Lady Dhampir
Chapter 58

Exactly an hour before dinner, the Royal servants appeared to come and help her dress, as Milena as suspected. The two maids were visibly surprised to see the young Duchess had already changed into a new dress by herself, picked her own jewelry and was just needing a bit of help for her corset to be tightened. Also, her hair was to be brushed and arranged again. They didn't say anything, however, and diligently tended to Milena without a word, following her every direction.

Milena had decided to take an early start in changing. Most Ladies were usually helped by at least two or three personal maids for every step for their preparation, but she had suspected the Royal Maids would do the bare minimum to see how the candidates could do by themselves... Thankfully, with a bit of help from Blanche, Milena was perfectly fine with changing by herself. Her dresses were all designed by her friend Yasina, who knew Milena preferred simple, elegant and practical designs. Aside from her corset, her dresses were all relatively easy to put on and adjust, without too many layers or buttons and laces. She even had corsets she could put on and tighten herself, with buckles. She had just picked a slightly more elegant outfit for a dinner with the Queen. Hence, Milena was ready way ahead of time and left her room early. Once again, she had no trouble finding her way through the Palace. Though she had never been in that aisle before, she had good geographic memory, and those corridors weren't much different from the ones she had grown accustomed to from her many visits at the Palace since her childhood.

Milena couldn't help but think it was a bit childish of the Queen to judge that kind of ability about the candidates. The future princesses would very rarely be alone without any maid to help them. Maybe she wanted to experiment how resourceful they were? "Good Evening, Your Highness," she immediately saluted as she arrived in the dining room.

The Queen was already sitting at the end of a long table, of course, in a brown and gold dress. Surprisingly, three over ladies had arrived before Milena. First were the Camellia sisters, Aurora and Bella, about which Milena knew very little about. The other one was Verona de Narcissus. They all politely greeted Milena upon her entrance, very composed.

Milena did the same and came up, noticing the seats were already attributed. As a Duchess, she had one of the closest ones to the Queen, right on the second seat on her right. To her surprise, Rachael and Philomenie would have the ones right next to the Queen. This wasn't a good sign for her, but she tried to ignore it and focus on joining the conversation.

"Did you have a good trip, Lady de Crescent?" Asked Bella, the youngest sister.

She had a shy and quiet demeanor, looking very polite. Her lustrous black hair was cut in a bob, and she was wearing a modest burgundy dress. Compared to Bella, her human older sister looked a lot more showy, wearing double the jewelry and showing off her red hair by wearing it down on her shoulder, which wasn't very appropriate for dinner. Milena had asked her maids to put hers in a braided bun.

"I did, thank you Lady de Camellia. I heard your Manor is quite far from the Palace, isn't it? Did you arrive early?"

"We were lucky to stay at our aunt's house within the Capital," said Bella, smiling softly.

While Milena tried to discuss with all ladies fairly, it was obvious Aurora was trying to get more of the Queen's attention on her. Milena shortly decided she didn't like that girl and her show-off attitude. Aurora was undoubtedly beautiful and cultivated, but she was trying to hard to show it off.

In comparison, Verona was much more quiet but very dignified. Milena had already seen her a few times before. The House de Narcissus was one of the proudest and most ancient of the Kingdom, having slowly risen from commoners to one of the noblest titles through many achievements through history. A few of the former Queens were from the House de Narcissus, too, but they remained extremely humble. The only thing was that they were also very influential in the Vampire Cast. Verona herself was a proud woman herself, with long black curls and flawless makeup, red lips and a grey and red dress. It was a bit too much for dinner, but it flattered her complexion, and she didn't wear too much jewelry to tone it done. Compared to the blatant Aurora, Verona had that noble aura that made her outfit legitimate. Sometimes it was more about the attitude than the looks.

As their conversation went on, the other ladies appeared one by one. Some were trying hard to act nice and friendly, and others were sticking to the usual politeness and courtesy. It was the case for Rachael de Nova. She seemed uncomfortable in her dress, and she only wore one necklace for jewelry. As she sat next to Milena, she barely greeted her peers and only waited for dinner to be served, looking bored.

Philomenie, on the other hand, was acting like this was some fun tea party with her close friends, being overly smiling and chatty with everyone. Well, mostly with her close friends, the human ones. She also tried to invite the sisters de Iris, Milena's future in-laws, into her conversation, but Clorence and Prudence stuck to the minimum. As Eugenie had assured, her two younger sisters were most likely only here to be on Milena's side, and they didn't seem to have much interest in the Selection themselves. Milena chatted mostly with them, as well as Verona, who turned out to be of good conversation, and Bella de Camellia, Aurora's younger sister who was much quieter but friendlier than her sister.

After some time had passed, and ten of the selected candidates were present, Milena started checking the clock. The two last girls only had five minutes left to be there on time. She wondered what would happen if they were late. Something else that Milena was interested in was Penelopia d'Orchid's makeup that was running down. Either she had poorly applied it or gone to the humid garden, it was clear that something felt wrong about her appearance. The freckles she had tried to hide under foundation were showing, and she was sweating a bit, which was strange considering that the vampire ladies present were apparently fine. Milena even wondered if she hadn't picked a too thick dress, causing her to be unnecessarily hot. The poor girl looked embarrassed and didn't even dare to sponge herself with her tissue, only looking down all that time. However, it wasn't Milena's place to say anything to help her. This was probably exactly the kind of mistake the Queen wanted to see, and that girl was one of Philomenie's followers, too. Suddenly, the doors busted open, and Chorea de Zinnia, the last vampire and Rachael's best friend, appeared. She was out of breath, but as a vampire, it only took her a few seconds to regain her composure.

"Please pardon my lateness, your Highness, Ladies."

"Come and sit, Lady de Zinnia, you are not late," said the Queen.

At exactly eight o'clock, a dozen servants arrived to start serving dinner. Milena was impressed with the perfect precision of the service. Nothing was amiss, each and every servant acted swiftly and silently. All the candidates noticed it, too, and the atmosphere changed back into a competition, everyone straightening their backs and watching their manners.

The Queen was like presiding the table and nodded with a satisfied look when everyone was served the first dish. She stood up, with her glass in hand.

"Let me welcome you once more into the Royal Palace, Ladies. Every one of you sitting tonight at this table represents this Kingdom's most refined noblewomen and its future. I am sincerely delighted to have the opportunity to know you better for this week. You will be able to have several experiences, in the Castle, to show your worth and how great our future will be in your hands."

In other words, this wasn't just going to be a race to the crown, but the Queen will be observing each candidate as an heiress to their families as well. They were all representing a powerful family in the Kingdom, and this week was a unique opportunity for them to act as their family's representative to strengthen their ties to the Royal Family.

Milena nodded slightly. Indeed, half of the future of the kingdom was sitting at this table. This wasn't just going to be a competition between teen girls, but the occasion to foresee who would become a person of interest. She shouldn't just rely on her connections, but make new ones as well. No matter who became a princess or queen in the end, it would be worthless if they couldn't find the strongest allies here.

Actually, Milena could easily imagine what a nightmare it could be if an unpopular princess was picked. She would have to struggle her whole life to get things done and get the other noble families' support, which was essential to pass new edicts, laws, to actually make any changes. She looked at the girls present with a new eye. She shouldn't make enemies, but more friends... Though there are some that would definitely be a pain to befriend.

"Your Highness? Lady de Hyacinth is waiting outside of the dinner hall. She requests the permission to come in."

Milena turned to the Queen, wondering what she should do. When she had realized her cousin would be the only girl late, Milena didn't want to rejoice, but she couldn't help it. It felt like a little payback for Helena's betrayal.

The vampire queen answered very coldly.

"It appears that the serving hour of the Royal Castle didn't accommodate Lady de Hyacinth's schedule. She may be served in her room."

Milena was struck. So Helena was simply refused the right to come in. Whether she had gotten lost or ran late in getting ready, she didn't even get to explain herself. As expected of the Queen... She was going to be quite unforgiving of any mistakes. Milena wondered if Philomenie was going to say something, but the young Duchess only looked a bit sorry, though she didn't dare protest. That's right. No one was going to dare oppose the Queen from then on, not with their future in the balance. After that, the Queen only found a couple of sentences about a warm welcome from them, and the dinner began without any further incident.

It was a surprisingly easygoing one. The Queen was directing the discussion, but the girls were free to bring up any topic. However, it was quite clear that anyone had their chance to speak and show off their knowledge or not. When they started exchanging about the Castle's architecture, for example, some Ladies were able to debate about the various styles of buildings within the Capital, while some remained quiet. Either they were too shy or uneducated on the matter, Milena couldn't tell for sure.

If this kind of talk was brought up at every meal, the Queen was quickly going to have an overview of each girl's general cultural knowledge. It would be tricky, however, to be able to speak naturally while not trying to show off, but holding a conversation was one of the most basics skills for a Lady. Milena was not a great talker, but she knew how to say a couple of knowledgeable sentences here and there.

Moreover, this was only the first dinner. In the future, the personalities were definitely going to show, and even the ones who were better at speaking out and leading the conversation couldn't possibly be encyclopedias on every matter. She decided to let others shine for the first meal, and observe.

The first more remarkable thing she noticed was that, even if she wasn't talking much, the Queen was effortlessly good at getting the conversation exactly where she wanted. Milena almost wanted to take notes every time she spoke. In a couple of sentences, she could have the topic completely change to another very naturally. She also directed it so that every girl actually had a chance to speak, even the shyest ones. Milena wondered if this wasn't exactly the kind of attitude a Princess or a Queen should have... and decided to keep studying her technique. She also listened carefully to the girls who stood out the most.

While some were obviously extremely cultured, like Verona or Clorence, and didn't need to make much effort, some were just good at making conversation, without being particularly smart. Valentina de Rosella, for example, didn't seem to know more than the minimum on any subject, yet Milena felt like she was the one who spoke the most. Philomenie's friend was extremely good at holding a debate she wasn't even an expert on, bringing others to talk and analyzing smartly their opinions, which impressed Milena. She realized this was another way of making conversation, that didn't need too much knowledge yet made her look very smart. She didn't like her, but the blonde and chubby girl made quite an impression on her.

Perhaps because it was only the first dinner, it remained overall rather uneventful. After dessert, the Queen suggested everyone went to bed early, as they would be having breakfast together the next morning. Once again she told them the exact time and location, and Milena knew this was another subtle test of hers. As the Queen left the room with them, no one dared to stay behind or wander around, though they split into little groups to return to their rooms. Clorence and Prudence d'Iris chatted with Milena on their way back, and let her know where their rooms were in case she needed them.

Once she was back into her room, Milena had the two maids help her undo her dress, and prepared herself for bed. Blanche, who had been quiet into her pocket until the maids left, took her cat form to come and lay beside her. Milena got into her bed with a little notebook Valentin had gifted her at her previous birthday, and took notes for a while, lost in her thinking while Blanche dozed off next to her. When she had enough, she put it all in a little chest on her bedside table and blew the candle out.

"Blanche... I was wrong, you know. I thought I would learn a lot from the Queen, but now, I realize I have eleven other ladies I should learn from."