Beauty in the beast world
Chapter 83: Banquet

Chapter 83: Banquet

The trio finally reached the banquet hearing Victor’s constant bickering on their way.

Reaching the entrance of the event, they went to their designated bonfire. The cold wind breezed in the darkness of twilight making one not help but go near the flame, seeking warmth. Lyra’s eyes darted around looking for others amid the hustle of the banquet, then something clicked in her mind "By the way where is Killian? I did not see him in the castle"

Victor chuckled "You only remembered him now?"

She glared at him, but on the inside, she felt embarrassed for not asking about Killian for almost a day.

"He went to attend some errand with your father in the morning, it might take some time for them to return" Blake was the one who answered

Lyra nodded her head "Is it about my mother?"

"Hmm" Blake affirmed.

Her eyes filled with tears after affirming her thoughts, but she held them back by blinking her eyes. She felt terrible for not being able to do anything for her mother in this situation. Gregory was being too cruel for someone he loved. The first thing that mattered in one’s life was the happiness of our loved ones or that was what she believed. Possessiveness was alright to some extent but going beyond our conscience to make someone as their own was bad. Our loved ones are living beings, not some objects of obsession to force our love on them.

Accepting rejection can be hard for some people compared to others but that doesn’t entitle us to push our feelings to our loved ones. Lyra could understand her mother’s principles, coming from the modern world, she was used to monogamy and it was not wrong. Lyra also sometimes felt guilt for claiming to love more than one person, but it was what she had to do. All of her males loved her dearly and were ready to sacrifice their egos for her sake, and she was grateful for that, she couldn’t even think about the consequences if they fought with each other to monopolize her.

Each of them was different from the other, Being with Blake made her feel safe and she loved to spend time with Lucas because of his playful countenance, whereas Noah was a responsible person. Then came Victor an ever happy go person, she basked in his deep love and adoration and to speak about Demir, She was not able to spend more time with him, because he was a little conservative and shy in expressing his feelings, but she knew that he loved her dearly and felt relaxed in his presence. And at last, her soulmate, the stubborn black panther was an aggressive lover but restrained enough to not make her uncomfortable with his feelings for her. Lyra always observed that Killian clenched his fists in her presence to maintain his composure.

She came out of her thoughts when Blake shook her shoulders. He looked at her red eyes and frowned "They will find your mother, Please don’t be sad Lilly"

Lyra smiled listening to his reassurance "Thank you so much for being with me, I wouldn’t be able to do anything without all of your help"

Blake engulfed her in his embrace "We should be the ones to thank you for coming into our lives. As for me, I felt alive only when you came into my life"

"Same for me" Victor spoke interrupting their sweet moment together.

Lyra looked at him and chuckled "Oh really? I thought that you liked me because of my face"

He nodded his head "I indeed was enthralled by your beauty but I’m not such a shallow person to love someone, only because of that. Your compassion and helping nature towards an injured stranger like me stirred my heart, Not everyone can do that"

Lyra raised her brows "Then it may be just gratitude towards someone who helped you"

Victor took Lyra’s right hand and pressed it against his chest "Look how my heart is beating just from your mere touch. You may say that it is just gratitude but it is more than that for me. I want to experience receiving love from someone who is even kind to a stranger" then he grinned "I fully believe that my heart is safe with someone like you, so, please take care of me".

Blake on the sidelines cringed hearing Victor’s words "How can you even talk such things with a straight face?"

Victor chose to ignore Blake’s remark and continued staring at Lyra. She on the other hand didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, his face was screaming for her to praise his speech, and surprisingly his words warmed Lyra’s heart. Anyone can love but not everyone can fully trust their partners, and for someone like Victor who went through childhood trauma, it must have been more difficult for him to put his life in her hands. She was a fragile person herself in deciding her emotions and returning someone’s feelings took more time for her, but she realized that it was wrong to only prioritize her feelings by neglecting others.

Was she even capable of loving someone like Victor? Did she truly deserve this love? Can she take responsibility for someone who is hurt in the past? Lyra couldn’t help but question these to herself in her mind. But she wanted to try it out, she wanted to solidify his trust in her.

While she was thinking, Blake shook her shoulders, bringing her out of her reverie "I have some matters to take care of regarding the snake clan, I’ll be right back after finishing"

"Hmm" Lyra responded and looked as he left their bonfire. After that, she glanced at Victor by her side who was grilling the meat, then observed his face as he continued doing his work.

Victor sensed her gaze on him and smirked "Why are you staring at me like that my love?"

Lyra blinked her eyes and blushed "Oh I’m sorry, Did I make you uncomfortable?"

He shook his head and looked into her eyes "I can never get uncomfortable in your presence my love"

"You say the oddest things," She remarked leaving him confused

"Do I?" he asked as he chuckled

"What I’m trying to say is, that you are far too intelligent and creative compared to other beastmen. Sometimes I even thought that you were someone from the modern world"

He raised his brows in surprise "I didn’t know that I was like that"

"By the way, how are people from your world different from beastmen?"

Lyra pursed her lips "People there can’t turn into beasts, both females and males are born in their human form. They are very advanced, intelligent, and possibly more cunning. There are many other things but it is hard for me to explain"

Victor’s eyes twinkled in mirth "Oh, so are you indirectly calling me more intelligent by comparing me to the people from your world"

"How can you twist those words to own advantage?" she asked frowning

"I’m quite good at it" he stated with a straight face.