The next sunrise in the mermaid island was filled with vigor, everyone in Lyra's house was busy arranging the luggage for traveling. After finishing packing they reached the end of the mermaid island.
Bella held Lyra's hand "I will miss you Lyra, make sure to visit sometimes"
Lyra smiled faintly "Thank you for being my friend"
When both friends were exchanging goodbye. The mermaid king called one of his men "This is a special fabric available only in wave city, take it with you"
Lucas received the soft, silky fabric and tied it together with the other luggage. After saying their goodbyes they started their journey towards the beast city. Lucas turned into his beast form carrying Lyra on his back, Blake, and little snakes followed after them, whereas Victor turned into his vulture form and started flying looking for any possibility of danger from the sky.
Traveling for almost half a day they finally reached the city gates, Noah was waiting near the entrance and smiled seeing them "I have arranged everything, we should head to the rose palace"
Blake lifted Lyra who was dozing off from Lucas's back and followed after him, Noah was already getting restless to see her face but she was buried inside Blake's embrace. Walking for some more time they finally reached the rose palace and Lyra stirred in her sleep, Blake glanced at her "You woke up?"
She rubbed her eyes and replied, "Hmm, did we reach?"
"We are here" Noah answered
Lyra glanced at him and smiled warmly "How are you? I missed you"
Noah froze in his place, his pupils shook violently, his lips quivered "Y-you missed me, baby dove?" he was not able to believe his ears, he felt like floating on the clouds, his heart started palpitating in anticipation. Even if what she said was a lie it was enough for him to last his entire life.
Lyra tapped on Blake's shoulders to let her down, both Blake and Lucas entered the castle to let them have their alone time. She slowly strode towards him and hugged his neck "It is true, I indeed missed you"
Noah crumbled in his place, his shivering hands embraced her hastily "Thank you so much baby dove, I-i love you"
Her heart hurt for him, how much must he have endured for thanking someone for missing him? she truly didn't understand what was so special about her to receive so much love, was she even worth all this? these thoughts always lingered in her mind.
She caressed his back consoling him "I'm sorry for pushing you away for so many days"
Noah nuzzled against the crook of her neck "Don't apologize, feelings can't be forced, it takes its own time to develop, I'm more than happy now to know that you like me"
"I like you" Lyra affirmed
Noah tightened his hug, his lips arched into a smile. Lyra pulled a little away from him and looked into his reddish-brown pupils, she pecked his lips and smiled brightly, He chuckled and bent down to capture her lips, both kissed passionately and laughed together, "You look very pretty when you smile baby dove"
She nuzzled against his chest and hugged him, after a minute both of them entered the castle still in each other's arms. The rose palace as its name implied had a garden of red roses, Lyra's eyes twinkled "It is so beautiful here"
Noah smiled at her "I knew that you would like it, that's why I chose this palace"
She leaned against him "Thank you so much, it is a great place, I always loved roses"
Then she reached to pluck a rose but a thorn pricked her "Ah!"
Noah widened his eyes and put her finger inside his mouth "Careful baby dove, there are many thorns inside"
Lyra nodded her head and both entered the living room, Lucas was busy arranging everything in the kitchen and Blake was unpacking their luggage inside one of the bedrooms. The castle was three-storied, built with stones and each floor had three bedrooms, one living room, kitchen, and the topmost floor included a terrace.
Lucas came out of the kitchen and glanced at both of them "Will you eat something Ly?"
She shook her head "I'm not that hungry, you should get some rest"
Lucas nodded his head and went inside one of the rooms, Lyra glanced at Noah "I want to meet the wolf queen, can you take me there?"
Noah smiled and got up "She was eagerly waiting for you, I bet that she will be delighted"
Both left for wolf castle after informing Blake and Lucas, the wolf castle was a walkable distance away from the rose castle and they reached it in a few minutes, the guards left them inside after seeing Noah. They went to the second floor through stone stairs and entered a room with a table and chairs. Today both wolf queen and lion queen were chatting together when Lyra entered the room. The wolf queen sprang up from her chair and reached to Lyra "When did you come? I was thinking about visiting you tomorrow"
Lyra smiled in return "I just arrived and I wanted to meet you, my queen"
"Don't call me queen, you can call me mother" the wolf queen whined
Lyra awkwardly opened her mouth "Yes, mother"
"How sweet" then she turned towards the lion queen "That is Noah's mother, child"
The lion queen smiled warmly "You are indeed beautiful, now I know why my son fell hard for you"
Lyra chuckled "Nice to meet you mother"
The queen beamed and glanced at her son, Noah nodded his head shyly and turned his face away. The lion queen felt very happy for her son, just yesterday she knew how heartbroken he was and it hurt her, but now seeing how happy he was warmed her heart.
Both mothers dragged Lyra and started conversing with her.
Meanwhile, in the scorpion castle, Demir jolted awoke due to loud noise, he narrowed his eyes "Who is that!?"
Following his voice, a dark figure entered the room "It's me!"
"Victor?"
Victor beamed at him "You still recognize me? I'm touched"
Demir rolled his eyes "What are you doing here?"
Victor sat on the stone chair in the room "I came to meet my old acquaintance"
"Then get lost now that you have met me," Demir said and waved his hand
"Why are you chasing me away?" Victor asked angrily
"Because you are disturbing my slumber" Demir snapped
Victor folded his hand and tapped his finger "You should go out of your castle sometimes, don't you feel stuffy staying inside?"
Demir chuckled "Says the one who never came out of his cave for fifteen years. what is even interesting outside?"
Victor smirked "Well, I met my love when I went out" then he leaned forward "Demir I have someone I love now"
Demir frowned "First Blake and now you? Are you guys going around snatching females?"
Victor clicked his tongue "I didn't snatch her, she snatched me away"
"What?"
Victor's eyes mellowed remembering their first meeting "I was attacked by some eagle beastmen recently, one of my wings was injured making me fall to the ground. Lyra who was passing by the forest helped me and treated my injury, and took care of me, my sweet girl"
Demir raised his brows "Lyra? Is that her name?"
Victor nodded his head "She is Blake's mate, but she will soon become my mate"
Again that female? then he glanced at Victor's beaming face and wanted to wipe it out of his face, how dare he rub it in his face?
"So, you should also get out sometimes, who knows? A female might come to fancy you" Victor added
Demir clenched his fist "I heard that Blake's female is pretty?"
Victor's eyes gleamed "My sweet girl is the most beautiful of them all, I was left astonished when I first saw her"
"Then introduce me to her," Demir said casually
"What?"Victor asked frowning
Demir smirked "Let me meet her, who knows I may also take a liking towards her"
"Demir!" Victor warned him
"What? Aren't you here to boast about your female? It is only right for me to meet her" Demir replied
Victor pointed his finger at him "You, stay away from my sweet girl, I will kill you if you commit something with your twisted mind"
Demir laughed loudly in return and soon glared at him "Both you and that snake are getting your happily ever after even though you are the same as me, and you accuse me of having a twisted mind?"
Victor got up from his seat and turned to him "You have lost it Demir"
"Yeah, I have" Demir agreed
Victor sighed and flew out of the castle leaving Demir behind.
Demir clenched his jaw and fell back into his bed. After some time his golden pupils turned blazing, his breathing became labored making it difficult for him to breathe, then it clicked to him that his poison was acting up. Being an immortal beastman controlling one's power was very essential and it was even more for poisonous beastmen like him, due to his fluctuations in emotions of so many days his poison reached its limit asking for a release. He staggered and got up from the bed and reached out of the house into the nearby wilderness, he didn't want to hurt someone in this situation. Demir leaned against a tree trying to calm the poison in his body, his forehead was covered with sweat beads. At that moment he felt someone's hand on his forehead and heard a soothing voice
"Are you okay?"