Lady Dhampir
Chapter 243

Bella pouted slightly with her dark-colored lips; after taking off her jacket to hand to one of the maids and sending her away, she sat down in the chair facing Milena, very straight as usual.

"....I know your relationship with the King runs almost as deep as the one with Prince Rayan," said her friend, cautious with her words. "But don't you think your friendship has... outlived its privileges?"

Milena hesitated. Although she hated it, she couldn't exclude the idea that Ellias could be behind this attack. Her brother had thought the same, too. She leaned back in her seat, finally putting her quill down, her eyes on the piece of paper in front of her. "It's not just that I have faith in... my knowledge of His Majesty's character. More like... it's my gut feeling speaking. I feel like I'm missing something, I just... Don't know why. The King has been acting out of character for a while now. He cares more about keeping the nobles on his side than getting rid of any."

"...That's not wrong," muttered Bella, twirling one of her raven curls around her fingers. "Your murder would lead the vampires to revolt even faster, and he is not ready for such a huge rebellion. In fact, there are few people who would have really benefited from your death, at the moment."

"That's my point exactly. And among the people who don't care if I live or die... There are only a few, but the first ones to come to mind are the Church and the De Winter family."

Bella's expression darkened. Next to her, Olivia politely poured her a cup of blood, and the countess took it with a sigh.

"...Indeed. It's sad for the Queen, but I think her family might have tried to protect her interests without her own knowledge. Now that she gave the King at least one heir already, your existence is a bit of a thorn in the succession line. Perhaps they are even afraid you'd do something first. As for the Church... I'm not really sure why they would want to strike now."

"To rile up the vampires," Milena muttered, putting her chin on her fist. "They probably already know how tense things are. It would just take a spark for all of the vampires to plan a revolt, and Ellias would be only too happy to be given an excuse to repress them." "...Do you think the vampires would lose?"

Bella's tone sounded truly worried, this time. Milena took the time to think, evaluating the forces left on both sides. There was like a gaping hole on each side, created by the war effort and all the men sent to the battlefront. The chances of the vampires surviving the war was higher, but the humans had many more people, and they had sent all the best men to defend the Kingdom. It wouldn't have made sense for the vampires to start a war now, before the victory was confirmed and their kin came back. Yet, if push came to shove, Milena had no doubt they wouldn't get suppressed into silence. They had already been confined for too long now, and the anger was rising.

"I think it would be scarier if they win," Milena muttered. "The Supremacists would definitely use this occasion to take over and reduce the humans into something akin to slavery."

"We wouldn't let them do that!"

"The vampires may not have had a choice," she retorted. "A majority of vampires are already supremacists, although at different degrees each. They most likely believe they would do a better job at managing this Kingdom than what our King is doing right now, and I can't really blame them. We've all read the same books, and sadly, in times of war, there are sacrifices to be made. It burns my tongue to say it, but maybe we just haven't done enough yet. While I don't think supremacism is the solution, we might have to use some stronger laws until the Kingdom is back on its feet. Our cultures are barely handling the cold, our people aren't having enough children to offset all the natural deaths we are facing, and now we have to send so many healthy young people to war. I sincerely hope things will naturally get better once the war is really over and the army does come back, but we also have to plan for a darker future, which might not give us the options we wanted."

"...You mean if your husband doesn't come back."

Milena tried not to glare back at Bella, but it was still painful to hear. She took a deep breath in, and nodded. She didn't have anything to add to that. Bella shook her head.

"Well, the news of your attack must have been spread around now. It's bound to agitate some people..."

Milena glanced outside. Judging by the color of the sky, they were approaching dawn. Which meant she had been attacked two nights ago... She hated to think about the time passing. Each new hour she didn't have any news of her babies made her a bit more anxious, and she wasn't sure how much more she could endure. She was holding onto the thought of Lucian safely getting there, but it had been too long now. Something felt wrong. Either from her brother or their destination, she should have received some kind of note that they were fine...

A knock was suddenly heard on the door, and both women turned heads at the same moment.

"My Lady," said Digory's voice. "The Duke has finished. He would like to invite you and Lady De Camellia to share breakfast with the family, if you'd like."

Bella and Milena exchanged a glance, raising an eyebrow. Breakfast with the family included Eugenie, and it felt a bit soon for that... However, it had been a while since Milena had had breakfast with her father. She couldn't resist the appeal of one normal meal between all the family members, for once.

The two women made their way to the Manor's dining hall, where things had been prepared a bit more ceremonially than usual, probably because of their guests. With the Duke at one end of the table, Bella and Milena sat to face Raphael and Eugenie, who had her eyes down, her expression completely closed off. There was a heavy atmosphere as soon as they walked in, and not only because of the Duke's dark expression. "Good morning, Father," said Milena. "... Any news for me?"

"We still have two of those scum downstairs," he groaned. "But they were most likely hired by the De Winters."

Raphael grimaced, while Bella and Milena exchanged a look. So her second guess was the right one after all. A bit relieved that they had a name, they began eating.

"Do we have any proof?" Milena asked.

"They were hired mercenaries, not part of their Knights or anything. They got quite chatty after I killed the third one, though. It turns out they aren't even sure who hired them. It was a man, wearing the De Winter capes and with the crest on the carriage. They were promised a high sum if you lost your... children, and an even bigger one if you actually survived the shooting and miscarriage."

"Too bad for them they won't collect that," grumbled Raphael with a snark.

"That explains why they aimed only at my lady's stomach," said Bella. "From the precision, they were probably experienced. They would have succeeded with their plan if I hadn't been with my lady to give chase..." "We owe the House De Camellia a debt," nodded the Duke.

"Nothing," Bella refused. "I've already earned quite enough simply by siding with my lady. My shares in the Institute will be an even greater treat, from my understanding. If anything, I'd like to ask Lord De Crescent to help us win back the vampire factions." Bella had dropped her last sentence like it was a natural request, but it had the effect of a bomb around the temple. Both Milena and Raphael froze, and exchanged a glance. Their Father hadn't used his position as a vampire Duke for quite a while now, and for the Countess to ask him such a thing out of the blue... Lady De Camellia was really quite fearless at times. Perhaps it had become even worse from her friendship with Milena, but they couldn't imagine anyone else would have risked such a question with such odd timing. Their eyes naturally went to the Duke, a bit anxious as to how the patriarch would answer this. Of course, he was aware of the latest vampire meeting Bella had brought to his children's attention. Now, she was almost dragging him back onto the front row. "What is Lady De Camellia's intention?" He finally asked in a slow and deep voice.

Although she did look a bit intimidated, Bella took a deep breath in, and turned her gaze to him without blinking even once.

"To stall for time," she said. "I am worried the vampire faction might move before Lady De Crescent launches the Institute, which would be the worst scenario for us. The circulation of human blood as an economy will definitely be an important stepping stone to re- balance the relationships between humans and vampires, but before that happens, we're headed toward a dangerous pitfall. If... the Lord De Crescent were to step up and bring some calm between the nobles, perhaps we could win enough time for this plan to be carried out without incident."

"...In other words, you believe my return to the political scene will make the vampires think twice before they rebel."

Bella remained mute. The Duke's almost angry tone was intimidating enough, and even his children were a bit unsure as to what he was thinking. In a way, Milena was agreeing with Bella's point of view. In terms of intelligence, the countess was one of the few women she considered to be her equal. However, Bella didn't know the difficulties the Duke had experienced as of late. He had been hauled up in the Manor, his mental health left to suspicions. Even Milena and Raphael were reluctant to include their father in their plans. Still, this was a good idea. Milena perhaps wouldn't have brought it up herself out of consideration for her father, but the Duke's return to the political scene might have been exactly what they needed. It would help keep the Supremacist and most vehement vampires in check while not diminishing their faction's power...

They waited for a few seconds, to see if the storm would appear. After a short but awkward moment, Raphael cleared his throat a little.

"Father... It might also be a good way to attract some attention away from Millie, for a while."

Milena wished the table hadn't been so large that she couldn't kick him. Using her as bait was a low blow, even for Raphael! Still, it finally made their father react. He turned his red eyes to his daughter for a while, and sighed. "...No news from them?"

"N-no, Father," Milena muttered.

"... Fine, then. I'll head to the next Royal Council, then."

"So soon?" Raphael exclaimed. "But it's this morning..."

"The timing is perfect," retorted the Duke. "I'll let them know I am quite upset after what happened to my daughter, and I am not someone they can afford to upset. I also need to get back at that bastard De Winter for trying to murder my daughter and grandchildren."

"But we don't have any proof..."

"It doesn't mean I can't let the bastard know that I know, and I will retaliate. They should know better than to mess with my family, and yet here they go and attack one of our carriages, thinking we wouldn't find them. It looks like my children aren't the only ones underestimating me now."

Milena and Raphael made themselves a bit smaller on their seats, although they were internally glad. At least their father had found his combative spirit back, and was probably going to become the De Winter family's personal nightmare from then on. Milena didn't care to know who had actually done this. In any case, she was sure the Church was involved too, and perhaps, they had been hiding behind the De Winter family's actions, as usual. If they wanted to use their relationship with the Church to pressure the King, it might not have been too far-fetched to think they would have received an order to attack Milena, perhaps even to prove their loyalty.

She knew Philomenie probably wasn't involved, nor was her younger half-brother still fighting at the front. However, the rest of the De Winter family wouldn't have been without a reason to attack. It might take a while before the Duke got a hold of the exact family member behind this, but at least, it would be good to scare them and warn them to hold back a little...

"Fine, then," she muttered. "This way, Father, you can use my miscarriage to explain your presence at the court, and I won't even have to show up there."

"I'll go too," said Raphael. "I also want to check with my own eyes what the hell is going on between the vampires. I'll enquire about Henry while I'm at it. Given the current state of things, he might very well be the Church's next target since his younger human brother could come back from the war any day... Supposedly."

They all agreed on that plan, and their meal resumed, although a bit more silent and lifeless. In fact, none of them really felt like having a merry breakfast. Even though Milena was fine, they were still mourning Valentin, and the situation was too tense to enjoy a family meal properly.

When they finished, Raphael and Anton left first to get ready in time for the council, but Milena noticed how her sister-in-law seemed to be fidgeting, and reluctant to leave the dining room. Milena sighed, and turned to Bella.

"You should go home before the sun is high in the sky, Lady Bella. With everything going on downtown nowadays, I have a feeling we should be more careful..."

"I understand. But please, take good care of yourself, Lady Milena. Some vampires might be growing impatient with the King's politics and antics, but many are still wholly supporting you and His Highness Prince Rayan. I'm sure much better days will come, if we just hang on a bit longer."

"Thank you, Bella," Milena said with a smile. "I really appreciate your support. Olivia, accompany the Duchess back please."

"Yes, my lady."

The two women officially parted, but Milena couldn't help but notice the glare Bella sent Eugenie on her way out. She was still resentful towards the young Duchess, it seemed. Milena was of a different opinion, but first, she was curious to hear what her sister-in-law had been so nervously waiting to say. Once the Countess had left, and the maids took over to clean the room, the two of them stepped out together in the corridor, awkwardly standing next to each other. Milena crossed her arms, walking slowly. She did feel a bit lighter now that she didn't have to wear a fake belly, but she was still tired, and although it had been fine while she was seated, the stitches on her stomach were a bit painful now. She wanted to go back and lie down for a bit, but first, she needed to clear the air between her sister-in-law and herself.

For a while, Eugenie didn't say anything, her hands joined and her head low, looking lost in her thoughts. After a while though, she suddenly stopped, and turned to Milena.

"Milena, you may have heard... Your friend Bella and I had a bit of an argument earlier."

"I know."

"She... Said a few things that made me sincerely reconsider my actions over the past few days. I haven't been acting like a Duchess should, at all. For a while, I was so... bent on defending my paternal family's honor, I completely discarded your feelings, and those of the De Crescent family, which should come first."

"Eugenie, that's..."

"No, please hear me out. I will never be able to cut ties with my paternal family. I have always been glad you took my sisters under your wing, and I know it is a great honor for House De Iris. We have been clinging to our noble title for a while, but our family has been... slowly overshadowed by others, in terms of deeds done for the Kingdom. I honestly thought, as the eldest daughter, it was always my duty to give my family its past shine back, and I was very thankful that I was given the chance to do so through a marriage of love with... With Val."

She took another deep breath. Milena was impressed at how Eugenie had improved at controlling her emotions. Even now, she could see the tears she was holding in her eyes, and how hard she was clenching her fingers to keep them from trembling. After a while, she suddenly bowed to Milena.

"I present my most sincere apology for my mistake. I was so bent on clearing my paternal family's name, I didn't even think of admitting my wrong to my in-laws first. That maid was under my watch, and yet I let a spy run free in the Manor for so long with no idea what was going on. Worse, I was too lenient, and I turned against the De Crescent family when my paternal family's name was put in the balance. When I think about everything that happened because I trusted my family too much, and what could have happened to your children... And what Valentin would have said... Really, I owe you an apology the most."

"...Thank you," muttered Milena. "I am one to hold grudges, but not against my family, or innocent people. Even if you made a mistake, you weren't behind the spy, I believe this much....I'm sorry if my friend Bella was rude towards you, but I won't excuse her actions. My ladies-in-waiting are all my most trusted friends, and anything pertaining to my security and that of my children is still... sensitive."

"I understand. I don't think me and Lady Bella could get along, anyway," sighed Eugenie.

"How come?"

Her sister-in-law shrugged, visibly unwilling to detail any more.

"It's just... Something private, between the two of us. I don't want to overshare, so that's it."

"...I see," muttered Milena.

She didn't really care to know why her sister-in-law and maid couldn't get along better. As long as she could trust both, any issue between them should be theirs to resolve.

"If you'll excuse me, then. I need to-!"

"My lady!"

Olivia suddenly jumped from the stairs, rushing towards her and stopping just in time to face Milena without running into her. "Olivia?"

"It's Blanche, my lady! She's back!"