Villain: The Play of Destiny

Delvon City; An important but infamous city in Netheria. Officially given the status of a city in 1948, Delvon had actually come into existence at the very start of the 20th Century, when the Netherian Federation had started purging the mafias from the major cities in an operation called the Iris Plan, named after the then Governor General of the Country. It was a bloody affair, and after years of resistance and efforts, the cities such as the Sameran and Rosewich were finally free of criminal outfits. However, the filth was never entirely purged, and it escaped and migrated to smaller towns in the country, infesting them with anarchy. And one such town was Nebura, which years later became the city of Delvon.

Today, it was a city of over 17 Million people, a Mega City, and an economic hub that still had immense potential for development. However, despite all the potential, it was still infested by anarchy at its roots. The citizens were multicultural immigrants, most belonging to the lower middle-class of the society, who were almost always involved in conflict with each other. And the truth was that the country needed the city of Delvon to stay chaotic so that the other Mega and Global Cities in the province of Arcadia could stay stable. A necessary evil for the greater good.

The blind eye from the Government was the only reason why Mafias still existed in this city. But that did not mean that they did not keep a check on everything that transpired here.

However, the city's chaos also added to its beauty, giving the man an intoxicating sense of freedom. Here, a poor man could turn his life around in a blink of an eye. The chaos meant that the central power of the city was too diversified. Which was unlike Sameran, where the unshakeable Major Six and other influential families existed. Therefore, despite all its flaws, a citizen of Delvon was forever a citizen of Delvon. 

Tonight, in the heart of Delvon, inside the famous HighTower Continental, the second Young Master of Hathway Corporation was holding a party to commemorate the Hathway Group's recent investments in the city. 

The famous five-star Hotel was star-studded with celebrities that had been invited by the Hathway Group, as well as dignitaries and other key figures of the country. And then there were some special guests. 

The moment Keith stepped out of the car, the cameras flashed with the media buzzing up into action, curious about his appearance in the city given the drama that was circulating on the Internet. 

Under the flashes of light, he courteously opened the passenger door and helped his companion for the night out of the car. 

Rebecca sweetly smiled at him, looking him in the eyes, and then she gently combed his hair with her fingers, seemingly not bothered by dozens of eyes on her. And after that, she hugged his arm lovingly and followed him inside the Hotel with their Shadows in tow. 

Keith knew that she was deliberately giving fuel to the media, and he just played along with her. 

"You know, we will be on the front page tomorrow." He playfully said. 

"And your jealous lover will feel uneasy in her heart." She smirked and leaned some more into him. 

He chuckled at her words and then smiled at the entourage of people who were coming forward to greet him.

"Heir Demiliore!" Tristan happily smiled and drew his hand forward. "I am glad you decided to come!" 

"The sentiment is mutual, Mr. Hathway." He shook his hand. "Thank you for inviting me to come to your party." 

"It's my honor." The refined Young Master of Hathway Family said before politely bowing to Rebecca. "Thank you for coming, Miss Grayson!" 

"You are welcome, Mr. Hathway." She lightly smiled, but unlike Keith, her attitude was a little stern. 

Tristan did not mind it, having already guessed that it was because of how he handled the matter last night. But it was not the place to talk about those things. 

"Please, come with me." He politely said and then led the two of them to the Presidential Hall that was reserved for tonight's party. 

The Hall was set into a Ball and Banquet theme, and it was filled with hundreds of guests chatting merrily in their small groups. This was not just a party, but it was also a business convention, and most of these guests here were hoping to achieve some results tonight. 

"Keith!" Julian happily came over with Gareth and another guy in a maroon tuxedo and a hat, whom Keith recognized at first glance. "Meet Mr. Tronten or you can call him Tron if you want." He introduced the man in a maroon tuxedo to him. 

"It's nice to meet you, Heir Demiliore." Tron stepped forward and drew his hand to Keith. 

"It's nice to meet you too, Ian." He lightly smiled and shook his hand. 

His greeting made everyone around them frown in curiosity. 

"You know each other?" Tristan raised his brow and asked. 

"We are old acquaintances." Keith smiled some more, but the boy in the hat found it hard to smile back. 

"I see." Tristan smiled. "I didn't know you have been to Rosewich, Mr. Demiliore." 

"I have not stayed there for a long time." He shook his head. "As for how we became acquaintances, I met Colonel Ian at the Sameran Military District." 

"What?!" A person on Tristan's team cried out in shock. 

"You are a Colonel?!" Julian surprisedly looked at Tron. 

"I was hoping to keep it a secret, Mr. Demiliore." Ian narrowed his eyes and lightly said, but he was still smiling lightly. 

"My Apologies!" Keith chuckled. "I will not give away more of your secrets!" 

"There's more to him than being such a young Colonel?" Gareth asked in disbelief. 

Keith smiled in his heart when he heard Gareth's words. Young? Ian was far from a young man if you looked at him from a human's point of view. He was centuries old, and even in the Netherian Military, he had been around for more than two hundred years, changing his names and identity. 

He was the wandering God of Netheria, Volos.  

"Yes, but I would rather not divulge his mischievous escapades." He smiled. 

"Thank you!" Ian smiled at him and nodded before turning to look at the blonde girl hugging Keith's arm. "Your beauty is heartwarmingly enchanting, lady Rebecca." He bowed courteously before flicking his arm and conjuring up a beautiful white rose for her. 

"Thank you, Mr. Tronten!" Rebecca graciously accepted the rose and smiled. "I was not expecting to meet a magician tonight. It's a pleasant surprise." 

Ian brightly smiled at her words. 

"It is just a sleight of hand, Lady Rebecca. I am glad you liked it." He humbly said. 

"Don't be so humble. That was brilliant!" Gareth sincerely said, and Ian just thanked him for his words.

"A young Colonel, a brilliant driver, and a magician. You are full of mysteries, Mr. Tronten." Julian smiled and said. 

The group then engaged each other in a conversation, where they learned about the relationship between Tron and Tristan. The young colonel was actually a family friend of the Hathway Family and had known Tristan since he was a little kid. 

Julian and Gareth were shocked when Tristan informed them that Ian was not as young as they thought he was. Though he looked to be in his mid-twenties, he was a man in his early fifties. 

Despite their shock at those words, it was not something unbelievable to them. Everyone here knew about the existence of Aurors, and Julian himself was on the path to becoming one. However, it did cause both Gareth and Julian to address Ian with some more respect which a senior deserved. 

Eventually, Tristan and his group had to excuse themselves since he was the host of the event. 

Ian excused himself too after meaningfully looking at Keith, deciding to play around with some hot models who were attending the party tonight. 

As their group separated, the women who had been eyeing Keith for a while finally came over to try and start a chat with him, however, each one of them was politely refused by him or scared away by the blonde girl, who refused to let go of his arm. 

"I am not sure if I should feel sad for you for falling into her clutches or feel happy about you becoming part of our family." Julian sighed and said when he could not contain his delight about the news he had received earlier from his mom. 

Rebecca narrowed her eyes and painfully pinched her little brother in the ribs. 

"Ouch!" 

"Watch your mouth, Jules!" 

"Don't call me that!" The blonde boy frowned and sternly said, but the damage was done since both Gareth and Keith were laughing at his expense. "Welcome to the family, Keith!" He just sighed and patted Keith's shoulder. "May God be with you..." 

"Hey!" Rebecca tried to pinch him again, but Julian managed to escape in time. 

"You guys chat, I am going to try my luck!" Gareth too excused himself, sensing that the three of them might want some time alone to talk privately. 

"Good luck!" Julian grinned and encouragingly patted his back. 

"Thank you!" And his best friend was off, confidently walking towards a famous Model in the fashion industry. 

They watched how he fared for a while until Gareth managed to strike up a conversation. And then Julian sighed and turned to look at Keith. 

"Tristan apologized to me earlier. He is still confused about what happened last night." He seriously said. "He is trying his best to investigate how that driver got poisoned, and as good faith towards us, he also asked the Falkens to not come to the party tonight." 

"It's fine." Keith shook his head and said. "I know he had nothing to do with what happened last night." 

"He's still responsible for losing the culprit. That guy mostly likely got poisoned when he was being interrogated by his men." Rebecca seriously said. "He should have handed over the guy when Keith had asked for him." 

"Come on, Rebecca." Julian sighed. "We both know that he was only taking responsibility for what happened." 

"Of course, I know that." She suddenly smiled. "But we need leverage over him before we bring up our business proposal on the table, my silly brother!" She giggled and ruffled Julian's hair. 

"You and your schemes..." The blonde boy sighed but then smiled just as bright as his sister. "So... how did it all happen between you two?" He curiously asked. 

"It just did." She just shrugged and refused to give her little brother any details about how Keith and she ended up on the verge of getting engaged. 

FateDevilAce

I am happy to inform all of you that I finished the Introductory Volume this week. Villain: TPOD Volume 1 has 180 Chapters in it. 

Thanks to everyone for their support and appreciation of my work. 

Following is the schedule for August:

$8 Tier will get chapters 146-165. 

$13 Tier will get chapters 184-210. 

As usual, the $3 Tier will stay 5 Chapters ahead of Public Releases! 

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