Villain: The Play of Destiny

Keith smiled as he watched his aged grandmother standing before them, scrutinising them with her narrowed eyes, and as soon as she looked at Ingvild, the little Princess happily rushed up to her and hugged her.

"Sorry." She apologised but still did not explain why she and Ingrid suddenly went to the Castle without telling her.

The three of them had plans for today, and it was only reasonable that she would be a little upset, however, inside, she was not mad at all.

Diana understood that it must have been an emergency, and since Ingvild did not tell her the reason, she did not pry into the matter either.

"It's fine. You know I can't get mad at you. Unlike my estranged Grandson, who barely visits me, at least, you do stay with me to keep me company." She accusingly said, and Keith could not help but chuckle at her words.

"My apologies!" He said and walked over to her, hugging her.

Ingvild may have been the one she could not get mad at, considering she doted on her a lot since she was the youngest in the family, but Keith was the one person she could never stay mad at.

As soon as he hugged her, she smiled and hugged him back, nuzzling her face in his chest.

"Where is Kiara? And Rebecca and Amelia?" She asked when they separated, pulling him down to plant a kiss on his forehead.

Keith briefly explained to her the tensions in Magic City and the Ancient Families, and why Rebecca and Amelia had to stay there.

It was something she was eventually going to learn about as the news was bound to reach her, so, he decided to inform her himself.

"And you left them there."

"I had to come and see you." He cheekily said, and she angrily narrowed her eyes. "They will be fine." He assured her, and after a few seconds, she sighed.

"I would rather not have them getting involved in muddy waters. But they are your responsibility, so your choice." She turned to look at the other girls and one by one, hugged each of them before she finally walked over to Qingyue. "Is everything okay?"

Diana immediately sensed that Yue was a little off today, and she gently inquired.

"Just not feeling well." She hated lying, so she told her the half-truth before she stepped forward and hugged her.

"If he has bullied you, let me know."

"He has not." Qingyue smiled a little at her words, and her mood improved a lot in a matter of seconds.

"Always keep smiling." Diana tenderly cupped her right cheek, and the girl nodded her head, feeling warm in her heart.

"Kiara's at the Angelini Estate with Ingrid. Sebastian informed me that you have already invited them to dinner tonight." Keith said when his grandmother turned to look back at him.

"Yes." Diana nodded her head and then looked him in the eyes. "Any news about your Raizer?"

"Grandfather and Caesar are currently staying in Shangri-la, Kunlun." He told her.

"Why?" She frowned, knowing well that the place was one of the most dangerous places on Gaia, home to some of the world's most powerful sects that had cut themselves off from the outside world.

"He's there to meet the oldest man alive, and he will be fine." He assuredly smiled at her. "The Ancient Sects there have been informed by Hermes to take care of him."

"And they agreed?" She was surprised at his words, and he only smiled back at her, nodding his head.

Diana more or less understood that he had likely threatened them with his status as a Mortal God, but then again, everyone respected his Fraternity, so it was likely that they were trying to curry his favour as well.

"We will be leaving for Essra tomorrow morning."

Soon as she heard him speak, a smile bloomed on her face, and her deep blue eyes, which had lost their colour a little due to her age, sparkled in excitement.

"Okay!" She nodded her head before pulling Ingvild, Minami, and the twins with her to the Rose Garden, her day already turning out to be very good.

She had been teaching Ingvild and Minami botany, and so she decided to impart her knowledge to the twins as well.

Keith smiled in his heart as he knew that both Amira and Reina would fall in love with the subject and that Diana would find very good students in them. After all, they were quite close to plant life, having been blessed by the Divine Law of Life with the Wood Element.

He knew he had to help them awaken the Physiques soon so that they could finally start cultivating. But he also has other plans that he was entertaining.

Even though Rebecca was not pestering him anymore, he knew that she was waiting for him to help them as well.

She was quite invested in the two after he told her that he had chosen them to be her Handmaidens. And since the twins belonged to her, she truly cared for them and wanted to see them grow stronger.

Amira and Reina were already in the prime time to start cultivating, and he did plan on helping them soon. It was just that he had not had enough time to work on his plan for them.

"I am going to help Viola with the meals for tonight," Nana said, having nothing else to do today, and Ayesha and Qingyue nodded to her before they looked at each other, thinking about what they should do today.

"Alright. I am off to bed." He said and left the girls to their devices, walking towards his room to finally take his nap.

He smiled a little as he saw his Shadow follow after him, and he could guess what she had in mind.

Yingying was more than happy to be hugged by him to sleep, and so he did exactly that after stripping her naked as soon as they entered the room and closed the door.

It was late in the evening when the guests had already arrived that Keith was woken up by Kiara, and the girl in her arms panicked a little as she realised that she had slept so soundly that she failed to wake up on time and wake him up as well.

Taking a quick shower and dressing up, Keith arrived in the living room where the Graysons and the Angelini were sitting, and soon a little kid, who was around the age of eleven, came running over to him.

"Keith!" Benjamin beamed a smile at him and hugged him. "It's good to see you."

"Have you improved your Violin skills?" He asked as he patted the boy's head, and soon received a grin in return.

"I will play a song for you later."

"I am looking forward to it." He chuckled and then smiled when Ingrid walked over, holding a baby girl in her arms that was not even a year old.

"Hello there." He took the girl from Ingrid's arms and smiled a little as he saw her eyes already changing the shade to the trademark Angelini eyes.

"I was hoping to ask you to give her a check-up." Danielle walked over to them, placing her hand on her son's shoulders, and smiled at Keith as he looked at the baby.

"Little Daenerys is healthy and fine." He said as he watched the baby smile and curiously looked at him.

Suddenly, she burst out into giggles, and Danielle was a little surprised at seeing it happen and it also roused her curiosity.

"Babies can see things that they lose sight of as they grow older." He told her and he handed Daenerys over to her mother. "She's fascinated by my Aura."

"Oh." Danielle nodded her head, and then could not help herself as she leaned in and kissed her daughter on the cheek, cooing to her.

"Uncle Damien is not coming?" He asked, and the Lady sighed as she shook her head.

"There was an emergency, and he had to stay at the headquarters."

"it's fine." He nodded to her and then smiled as Julian and Naomi walked over to him, the former stepping forward to hug him. "I see that you are fine and doing well." He commented, and they both understood that he was referring to the mission that had been assigned to their Cell and another by the Government, and which they had accomplished.

"It's been a hassle, but things worked out well," Naomi told him. "Rebs has invited us over to Magic City." She informed him, seeking his permission, and he nodded to her.

Keith then greeted Rebecca's parents, both of whom were very happy to see him, and his mother-in-law did not hide her dissatisfaction that her daughter was not home and was staying out to deal with some business.

Of course, she did not know what exactly her daughter was doing. And if she knew the truth of the matter, she might have suffered a heart-attack.

As Ben had promised, he did play a song for them after dinner. It was the very first song that he had learned, his favourite, The Christmas Carol, and Keith was impressed by how much he had improved his skills.

The boy was all smiles after receiving the praise, and then the three Families sat down together to just chat for hours. As the day approached its end, Keith asked them to come with him to Noxville, where they witnessed the New Year being celebrated with the most surreal show of fireworks that they had ever witnessed.