Lady Dhampir
Chapter 65

Milena had never imagined she would be late at one of the Queen's dinners. However, she had never repeating herself that she definitely needed to thank Bella some more later.

The De Iris sisters, too, showed up at her door just when she was coming out, properly dressed for a f herself in front of the Queen...

Thankfully, the timing was just right when they showed up in the dining room. Only half of the candid Lyriana, but Milena wasn't going to complain about that. As the Queen wasn't there, none of the candi wasn't showing. She tried to open chat the most naturally with her friends, their little group standing Aurora.

Once again, the young Countess had overdone it with her outfit. She was wearing an opulent green dr hairstyle. This was definitely too much... Seeing how the vampire girls were all gossiping about her, sh "Lady Aurora... is this alright?" whispered Prudence, looking a bit worried.

Of course, one sister's actions were bound to affect the other, but Bella didn't seem bothered about h "It is alright, Lady de Iris."

Milena understood right away. There were only two reasons for Bella to not care about Aurora's attitu true. Despite her attempts, the chances for the young Lady de Camellia to be chosen as a Princess we already a way to disapprove of her younger sister's actions, but her status as an heiress was probably life pretty much however she wanted.

That was among the advantages of not being the heir of their families. In Milena's family, there was al in a generation that could allow her to marry into the royal family, but Lucian and Raphael were enjoy Valentin, on the other hand, had to excel in both since a young age, as he was supposed to become th was already saying a lot about her position in her family. From their discussion earlier, Milena underst older than her...

ed the two Princes would decide to visit her on the same day, either, and keep her busy until she forgot the time. As she hurried to change, she kept linner with Her Highness. Internally, Milena noted that this was one way to see who her true friends were; the ones that made sure she didn't make a fool of

re there, all the vampires plus Aurora de Camellia, and, most reassuring, her Highness hadn't shown up yet. It was a bit unusual, coming from the Queen could sit. Hence, everyone was hanging around and chatting, waiting for everyone else to show up. Milena hoped that the fact she had to race up there side, away from the main door or the table. Milena noticed the vampire girls were whispering, and after a while, she realized they were stealing glances at

velry that was too fancy for a dinner, and despite her limited knowledge on the matter, Milena could tell she had spent a large part of her afternoon on her ered who was going to say something first. There was no way Aurora hadn't noticed.

nger sibling's attitude. She gently smiled at Prudence.

er she knew she was going to have a brutal wake-up call sooner or later, or she estimated that nothing Aurora could do would affect her. Both were probably and getting slimmer each day she carried on her little show. Moreover, compared to her, Bella was much smarter in her actions. Befriending Milena was teeing her some safety towards Aurora's behavior. No matter what, Bella had the support of her family, while Aurora was a younger sibling could enjoy her

between Valentin, who was the eldest and the heir, and the three others. Milena had a bit more pressure because she was the only female heir, and born ir freedom as the younger siblings. Raphael had given up on being a Knight, while Lucian could brawl and ignore his studies without much pressure. of the De Crescent family. Those rules applied to any family, but Bella had become the heiress of the De Camellia Family despite having a male sibling. This at, even if she lacked some financial support and didn't have the backup of all of her elders, Bella was already doing great, despite being just a little bit

"Do you think her Highness is going to interrogate us again tonight?" Asked Clorence, in an obvious attempt to change the topic. "Of course she will. Question is, on what topic..."

"Anything but household management, I hope," sighed Milena.

"The future Princess will have a lot of butlers to help her, anyway," said Prudence with a frown. "I wondered why her highness asked that, actually..."

"She probably wanted to hear answers like Lady Milena's," replied her sister. "I'm sure you earned some points for yourself, Lady Milena. Compared to some others..."

"It's not about points," sighed Milena. "It's about lasting the entire week... We are on the second evening already. Her Highness will most likely become more and more strict about the candidates from now on. I suggest we think twice before speaking, it would be embarrassing to be kicked out."

All three of them nodded. Indeed, now that they had been selected, the final choice remained on the Princes. Her Highness only was using this week as a way to eliminate the candidates she didn't like, with valid reasons. No one should be underestimated or too sure of themselves until those six remaining days were over.

"Green is such a horrid color," suddenly sighed Chorea, loud enough for all of them to hear.

Milena crossed her arms, curious to see how this would unfold. However, Lady Aurora remained silent, checking her manicure and completely ignoring the young vampire Lady's remarks. Chorea de Zinnia glanced at Rachael, but the Duchess was pretending not to pay attention, too. This was an obvious way to say she didn't care about her words, but wouldn't support her either. Milena chuckled; this was so typical of Rachael.

"Some people should just learn their place..." hissed Chorea.

Once again, Aurora ignored her perfectly. She was doing an amazing job of not getting into this petty fight... Milena glanced at Bella, but she didn't seem surprised to see her younger sister so composed either. She probably knew enough to be able to not fret about Aurora getting into this petty fight so easily. Perhaps that also explained why she wasn't too concerned about her behavior.

Philomenie and her friends arrived all at once right after that, and Lady de Zinnia stopped her attempts at pissing the countess de Camellia off immediately. Philomenie and her friends were so loud in greeting everyone that it would have been completely out of place to try again, anyway. The atmosphere of the room was changed in an instant, from being cold and rather quiet to warm and all bubbly. Despite their cheerful entrance, Milena thought it was odd that the human Ladies would show up later than the vampire ones. Rachael and her friends had probably napped all afternoon, while Philomenie had fun with her friends in one of the salons, most likely. Milena couldn't help but frown a bit, remembering her earlier words with Prince Ellias...

Suddenly, one of the servants present announced the arrival of her Majesty, and all heads turned to the main entrance.

"Good Evening, Ladies," said the Queen, walking in.

Milena could tell she had slept since this morning. The Queen's complexion looked much better, and with the night falling soon, just like all the vampire ladies, she wasn't struggling as much. She glanced at everyone present, and one could tell she was counting to see if any of them was late again.

As it wasn't the case, she didn't say anything and invited everyone to sit down. All the ladies took their seats, and Milena was silently grateful to be able to rest her feet... She silently promised herself to send another letter to her friend Yasina later, for more comfy shoes. Those heels were their third attempt and they still felt just as horribly painful than the previous ones.

"I hope you enjoyed your day, young Ladies. How were your activities?"

Of course, Philomenie's friends were first to answer, gloating about their little embroidery competition, and how Philomenie had turned out to be adorably clumsy yet so skilled. Half of the table was bored just from listening, but it would have been rude to interrupt them. It was hard to tell if the Queen was really interested. Her emotions didn't show anything. She truly was a master at hiding what she really thought. Milena kept observing her, but she really couldn't decipher Queen Lyriana at all. What was she truly hiding? How close was she to the Oracle, and how much did she know about her? And the Saint?

Milena turned to the person sitting in front of her at this long table, Philomenie de Winter. Did she have any idea about Blanche's peers and their origins, too? Milena couldn't help but be a bit lost on what to do from then on...

"You seem preoccupied, Lady de Crescent," said the Queen, noticing her frowning eyebrows. "Is embroidery such a complicated matter for you?" Milena chuckled politely.

"My apologies, your Highness. Lady Philomenie was talking about something as light-hearted as embroidery, yet I let my thoughts wander to more complex subjects."

The young Prudence immediately gasped quietly. She exchanged a glance with Clorence, happy to have understood what stood between the lines of Milena's words. She had just depicted embroidery as a futile, boring matter while staying extremely polite. However, if she had understood, and she probably had, the Queen didn't say anything. Philomenie, too, didn't seem to have realized and was looking at Milena with her big, curious eyes.

"Really? Would you share with us what subject had you so deep thinking about?" Asked Queen Lyriana.

"I was actually reminiscing about the Oracle's prophecies, your Highness. I heard mine such a long time ago, I wondered what part of it was becoming true nowadays..."

The whole room had gone completely silent, even the servants exchanged surprised glances. Milena mentioning the Oracle in front of the Queen was so blunt... However, her Majesty couldn't stay silent for too long.

"That's an interesting question to think about, Lady de Crescent. What conclusion have you come to, then?"

"No definitive one, I fear. All of the prophecies are subject to so many interpretations..."

"What is your prophecy, anyway?" Rudely asked another voice.

Milena turned to Chorea, who had asked so bluntly, shocking a lot of ladies present. It seemed like her previous unsuccessful attempts at making Aurora mad had made her moody... The young Duchess wasn't impressed, however.

"I apologize, Lady de Zinnia, but I would like to keep it to myself."

"Why?"

"Lady de Zinnia," hissed the Queen's cold voice.

This time, everyone in the room froze. It wasn't a good sign for her majesty to intervene herself in a fight between to candidates, but now, her red eyes on Chorea were truly showing signs of annoyance.

"I am surprised at how interested you are in Lady de Crescent's prophecy, Lady de Zinnia," said the Queen. "I thought your family, of all people, knew the importance of keeping their secrets private.".

Just from those words, Chorea went incredibly pale, which was already quite surprising for a vampire. Now, she looked like a ghost, her skin almost grey, her eyes open wide and her lips resolutely closed. Milena was shocked. What kind of family secret was the Queen hinting at, that would scare Lady de Zinnia like so?

Everyone seemed to understand the warning, as no one dared to add anything. Even Philomenie had lost her usual bubbly demeanor and turned to the Queen with a faint attempt at a smile.

"I... I'm a bit curious about mine as well, your Majesty. Do you think The Oracle could grace us with her presence again someday?"

"I would love to meet her again," immediately added Milena.

The Queen seemed a bit annoyed, but two young Duchesses were asking. It would have been strange for her to refuse. She slowly grabbed her glass, and let the servants walk in to serve all of their entrees. Milena wondered if she was hesitating, or looking for a good reason to refuse their request. She exchanged a look with Philomenie. It was obvious she hadn't only done this just to support Milena, she was curious as well. What was Philomenie's relationship to the Saint? Was she on a quest for answers as well? Finally, the Queen put her glass down, as the servants had left, and the atmosphere was almost awkward. She sighed.

"Fine. If Lady de Crescent and Lady de Winter insist so much, then... I guess I can bring the Oracle to share the breakfast with us tomorrow. She'll probably be happy to participate as well..."

Milena had a hard time not showing how happy she was. This had gone so well, she could see the Oracle the very next day!