Villain: The Play of Destiny

The next day, an hour before lunchtime, Keith arrived in Rebecca’s and Celine’s room after the day’s meetings. And he found a surprise guest happily chatting with his blonde Fiancee and his aunt.

It was none other than the beautiful little princess of France.

Avriel politely smiled at him and stood up when he approached them.

“Good afternoon, Princess.”

“Good afternoon, Lord Keith.” She politely bowed to him.

Celine frowned at the address, and she had been curious about it since last night when the Royal Family addressed Keith as a Lord. However, she decided to not ask Keith about it right now.

“Has she tempted you enough to visit Netheria one day?” He playfully asked and glanced at his blonde Fiancee, who giggled at his words.

“Lady Rebecca has almost convinced me.” The little Princess brightly smiled and nodded her head. “And my older brother plans on taking me to Netheria on your Noxville’s opening ceremony.”

“Oh.” He nodded to her. “Well, that’s more than three years away. It seems that she has not been convincing enough.”

His words made everyone curious and she looked him in the eyes.

“Why, little princess? Still searching for my thoughts?” He grinned at her, and the two maids behind Avriel visibly tensed up.

They were not her maids, but her Shadows in disguise, and they were very capable Espers and Aurors. How could the precious little Princess be allowed to even roam in her own Palace without some security?

The little girl heard her heart pounding in her ears, and her small frame trembled slightly. She had come here to ascertain her guess that Keith knew about her secret. But she failed to read Rebecca’s mind again, and Celine and Marianne never looked long enough in her eyes to form a connection.

But the way the grey-eyed lady was avoiding looking into her eyes had already cemented her guess that they knew about her powers.

An invisible force suddenly sealed her in her place, and then Princess frantically looked up as Keith leaned near her ear.

“Don’t try to read the thoughts of the Gods, Princess.” He whispered. “And fear the day you manage to snoop into a God’s mind. You might lose your sleep for the rest of your life.”

“I…”

“I know. Your family needs some answers.” He smiled at her and gently patted her head, freeing her and her Shadows from the invisible shackles. “We will talk about it when your father returns home.”

“Okay.” She immediately nodded her head and then tried to make an excuse to leave the room, but Keith gave her no chance.

“Come. I will show you something interesting.” He said to her and walked towards the corner of the lounge, where a small table with a chessboard was placed. “I have heard that you like playing chess. Let’s see how you perform without being able to read your opponent’s thoughts.”

Avriel hesitated as she watched him sit down at the table. She could have still excused herself away, but then it would have been considered rude of her, and Keith was not someone she or her family wanted to offend. Otherwise, they would have resorted to other means to get their answers.

“I usually play with Black, but I will take White.” He said to her and turned the board around. “And there’s a fun rule.” He chucked when her eyes widened in amazement as a white pawn slowly moved forward on its own, stopping at e4. “We can’t touch the board.”

Celine just stayed and watched in amazement as the pieces on the board moved on their own, and when Keith started taking out the Balck pieces, they floated in the air on the side of the board. And as if on cue, Avriel did the same with the White pieces she took out.

As the game progressed, Keith deliberately kept exchanging pieces, and more than half of them were now floating in the air.

However, there was a key difference, and that was that the Black Pieces in the air were quite stable, whereas the White ones wobbled now and then, showing that the little Princess was not as proficient in her Telekinetic Powers as Keith was.

In the end, the girl with pearl-white hair helplessly watched her King get caged, and her only other piece on the board was her queen, which could not save the King.

“Checkmate.” He said and smiled at her.

The way she was resisting the urge to pout and complain to him for being mean was quite funny, but in the end, her manners prevailed and she graciously accepted her defeat.

“Thank you for the game, Sir.”

“Word of advice, little Princess; Don’t depend on your ability to read another person’s mind. If you are not strong enough, one day, a big bad wolf, whom you offend by trying to read his mind would sneak into your room and take you away to his lair. And you won’t ever be able to escape him.” He playfully said, and Rebecca started giggling at his words.

“And that big bad wolf is you, Lord Keith?” She cutely narrowed her eyes at him and asked.

“I don’t live in a lair, Princess. But Rebecca does think that I am a big bad wolf.” He grinned at her, and despite herself, Avriel burst out into giggles.

She was a smart girl, and she had learned her lesson.

Avriel now knew that she must not try to read the minds of the Gods who roam this world. It was not safe. And she picked up the meaning behind his words as well that she was not strong enough to use her powers at will and there was a chance that someone much stronger than her could catch her and she might offend someone she should not.

“Can all of you do this?” She curiously asked as she looked at the floating pieces in the air that Keith was placing back on the board.

She was surprised by how effortlessly he snatched the white pieces from her control. And she had not even had the time to resist him.

“Telekinesis? Yes. All of us are capable of it.” He nodded to her, not giving her much detail, and then picked up the white queen in his hand. “Want to see magic?” He asked, and Avriel curiously nodded her head. .

A sizzling sound emanated from his hand that was holding onto the white queen, and to everyone’s amazement, the white piece was soon caged inside a diamond prison of crystalline ice, which sparkled a little.

“For you.” He smiled and handed it to her, and Avriel yelped in surprise at the cold touch, which scared her Shadows, but she was fine and soon started curiously looking at the crystal in her hand, not minding the cold which was not too harsh.

It was breathtakingly beautiful, and she could not take her omeyes off it.

“Won’t it melt?” She curiously asked.

“Come here.” He gestured to her, and Avriel stood up to walk near him and heard him whisper the answer in her ear. “It won’t melt as long as I am alive.”

“Oh…” Her small mouth dropped open and then curved into a bright smile. “Thank you for the gift!”

“You are welcome. Now go. It’s lunchtime. I will see you at the dinner.”

“Have a nice day, Lord Keith.” She courteously bowed to him and then greeted the ladies before leaving the room with her Shadows.

“Why did you not tell me that you are an Esper too?” Celine pouted at him, mistaking his earlier display for his Esper Abilities.

Keith did not answer her and just shrugged his shoulders. But he knew that if he did not distract her right now, she would start pestering him about showing her his powers, something that was inherited by Qingyue from her.

“We don’t want to keep everyone waiting in the dining hall. Also, I have already arranged for us to visit Orsay, Picasso, and a Cruise on the Seine.” He revealed to her, much to her glee.

“Let’s go!” She happily stepped forward and hugged his arm, dragging him out of the room.

On the other side of the Palace, the little Princess happily entered her room but tensed up as she found her mother waiting for her there.

“Mother.” She quickly bowed to her, and felt a little guilty when Catherine worriedly looked at her before focusing on the Crystal she was holding in her hands.

She had gone to see Rebecca and Celine without permission and her mother had asked her to not be wilful after meeting Keith last night and sensing that he was far more dangerous than they had thought he would be.

“Did you get your answers?” The Queen lightly asked.

“No, Mother.” She shook her head. “He does know about my powers, but he and Lady Rebecca are immune to my mind-reading. I have not found out how he came to know about me and our plans, but Lord Keith seems aware of our intentions and told me that we talk about it once Royal Father returns home.” She briefed her mother about what happened earlier.

“And this?” The woman in her late forties with pearl white hair curiously looked at the Crystal in her daughter’s hand, which held a Queen Piece inside of it.

“Lord Keith knows magic! And he made it for me.” She sweetly said.

“Made it?”

“Yes. He used some sort of Ice and Crystal Magic.” Avriel said and then walked up to her mother, handing her the crystal to take a look at it.

Catherine was surprised by the cold touch, but it was a soothing cold touch for an Auror such as her.

She took a careful look at it, and though she was quite apprehensive of Keith, she knew that he would not do something so openly to harm the little princess. And this crystal was quite beautiful and Avriel already seemed quite attached to it.

“It’s beautiful.” She smiled as she handed it back to her daughter. “You may keep it.”

“Thank you, Mother!” She happily smiled and then under the watchful eyes of her mother, carefully put the crystal by the side of her bed.