Villain: The Play of Destiny

Friday, January 18th, 2041

Demiliore Manor, Sameran City, Netheria.

The soothingly cold wind kissed his skin as he found himself flying through the sky shimmering in myriad lights. He could smell the nature, the most pleasant smell possible, and then there was his ringing heart, or hearts to be exact. For some reason, he could feel two different hearts beating inside his chest. And as he concentrated on it, something instinctively flapped behind him, distracting him, and even without looking back, he knew that it was his wings.

Every time his wings flapped, he gained in speed, a speed that one could not simply imagine. But no matter how fast he went, there just seemed to be no end to the world he was in, and he did not want it to end. Rather, he wanted to keep flying forever, overlooking the most enchanting place in existence that made one question his reality.

The excited cries of the wind, greeting him as he pierced through it, was an addictive melody he was falling in love with, and subconsciously, a smile crept on his lips.

His excitement pushed him to go faster, once more flapping his wings, but suddenly, there was another sound, a heavenly magical sound, and he stopped to concentrate on it.

"Awww... Look at him!"

A very familiar yet unknown voice sounded out, and a frown marred his face as he tried to locate the source of it.

As soon as his brows furrowed, he heard some Nymphs giggling giddily, and suddenly, his mind gained some clarity.

"Qingyue..." He called out her name as his eyes shot open and he bolted up on his bed.

"Wah!"

He heard someone gasp and when he raised his eyes, he found Minami, Qingyue, and Amelia standing there looking at him in awe.

"I know I am handsome, but it's rude to stare at someone when he's sleeping." He composed his mind as the dream he had just had was nothing more than a fleeting thought now.

But the girls did not answer him and kept looking in his eyes, enchanted by what they were seeing.

"No..." Qingyue reluctantly called out and stepped forward, leaning over him. "Don't change them..."

"What are you talking about?" He frowned and asked, but without waiting for an answer he turned to the other side and stared into the mirror.

Yes, he was handsome as ever, but there was nothing unusual about him today.

"Why would you change the colour of your eyes to this boring brown?!" Qingyue complained.

"What?" He frowned and looked her in her gorgeous grey eyes.

"Your eyes were Amethyst when you just woke up," Amelia told him, lightly smiling at him. "Good Morning!"

"Oh..." He frowned but shook his head and immediately jumped out of the bed, grabbing Amelia in a tight hug and spinning around with her. "I missed you!" He declared and planted a kiss on her forehead, which made her close her eyes and smile contently. "When did come back?"

"In the morning." She said and then kissed him softly on his lips. "We were expecting you to pick us up, and you were sound asleep, my dear Husband. Doesn't seem like you really missed me or Mother." She lightly smiled and remarked.

"My Apologies!" He sighed when he checked the clock and found that it was well past noon-time.

He was supposed to get up early and pick them up at 8 o'clock in the morning, but he was simply lost in his dream world.

"Don't worry, Yingying informed us that you needed some rest." She rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes, contently listening to his soothing heartbeat.

"Ahem!"

The sudden interruption took them both off-guard and they turned to the source of it, where his loveable little maid was brightly smiling, but his dear friend seemed quite displeased by their show of blatant affection for each other.

"I am here too, Mr Demiliore!" The grey-eyed girl folded her arms on her chest and complained.

"Why?" He frowned and asked, confusedly tilting his head.

"What do you mean by 'Why'?" She glared at him and coldly asked, but her heart calmed down when she found him burst out into chuckles.

"Couldn't help it." He excused for teasing her and then took a good look at her.

When Qingyue found his eyes scanning her with thoughtfulness, an expectant glint appeared in her gorgeous grey eyes.

"Congratulations on completing your Aura Circulation, Qingyue!" He sincerely said, which brought a bright smile to her perfectly carved lips.

"You can tell?!" She excitedly asked and walked up to him.

"Of course!" He chuckled and flicked her nose lovingly. "Good job!"

"Thank you!" She smugly said and smiled, but suddenly she remembered the most important thing. "Your eyes..."

"It happens from time to time." He shrugged and excused before turning to look at Minami. <I am famished!> He conveyed to her through signs, and his lovely maid bobbed her head, happily nodding to him, before she ran out of his room to get the meal ready for him.

"Easy there!" Qingyue instinctively called after her but sighed when she realized that Minami could not hear her. And then she suddenly turned to look at Keith in dissatisfaction. "You were only supposed to be away for a day, but you spent three days in Fiji, and after you returned yesterday, you did not even inform me! Be grateful that I submitted all the pending assignments of yours!"

"Yeah, well... I have spent the last 72 hours mostly in the bed." He casually said and then smiled at her. "Ready for exams?"

The first semester exams were starting on the coming Monday, and he knew that Qingyue was not someone to slack on them.

"You bet!" She confidently smiled. "But don't change the subject!" She narrowed her eyes at him. "Why are you sleeping so much?"

"I was tired." He truthfully said but did not want to go into details.

"Why?"

"I tested out my limits, and it turned out to be a bad idea." He chuckled and said.

Qingyue seemed to have accepted the answer, but Amelia was frowning after hearing his words.

She knew that merely testing out his limits wouldn't have tired him so much that he would require days to recover.

"How are you feeling now?" Amelia asked.

"Perfect." He smiled at her. "Better than ever since I am now at the peak of Nascent Profound Realm!" He informed her.

It was something he had just realized after waking up, and needless to say, he was pleasantly surprised.

"So fast?" Qingyue frowned.

She remembered him telling them that he was in the early Nascent Profound Realm the day he helped her open her first Aura Node, and by what she had understood, it usually took years and a lot of hard work to advance from the early stage to the peak stage of a Realm.

"You are not the only special one." He chuckled and poked fun at her, and the grey-eyed girl snorted at his words.

"Go, freshen up." Amelia suddenly said. "Mother and Aunt Celine are waiting for us in the Lounge."

"Something important?" He curiously asked.

"Maybe." She shrugged and said before smiling at him. "Ingrid is beautiful, My Dear Husband."

"Thank you!" He proudly smiled and nodded to her. "I know I have good taste."

"Yeah, yeah..." The grey-eyed girl sighed. "Go and freshen up fast. We are going to watch your Fiji Vlog."

"Oh..." He sighed and nodded, knowing well that the trouble was on his way to catch him in its embrace.

Fifteen minutes and a quick shower later, without bothering to fully dry his hair, Keith entered the lounge where Venessa and Celine were chatting with each other. And on the other couch, Sibyl, his mother's Shadow, and Yingying and Ingrid were quietly seated.

"Master!" Ingrid shot up on her feet when he entered and fought the urge to kneel to him.

"Good Morning!" He brightly greeted everyone and walked over to Celine, who was on her feet now. "How are you doing, Aunt Celine?" He lightly hugged her and asked.

"I am fine!" She sweetly smiled and gently ran her fingers through his think and damp hair, combing them. "My sweet daughter urged me to take her to see you today. She's been excited since last night when she managed to complete the first task of Cultivation."

"Is that so?" He chuckled and teasingly looked at Qingyue.

"Mama!" The grey-eyed girl burned in embarrassment as her mother sold her out.

"She has done well." He assured Celine, knowing well that she was a little anxious about her daughter's progress. "And look at you! You seem in perfect health."

"I am keeping a strict check on her diet and making her work out with me." Qingyue proudly smiled.

"I don't like her." Celine pouted and complained to him half-heartedly, much to the irritation of her daughter.

He let the mother and daughter take jabs at each other and sat right next to his own mother.

"I love you!" He whispered near her ear before planting a kiss on her cheek, and then he unceremoniously sprawled onto the couch, placing his head on her lap.

"I love you too!" She sweetly said and gently ran her fingers through his hair, just the way he loved it.

The ladies took their seats too after Qingyue and Celine stopped pulling each other's legs, and then Yingying showed them the Vlog she had made on Tuesday with the help of Ingrid and Caesar.

It was edited really well, and from the very start of the intro, where they all had a light breakfast and went for a run, the audience was hooked.

"This place is so beautiful!"

Celine was openly enjoying it, making sure she voiced out her every thought from time to time. And the rest of the ladies were having fun as well, except for one grey-eyed girl.

Keith caught her frowning when the footage of Rebecca flawlessly surfing appeared on the screen. And when her own mother commented on how gorgeous the little Miss of Grayson family looked, her heart was even more uncomfortable.

However, she too could not help her giggles when Keith's clumsy attempts of trying to surf were revealed.

"Yay!" Celine cheered for him when he finally got it right and surfed successfully. "You got it so fast!"

"Thank you!" He graciously accepted her compliment and turned the attention back to the Vlog.

The next few sequences were aerial footage of the Islands, and their lunch, and then the next half a minute covered their journey on their yacht to the destination.

Celine mischievously giggled when the footage of him changing into his wetsuit was played, and after catching Rebecca almost ogling at him, she proactively glanced at him.

"You love playing with the maiden's heart, don't you?"

"I do enjoy it, yes." He admitted without any hesitation and then turned to look at Qingyue, who was glaring at him.

"Why do you have to change out in the open?"

"I wanted to give a good show to Yingying and Ingrid." He casually said and looked away.

"And Miss Grayson." She added.

"Yes." He playfully smiled but kept his eyes on the screen.

Needless to say, everyone could not help but admit how breathtakingly beautiful the underwater world was. But every time Rebecca appeared on screen, especially when she was happily playing around with the leatherback turtle, Qingyue's mood soured.

"Miss Grayson is quite talented." And her mother poured fuel on the fire once more.

"She is." He nodded his head.

The vlog then reached its end, but the end was something he was not quite expecting.

It ended by showing the sequences after their deep-sea dive and focused on the moment where he and Rebecca were sitting next to each other, chatting with bright smiles on their lips. The moment he was appreciating her side profile was captured as well, and nearly all the ladies in the room, except for Yingying and Ingrid, turned to look at him with their brows raised when the Vlog finally ended.

If they hadn't known better, they would have thought that both of them were a couple. But it was still something they could not rule out the possibility of.

"You two seem quite comfortable together," Venessa commented with a light smile on her lips as she looked down at him, lovingly running her fingers through his hair.

"She's easy to get along with. And we share lots of similar interests." He smiled back at her and casually said. "How did the Conference go, and the Product Launch?"

"Everything went well." Venessa nodded to him and said. "The Conference was quite fruitful and we have managed to secure a deal that will help in the future growth of our Telecom Company. As for the new series of smart gadgets we have launched, we have only received positive feedback for our new Android Skin, Iris. Our Flagship Mobiles, Tablets, and Smart Watches are the hottest topic right now in the tech industry. And Orion is projected to earn the highest percentage of profits this year."

Orion Electronics was the heart of Demiliore Business, and their Mobiles and Tablets ruled a substantial share in the International Market. They were amongst the top three Andriod Brands in the world, and with their new Android-based operating system, Iris, it was very much possible to stay undisputed for the first place in the coming few years.

And Keith knew that it was exactly what would happen.

"That's great news! And it deserves some celebration!" He happily sat up and said. "Let's head to the Meladona in the evening." He suggested, and Celine was the first one to jump on board.

"Yes!" She excitedly called out. "I can't remember the last time I went clubbing!"

"Sure." Venessa too agreed to his suggestion, and Amelia simply nodded.

"I will make the bookings."

"It's your place. Do you still need to make bookings?" Qingyue scoffed and said.

"Yes!" He smiled at her. "And we will be paying too! Business is business!"

"Hmph!" She turned her eyes away and focused on her cellphone. "Don't forget to prepare for the Exams."

"I won't!" He assured her and then left the room to make a call to Sebastian.