Beauty in the beast world
Chapter 198: Distance

Chapter 198: Distance

After the new king’s coronation, the entire Fox tribe was filled with laughter and joy. The fox beastmen who were affected by the death of their previous king finally recovered after Xavier took the seat as their new king.

In fact, Xavier being an immortal beastman helped them in boosting their morale more than ever. With only the certainty of having a powerful king standing by their side, they were ready to face any challenges that might come in the future.

Lyra was in awe as she listened to Noah’s explanation about the importance of a king to their respective tribes and also the disadvantages of not having one. Hearing everything, she felt more and more intrigued about the beast world.

For someone like her who used to live in the modern world, things like these felt both amusing and as well as unfamiliar. Logically, she belonged to the beast world because her father was a beastman. Unlike her completely human mother, Lyra was...how to say this? A half-beast woman.

If compared to females of the beast world, She was no different than them. Ah! Now that she thought of it, The only distinct feature of hers was that she got periods every month unlike like females of this world who get it only once a year. This fact always made her sad. But thanks to her recent pregnancies, those horrendous days of getting cramps lessened.

’’Eat this ly, this is tasty’’ She came out of her thoughts hearing Lucas’ voice. He was holding a bowl filled with some kind of meat dish. But before she could eat, a giant palm held her wrist, and when she looked up, gleaming golden eyes greeted her. The glint in those eyes would have scared others but not her. It was because she could see the warmth and immense adoration hidden in his gaze. And she was certain that this gaze was only directed towards her.

’’What’s wrong, sweetheart?’’ she asked in a soft voice and Demir felt his heart melt.

He kissed her wrist which was still caught in his grip before picking up a piece of meat from the bowl and eating it. After chewing it for few times and making sure that it is safe, he handed the bowl to her, ’’I was checking it just in case. You can eat it now’’

Only then did Lucas realize his mistake. He hastily brought the food over without even checking it. He was a beastman, so he would be fine with consuming most of the poisons but his mate was not the same. The last banquet’s incident was still fresh in his memory and he never wished for something like that to ever repeat. So he was grateful for Demir’s quick thinking.

However, Lyra’s thoughts were different from Lucas’. She urgently turned towards Demir feeling distressed, ’’Spit it out. What if there is indeed something inside it?’’ She felt frustrated after knowing what he was doing. He was most likely trying to prevent her from consuming something harmful but at what expense? He was putting himself in danger and Lyra didn’t like it.

"I’m a beastman, sunshine, and most importantly a scorpion beastman. Poisons or toxic items cannot harm me’’ he tried to explain noticing her distress but Lyra was far from being convinced.

’’Don’t do this again’’ She said trying to hold back her tears. Her heart was still beating with fear of something happening to him and he easily dismissed it mentioning him being a beastman. Why couldn’t they understand that no matter who or what they are, she would still feel worried even at the mere thought of them getting hurt?

Demir sighed seeing her sulking. She had her head lowered and refused to meet his eyes even when he apologized. Rather than feeling sad, he felt happy seeing her like this. The fact of her getting so worried about him warmed his heart and he had a hard time holding himself back from smiling widely. That was unacceptable. she would fume if he laughed. So as a last resort, he glanced at Lucas and Noah for help but those two bastards avoided his eyes and left that place. Blake, Victor, and Kyrell were still up the plaza, so Demir was now all alone with his angry sunshine.

’’Sunshine, I’m really sorry’’ he started, ’’Even now I can’t say that I wouldn’t do that again. Your safety is important to me. I can’t see you getting hurt ever again’’

Lyra looked up at him with a frown as he continued talking, ’’I almost lost you when you got poisoned last time’’ that incident was no less than the worst nightmare to him but in that case, everything was occurring in reality and that truly made it even more dreadful. Just remembering that day made his heart constrict painfully, ’’I’d rather get hurt than you going through such pain once again’’

’’Then what about me?’’ Lyra retorted seeing his stubborn answer, ’’Do you think I would be fine if you get hurt? It hurts whenever you talk like this. Like you don’t matter as much as me’’ she cupped his face and added, ’’You matter to me Demir. I can’t lose you....ever’’

Demir took shallow breaths and embraced his beloved. Her small body felt warm in his arms just like her warm heart. Such a precious being was his beloved. She was like a ray of sunshine that entered his bleak life making it colorful.

’’I have never been someone’s priority in all my life. This is new to me’’ his hidden thoughts flowed out of his lips. He couldn’t contain them any longer. Not when there was someone for him who was willing to listen to him, ’’I always thought of myself as a hindrance. A hindrance to my mother’s freedom from my father and a hindrance to my father’s love for my mother. That was all I was until I met you’’

Lyra pulled away from him and shook her head, ’’That’s not true Demir. Your father loves you. You are not a hindrance to him’’ She could not talk about his mother because she had never met that woman. Judging someone before getting to know them was bad. She knew this. But Lyra was not able to stop herself from feeling loathsome toward his mother. Demir’s self-hatred was because of his mother.

Demir laughed as soon as she finished her words. It was sad laughter, ’’My father likes me because I look like my mother’’ And these words shocked Lyra.

’’What?’’ she asked in disbelief.

’’It’s true’’ he continued, ’’My mother hates my father and always wanted to leave him. But my presence stopped her from doing so because, after my birth, her status as queen of the scorpion tribe alleviated. According to the customs, a female abandoning a king-beastman would equal getting her own family destroyed. And as I was still inside the egg during that time, my father getting abandoned would have made me a rootless beastman’’

Lyra’s face paled the more he talked, ’’Becoming a rootless beastman is one of the worst punishments a male could go through. My mother didn’t wish something like that to happen to me and agreed to stay with my father. This is what I learned growing up. Yes, my father likes me but he likes that I was able to make my mother stay even more than that and the elders say that I resemble my mother, so..... ’’

This was why he did not get attached to his father. It was more like a defense mechanism on his side. Demir knew his heart would break if his father confirmed the truth behind his birth. Hence he maintained an appropriate distance from his parents to keep himself safe.