Villain: The Play of Destiny

As promised, the next morning, after a lengthy late-night chat with Celine, Keith woke Qingyue up early in the morning and took her to the ranch.

Even though she had not gotten enough sleep, there was no hint of it on her bright face that was lit up in excitement and expectation. Since they were alone, she unreservedly hugged his arm as they walked down to the ranch, laughing, as they recalled last night's chat with Celine.

Keith did not know what he was expecting, but Celine never once said anything to him to forcefully bind him to her daughter. She did not ask him to be responsible or question his sincerity to her daughter, and it represented her utmost trust in him.

However, he was in for a long session of teasing, where Celine incessantly teased him about being the ladies' man, and she made him give every detail of how things developed so much and so fast between the two of them. She had already sat Qingyue down earlier and asked the same thing, but she was still just as excited to hear it from his mouth.

His mother and his lovely wife were present too, and Venessa later started telling his stories to them. She was particularly very keen on narrating all the stories where he was quite embarrassed by himself, but everyone who listened to them wholeheartedly enjoyed them.

Qingyue was still trying to tease him about the silly things he did as a child, but Keith was not embarrassed anymore and even gave her more details about those incidents.

When they reached the ranch, the first thing Keith did was to get back at her, and he did it by making all the Shepherd Dogs scare the life out of her.

A good laugh later, he helped her out by calming the dogs down and later helping her get acquainted with each one of them. After what happened earlier, she was not too keen on getting to know them, but it only took a few minutes for them to grow onto her.

She happily commanded them over and over again to perform different tasks such as Sit, Lay, Jump, Spin, and then Attack on Keith.

The dogs were quite intelligent and knew that she did not mean to harm Keith, and even if she did, they were never really going to hurt him. But they did listen to her and lunged at Keith, surrounding him and bringing him down before unleashing their slobbery attack on him, licking him all over his face, making the grey-eyed girl happily laugh at the scene.

The Horses were out on a morning run around the Estate, and they started returning an hour later.

Qingyue changed into her riding gear, which a butler delivered to them at the ranch, and after Keith asked her to make her pick, she happily took her time.

In the end, she chose the pure white mare, who was arguably the most beautiful horse at the ranch.

"She's Sierra. And she belongs to my mother." Keith informed her, but to her relief, he assured her that it was fine to ride her.

Keith helped the two of them get acquainted by asking Qingyue to let Sierra get used to her scent and remember it.

The process took some time, and eventually, the white mare started getting playful with the grey-eyed girl. After that, Keith helped Qingyue saddle up the white beauty.

"Does she really understand you?" She curiously asked as she listened to Keith softly talking to the horse.

"You would be surprised by how intelligent these creatures are." He smiled at her and then lovingly stroked the head of the mare. "She will take you up on a ride now. Don't panic. She will be gentle." He said to Qingyue and stepped away before whistling, and making Sierra start trotting.

Qingyue was quite anxious when the mare suddenly started moving, but she kept her fears in her heart and did not panic, just as Keith had instructed her to do.

At first, the ride was a little uncomfortable since she was not used to the movements, but eventually, she managed to get a hang of it and adjusted herself in the saddle in a conformable position.

Just like Keith, she too was a fast learner, not as outrageous, but still exceptional enough to shock even the brightest of the people.

When her confidence grew, she sensed the Mare had started moving faster, and she could not help but remember Keith's words about how intelligent these creatures were.

Keith stopped paying attention to her once he found her laughing and wholeheartedly enjoying the ride. And finally, he showed some love to the horses who were surrounding him.

"Is it safe?" Qingyue curiously asked when Keith joined her with his red horse, but he was not wearing any gear and was riding it bareback.

"Not for you. But I am used to it." Keith grinned at her. "Now, time for your lesson." He said and then started instructing her on how to control the pace and command the horse.

He was very patient with her, and so was Sierra, who did not make things difficult for her.

Qingyue eventually learned that she did not necessarily have to be too soft to the horse, as they were creatures with a very playful nature and needed to be kept in control whilst you rode them.

The two of them completely disregarded the time and just enjoyed every moment of what they were experiencing. By the time Qingyue felt that she had grasped the basics and could ride on her own, it was already late afternoon.

Only after she learned what time it was did the tiredness start creeping in. And Keith laughed at how she was walking after riding for so long.

The girl was even worried that this funny walk was going to stay with her for a long time, but after Keith helped massage her back a little, she was back to walking normally. However, she insisted that she was a little too tired, and made Keith give her a piggyback ride back home.

And he did not really mind it since she was very generous at planting kisses on his cheeks and neck, expressing her happiness at how beautiful the day so far had been for her.

"Keith?"

"Yes?"

"Nana has her last mid-term exam tomorrow." She told him.

"I know." He nodded to her and then curiously asked. "What do you have in mind?"

"If you don't have any plans with her, can I and Kiara take her with us to Eden?"

"You are going to Eden?" He surprisedly asked.

"Yes!" She nodded her head. "Kiara and I talked about it last night. Uncle Damien has arranged for us to watch the Annual Conference in the House of Governors on Sunday, 27th of January. Mama wants to go too, and Kiara plans on inviting Nana as well."

"Am I allowed to come?" He curiously asked.

"Of course! But Amelia told me that you guys will be very busy in the coming days..."

"She's right." He nodded to her. "We are working on some new projects." He informed her and then paused. "Would you mind if I suggest taking Rebecca with you?"

"Yes." She immediately answered in a dissatisfied voice.

"Okay." He chuckled and shook his head. "Yes. You may take Nana with you, but why are you asking me about it?"

"Because she won't agree to it unless you give her your permission, Control Freak!" She scoffed and then giggled. "I talked to her last night, but she was a little reluctant and told me that she would need to talk to you first."

"Alright. I will tell her to go with you." He sighed and nodded his head.

"Thanks." She happily said and kissed him on his cheek.

After reaching the Manor, Qingyue stole a kiss off his lips before running away to freshen up, and Keith made a call to Viola to prepare a meal for the two of them since they had skipped their lunch.

"Sebastian is waiting for you in your study, Young Master," Viola informed him and Keith frowned at her words.

"Okay." He ended the call and changed direction to walk towards his study.

"Young Master!" Sebastian bowed to him when he saw him enter.

"What is it?" He curiously asked when the tall boy handed him a tablet.

"Anthony Falken has reached home..." The young man lightly said and Keith surprisedly looked at him before checking the footage on the tablet.

It was a very brief clip, which showed the Butler of Falken Family walking out of a high-end brothel in the Red-Light District, carrying his little Young Master on his back.

However, once the camera zoomed in on Anthony's pale face with visible veins, and the boy's eyes briefly opened, Keith felt a chill in his heart.

He knew that his mother was cruel, but he was expecting her to just kill off the young boy. But it appeared that she had different plans in mind.

"The footage is circulating in the Media right now. And the Upper Circle of the City is quite dissatisfied with the Falken for making false claims about the disappearance of their child. The narrative is that Anthony Falken had sneaked inside a brothel, and had excessively indulged in his carnal desires after consuming some drugs." Sebastian informed him.

"I see." Keith nodded and then handed the tablet back to him. "You know what it is, don't you?" He lightly smiled.

"Virus T-96." The tall boy apprehensively nodded.

"Yes." Keith grinned. "There's no hope for him now. No need to keep a watch on him."

"Yes, Young Master." Sebs nodded to him and then asked for his leave.

Keith calmly walked over and sat in his chair before thinking over a few things.

Virus T-96 was not just another Virus, but it was a secret of the world that the Governments never allowed to come out since it would wreak havoc in society.

This was a very cruel Virus, originating from Vampires, which if caught, turned the human into a Ghoul. A being that was neither human nor a vampire, making the person always suffer from an insatiable thirst for blood which they could not even digest properly.

A person suffering from T-96 could not consume normal food, and over time, life would slowly drain out of them even if they kept consuming blood on regular basis.

Thankfully, the virus could only be transferred to another person through blood or the venom of the Vampire. And therefore, it was not too hard to keep it a secret.

Anthony had no way out now since the only known way to save him was to turn him into a Vampire. Unfortunately, only the one whose venom ran in his blood could do it. If another Vampire tried to convert him, he would die immediately.

There was another secret way that only a few people knew about. Which was to seek help from a Pure-blood Vampire like Ingrid. But to find one and convince them to help you was nearly impossible if you did not even know where to find one in the first place.

And yes, Keith could help him too. His medical knowledge was far too extensive, and curing the T-96 was a child's play. However, no other doctor in this world could help Anthony out of his misery.

His mother wanted the Falken Family to watch their child lose his life slowly and feel utterly helpless about it.

Keith had to admit that he still had a lot to learn from his mother.