Lady Dhampir
Chapter 72

After she laid a bit longer with Blanche, Milena had no choice but to get ready for the dinner with the Queen. She certainly didn't feel like it. She still had a headache. This often happened when she was working too hard, or studying late in the night, but she felt it was unfair for her migraines to come back just because she had argued with the Princes. She was really shaken up by her discussion with Prince Ellias. Somehow, she felt like his words had shattered the trust she had in him. Maybe she had been too blind for a while. Milena was torn between her mind and her heart once more. She kept thinking about it while getting ready for dinner. She put on a very sober dress, a dark grey one, and didn't pick anything fancy. For once, she didn't felt like trying too hard. This competition was starting to have a bitter taste on her tongue. As she was adjusting in the mirror, Blanche kept looking. She was frowning her little nose, looking annoyed.

"Milena tired."

"I know, but I have to go, Blanche. I'll come right back and get to sleep as soon as I can, I promise."

"Talk talk with the princes too annoying. Millie sad."

"I'm fine, I promise. Moreover, we have a little thing to settle, right?"

Blanche smiled.

"Blondie out?"

"Blondie out," repeated Milena. "I'm in a very bad mood, and Lady de Rosella has seriously been annoying me. It's time we get rid of her."

Quickly, Milena put her plan in action. It was almost too easy, and it was certainly not nice, but Milena was certainly in a mood to mess with one of her rivals. Valentina de Rosella was going to pay a heavy price for disrespecting the duchess. Moreover, getting her kicked out would also be a blow to Philomenie, a detail that motivated Milena even more. She quickly wrote down a little note, and handed it to Blanche. "Make sure no one sees you, Blanche."

"Blanche sneaky sneaky!" Said her friend, taking the little note and shape-shifting again.

Milena let her friend leave, and finished preparing herself. If only that dinner could be over quickly, she would be only too happy to go back to her room. Right before dinner time, Bella and the De Iris sisters came to get her. The three of them were standing outside her door, with gentle smiles on. Milena felt a bit relieved to see her friends, even if it reminded her of Ellias' words earlier. She took a deep breath, put on her best effort at a smile, and followed them. Mouse Blanche joined her at the end of a corridor. Milena felt the little creature grabbing the bottom of her skirt and climbing up, sneaking into one of the inner pockets. She gently caressed her, pretending to smooth her skirt.

The dinner was held in a different room this time. A closed, round one. To Milena's surprise, there were only ten seats ready for the candidates. For a second, she worried to see who was gone, but then, remembered all of her own allies were there. She exchanged glances with Rachael, who was already present, chatting with Verona and, to Milena's surprise, with Aurora de Camellia too. Milena quickly interrogated Bella, but she seemed as surprised as she was of this sudden rapprochement between the two. However, Rachael's glance to Milena was held a bit long, and she understood that her ally had been working hard too at making new connections...

When Philomenie entered, Milena suddenly realized who was missing. Helena de Hyacinth, her cousin. Had she been kicked out by the Queen? Over what? Everything seemed fine just earlier...

As soon as the Queen arrived, looking tired as usual for the dinner, all candidates sat, but, to Milena's surprise, no one rose Helena's absence up. Either they didn't dare to ask, or they already knew, she couldn't say. The dinner went on quite normally even if, in Milena's eyes, going down from twelve candidates to ten did make a bit of a difference in the flow of the conversation. However, with Valentina there, it was still going on quite lively so. The subjects of the days were not that interesting or challenging, talking about embroideries, then shop management, and the trading market. All of those were topics either Milena had already proven her worth in, or she didn't care about.

Hence, this time, Milena stayed rather quiet, except for when the Queen or someone would bring her into the conversation on purpose. She had never been one to be put forward in the discussion, but since her answer to Chorea de Zinnia had been a matter for elimination, all of the candidates had become naturally wary of her.

Actually, that rose a question in Milena's mind. She kept it for herself until the dinner was over, though.

When the desserts finally arrived, Milena had only one thing in mind, going back to her bedroom and resting. However, to her surprise, another servant ran in just when they had started eating their desserts, and whispered something to the Queen. Her eyes immediately went to Valentina de Rosella. Milena saw this, but pretended to focus on her glass of blood, drinking slow, delicious sips.

"Lady de Rosella?" Called the Queen with a gentle smile on.

"Yes, your Highness?" Immediately replied the young countess, almost too happy to be called personally.

"Do you have any affair you would wish to share with us for dinner?"

The young countess stayed blank for a second, completely caught off-guard. She seemed confused, exchanging a glance with Philomenie. "Af... Affair, your Highness? I'm not sure what you are talking about...?"

"A love affair, Lady de Rosella. Surely, that would be an interesting topic to share with us? Doesn't everyone love an entertaining love story?"

The young countess went white, exchanging looks with her friends, unsure about what to say.

"I... I don't understand, your Highness..."

"I see. It is too bad, then."

The Queen went back to her dessert, acting as if nothing had happened, but Valentina was still obviously shaken. She couldn't understand what had just happened, and she was scared. Moreover, she was getting looks from almost all of the candidates, who had understood something was up. She didn't touch her dessert until the dinner was over.

When all of the candidates could finally leave, Milena was among the first to go. Her headache was still there, and she wished she hadn't drunk so much blood, it was a bit heavy on her stomach. She quickly bid her friends good night and walked to her room. However, when she was almost at the door, she felt someone was following her. She stopped and turned around.

"Lady de Nova," she sighed. "No offense, but I hope this won't become a routine."

Rachael smirked.

"Aren't you the one who wanted us to become friends?" smirked the young vampire. "Anyway, I had some interesting news for you. The King is busy with matters of the war there days..."

"So I heard," sighed Milena. "They say it will be sooner than anticipated."

Rachael nodded.

"I think the Prince who isn't picked as King will be sent to war."

Milena took a deep breath, closing her eyes. This was even worse than she had imagined... The choice of who would be King was going to be more crucial than ever.

"Who are things with the vampire faction?" She asked.

"Not good. According to my father, the Supremacists are a real pain in the a*s. They are gaining more seats at the senate, but this feels too... easy."

Milena agreed. This couldn't be that simple. Why was the balance shifting so close to the coronation date? It didn't make any sense for the supremacists to suddenly get what they wanted, not after the Capital had been terrorized by all of the attacks. She sighed. Every one of her enemies was starting to play this game of chess, and she didn't like not seeing where it was going.

"So you have made your choice?" Asked Milena.

"I guess so... We both know I won't be getting that crown and anyway, I'd rather secure myself on the military council than with all the damn paperwork. You are aware of the Prince's whereabouts, aren't you?" "You are well informed."

"Meeting the two of them in plain sight wasn't that smart, Lady de Crescent."

"It is a bit too late to be playing in the shadows. Except for Aurora, we all already know how this is going to end, unless something big happens... How did you get to her, by the way?" Rachael smirked.

"I have my ways. She is smart, she knows I am not her enemy. What she doesn't know yet is that I am not yours, either."

"I see... Well, we better keep this in the shadows then."

"You better keep your end of the deal then, De Crescent."

"If I get what I want," sighed Milena.

Rachael tilted her head.

"Oh, I did notice you looked a bit down today. How unusual. I don't care, though, you better beat that little airhead, because I am not working for someone dumb enough to adore their useless brother."

Milena chuckled. Certainly, she could never imagine Philomenie and Rachael working together. Suddenly, a couple of maids ran past them, going to the end of the corridor. Neither Rachael or Milena went to see, but they could hear Valentina's screams and yells. Milena sighed, massaging her temple. She was hoping she would be kicked out soon, or this wasn't going to help her headache...

"You did this, didn't you?" Asked Rachael with a smirk.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Lady de Nova."

"I see. Well, I would have, otherwise. She was getting on my nerves as well. By the way, aren't you a bit harsh on your own cousin as well?"

Milena frowned. What about Helena? She had nothing to do with Helena's dismissal...

"If you'll excuse me, Lady de Nova, I am very tired today. I would like to rest early."

"Fine. Good night, De Crescent."

"Good night..."

Milena didn't wait to check if Rachael was gone before closing her bedroom door behind her. She was truly tired. And why did Rachael think it was her fault that Helena was gone...? What did she mean by too harsh? Milena had done nothing to her cousin, actually. It was even surprising for herself.

Milena glanced at her empty room, and noticed the silver tray on her bedside table. There was some delicacies for snacking, a hot towel as usual but, most interesting, were her letters. Her brothers! She almost jumped on it. Blanche shape-shifted to help her undress quickly, and Milena decided to take a long bath while reading them. Those letters were the best news of her day, even if they didn't carry many good news themselves.

Valentin and Lucian were busy with the army. The Kingdom was really preparing for war, as Rachael had suggested earlier, which somewhat shook Milena. It felt even more real while she read her brother's concerns. None of her brothers ever lied or tried to conceal things from her. They were all very blunt, and hence Milena knew they spoke their real minds about the war. While Lucian was rather excited to have his first mission as a knight, Valentin was anxious. He had hoped to be able to properly settle with Iris, but now, they were thinking of rushing their wedding just in case. Milena felt sad reading his words. She knew how Iris had been dying to marry him and have Valentin's children, but now, it seemed like everything would be disturbed because of the war... Milena read her father's letter next. Anton de Crescent was never one to show his feelings, except for his daughter. He was worried about having her in the Castle, even if it was only for a week, and be unable to visit her. He said a few words about the war, as well, but his short letter showed how busy her father probably was.

Milena had kept Raphael's letter last. She missed him a lot, and she knew reading her brother's words would be the best to lift her spirits' up. However, the content of his letter wasn't what she had expected. First, he was telling her about his adoptive daughter, and how she was doing. Then, about life in the manor, his own work, and how her maids missed her, even the head maid Sofia.

The next part was more intriguing. Raphael didn't want to say too much in the letter, but Milena understood between the lines that this was about the society of vampires. What was going on? He was cryptic, but they were apparently facing some internal issues... Did that have to do with the supremacists? Milena was confused. She wished Raphael had said more. However, there was another interesting piece of information. Though he had said nothing in his letter, their father was furious at the De Hyacinth family for betraying Milena to go to Philomenie's side. Hence, the Duke was taking punitive measures against her cousin's family, and apparently not going easy on them. Milena smirked reading those lines. She now knew why her cousin had missed dinner... She probably had left the competition of her own before things escalated. One less thing to worry about for Milena.

She was dying to answer them right away, but she was very sleepy already. Milena decided to fold the letters and read them again in the morning, as she wouldn't be able to come up with proper answer now. She quickly got into her nightgown, and hopped onto the bed.

Blanche shape-shifted, taking a cat's appearance, and snuggled next to her on the bed. While Milena fell asleep almost right away, Blanche took longer. She always took little naps during the day, so that she could guard her friend's bed at night. Hence, when the window opened, Blanche opened an eye too. She saw the silhouette come closer to the bed, and started growling. If it was an assassin, Ruby would have already taken care of him. Blanche didn't like their intruder's identity nonetheless. She shape-shifted into a wolf, growling and guarding Milena, standing on all fours above her body.

"Young duchess, would you mind asking your bodyguard to calm down? She looks like she could bite..."

"She certainly could. And she would calm down if you'd let me sleep peacefully, Prince Rayan," sighed Milena.

The young Duchess sat down on her bed, and let the little candlelight by her side, glaring at the vampire Prince standing against her window.