Villain: The Play of Destiny

"Checkmate." Rebecca smiled and said as she moved her Rook on the board. "Want to play again?"

"My apologies, Lady Hecate." The blonde man sitting adjacent to her, who shared the same sun-kissed blonde hair and ocean-blue eyes, politely smiled.

Though it appeared that these two were related, this was not the case. The young man was none other than the Inheritor of Poseidon, Caspian, who had arrived here yesterday.

"How about you?" She turned to look at the other young man with curly brown hair, who was looking at their board.

"My apologies, Lady Hecate." Ian too politely smiled. "You are better than me at Chess." He had no shame in admitting it.

The two Inheritors had been playing chess with her for the last four hours, and neither of them had managed to beat her even once.

"Okay." She did not insist on it and just nodded her head before getting up.

There was no indication on her face that she was happy at her wins, but she was in fact, very pleased with herself.

Rebecca was quite confident that there was hardly anyone who could beat her at chess, well, except for Amelia, whom she was sure had this outrageous talent in Chess thanks to her legacy of Runic Monarch.

Though neither Keith nor Amelia had told her much about Runic Monarch, she had her guesses.

Amelia had a ridiculous talent for Chess, Architecture, and solving puzzles and riddles. And she had an artistic sense that perhaps no one else possessed.

Rebecca also knew that Amelia's talent in Calligraphy could humble their dear sister-wife, Qingyue, but the emerald-eyed girl never showcased much of it or even paid attention to it.

With all this information and her observations, she could safely guess Amelia also possessed a ridiculous talent for Formations and Crafting.

She was truly a God Child.

Then again, knowing that she was ridiculously talented, Rebecca hardly felt envious towards her.

She was the same as her, though her expertise differed.

"Lady Hecate."

A voice called out from behind as she was on her way to check on her Shadow, and the blonde curiously turned around to look at Caspian.

"A moment, please."

"Alright." She nodded and then followed the Inheritor of Poseidon outside the underground compound they were staying at near Ninevah. "Yes?" She asked, a little curious as she watched Caspian erect isolation Shields around them to prevent anyone from eavesdropping on them.

He was very talented with Magic, something she noted in the back of her mind.

"Azdaar is in the Third Realm of the Nine Martial Realms." He seriously said, observing her reaction, but he was not prepared for her answer.

"Over four hundred years ago and still a mere Martial General." She smirked. "A shame to the legacy of Nergal."

Caspian could not help but smile at her words and nodded his head.

"Indeed. Then again, it is unfair to compare him to the likes of us." He meaningfully said.

It was true.

Comparing a True Inheritor to a False one was indeed not fair.

"However, his strength is real." He seriously added.

"How strong is Qin Feng?" She curiously asked.

"He recently entered the second Realm."

"A Martial Knight." Her eyes narrowed as her mind ran through all the possibilities.

Rebecca knew that Qin Feng was not a True Inheritor, and that meant that he was blessed by the Divine Laws in some other form.

She remembered Keith telling her that the Inheritor of Hades was rather special.

"What do you want to know, Lord Poseidon." She smiled and asked.

"I can not see through your Husband's strength." He straightforwardly said. "I have my guesses, but I can not be sure."

"What are your orders?" Rebecca smiled some more and asked, and Caspian did not mind her words.

"Only to prevent devastation." He honestly told her what Nyx had instructed him to do.

"To be honest, Lord Poseidon, I am not sure about it either." She politely said. "But I do know that he has passed the Realm of Primal Desolation."

"When did he pass it?" Caspian narrowed his eyes, but Rebecca refused to answer his question. "Are you confident that he will be able to take on Azdaar?" He got to the question he needed the answer to.

"He can be reckless, but he is never that reckless. If he plans on taking him out, it means that he can do it." She assured him.

"I see." He nodded his head and then looked up at the sky which was littered with stars.

"By the way, Lord Caspian, we are not related, are we?" She curiously asked, and the God of Oceans could not help but chuckle at her words.

"No, Lady Rebecca." He shook his head. "We are not related in the sense you mean. Our similar features could be considered a coincidence."

"Is that so?" She smiled, but then nodded and excused herself away, letting Caspian stare at the sky in silence.

Walking back inside the compound, she happened to come across her siblings, who were drenched in sweat after training for hours and indulging in some primal activities.

"You stink." She mischievously said, embarrassing her little sister who lowered her head with a faint blush on her cheeks.

"Good night, Sis!" Julian quickly said before he dragged Naomi away, and Rebecca giggled as she watched them escape into their room.

A couple of minutes later, she entered the control room where Iseul was still sitting before a computer and keeping a check on all the surveillance cameras.

"Has he contacted you?"

"Yes." Iseul turned to look at her and smiled. "Senpai is on his way back."

"When will he arrive?"

"At 6 in the morning."

Rebecca nodded to her and then curiously watched the Korean girl get back to her work.

Though she had not spent much time with Iseul, she could sense that Keith was very keen on raising her. Her strength, which was now in the early stages of Spirit Profound Realm, was a testament to her talent as she had achieved it without sleeping with Keith. But of course, she knew that he must have helped her in some other way.

What was interesting was how smart and intelligent this girl was. She could consume massive amounts of data without getting fatigued or feeling the need to rest her mind, and she was brilliant at multitasking.

In that sense, she was a lot like her. Of course, not as outrageous, but she was a talent worth nurturing.

"Do you like being called Iseul or Iris?" She curiously asked and then took her seat next to her.

Iseul turned to look her in the eyes and then sweetly smiled.

"You can call me Iseul or Iris, it doesn't matter."

"But Iseul is your birth name, and Iris is your codename." She smiled.

"Iris is the name I gave to myself," Iseul informed her.

Rebecca smiled in her heart at that piece of information.

"So you prefer it?"

"You could say so." Iseul shrugged and then returned to looking back at the screen.

"You were eavesdropping on Keith and Yingying when they were having sex the other day." Rebecca suddenly said something that froze the girl, but Iseul returned to normalcy in a few seconds.

"You love playing with the minds of people, don't you, Lady Rebecca?" She lightly said.

"If it is interesting enough, which it usually is." The blonde did not deny it and smiled some more at her. "So, do you love him?" She curiously asked, observing her reaction.

"I belong to him." Iseul turned to look at her, and Rebecca was a little surprised as she could tell that Iseul had seen through her intentions.

She had not only answered her question but also answered the one she had not brought up yet.

"Interesting." The blonde smirked at her, seeing something in the girl's eyes that answered a lot of her unvoiced questions.

It was madness, exiting and writhing madness in the depth of her soul. And it was so bright and chaotic that it was just pure evil.

Had it been someone else, she would have immediately killed them to avoid any future troubles. But Iseul belonged to Keith, and he seemed to have become the source of her madness. He had become her anchor and the one who held all authority over her.

She was his slave, and with him alone could she maintain any semblance of sanity.

"Why did you name yourself Iris?"

"Because the one who gave me the name disowned me."

"Your father?"

"Yes." She nodded to her.

"Why?"

"Because I killed my mother." She indifferently said, and Rebecca smiled as she sensed no fluctuations in her voice and expressions.

"Is your father alive?"

"No."

"You killed him too, didn't you?"

"I did."

There was a brief silence between the two of them, and Iseul was seemingly focused on her work, not paying any attention to the blonde girl sitting next to her.

"Why did you kill your mother?" Rebecca asked.

"She killed my little sister."

"How?"

"She was drunk driving with the little one in the passenger seat. My sister died at the impact, and my mother was paralysed."

"So it was an accident?"

Iseul nodded to her.

"You loved your sister?" She curiously asked.

"I liked playing with her. And I only played with her."

Again, there were no fluctuations in her voice or expressions. It was just as indifferent as all her words as if she felt nothing towards her late family.

"Why did you kill your father?"

"I freed him from his depression and misery." She answered her and then turned to look at her, specifically at her hand where her God Ring was visible. "You did not have to use your powers to make me answer all your questions, Lady Rebecca." She sweetly smiled. "Master trusts you, so I would have answered them anyway."

"I see." Rebecca smiled at her and then got up before gently patting her head. "You are an interesting girl."

"I am not going to start hallucinating and end up taking my own life now, am I?" Iseul curiously asked, and Rebecca stopped walking out of the room and giggled at her words.

"No. And even if I did want to do it, he would not let me." She turned around and smiled at her. "I like you, but, unfortunately, I can not keep you by my side."

"My apologies." Iseul politely said. "It is not something I can decide."

"It's fine." The blonde shrugged and then walked out of the room.

She wanted to see how her Shadow's training was going.