Chapter 497: Episode 495: Lyra as in I instead of Y

The fancy dress boutique was perfectly quiet, playing soft music over the hidden speakers. The floor was made of shiny, clean marble. But right now, that shiny floor was covered in a giant, colorful mess.

Boxes were tipped over. Shiny shopping bags were completely squished. Bright pink and blue tissue paper was scattered everywhere like fallen leaves.

"I am so, so sorry!" the woman panicked, dropping right down to her knees. She started grabbing her scattered boxes, her hands moving fast and nervously. "I wasn’t watching where I was going. I am such a clumsy mess today!"

"It’s okay, really. It was just an accident," Roxy said in a kind, sweet voice.

Roxy didn’t care about the fancy store or her nice sundress. She immediately bent her knees and dropped down right next to the clumsy stranger to help her clean up the giant mess.

Behind Roxy, the Kings did not think it was just a simple accident.

Torian took a huge step forward, his giant shadow falling right over the two women on the floor. Zarek was right beside him, his golden eyes narrowing into sharp, dangerous slits.

He reached his large hand out to grab Roxy’s shoulder, ready to pull her far away from the stranger. To the Kings, anyone who bumped into their Queen was a potential threat.

"Step back, Roxy," Zarek warned in a low, strict voice. "Let the store workers clean it up."

"No, Zarek, it’s fine," Roxy said, waving him away without even looking back. "I can help."

Roxy reached her hands out and grabbed a shiny silver shoebox that had slid across the smooth floor. The woman reached for the exact same box at the exact same time.

Their fingers brushed against each other.

The woman let out a soft laugh and pushed a piece of messy hair out of her eyes. "Thank you," she said, finally looking up from the messy floor.

Roxy looked up, too. Their eyes met.

And the absolute exact second Roxy saw the woman’s face, her heart completely, totally stopped beating.

The breath was knocked right out of Roxy’s lungs. The shiny silver shoebox slipped right through her fingers and hit the marble floor with a loud thud. Roxy’s green eyes went as wide as saucers, and all the warm color instantly drained completely out of her face.

She wasn’t looking at a stranger. She was looking at a ghost.

The woman looking back at her had wavy, black hair that fell perfectly over her shoulders. She had big, warm, incredibly kind brown eyes. She had the exact same cute little button nose, and the exact same small, happy freckle sitting right on her left cheek. And when she smiled, it was the exact same bright, warm, gentle smile that Roxy used to see every single day in the beast world.

It was Lyra.

Roxy felt like the floor was spinning under her knees.

Lyra was Roxy’s very first friend in the entire Beastworld. But the woman sitting right in front of her was a perfect, exact carbon copy. It wasn’t just someone who looked a little bit similar. It was her. The same hair, the same eyes, the exact same smile.

"Are you okay?" the woman asked, her brown eyes filling with sweet worry when she saw how pale Roxy looked.

"I..." Roxy tried to speak, but her throat was completely dry. Her mouth hung open, but no words came out.

The woman gathered the last of her boxes and stood up. She dusted off her knees and offered her hand to Roxy to help her up. Roxy took it, her hand shaking like a leaf, and let the woman pull her back to her feet.

"I’m really sorry again for bumping into you," the woman smiled, holding her giant stack of bags against her chest. "I’m Lira, by the way."

Roxy blinked, her brain trying to catch up. "Lyra?"

"Yes," the woman giggled, a bright, musical sound that made Roxy’s chest ache with memory. "But it’s spelled with an ’i’. L-I-R-A. My mom wanted to be a little different, I guess."

Lira with an I.

Roxy just stood there, completely stunned.

Usually, when a normal human person stood this close to the Kings, they started shaking in their boots. Zarek, Torian, Syris, Caspian, Ren, and Kaelen were standing in a tight half-circle right behind Roxy. They were massive. They were dressed in black, and they were glaring at Lira with incredibly scary, cold eyes. They looked like a gang of terrifying bodyguards ready to throw her right out the front window.

But Lira did something completely crazy.

She completely ignored them.

Lira didn’t even look at the six giant, terrifying men hovering in the background. Her big brown eyes were locked entirely onto Roxy. Lira tilted her head to the side, her smile slowly fading into a look of deep, confused wonder.

Lira looked at Roxy with wide eyes, her forehead wrinkling just a tiny bit.

"Do I know you?" Lira asked, her voice dropping into a soft, honest whisper.

Roxy swallowed hard. "No. I... I don’t think we have ever met."

"That’s so weird," Lira breathed out, shaking her head slowly. She kept staring at Roxy’s face, totally captivated. She said the absolute craziest thing in the world. "I feel like I’ve known you my whole life."

Roxy felt a massive shiver run straight down her spine. The tiny hairs on the back of her arms stood straight up.

It wasn’t just the face. It was the feeling. The very second they looked at each other, Roxy felt that exact same warm, comforting bond of pure sisterhood that she had shared with Lyra in the Beastworld. It was an instant, invisible string tying them together. It felt like finding a lost piece of her own family right in the middle of a crowded city.

Behind them, Zarek crossed his massive arms over his chest. His jaw was clenched so tight a muscle ticked in his cheek. He didn’t like this at all. Coincidences did not exist in their world.

Lira was vastly different from Lyra, but they still looked alike.

He didn’t like that.

"Roxy," Zarek warned softly, a protective rumble vibrating in his deep voice. "We should go."

But Roxy wasn’t going anywhere. Not yet.

She couldn’t just walk away from this. She needed to know who this woman was. She needed to hear her laugh again. Her heart was beating fast with pure, hopeful excitement.

Roxy finally found her voice. She took a step forward, completely ignoring Zarek’s warning.

"I’m Roxy," she said, giving Lira a big, bright smile. "And since I bumped into you, let me make it up to you. Do you have time to get a cup of coffee with me? Right now?"

Lira’s face instantly lit up. It was like the sun coming out from behind a cloud.

"I would absolutely love that!" Lira said happily, completely thrilled by the idea. "There is a really cute little cafe right next door. They have the best hot chocolate in the city."

"Perfect," Roxy beamed.

Without even looking back at her six incredibly dangerous husbands, Roxy started walking toward the front doors of the boutique with her brand new friend. Lira walked right beside her, shifting her heavy shopping bags and chatting easily about the cold weather, like they had been best friends since kindergarten. They fell into a natural, easy step together.

The six Kings were left standing in the middle of the dress store.

They watched their wife walk out the glass doors with a human woman who had the exact same face as someone from the beast world.

Kaelen frowned, his icy blue eyes narrowing. "Did you feel that?" Kaelen whispered to his brothers. "She ignored us completely. Normal humans don’t do that."

Torian let out a low growl, cracking his big knuckles. "I don’t like it."

Zarek didn’t say a word at first. He reached out his large hand. He grabbed Syris right by the shoulder, stopping the Swamp King from following the girls out the door.

Syris turned his head, his sharp green eyes looking at his older brother.

Zarek leaned in close. His handsome face was completely hard, and his eyes were dark with absolute, terrifying authority.

"Find out absolutely everything about her," Zarek whispered, issuing a dark, strict command that left no room for arguments. "Now."