More Disappearances

It took a long time for Eugenie to return. So long in fact, that despite her best intentions, Milena ended up worrying again. Raphael had sent letters, gone to accompany Chartiana home and come back again, and gone to sleep after sending two more knights to see if the Duchess was alright. Even when one of Eugenie's maids quickly made a trip home to explain her mistress was alright, she had to go back quickly after checking on Antonin, saying the situation there was very complicated, and Lady Eugenie was to meet with Tiphania and more people to calm down and decide on their next move.

Of course, all of this made Milena incredibly frustrated. She could only write letters, send them and wait for the answers to come to her. A couple of times, she was on the verge of leaving to see by herself, but Digory and Dinah, who had taken over for Olivia, did their best to hold her back home. Blanche, too, had apparently taken their side, the white wolf angrily growling at Milena each time she would head towards the entrance. In the end, the Duchess was stuck by her own staff in one of the salons, with a warm chimney fire and some paperwork to keep herself busy throughout the day.

Her mind wasn't there, though. She filled that paperwork emptily, not caring much about the current salaries of the Vermillion Lands managers or the quotas of sand. Perhaps even more frustrating was the perfect weather outside, and how clear was the view on the Vermillion Lands. As if to remind her that her carriage would have been riding perfectly fine outside. Milena was so upset that when Digory brought her an afternoon snack, she glared at the butler.

"We still haven't heard from Lady Eugenie, my Lady," sighed the butler. "If you have to get mad at me to relieve your mood, please do, but think of the future young masters. I'm worried stress may harm His Highness' precious heirs."

"Your tongue is still as good as ever, Digory," grumbled Milena.

"Thank you for the praise, my Lady."

Milena sighed, and let go of the piece of parchment she had crumbled without realizing.

"My Father... Digory, what do you think we should do?"

The butler let out a faint sigh.

"My Lord has faced many difficult times in his life. My family has served the De Crescent Duchy for several generations, and I know well how heavy the duties are on my Master's shoulders. Yet, his family is everything to him. Lady Elizia, may she rest in peace, brought a lot of warmth into the Duke's cold heart. You and your siblings are his most precious treasures. I believe the Duke is a man that will be strong anytime you need him to be, my Lady. I hope you will believe in your Father and your older brothers and not try to shoulder everything by yourself. You and my Lord are very similar in that aspect, the ancestors must be both proud and worried."

Milena sighed. Back a few years ago, hearing she resembled her father might have made her happy, but not in those circumstances...

"Has my father been informed of the situation downtown?"

"Not that I am aware of, my Lady. Master Raphael gave orders against it."

"...Let my Father know, once he wakes up. There is nothing he can do now, but regardless of what Raphael thinks, we will need his support later. Just make sure he doesn't recklessly leave the Manor."

"Understood, my Lady."

Milena sighed. Digory was right. They were a family, they had to work together, each doing what they could. She couldn't keep shielding her father, he was most aware of what world they lived in. Considering him like a weak old man was probably the worst thing she could do to him... At least, she wanted him to be able to choose. Grabbing a new parchment and a quill, she quickly wrote a note to Lucian, and then to her husband, letting them know in a few words what had happened here.

The main reason she was so frustrated with Eugenie not returning was that she felt those events were the trigger of something much worse...

"My Lady, our Duchess is back!"

As soon as the maid had claimed that, Milena almost jumped out of her chair. Digory escorted her to the entrance hall, where indeed, Eugenie was getting out of her thick coat, looking cold and exhausted.

"How is Antonin?" She asked first as she saw Milena and Digory coming down the stairs.

"Young master Antonin is fine, my Lady."

"Eugenie, how was it? How come it took so long!"

" By Heavens, Milena, please give me a minute!" Her sister-in-law protested. "My feet are sore, I'm tired and freezing. At least let me have some warm tea before you start asking questions, it's been a long morning!"

"I will have it brought right away, My Lady," bowed Digory.

"Come on, let's move to the salon, I don't like you standing here with the door open either."

The two women went back to one of the salons, where tea was promptly served, and a pair of extra blankets were brought in to put on their laps as well. Eugenie looked exhausted, and her nose and cheeks were still red from the cold, hence Milena didn't dare ask questions again. For a couple of minutes, she let her sister-in-law catch her breath and sip some tea. In the meantime, Raphael was notified of her return, and showed up too, in his bathrobe. He took a seat opposite to the two women, yawning a bit.

"So? How bad was it?" He sighed.

"A nightmare," groaned Eugenie. "Thank God you didn't go Milena, I would have seriously feared for you. By the time I got there, it looked like half the town's folk were crowding the place. The King's guards could barely hold them off the crime scene!"

"The body was... still there?" Muttered Milena, shocked.

Eugenie sighed, and put her cup down.

"Sadly, when I arrived, there was another body found, a few streets further. It was a real slaughter... I'm going to spare you the most gruesome details, but there was just blood everywhere. It looked like someone had been interrupted and fled the scene, leaving the victim to have their blood soil all the street. Or perhaps the victim struggled a lot, I really can't tell. With the snow and mud, it was even worse."

"Was it... another child?"

"No, the other victim was an adult woman, a mother of three and a bakery owner who had gone missing three days prior, apparently. That's why there was an even worse commotion than for the... orphan boy. This woman was well-known locally, so people were upset. Not only that, but a few more people seem to have disappeared, including her children, so everyone was on edge."

"...There were more disappearances? And even adults, seriously?" Muttered Raphael.

"See? That's why I couldn't come back earlier. First, the Royal Guards struggled to keep everyone away from the body, and people had already seen it, and the boy's body, too... I was scared myself, Raphael, that was one... large bite on their necks. I can't say I am an expert, but everyone definitely thought the same thing. I really don't need an autopsy to know it's not a Wendigo this time. I really wish I could say otherwise, trust me. A lot of people saw it, too, and began speculating. Now they believe there are vampires attacking people at random."

"....It's the worst scenario we had thought of," muttered Milena. "Why didn't the Royal Guard come sooner?"

"They did! But there were so many people on the first scene and so much confusion that it took them a while to realize there was another body, and get there, from what I heard. End result is, many people saw two dead bodies in broad daylight, both with very visible vampire wounds that had them emptied of their blood..."

"It's ridiculous," muttered Raphael. "One young boy, one adult woman. What are they trying to prove with that? Everyone knows vampires are... opposite-gender attracted, at best. And only perverts would attack a child, to begin with!"

"...That's not what they care about, now..."

Milena's expression was dark as she said that. She hadn't touched her cup of tea, her hands resting on her belly while she thought long and hard.

"They just want to scare people into thinking vampires will start to attack at random. It's not a bad moment, either. The blood supplies are low, we can't hide it. With so many people gone to war, the vampires are starting to use their stored rations, but..."

"We're not that far yet," said Raphael. "Vampires have gone to the front too..."

"That's part of the problem. Although there were always a lot fewer vampires than humans, the vampires have a higher chance of surviving the battlefront. That's just how things are. People will think the problem will amplify if the vampires who were gone come back from the front..."

Raphael frowned. He hadn't thought that far, and he wasn't sure how many of the common people would be able to see that far ahead, either. However, Milena's words held some truth in them. It wouldn't be crazy to think people were going to be even more afraid of vampires after the war...

"What happened next?" Milena asked.

"Oh, like I said, it was a ruckus. Not only that, but many nobles came with their carriages, so the streets had to be blocked, and the Royal Guards insisted they inspect everyone!"

"What? Why the hell...?"

"That was my reaction, too. They really locked down the area and asked all the people questions. They searched the carriages, saying they were looking to see if we weren't hiding anyone! Trust me, that was not a pleasant experience, and I gave them a piece of my mind, too. For some reason, they seemed sure the culprit was still around or something. As you can imagine, that only made things worse."

"Oh no..."

"The population became suspicious of the vampires who showed up. I was riding the De Crescent carriage, and as soon as they recognized our family's emblem, people began questioning me too!"

"Who else was there?"

"About a dozen nobles, but there were no vampires. Which makes sense, considering that time of the day.... Lady D'Aventur showed up quite quickly as well, and asked the Guilds to act up to prevent any further problems. Luckily they cooperated, and some of the Guild's henchmen talked to the most excited people to ask them to calm down. The Royal Guards were the most annoying, to be honest. They made such a ruckus about blocking all of the carriages, taking names and asking questions!"

"...Did the King order this personally?"

"I don't know, I suppose. They kept saying they were following Royal Orders."

"He probably tried to make it look like he was really trying," sighed Milena, rubbing her forehead. "This is so like him. If there's a crowd, he has to make a show out of it... Did he personally come?"

"No, not at all. It lasted a while when everyone was being searched and questioned, but then, something happened. A man came out of nowhere and claimed he had seen a vampire killing that woman."

Raphael and Milena exchanged a glance, seriously worried.

"...What?"

Eugenie shook her head.

"He wasn't a local, probably someone from the outskirts. Anyway, that man suddenly came forward, saying he had seen a vampire over that woman's body, early that morning. He said the vampire ran as soon as he heard noise, but that man repeated over and over again a male vampire was the culprit. I swear, it was a nightmare. I thought your friend Tiphania was going to come and slap that man."

"...They might have paid a fake witness," mumbled Milena. "To make it worse. They know people will have doubts, so they decided to do this... Did anyone else come forward?"

"No, but that man was taken by the Royal Guards to be interrogated at the Castle, so we couldn't get to know more. Tiphania has people investigating his whereabouts already, though."

"I'll bet he was paid off," grumbled Raphael.

"Either that, or he saw what people wanted him to see," sighed Milena.

"I'm still shocked at how this could even happen," muttered Eugenie. "It was almost on the Capital's main place, Milena. If anyone got attacked or put a body there, no wonder our people are scared."

"...Perhaps that's another one of their aims," suddenly suggested Raphael. "All the guards and knights units have been short-handed since the beginning of the war. Just like you said, such a thing wouldn't even have been possible in normal times, with the patrols and everything. This might be aimed to show the King's lack of power just as much as putting the Vampires in a difficult position."

"That can't be good," Milena mumbled for herself.

Ellias' ego was his biggest weakness. Milena had witnessed it herself time and time again, the King just couldn't bear for anyone to stand against him, let alone make little of his skills. This was exactly the kind of thing that would make Ellias infuriated, for his leadership to be questioned. If the people grew upset, the King's response was bound to be significant, but not in a good way...

"The people are already deciding to organize search parties to find the missing people," sighed Eugenie. "I did my best to talk to some of them, letting them know the De Crescent Family will support this, but they just don't trust us. In fact, they seemed to fear even the nobles from human families that were there; I heard some people blaming us nobles for sending their men to the War..."

Raphael sighed, and leaned back, shaking his head.

"I'm sure you did what you could, Eugenie. People are more upset because things have been hard for them lately, mentally and physically. They just don't have enough hands, with so many men gone. That woman who died probably was defenseless because her husband was sent to the front, too. Many families have lost people already, and some whose father or brother are alive don't know if they will return, either. All of our people are just too nervous, they are terrified. If they believe vampires might attack too, the paranoia will only grow and get worse."

"Let's make a public statement for now," sighed Milena. "I will send someone to the Castle to see if they got anything from that man. Eugenie, can you be the public figure of the family for now?"

"Of course!"

"I'll manage our affairs with the vampires," nodded Raphael. "It's high time they all stop standing in the shadows... I already wrote to the Society, the Council will gather tomorrow night. We will see if anyone knows anything, but I highly doubt it. I will focus on taking their lead for now. I'm sure many will just be too happy to step down..."

"There's nothing more we can do for now, I think," sighed Milena. "If we get too involved, it will be suspicious to people, and it will irritate the King, which I'd rather not have at the moment. We should help the searches more quietly, and all the while, see how much we can control the vampires. I still believe the Separatists won't react calmly to all this. If they feel threatened, they might really try something against the King, and we don't want that..."

Next to her, Eugenie nodded, looking down at her hands with a sad expression. She really looked exhausted, not just physically, but mentally too. Those past two days had really been hard on the young Duchess.

"If only this damn war would end soon..."

Milena thought the same. If Rayan came back, she felt like all of her troubles would be solved at once. More men in the Kingdom would mean more stability, and Rayan's presence would ease the vampires, too. The only risk was the King's reaction, but there wasn't much that she could predict about that. The twins' feud wouldn't be settled peacefully... And she didn't even want to think about it. She just wanted to see Rayan come back, have him hold her and see their babies together. Yet, this felt more and more like a faraway dream, and her days with him felt further than ever, too.

Although everyone in the De Crescent family did as they had agreed too, nothing went easier for them. 

Within the next few days, several more bodies were found throughout the Capital, and the rumors grew.