason I would be lacking in leading this, as I already have all the necessary assets. Your contribution would be appreciated, but not mandatory in any way."

"... You're aware that you'll add to our inner conflict this way, Lady Milena?" He hissed, visibly bitter this time. "By refusing to let me lead this project, you're deliberately opposing me."

"I'll take all the responsibility."

Milena didn't need to add anything else. In fact, she didn't want to face Ellias any longer.

Of course, she knew there'd be heavy consequences to opposing the King and creating such a thing under his nose. Not only was he definitely trying to hinder her, but he was also served the best excuse to attack her. Milena was posing herself as his clear opponent with what had happened that day. Perhaps, this would even constitute a cornerstone into the future of this Kingdom, but no one could tell yet. It was only clear to all the Nobles present that the Grand Princess and the King had definitely fallen apart, and both powers would now be facing each other directly from now on.

She slowly stood up, Dinah coming to help her.

"Now, I believe enough has been said. If you gentlemen will excuse me, I will take my leave now. I will keep all those who showed interest in this initiative in mind and let you know further on how we will proceed. Of course, anyone is still welcome to join." "I haven't officially ended this meeting," hissed Ellias.

"And unless you've missed it, I am pregnant, Your Highness. Do I need to explain to you a pregnant woman bathroom needs, here and now?"

Ellias made an exasperated grimace, but didn't humiliate himself any further by answering. Milena sighed, and walked out, greeted by some nobles on her way out.

Only once she was out and the doors closed behind her, did she let out a long sigh. She had no intention to listen to whatever was going to happen in that room after she had left it. She had enough people that would gladly report it to her later on. For now, she actually did need to go to a bathroom, but for a different reason. She felt like she was going to collapse soon under the pressure of keeping all of her grief bottled in. Dinah escorted her to the nearest one, but quietly waited outside while only Milena and Blanche walked in. Inside, Milena glared at the mirror, and cried a little. She could barely believe she had been doing this mascarade of a military meeting. Her brother was dead, and she just wanted to be able to mourn him in peace. She suddenly wished she was a child again, who could act on her feelings and run home to cry in her father's arms...

Despite Blanche shape-shifting to gently hug her in her arms, Milena endlessly cried on her white shoulder. She could feel Blanche's hand caressing her hair, but everything else felt numb and cold.

"Millie cry too much..."

Milena kept crying regardless, as she needed to let it all out. She could act her part perfectly in front of those men, but in here, alone with Blanche, she just needed to let her emotions follow their natural course, or else she thought she'd burst. It just was too much to handle. She had almost lost it while talking to the Marquess, as the memory of Valentin introducing her to the Castle's libraries and archives inevitably crossed her mind. It just like his death was haunting her already, the news hammered in her head minute after minute, not letting her forget unless she was busy ripping someone to shreds. She was scared she'd become a horrible person if she had to keep focusing on her anger to ignore her pain, and she couldn't do that...

For a long while, she just cried on Blanche's shoulder. She thought about her dad, how he had possibly overcome his wife's death, his grandmother's, and now his son's... She just wanted to go home. She was tired of the Grand Dhampir Princess, she just wanted to take off that wretched mask of a politically-driven bitch and be a simple young woman. She envied those who could cry all they wanted, without a care for who'd see them or what people would think. Those who didn't have to pretend they were fine to win political battles and hide their weaknesses in bathrooms... She felt like crying, screaming, breaking something even, but then again, there were spies absolutely everywhere. She couldn't. This was the other side of the blade, the one that bit and hurt every second of her life. There were the pretty dresses, the luxury, the money, the castles, but they all came with a huge responsibility and a public image that stuck to her more than her own skin. At any second of day or night, she had to be Milena De Crescent, she had to act the part. It wasn't a job she could quiet once she walked out, or that would just resume the next day while she enjoyed herself. It was there every minute, every place. In all the eyes that followed her, in all those who listened to her words and watched her actions. It was like a curse haunting her from every shadow, in every pair of eyes...

"Millie can cry."

Blanche's words made her smile. It was like when they were in that cage, holding their small bodies against each other for comfort. Her best friend was her best comfort... The one who knew the real Milena, the little Millie who desperately needed to cry her older brother. Because Blanche was there, she could cry, and let her weakness show. She knew the shape-shifter had her back, she knew she could pour some of her sorrow into her. Sadness couldn't be given away, but the burden did feel lesser when it was put in the open, and shared with those with the same grief. At least to Blanche, Milena could show how sad she was, without fearing sorry or holding back. She could show her raw, bottomless pain and give in like she'd follow a river's stream.

The river wouldn't disappear, but at least Blanche would hold her hand and not let her drown.