The Beta’s Regret

Chapter 196

(Lord Shevek'’s Pov)

“What?” Eden gasped. Her eyes widened as something else clicked. “King Dimitrois? Eros’s father?”

“I wasn’t expecting that.” Rose whispered. “How was that even possible? It’s highly unlikely that she would be

with King Dimitrois.”

“I wasn't expecting it either, but she was with him.” | said.

“King Dimitrois had a mate. What about the queen?” One of Eden’s two male friends, the one who kept

protecting the other. young woman, spoke out.

“She was in the palace too, but Lyraea was like his mistress.”

“Oh...” Rose sighed.

“She was different from how | knew her” | remembered the look | saw in her eyes. When | saw her in the arms of

King Dimitrois in their secret hideout.

| happened upon them by chance. Their relationship had been a secret at the time, and King Dimitrois didn’t

want the Queen to find out about it yet.

When | arrived at the palace, | was looking all over for Lyraea. One of the maids had informedthat she saw

Lyraea go into the garden. | decided to go look for her there.

| almost missed her, but the sound of her soft laughter echoing in the garden ledstraight to where she stood

with the king.

My heart hurt from the sight | had witnessed.

Lyraea was naked down to the waist; her dress pooled around her belly with her legs wrapped around the king.

Her skin glowed beneath the sun, giving her an ethereal look. She had always been too beautiful to be a maid.

But the look of desire | saw in her eyes was my undoing. King Dimitrois was buried deep inside her, and her

laugh quick beca desperate moan, their movements quick and frantic.

They were so lost in each other that it took them a long tto notice that they had an audience.

At first, a flash of guilt had passed over her face, but it was quickly replaced by scorn.

| deluded myself to believe that Lyraea still loved me. Despite the fact that | had caught her, | was ready to

forgive if only she would cback to me.

But Lyraea had no intention to cback to me. She was no longer the sweet, innocent girl | used to know. She

had turned devious.

It was like | was looking at a spiteful snake as she began to spit lies over and over again just to win favor.

“She had King Dimitrois wrapped around her fingers.” | whispered. “I tried to explain to the king that | was her

beloved. | -thought | would be able to take her away.”

“Why didn’t you?” Eden asked.

Ryker has been silent. He just leaned against the wall, watching. He knew this story already.

“Lyraea lied to the King. She said terrible things against me. | really don’t know how, but she had convinced the

king earlier

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Chapter 196

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that she used to be bullied in the coven. She said her family had to run away from the coven because they were

treated like scum before they finally found a job in the palace.”

“She said | was the worst. That | would lock her up for days and sleep with other women just to make her bitter.

That my parents tried to kill her several times, and she barely escaped with her life.”

| laughed, the sound bitter to my own ears “She was a good storyteller.”

“King Dimitrois believed her?” Eden said in disbelief.

| shrugged. “He was obsessed with her. Even if Lyraca told him that she wanted the world, he would have given it

to her. Even the queen didn’t stand a chance in the king's favor beside Lyraea.”

“It was painful hearing her accuseand my parents of things we never did. My parents might have been a

little harsh on her, but they never treated her unkind. My mother was the only one who made it clear she doesn’t

support the relationship. But she never treated Lyraea like a maid; talk more of being treated like trash.”

| shook my head.

“I realized that she had fed the king with pity stories to make her look vulnerable and pitiful in his eyes, like an

abandoned dog caught in a rainstorm.” | snorted.

“Why didn’t you try to clear your name?” Rose said firmly.

My heart skipped at the fire in her voice. She looked angry, and | wondered if this was because of what Lyraea

did.

did. | tried to defend myself, but it was difficult to make him believe Lyraea was lying.”

Rose scoffed. “Of course it would have been. She had spun a good tale.”

| chuckled, then my smile fell as | continued. This part of the story was the most difficult forto tell. Ever since

it happened, this was the first t| was telling anyone the real story behind an event that almost led to the

coven going extinct.

“King Dimitrois becvery angry that my parents and | had done terrible things to Lyraea, so he decreed that

very minute that the coven be wiped out.” | paused. “He made an order to have my parents killed and to kill

everyone else here at the time.”

A hushed silence fell over the room.

“I was dragged from the garden to the dungeon, locked in a cell, and tortured for crimes | didn’t commit while

the king's guards carried out his orders. It was horrible.”

“I'm sorry.” Eden said.

Rose covered the distance between us in a second and closed her hands over mine. | saw her eyes tear up, and

my heart moved.

Would things have been different if | met Rose first?

“When | was held in the dungeon, Lyraea cto see me. She was alone. She calong with her maid.

Kaliyah. Kaliyah was very timid. She just watched Lyraea talk tofrom a distance.”

“Lyraea mocked me. She toldhow she had always desired to have great things in life. | said | would have

given it all to her if she had asked, but Lyraea found my words pitiful. Apparently being a Lord was nothing

compared to being the king. She wanted to be Queen.”

“She saw that the king had a weakness with women, and that was why she manipulated the king into believing

she was a victim.”

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Chanter 196

“Unbelievable.” Eden scoffed

“Well, that wasn’t enough. What shookto the core, was when sh

Everyone exclaimed in surprise.