The mermaid king clenched his fist in anger and walked out of the water, Gregory sighed tiredly and followed after him.
Blake and Victor were still fighting trying to tear each other apart, they also made sure to go far away from Lyra's house to avoid her from witnessing their fight. As they proceeded with attacking each other, Renold ran towards his father the mermaid king "Father, how do we stop them?" he asked worriedly
The mermaid king closed his eyes to calm himself and informed him "Go and call Lyra, we must make sure that she witnesses them acting like wild beasts"
Renold hesitated a little "They already announced that we shouldn't inform this to her, they might kill me"
His father looked at him in disappointment "Are you truly a prince? How can such a scardey cat be my son?"
Renold lowered his head in shame and jogged towards Lyra's house.
.
.
.
When Lyra entered the house after meeting Blake, her eyes searched everywhere in the house to find her babies, Lucas noticed her and pointed towards the bedroom "They are inside Ly"
Lyra smiled brightly and went to the bedroom but halted her steps not daring to enter inside, her eyes widened seeing many black little pythons roaming all around the room. She instinctively took a step back, Lucas noticed her reluctance and urged her "Why are you not going in Ly?"
Lyra cursed him in her mind for speaking so loudly, the next moment his voice attracted the snakes as they marched towards the door. She swore that her life flashed before her eyes, Lyra stumbled and got on Lucas "Mama!" her shrill voice covered the entire house
Lucas caught her and caressed her back "What happened Ly?"
"Sn-snake there are snakes inside the room" she spoke nervously
Lucas was confused "They are your children though"
Lyra halted her shouting, she slowly turned around and saw eight small black snakes with five of them having green eyes like Blake and the remaining three with blue eyes like her, they were staring at her with familiarity, and she instantly felt guilty for getting scared of her babies.
Her eyes filled with tears as she mustered her courage and got down from Lucas and walked towards them. The snakes likewise slithered towards her, she bent down and stretched her hand and reached them, one of the snakes excitedly got onto her hand and rested its head into her palm and looked at her with round emerald eyes, Lyra melted like butter after seeing his remarkable resemblance with Blake and caressed his head. Her fear for snakes was destroyed because of her babies. She got down on the ground and gathered all of them near her "My babies, my cute babies" she continuously cooed them "How can someone be this handsome? You guys look just like your father, but he is a little bigger than you guys"
Lucas chuckled seeing her beaming face but felt absurd after hearing someone calling a bunch of snakes as handsome.
Lyra was communicating with them nonstop and in exchange, the snakes were excitedly hissing to their mom about something. The peaceful time between mother and sons was halted when Renold entered the house in a panic.
Lucas narrowed his eyes at Renold and shouted at him "How dare you barge into our house?"
Renold put his hand forward still gasping for air after all that running "Wait, you can scold me later but listen to my words first"
Lyra stood up and stopped Lucas from attacking him "Did you run here? You are sweating all over"
Renold took a deep breath and opened his mouth "It is because of your mates"
"What?"
Renold sighed "The snake king and stray beast king are fighting each other, the island is in mess because of them"
Lyra widened her eyes "Why are they fighting? I met Blake just a few moments ago"
"Follow me if you don't believe" Renold replied
Lyra glanced at her babies and informed them "Babies, mama is going to look for father outside, you guys must not cause any trouble and be inside quietly, got it?"
They hissed in unison in agreement with thier mama's words and went inside the bedroom. Lyra took Lucas's hand and followed behind Renold in hurry.
As they reached the place, Lyra was dumfounded seeing Blake and Victor creating ruckus around them, Gregory noticed her presence and walked to her "Stop them Lyra, at this rate, I will not even be surprised if they drown the island inside the ocean"
His words were not exaggerated, the immortal beastmen indeed held that much power, they could single-handedly wipe out an entire tribe if necessary. Lyra was confused by the sudden fight between them and held her forehead "I should go near them"
Lucas immediately rejected "No way, I'm not letting you anywhere near them, what if they hurt you without awareness? Don't go, let them fight and die"
Lyra glared at him "How can you say that? Look at how much both are bleeding, what if they get hurt seriously? I have to go"
"Are you crazy!?" Lucas shouted at her for the first time "When immortal beastmen fight, no one can stop them, they lose all their senses when dueling"
Lyra shrunk in her spot after being scolded by Lucas. Gregory glanced at the fighting couple and spoke "Just shout from here child, I'm sure they will listen to your voice"
Lyra nodded her head and cleared her throat, then she shouted at them "BLAKE! VICTOR! STOP FIGHTING!"
They both continued fighting even after her shouting, Gregory said in a bored voice "Threaten them that you will abandon them, trust me, it works with every male in the beast world"
Lyra took a step forward and shouted again "BLAKE, IM RETURNING TO MY WORLD!! VICTOR, I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU INSIDE MY HOUSE ANYMORE!!"
Both males halted their actions as soon as they heard her voice and turned to her, Blake released his grip from Victor's body and hurriedly slithered towards her and turned into his beastman form "Lilly, please don't leave me here all alone, take me with you"
Victor also flew towards her and transformed "You promised me that you will let me stay with you, please don't chase me out"
Blake glared at him "This is all because of you, I will kill you"
"Try me," Victor said as he took a threatening step forward.
Lyra sighed and turned to Blake "Stop it Blake, or I will not talk to you for a whole week"
"Lilly....." Blake whined dejectedly
She then turned to Victor "You, didn't you promise that you would not cause any trouble staying in our house?"
"I didn't do anything love, he was the one who went hysteric and started attacking me after learning that I like you" Victor quickly refuted
"Then should I have congratulated you for liking my mate?" Blake glowered at him
Lyra held her forehead and turned to Blake with icy blue eyes "You believed his words without even confirming my feelings? It is indeed me who let him stay in our house, but it is for a completely different reason, stop jumping to conclusions until I explain everything, got it?"
Blake realized that she was truly angry and didn't talk anymore. Then she turned to Victor "And you, go get your injuries treated by a doctor, you look pathetic with all those bruises on your face"
Victor grinned at her "You treat me instead if you worry so much about me, Your hands do wonders on me, it is not even the first time"
Blake turned alert by his suggestive words and looked at Lyra. Her mouth twitched in annoyance because of his twisted words, she glanced at Blake and explained "It is nothing like that, I once tied a piece of clothing on his injured arm and he is delusional enough to think that I dragged him from death's door. He is just messing with you, don't listen to his nonsense"
Then she dragged Blake away from that place to avoid a fight breaking out. Victor stared at her retreating back and stood dejectedly.
Gregory noticed him sulking and called him "Come with me, I will treat your injuries"
Victor turned to him and sized him up "Who are you to treat me, old man?"
Gregory chuckled "Aren't you an arrogant one? I'm your future father-in-law, it is better if you treat me with respect"
Victor glanced at Lucas and saw the latter nodding his head, he widened his eyes and smiled awkwardly "I'm so sorry for not recognizing you father-in-law" then he gasped loudly "Oh my, I have the most young-looking and handsome father in law of all"
The mermaid king choked on the side and looked at him in disbelief, Lucas just shook his head in dismay and left the place.
Gregory grinned at him "What a change in character? I like you already"
Victor sighed inwardly and continued "I also like father in law so much, you are the most handsome in the world"
The mermaid king rubbed his shoulders "Stop it already, I'm getting goosebumps by your flattery" then he looked at his friend "Where does Lyra find such crazy fellows Greg? one is creepier than the other"
But both Gregory and Victor completely ignored his words and continued conversing enthusiastically and left the place. After walking for some time, they reached a small stone house and entered inside. Gregory made him sit on the stone chair and started putting medicine on his injuries.
Victor stared at Gregory's face with a piercing gaze making him uncomfortable, he looked into his silver eyes "You are boring holes on my face kid"
Victor laughed awkwardly and replied "I'm just searching for some similarities between you and my love, No matter how I look, she is far prettier than you"
"Are you saying that I'm ugly?" Gregory asked with his brows raised
Victor shook his head "No way, father in law is the most handsome one"
Gregory frowned "Enough, I'm getting tired of your flattery," he said and continued "She doesn't look like me because I'm her stepfather, She has her real father's blue eyes and my mate's golden blonde hair, also her face looks just like her mother's"
"Oh," Victor nodded his head in understanding and remained silent.
Gregory smirked at him "Are you done with your flattery after learning my real identity?"
Victor came out of his reverie and blinked "It is not that stepfather in law, I was just thinking something else"
Gregory laughed loudly at his words "Your change is incredible, you are calling me stepfather in law now"
Victor smiled faintly "Only change is a constant thing in the world"
"True, but I hope your feelings for Lyra wouldn't change so quickly" Gregory commented.
Victor beamed in return "That is the only thing that will never change. Even after my death, I'll haunt her as a ghost and not leave her side"
Gregory was taken aback "You are a crazy one you know that?"
"Crazy? That I am" Victor agreed.
Gregory observed the one in front of him and frowned, 'It is true, Lyra indeed attracts creeps'
Victor surveyed the house "Where is my mother-in-law? I want to thank her for giving birth to such a beautiful daughter"
Gregory halted his actions and gulped an invisible lump in his throat "She passed away after giving birth to Lyra"
Victor froze in his spot, his pupils shook and his hands started trembling. Gregory noticed his abnormality and spoke carefully "Did I trigger some unwanted past?"
"You can tell?" Victor questioned back
"I'm a witch master, I'm good at seeing beyond the facade" he paused and continued "Don't worry, Lyra didn't go through the same things as you, she was loved dearly"
Victor's sharp eyes relaxed "Better, or I was planning about ways to torture and kill you and your mate's other males"
Gregory shuddered in his place, his back was covered in a cold sweat. The beastman in front of him was a dangerous one, his aura was terrifying, seeing him acting docile in front of Lyra, he misjudged him. Dealing with Blake was the most difficult thing he had done and this guy was also similar but equally unique. Gregory understood that Victor's love for Lyra was dark and greedy and can get destructive if not handled carefully. He was now contemplating revealing Lyra's truth to him.