Lady Dhampir
Chapter 52

Though she had wished she could stay on the balcony, Milena had to go back to the party. Even for he using her snake appearance to cover her like some scaled shawl. As she was silvery white, it made qui After a deep breath, she got back inside, closing the glass door behind her. A lot of people had started deception and eyed in the Prince Ellias' way with sullen looks. Milena guessed the human Prince's pop Ellias was as dazzling as ever, smiling naturally and flamboyant in his gold and white uniform. The younges were literally surrounding him, desperate to get his attention. Milena sighed, looking around for her own friends. She found them soon. Chartiana had been invited by a young man to dance, and was blushing, trying for future customers. Briseis, however, was standing alone to the side, looking bored. She joined Miler "No dance partner, Briseis?"

very cold outside, and as a Duchess, she couldn't be absent for too long, or people would talk. Blanche decided to slide around her mistress' shoulder, ffect over Milena's blue gown.

ng, and the crowd had grown thicker around the dancers, everyone happily chatting and exchanging drinks. Some young ladies had a hard time hiding their and charms had down their share of damage in the poor Ladies' hearts. She couldn't blame them, though.

"You know I am not fond of this kind of activity, especially when it involves touching random stranger Milena chuckled. Briseis had never been fond of the usual chasing around between the young nobles, Milena glanced around, but all three of her brothers were busy dancing with young ladies, and Rayan "My Lady, aren't you going to dance at all?" Asked Briseis.

"I just did, actually," confessed Milena, slightly blushing.

Her friend frowned a bit, confused, but Milena kept her lips sealed for now.

"Lady de Crescent, good evening!"

Behind her, a handful of young people had arrived, apparently to greet her. Milena accepted their poli case, it probably had to do with the upcoming selection. She hadn't thought much people would belie One young lady stepped forward, her face was familiar to Milena.

"I am Jalyn de Tourmal," she said, "and this is my younger sister Kylin." "You're... Lilyn's sister," realized Milena.

Jalyn bowed politely.

e correctly. Yasina was chatting with another group, and from the way she was standing and showing off her dress, the young Baroness was definitely fishing on as their eyes met.

self-esteem I should pamper solely based on their gender."

d of men at all. Her older brother, was actually just as stern as her, and never invited any lady to dance. appeared, too.

s. This wasn't unusual in parties, for lower-ranked families to try and show some extra politeness to a member of one family in particular. In that particular er as a candidate to be Queen rather than Rachael or Philomenie, though.

"Yes, Lady de Crescent. Though our beloved sister is still unable to attend due to our health, she told us she values your friendship very much, and asked us sisters to assert it to you once again today. She was afraid you'd be lonely." Milena felt touched, very touched. Her friend was still very weak due to the sickness, but she had asked her sisters to represent her, so that Milena knew she still had an ally in the Tourmal Family.

The other faces behind them were unknown, though. She barely remembered them, so Milena let them introduce themselves. First, two young men stepped forward. They were both younger than her but looked extremely well behaved and reserved. "Lady de Crescent, our respect," said he oldest of them. "I am Lineus de Tanzan, and this is my younger cousin, Wariam de Tanzan. Our grandfather and uncle hold you in high esteem, Lady de Crescent."

Milena suddenly realized those boys were the grandsons of the Elder Count de Tanzan! Their family had limited political power, but on the other hand, a great deal of influence among the Merchant's Guild. It was an unexpected asset to see the Tanzan Family on her side, and Milena took some time to chat with the two young men. Despite their age, they seemed already very smart and educated about their family business, enough to even get Briseis interested.
Though she had wished she could stay on the balcony, Milena had to go back to the party. Even for her, it was very cold outside, and as a Duchess, she couldn't be absent for too long, or people would talk. Blanche decided to slide around her mistress' shoulder, using her snake appearance to cover her like some scaled shawl. As she was silvery white, it made quite an effect over Milena's blue gown.

After a couple more minutes of discussion, they excused themselves, and Milena let them leave with a bit of satisfaction.

Among the people left, she only recognized one young Lady.

"Lady Kalliope de Sevira," said Milena, giving her a bit of her approval to step forward.

The Sevira family was on the same level as Briseis or Chartiana's families, young nobles who had obtained their rank through hard work and a family business well done. The Sevira family was mostly known as scientists. Though they had been seen as too crazy and dangerous to be worth any attention in the past, their recent discoveries in the last decade, notably about the blood conservation and artificial seed growing for flowers and fruits, had changed their popularity overnight. Moreover, the four children of the Marquess were all girls, and all involved and passionate in the family business. Milena had already befriended the eldest of them, Kalliope, recently. She hadn't expected all four sisters to come and greet her, however. Kalliope introduced her younger sisters, and Milena ended up chatting with them for quite some time, Briseis too.

When they finally left, Milena needed a drink to refresh her ideas. Yasina and Chartiana had finished dancing too, and came back to her.

"This is quite impressive," said Yasina. "I thought you would be one of the least favorites, and now you have six or seven families behind you, including ours. Even Rachael de Nova doesn't have such popularity."

"It isn't that surprising," replied Briseis. "Lady de Crescent has worked hard on both her relationships and her business recently. It was a given that people would be interested in the candidates' doings over their family names. Those Countesses relied too much on their status, they have almost no achievement to themselves, except for a few of them."

"What about Lady de Winter, then?" Asked Chartiana, worried.

Indeed, all evening Philomenie had been surrounded by a lot of young people. Actually, even Milena was surprised to see how many young men were still trying to court her. She was just too pretty to ignore. Milena was beautiful, too, but the kind of mysterious and alluring beauty people didn't dare approach. Philomenie, on the other hand, was like a pretty young flower that anyone could reach, and she was very easy to approach, too, treating Barons and Marquess almost the same. "It's strange..." whispered Briseis, frowning a bit.

"What is?"

"I thought Lady de Winter would try to gather a lot of people, but... For some reason, she only seems to interact with the heirs of each family, as if she was only interested in the future power holder in each family. From what I've seen, she has about the same number of noble families supporting her as you do, but... I've only seen her interact with one or two members for each family."

Milena was surprised, but after observing for a few minutes, she did realize that Philomenie seemed to hold a close circle around her, and anyone else was struggling to talk to her. She was all smiles and politeness, but something in her attitude didn't feel right... "My Lady?"

She had been so busy observing Philomenie, Milena jumped when she heard someone call her from behind.

Prince Ellias chuckled, surprised by her reaction.

"Could it be I took you by surprise, my Lady?"

"My apologies, your Highness, I was lost in my thoughts," immediately replied Milena, embarrassed to death.

Even her friends seemed amused, as it was truly a rare sight to see an embarrassed and blushing Milena. She tried to regain her composure, bowing along with her friends to the Prince, who did the same.

"I hope I did not interrupt you, Ladies. I was hoping I could steal a minute with Lady de Crescent."

"Feel free to steal as many as you like, your Highness," said Yasina with a wink. "We need to go refresh ourselves."

"I don't..." said Briseis, but before she could add anything, Yasina pushed her away with a glare and some strange mimics towards the Ladies' resting room.

In a blink of an eye, Milena was left alone with the Prince.

"You have some great friends," he noted.

"I do believe so too," replied Milena, trying to control her blushing.

"Well, since it is just the two of us now, would you mind a dance with me, my dear friend?" Said Ellias, almost in a whisper.

She shook her head and held out her hand.

"I'd be delighted."

Just like that, the Prince took her hand and guided her towards the middle of the dancers, as a new song began. It was one of the most popular dances, with a slow pace and easy steps. Milena couldn't help but feel relieved a little as they began dancing slowly. "You have improved," he noticed with a smile. "I do my best, your Highness."

"I'm impressed, Lady de Crescent. You're absolutely stunning, tonight. You took my breath away..."

Milena blushed and had to focus to not trip over her own feet for a few seconds. She took a deep breath.

"Thank you, Your Highness. I didn't expect you to appear in your military uniform, either."

"Oh, yes, that... We had some special circumstances."

Milena suddenly remembered her Family's carriage Valentin had noticed and her earlier worries. She had forgotten it all because of the party and the people she had to interact with, but...

"Did something happen?" She asked, worried.

Ellias gave her a gentle but sorry smile.

"I fear so... Could you please not make what I'll just say public? I do not want to ruin the party with bad news, and my Father probably will hold on the news a while longer."

"What is it, your Highness?"

"We might... Be back to war soon. The giants were spotted, closer than we thought."

"What?"

Milena's heart sank. The Giants! She thought the next war wouldn't happen in decades, and that was the general assumption too! A war, now? Milena glanced at her brothers. If something happened, at least two of them would have to go... Ellias gently held her hand tighter, giving her a reassuring smile.

"Do not worry, please. This isn't sure yet, we are still observing the situation. And I don't want this to ruin this evening..."

"Your Highness..."

"I told you, didn't I? That my mother would pick you. How could she not? You're a brave, beautiful and incredibly deserving woman, lady de Crescent. Most Ladies those days are only trying hard to be pretty, and popular..."

His eyes glanced on the crowd of young ladies, giggling and trying to get his attention. Even if he tried to ignore them as he was dancing with Milena, it was hard to miss the chaotic chirping group waiting to ambush him. "Popular can be tiring," sighed Milena, who hadn't missed them either.

"Yeah, sadly. I miss the quiet time in the Royal Library. I don't have any more time to go there as often as I used to, it saddens me."

"Me neither," sighed Milena.

"It's... tiring, sometimes, to play the part. Being the perfect prince... I envy Rayan more often than I'd care to admit. My brother understood earlier than me how to free himself from the chains of our titles."

"Do you regret being a Prince sometimes?" Asked Milena.

The Prince stayed quiet for some time, thinking about her question as they danced a few more steps, perfectly synchronized. Between Ellias's white outfit and Milena's dark blue dress, the contrast was sizzling to anyone looking at their duo. The young Duchess was incredibly pretty, but the human Prince was on the same level. It was like watching the sun and the moon dance together, and incredible yet complementary duo evolving in perfect synch together.

"The answer would be yes, and no. I do wish I could be free, sometimes; Free to put the crown back for one day, travel anywhere I want, study what I want and forget about the heavy burden of my responsibilities; Yet... I also want to be a good Prince to my people. I truly, deeply love this country. I want and will do anything for its survival. I pray every day for a peaceful future with both species together, working hand in hand, united towards this Ice Age. I believe another Golden Age will come. One that will mark the renewal of our Kingdom, as we have hoped for decades. I really do. But..."

He gently smiled, putting his hand a bit more firmly around Milena's waist.

"To do that, to be that perfect King that can guide my people towards that dream, I know I will need... the perfect Queen."