Villain: The Play of Destiny

As expected, the Space Shuttle safely landed on the Moon at the designated time, and at night, Essra had a festive atmosphere where the people were celebrating the occasion with great zeal and zest.

However, there was a certain someone who was more interested in reading his book than joining the parties that were going on, and it finally ticked a few girls off.

Keith was dragged by Kiara to the main lounge, a couple of hours before dinner, and he had to helplessly participate in the karaoke they had planned.

He allowed them to be willful with him tonight and fulfilled all their requests as he sang one song after another with Alana, and it was not long before he found himself enjoying the evening with them.

His songbird was more than happy to sing with him, and if she had it her way, she would have kept singing with him all night long.

Avriel too showed the girls how skilled of a singer she was, but no one was really surprised as she was a princess who had been taught the arts since she was very young.

"You are all so good at it!" Harud, who had joined them as well, could not help but comment after he listened to every single person in the room sing.

Yes, most were not brilliant at it, but surprisingly enough, they were all good at it. This made the boy feel a little alienated as he knew very well that he was perhaps the only one in the room who could not sing.

The young Mir was very embarrassed when his turn came, but after the girls encouraged him, he decided to sing his part.

Harud was terrible at singing, but the girls kept his heart and still cheered for him. It was only after he finished singing that Kashish reminded him how terrible of a singer he really was, and then the two siblings started bickering with each other again, much to everyone's amusement.

"I am still a better fighter than you!" He proclaimed when he found himself losing the argument, and Kashish narrowed her eyes at him.

"Are you?"

For some reason, Harud felt a chill run up his spine, but he still confidently nodded his head, knowing well that Kashish never really took combat seriously.

"Yes!"

"Let's see."

"What?" He was shocked when she suddenly grabbed his hand and then started dragging him away to the training room.

The girls giggled as they stood up and followed the two, ready to watch the fun unfold, and Keith, who was not really interested in watching Kashish beat Harud, decided to join Venessa and Celine in the kitchen to prepare the meal.

Both of them had not joined the rest for the Karaoke as they took it upon themselves to prepare tonight's meal.

When Keith entered the kitchen, he found out they were almost done with it, and all he could help with was setting up the table and watching them finish their job.

And he did just that.

"You are going to leave again?" Venessa asked as she glanced at him, and Keith, who was now leaning against the pillar, nodded his head. "Iceland?" She guessed.

"Yes." He nodded again. "I will leave on Friday."

"To your Irish Bird?" She teased, and he nodded his head again.

"How long will you be gone this time?" Celine pouted.

It was so clear from her eyes that she wanted to come with him, and he smiled at her, sensing her envy.

"You can come with me if you want." He offered.

"No." She shook her head, and Keith was not surprised at her refusal. "Venessa and I have plans for the next couple of months." She informed him.

"More training?"

"Yes." She lightly smiled.

"Good luck." He chuckled, and she pouted again, knowing well that it was going to be hell for her and Ginara. "I will be gone for a few months. At least, five." He told them, and the grey-eyed lady stopped and stared at him.

She kept looking at him for a while, but then just nodded her head.

"You can come and stay inside Aerzaar if you want." He offered to both of them, but his Mother spoke before Celine could.

"No." Venessa immediately shook her head. "There's no need to put the burden on you. You are clearly not alright. Besides, unlike you and Rebecca, we can not really advance in Cultivation in this world anymore. We have no rush."

Celine wanted to accept his offer, but after listening to Venessa's words, she too shook her head. Neither of them were willing to make things unnecessarily hard for him.

"I am fine." He smiled. "If you stay inside Aerzaar, it will only drain some more Mana and Aura from me, but it will still be manageable. I can always replenish it."

"It's fine, Keith." She smiled at him but refused his offer. "We will stay inside Aerzaar when you stop spending half of the day sleeping in your room."

Celine giggled at her words and then nodded her head.

"It's fine, Keith."

"Okay." He did not insist anymore and waited for them to finish the preparations.

Half an hour later, the family sat at the dinner table, and Harud was seemingly in a very grumpy mood.

There were no visible signs of a beating, but his mood announced the result very loudly.

"You lost?" Keith asked with a smile and the boy embarrassedly nodded his head.

"You trained her, didn't you?" He curiously looked at him, hoping that he would say yes. "Kashish was not so good at fighting."

"Well, I did help her a little."

"See!" The boy suddenly looked at her sister. "You only won because you got some special training!"

"Cry all you want, but you lost to me. You can not deny that." Kashish smirked at him, and the boy returned to his grumpy mood after another round of a failed argument with her.

"I am going to Iceland on Friday. Alana is coming with me." Keith suddenly spoke, and everyone, except for Venessa and Celine turned to look at him in either surprise, or complaint. "If you want, you can come with me."

Harud looked at him in surprise, and it took him a few minutes to process his words.

"Me?"

"Yes." He smiled. "If you are up for it, I will introduce you to new friends and will help you train."

His words surprised the girls some more, and Kashish lowered her head as she felt very warm in her heart.

She had been meaning to ask Keith if she could keep her brother by her side. He was very dear to her, and she knew how attached he was to her.

Harud not only considered her his older sister but also his mother. And she had raised him since he was a baby.

Kashish was happy and immensely grateful to him, and his gesture made her heart feel a little too sweet. He had understood her feelings even without her needing to voice them. It showed how observant he was, and how much he cared for her.

"So?" Keith asked the boy again with a smile.

"Yes!" The boy excitedly answered and stood up. "Thank you for your benevolence, Lord Erebus." He bowed to him, and the girls could not help but giggle at his overly respectful behaviour.

"You should thank Kashish for it." He playfully said. "She asked me to train you."

The boy was shocked at hearing his words, but then happily looked at Kashish, who was sitting next to her, and hugged her.

"You are welcome." She giggled.

"You are the best, Sis!" He sincerely told her, but soon realised his mistake.

"Awww..." Celine could not help herself, and then the embraced boy had to deal with all the teasing remarks of the girls for the rest of the dinner.

After Keith finished his meal, he excused himself to his room, and Kashish immediately followed after him.

As soon as they entered the room, she reached forward and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you, Keith." Her eyes became a little misty due to the warmth that was flooding her heart, and she felt very safe when he wrapped his arms around her.

"You are welcome." He planted a kiss on her head. "And he's very talented, so you don't have to feel too grateful to me. He will be a great asset to you and us."

Kashish smiled and nodded her head.

Of course, she understood that nothing was ever for free. But she was still just as grateful to him.

She tip-toed to reach for his lips, and he leaned in to allow her to capture them.

The two of them kissed for a while, indulging in each other's taste, but then they were interrupted when the door was suddenly knocked.

"Come in." Keith knew who it was so he immediately answered, and Kashish, despite herself, could not help but blush when Diana walked inside with little Ingvild and Keith refused to let go of her waist. "Yes, Grandma?"

"Can I come with you?" She asked, not minding the intimate hold of the two lovers, and smiled when she watched him chuckle.

"Are you the one who is interested or is this Ingvild's request?" He asked, and the little Carmilla Princess blushed and lowered her head.

"Both," Diana replied. "I think I should travel a little, and since Ingvild promised to keep me company, she will be coming along."

"I see." He smiled and then looked at the little girl.

He knew very well that Ingvild could have come to him herself to request it, and the only reason she asked Diana was that she knew that his grandmother would feel lonely staying at the manor with everyone else busy with their things.

"You can come." He nodded to her, and the smile that bloomed on Ingvild's face warmed everyone's heart.

"Thank you!" She happily rushed up to him to hug him and then decided to run out of the room to share the news with her sister and her friend.

"Tell Avriel that Rebecca will continue with their training as soon as returns." He told her to pass his words, and the girl stopped at the door and nodded her head to him before leaving.