All Chapters of Stolen By The Mirror, Claimed By The Prince: Chapter 41 - Chapter 45

It wasn’t like he hadn’t heard those words before. He was a prince, after all. Women had loved him before they even heard him speak—some before they knew his name. “You’re my destiny, Elias,” they’d say. “My heart beats for you, Elias.”But Lirae—his Lirae—never told him that. Even after years of friendship, months of courtship, and nearly an engagement, she had never once said I love you.And yet, here was Lyra—her mirror, her copy… telling him she loved him after one night that nearly knocked his soul out of his body.He didn’t want to believe it.He couldn’t afford to.Maybe it was the sex. Gods… the sex. He shifted awkwardly, trying not to remember too vividly. But there it was—every movement she made, every breathless whisper, the way she looked at him like he was hers. The way she said his name.“Gods, Elias,” he muttered under his breath. “You are so screwed.”The castle doors creaked open behind him and he turned. When he saw her—hair loose, cheeks flushed, dress slightly askew

“I mean…” Elias continued, still unaware of his mother’s internal fuming, “Lyra here stumbled into my land.”“At Wentworth castle, of all places…She comes from another world—”Nerisse’s brow lifted.“The only clue about how she got here is a mirror. She touched it and here she is.”Nerisse glanced at Lyra once more.“She’s helped me,” Elias said, more seriously now, “quiet down the scandal with Lirae’s disappearance. And I owe her. So I must do my part and find her a way back. We looked through the volumes of The Great Purge—”“Still intact?” Nerisse interrupted, raising a brow.“Yes ma. I don’t mess with your books. Though I brought the volumes back with me to Windmere Hold.”“Elias…”“I will return them…As I was saying, there’s nothing. No mention of mirror portals. So I thought maybe… you’d have an idea.”Nerisse knew of the mirror, but the information about the mirror came with a lot of secrets.“How about you both rest,” she said carefully. “You’ve come a long way.”Lyra glanced a

Lyra clenched her fists at her sides. “I’m not pretending. I’m terrified. I don’t understand any of this—your magic, your veil, your duties. I just want to go home.”“Do not take that tone with me,” Nerisse snapped. Her gaze sharpened. “Every child with an assignment is groomed from childhood, hidden away from those who seek to bury her. In another world.”Lyra dragged in a long, shaky breath. Her jaw tightened as she struggled to hold back the explosion bubbling in her chest. “I truly am trying to be respectful,” she said, her voice trembling with fury, “solely because you are Elias’s mother and he cares about you, but you are making it hard. I have no idea what all this is. Read my lips.” She enunciated the last words slowly, as if speaking to someone who had refused to hear her for too long.Nerisse leaned back slowly on the old, creaking couch, folding her hands in her lap as if retreating into herself. Her sharp features softened momentarily, eyes distant. “I will have to find ou