Lady Dhampir
Chapter 269

"M-My Lady?" Asked the Butler, confused.

Milena didn't answer. If one of the sisters really had survived, she was probably in hiding right now. But where would Euphoria go? She couldn't have simply run away from the Residence; one of the servants would have definitely seen and recognized her. In fact, why hadn't she simply hidden somewhere close, and showed up now? Unless she was pursued as she escaped? Even so, someone would have seen something... "Milena."

She turned to her Father, still frowning. She knew her thinking was far-fetched, but she couldn't help but believe she was right. Even if it was her wishful thinking playing out, she had to believe one of the sisters, at least, had made it out... She just couldn't believe their residence, their hard work and their family had gone down in flames. It meant everything had happened during the Banquet... Someone really wanted to prevent the sisters' research from going out.

"Did the sisters say anything before this happened?" Milena asked the female butler. "Did they mention anything of importance, to you or any one of their trusted staff."

"I-I'd like to believe I was one of their most trusted staff, aside from their personal maids," sniffled the woman. "But no, my Lady. As you know, my mistresses were extremely careful with their research, and trust pretty much no one with it. Everything was concealed in their research lab, as always, but..."

It had gone down in flames. Milena glared at the burning residence once again. If anyone had wanted to stop the sisters' research, they wouldn't have done anything differently. This was too infuriating. She was not going to let this pass.

"Find the culprits," she told the De Crescent Knights. "I don't care how small, find any clue of any kind that we can use. Interrogate every witness present, find out everything that happened in the residence today. I want a name." "Yes, my Lady."

She turned to her father, but before she could speak up, they heard loud trumpets, and the sounds of several horses with riders coming their way. Milena frowned, and turned around to see, although her father naturally stepped to stand before her, in a protective stance. It was so late already, and people who had come to help wouldn't have had their horses come at moderate speed, nor their steps sounding so light. Those men hadn't come here because of the fire... Milena put a hand on her weapon, ready to grab it, and glanced down. Blanche was standing in a defensive stance, too, but she didn't seem angry and as furiously growling as she would have been to an obvious enemy.

"...The Royal Guards," finally scoffed her Father.

Milena released the tension in her hand, but she wasn't pleased in the least to see those people. There were only three riders, too, and one coming forth with the obvious colors of the Royal Family on his horse and outfit, as a representative. Milena easily recognized him; he was one of Ellias' minions; a lower-ranked noble that always hid in the King's shadow.

"G-Grand Princess?" He muttered when discovering her at the scene. "What are you doing here?"

"Is that meant to be a joke?" Milena hissed. "The fire could be seen from the Royal Castle, and you have the guts to ask me that? Do you perhaps think I'm on a stroll?"

The house still burning down behind her spoke volumes. The man swallowed his saliva. Whatever he had come to do here, he wasn't expecting her presence, which intrigued her all the more. He glanced at her father, too, not any happier to see the Duke either. Anton tilted his head, and his hand hadn't left his sword.

"...I have come here to deliver a Royal Decree for the Sevira Family," muttered the man.

"Really? One your Grand Princess is to hear for the first time, at the same time as the receiver? Is it perhaps that some people have forgotten who the Grand Princess is? Or could it be that I am no longer part of the Royal Family, without my knowledge? That is quite surprising information to miss!"

The representative grimaced, visibly uneasy. Milena could already guess this so-called decree was another result from Ellias' secretive Council he had held without her on purpose. She was having a feeling that either way, it would be too late to invalidate anything. If he had gone so far as to issue several decrees regarding the noble families, that Royal Council was definitely meant to bypass her authority, and try to put things in motion before she could retaliate.

Unluckily for the man, Milena was already at the Sevira Residence, and the Residence itself was obviously in a bad state, even still burning before their eyes. The terrible smell of ashes was saturating the air, along with the nauseating smell of burnt flesh. He glanced over the lined up calcined bodies, with a disgusted look. Milena squinted her eyes. This bastard knew what to expect when coming here.

Suddenly, the vivid sound of a whip slashed the air, and the man was brutally dragged down from his horse. In a joint movement, Anton grabbed the horse's bridle, keeping it from going rogue, while Milena dragged his rider across the way in the snow. The man screamed, gathering the attention of everyone around.

"How dare you stand in front of the Grand Princess without bowing," hissed Milena.

The man was already wailing, and raised his shocked eyes at her. He was now laying flat in the snow, her whip tight around his throat, and staring at Milena in sheer terror.

"What is it?" She calmly asked, tilting her head in a similar fashion than her dad's. "Did you think it was alright for you to stare me down from your horse?"

Her purple eyes suddenly went to the two men that had been riding behind him, and both of them understood right away. They literally leaped themselves down from their horses and into the snow, knee down and heads low, fearing for their own lives under the Grand Princess' wrath. This wasn't merely about the protocol; Milena was furious, and unfortunately for him, Ellias' minion had come at a very wrong time to worsen the situation.

"I-I'm sorry," the man cried out, his fingers desperately trying to grab the whip to lessen the pressure around its throat.

In front of him, not only was the Grand Princess standing, looking down at him like a vulgar rat, but her white wolf was also virulently growing, all fangs out and dangerously close. "Speak," she said. "Didn't you come to deliver a decree in His Majesty's name?"

"I-I... I ought t-to read it..."

Milena briefly glanced at the piece of paper still hanging on his horse's saddle, and snickered.

"Don't pretend you don't know the content of it. Come on, speak up. The longer it takes, the shorter my patience is. And I've already used much of it today."

"T-The Sevira Family i-is... accused of... o-occult... science..."

"Oh?...Keep going."

"F-For illegally... r-researching on t-the wendigos... W-without the R-Royal Family's a-approval..."

"What is Ellias playing at?" hissed Milena. "He knew the sisters were working for me!"

"T-They d-didn't get... official... ap-proval... My Lady, p-please... your whip... release...

"You're not done talking," she retorted coldly. "So, keep talking..."

The men's eyes were turning red, and his lips blue, but Milena didn't care at all for his suffering. She had lost some more of her friends tonight, and in the most cruel way possible. She had no reason to pretend she wasn't mad, especially when Ellias had cowardly sent someone else to receive her anger.

"The s-study on the w-wendigos has b-been deemed i-illegal... and... c-considered as... occult science f-from... now on."

Milena grimaced.

"Let me guess. Was this the Church's idea?"

The man nodded helplessly, but he was still struggling to even breathe, his fingers helplessly trying to grab on the whip that was carving red lines around his neck.

"... Those b****y bastards," groaned Milena. "Cursed be Ellias. He truly has become their lapdog!"

Only the Church could deem something as an "occult science," and this had been their best strategy to prevent anyone from enquiring too much into wendigos. It was terribly efficient, sadly, as it would both put Milena's people's research in jeopardy and as an excuse to arrest them, and at the same time, prevent anyone from looking too much into how wendigos had come to be... which was also their doing. They were trying to cover their tracks before it was too late. Milena glanced towards the Residence. Most likely, they had feared the remedy's appearance, and decided to strike first. Getting rid of the Sevira sisters after that decree would have been too late, as they would have known they should flee. Thus, they had used this sort of impossible timing. A fire to kill them, and conveniently, the decree would deem them as criminal post-mortem, so the inquisition about the fire would be sloppy, at best... They would probably declare it was the will of God, or something. The Church was good at leveraging this sort of event. "...Father."

"Yes?"

"We both saw criminals fleeing the scene, didn't we? Someone who caused the fire to the Manor, and ran away."

"Yes," her father immediately nodded.

The men behind the representative exchanged a surprised glance.

"How convenient," said Milena with a smile. "Not only have we arrived at the right time to witness those lowly criminals starting the fire in the Sevira Residence, but they also killed the Royal Representative of his Majesty that was trying so hard to prevent their escape. Sadly, this is an unfortunate turn of event."

The men once again exchanged terrified glances, slowly understanding the meaning of her words. The man trapped in her whip, perhaps because he had been putting all his focus into trying to breathe, didn't realize. The Duke pulled out his sword, and in one swing, cut the head clean from his body. The head flew, and landed at the feet of his accomplices, whose expression sunk. They both screamed and jumped back, eyes riveted on the body.

"Go back to your King," Milena said in an imperious voice. "Tell him everything exactly as we said it. And bring back this... It would be sad if we left the proof behind, wouldn't it?"

The men exchanged stares, completely in shock. Not only was the Grand Princess having them lie to the King's face, and even if they decided to tell the truth about the events, bringing back the Representative Head's was more than enough of a clear message... this was a warning to him.

"... What is it?" Said Milena with a vicious smile. "...Do you think one head won't be enough, perhaps?"

Understanding the threat, the men ran to grab something to pack the head in, their eyes going to the body lying at her feet. They were visibly hesitating to bring the rest of it back... They tried to approach, but before they could, Blanche suddenly jumped on top of it, and her bite missed their fingers by an inch.

"Ah, no," said Milena. "This is mine, for now. If his Majesty wants the rest of his lap dog's body, he will come to me to ask for it. Now go."

Both men didn't hesitate any longer; their superior's body wasn't' worth risking their heads too. They got back on their horses, quickly running away from this place and that dangerous woman. Milena glared at their backs until they were out of sight, and retrieved her whip, using some snow to wash the blood off of it.

"This time," she sighed. "I think it's time he understands I'm done playing around and closing my eyes on his pathetic attempts to screw me over."

"... What about the Church?" asked her Father, leaving the abandoned horse to the knights.

"Oh, they are going to pay for that," hissed Milena. "They're probably getting restless because we're closer to exposing the pile of s**t they've been sitting on all this time....I'm going to bring those b****y bastards down, Father. I'm not going to let them use my friends' murder against me. I'll send the snake's head right back to them, and make sure to bite hard."

A smug smile appeared on her father's lips. Milena was his daughter indeed... and a De Crescent. They could be calm watchdogs when unbothered, but anyone relatively smart in this Kingdom should know better than to try and tease a sleeping wolf. "... We need to go home," she finally muttered.

"Whenever you want."

"Right now," she said.

She turned around and went back to her horse, hopping back on Black Bella's back. She glanced again at the bodies of her friends, a bitter taste on her tongue.

"....Prepare the bodies for a decent funeral," she muttered, her throat tightened by anger. "Knight, grab that bastard's body, we're bringing it with us." "Yes, my Lady."

She turned to the butler, who had assisted, mortified, at the whole scene.

"...I hope you understand what you're supposed to do?"

"Yes, my Lady," nodded the Butler, visibly on the verge of crying again. "Whatever they ask, whatever the price, I can swear everyone here will follow your Ladyship's will. It was the will of our masters, and we will serve them until they are properly avenged." "...I'm very sorry for your loss," muttered Milena.

With the Sevira family dead, and their residence burning behind them, the servants were all going to find themselves out of employment and homeless. It was, perhaps, the worse part. They really had tried to bury everything with this fire. It was pure luck that some had survived, but their lives would be far from what they had known after that. The female butler glanced at her colleagues, and nodded bitterly.

"We... We will manage," she muttered. "For now, we'll make do with the stables and whatever's left..."

"I will provide some money to help you out," announced Milena. "I cannot give jobs to all of you, but I swear I will provide reference letters for anyone who needs it, and money to help you get back on your feet, at least for a while."

"Thank you so much for your generosity, my Lady," nodded the butler. "Your kindness will not be forgotten."

Milena nodded, and turned Black Bella around, heading home this time. It wasn't just generosity. All those servants were going to be vulnerable, and most likely, interrogated by Ellias, his men or the Church to get some answers as well, the ones they wanted to hear. What Milena had done was no mistake, and they were going to make sure to retaliate.

That Royal Council was the biggest problem. She didn't know what else had been decided behind her back, but if they had gone as far as to accuse Henry De Boreal and get rid of the House of Sevira, she couldn't exclude the possibility that there were even worse things to come their way. The beginning of the blood bar's commercialization was probably the trigger, but knowing that she was close to a cure against the Wendigo had probably made them panic. Otherwise, neither Ellias nor the Church would have dared to take such radical actions overnight. It was too much...

"Milena, we have to start preparing," suddenly declared her Father.

They had just arrived at the Manor's entrance, and were getting down from their horses, the servants and Digory rushing out to greet them. They knew Milena was supposed to come home far later than that, after the Banquet, and had probably spotted the fire from afar as well. As a meticulous professional, Digory didn't even ask about the body dragged by the knight, and swiftly gave orders for everything to be prepared for their masters inside.

"...I know," grunted Milena.

She hated it, but what had happened at the Sevira Residence wasn't only an attack against her, but the clear premise of a Civil War. Despite her efforts, Milena had to admit, it would be hard to keep it under control now. The Sevira might have been human, but all of the Vampire Community knew what they were working on, and the hope their research represented; As soon as the information was going to be known, things would blow up.

"My brother?" She asked Digory while walking in.

"Still nothing new, my Lady. He has... a few more white hairs."

From his expression, Milena guessed it was more than a few. She hoped it was a good piece of news. More white hair probably meant he was closer to completing his transformation... If that could be considered a good thing. She still had mixed feelings about it. As far as she knew, Raphael would lose all his memories of his past life if he woke up as a new White One. Not only that, but since the Oracle was dead, the arrival of a new White One was definitely going to be scrutinized by everyone, the Church first... "Post more guards in front of his bedroom. No one goes in or out without our permission, and I want each servant that has to go in and out checked."

"Yes, my Lady. I will make the arrangements right away. Lady De Camellia has sent an urgent note for you. It arrived minutes before you did, through her personal carrier bird."

Milena frowned. Bella? Why would she send a note to the Manor? If she knew Milena was home already, that meant she already knew about what had happened at the Banquet... She opened the note and quickly read it, her brows furrowing more and more at each of the few lines of her friend's handwriting. Eventually, Milena ripped the note with a stone cold expression.

"What is it?" Asked her Father.

"The Society of Vampires. Sounds like they decided they truly didn't need Henry anymore. Those fools are having a reunion tonight, initiated by that dear Duke De Nova."

"They are preparing for war," muttered her Father.

"... Not if I can stop it."