Villain: The Play of Destiny

“Keith!”

“Why are you screaming?” He displeasedly said when the lady on the phone almost hurt his ear.

“You have a cult!” She loudly exclaimed and informed him.

“I have a what?” He thought he had heard her wrong, but when she calmed down a little and explained it to him, he understood that it was very much real.

“Your video in which you are playing the Piano with a pretty girl went viral last month. And later when some people recognized you, they informed the rest, and everyone started following and investigating you.” She laughed. “People almost lost it when they found out how rich and powerful you are, and it only fueled their curiosity when they learned that you are the grandson of Lady Diana Demiliore! Your Inauguration Party, and then your Wedding have been one of the hottest topics lately. Your Wedding Footage is all over the Social Networks today, and you even have fan pages where girls proclaim their unrequited love for you!” She giggled as she informed him about it. “And congratulations! You are officially the Prince of Sameran from now on! You are on the Cover of NT Magazine!”

“I see…” He sighed.

“Also, I think one of your friends is making money off you since the NT Magazine published some of your pictures from your Social Media Accounts. Must be James.” She mused.

“Of course, it’s him.” He sighed again. “How’s Aunty?”

“Hungover!” She scoffed. “She’s been complaining about a headache ever since she woke up.”

“Should I come over?” He offered, and Qingyue stayed silent for a few seconds.

“It’s okay. It isn’t anything serious. And she has asked me to not disturb you about it.”

He could feel that she was a little reluctant to say it, and he smiled lightly.

“I will send you a recipe for a soup. It will help your mother feel better.”

“Thank you, Keith!” She sincerely said, feeling a little sweet in her heart. “Have you started preparing for the exams?”

“Not yet.” He shook his head. “I will just go through the syllabus on Monday morning.”

“Keith,” She called out to him in concern. “You really shouldn’t take it so lightly.”

“Don’t worry. I will ace them.” He smirked. “You should worry about losing to me.”

“Hmph! We shall see, Mister!” She one again scoffed at his words, quite confident in her preparation. “What have you been doing since morning?”

“Woke up early, had breakfast, went out for a run with my beautiful Shadows, and then I had some fun with Victor and Ryou. And now, I am helping my lovely wife with a project.” He told her as he smiled at Amelia, who was busily drawing the design of their prime future project.

“Oh, I am sorry for disturbing you.” She hesitantly said.

“No, it’s fine.” He assured her. “How was your day?”

“I too woke up early but straight up got to work. I am holding an Inauguration Party on the 5th of February, and my company will be launching its first Perfume and Clothing-line.” She revealed to him.

“That’s nice.” He smiled.

“And I need your help.” She hopefully said.

Keith frowned a little when he heard her words. He knew that she was not someone who relied on others, so it had to be something minor.

“How may I be of your help?” He curiously asked.

“Umm… Do you mind becoming the face of our new Men’s Fragrance?”

“What?” He surprisedly asked.

“Just a quick photoshoot! You don’t have to attend any events if you don’t want to.” She pleaded.

“I don’t really mind, Qingyue. But I need to test those Fragrances first.” He straightforwardly said.

“That’s fine!” She was happy that he had agreed to her request. “I will bring you the samples tonight. You will love them!”

“We shall see.” He smiled and shook his head, already knowing well what kind of Fragrance it was going to be.

The first line of Fragrances her company had launched in his Dream was not very successful. It was majorly because they were not unique enough, and though they were fine products, the company was new, not popular amongst the masses, and the sales were not optimistic. It remained the case for more than a year before her company finally made a name for itself and these Fragrances started becoming popular.

But now, since she wanted to pull him into this matter, he could not just stay on the sidelines and watch it unfold like it did in the dream.

“Alright, I have to go. See you tonight!” She excitedly said.

“See you!” He smiled and placed the phone back on the side table.

He closed his eyes and fell back on the back, thinking over the new matter at his hands.

Yes, his Medicine Skills were top-notch in this world, where no one could compete with him. But those Medical Skills only provided him with basic Alchemy Knowledge. He could create the finest of the beauty products in the world with how much knowledge he possessed in Medicine, but preparing a unique perfume required higher Alchemy Skills and knowledge.

He could not do it himself, so he had to find another way to help Qingyue. However, even after going through everything in his memories, he could not come up with anything that could help solve the matter in the time frame he had.

Keith decided to not think about the Fragrance itself. The product Qingyue had was fine in itself, not unique enough, but it could compete with the existing products on the market. And so, he decided to help her with the bottle design. If the bottle is unique, it would prove to be the hot selling point of this Fragrance. And luckily, Keith had just the right designs for the bottles in his memories. They did not come from the memories of the future, but from the part of the dream where he had lived a life in the alternate world.

Amelia curiously turned to look at what he was up to when he picked up a sketchbook and started drawing the designs, and her curiosity was piqued when she found him drawing a perfect sketch of a beautiful decanter, and then another pretty flacon.

“What are these?” She curiously asked.

“Perfume Bottles for Qingyue’s new Fragrances.” He lightly said and started drawing the side profile of both the bottles.

“Interesting.” She lightly smiled as she found him wholeheartedly working on it. “You really care about her, don’t you?”

“Yes.” He smiled and nodded without any hesitation. “She’s precious.”

“I can see that.” She giggled and then returned to working on her own designs.

Keith was almost finished with his sketches when a knock on the door distracted both of them.

“Yes?” He called out, and Viola entered the room and politely bowed to him.

“Young Master, a couple of men have brought a gift for you, and they insist on giving it to you in person.”

“Did they say who they are?” He raised his brow and asked.

“No, Young Master. But they have presented this badge.” She walked over to him and showed him what she was holding in her hand.

It was a golden badge, bearing the symbol of a bunch of grapes bleeding into a cup. And Keith immediately recognized it.

“Allow them in.” He simply said as he accepted the badge from her hand.

“Yes, Young Master!” Viola politely nodded to him and bowed to Amelia before taking her leave.

His eyes inadvertently turned towards Amelia, who was curiously looking at the badge in his hand.

“Temple of Dionysus.” He informed her and she surprisedly looked at him. “Something happened in Fiji. I will tell you about it later.” He smiled and said before getting up from the bed.

“I will come with you.” She closed her Design Book and followed after him as he left the room. “I overheard your conversation with Qingyue earlier. What got her so excited?” She curiously asked as they walked down the hallway towards one of the drawing-room reserved for the guests.

“Apparently, I have a cult following.” He chuckled and revealed it to her. “And after Qingyue learned about it, she decided to make me the face of her perfume line.” 𝘰𝑣𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

“An expensive decision.” She meaningfully smiled, and Keith grinned as he heard her words.

“Of course. And I will make sure she pays me up front.” He chuckled and planted a kiss on her cheek before grabbing her hand and locking their fingers together.

After they arrived in the drawing-room, they sat together and he started telling Amelia about what happened in Fiji.

By the time he finished his story, a maid informed him that the guests have arrived, and he asked her to allow them inside.

Keith activated his God Ring right before the messengers of the Temple of Dionysus entered the room, carrying a large chest in their hands.

And as soon as they placed it on the floor, both the men in black suits, wearing the symbol of their organisation on the top pockets, placed their right hands on their hearts and deeply bowed to him and Amelia.

“Greetings, Lord Erebus, Lady Demiliore!”

“You have come unannounced,” He lightly said, which tensed them. “But since you have brought a gift, you shall be excused.”

“Our Apologies, Lord Erebus! My name is Tauras, one of the six Guardians of the Temple of Dionysus. And the one next to me is my son, Tausir.” The older of the two, who was a refined white beard spoke. “The High Priest wanted to come in person to greet you, but he decided to ask for your permission and express our well-wishes first.”

Keith simply nodded to him, asking him to say what he had to say.

“The Temple of Dionysus wishes to have the best of relations with the Lord of Darkness as it has with the rest of the Gods of Olympus. And we hope you would allow us to serve your needs.” He respectfully said. “Our High Priest hopes you can give him time to personally come and pay his respects to you.”

“Your well-wishes have been received and appreciated. Tell your High Priest that he may come to see me any time he wishes. I have my birthday on 13th of the next month. He is invited.” He smiled and said.

The Temple of Dionysus was a powerful force even though it lacked in strength. Their true power was their selective but terrifying network of friendly connections, and it would prove quite beneficial to him in the future.

“Thank you, Lord Erebus!” They both bowed to him again and then unlocked the chest before opening it. “A hundred and ten bottles of our finest Cloud’s Blood Wine.”

“An expensive gift, but one that I am grateful for. Thank you!”

“It’s our pleasure, Lord Erebus!” They both happily smiled and bowed again. “We shall bring you a hundred and ten bottles each year as a form of our good faith. And if you wish to have more, you can sign a deal with us, and enjoy a 50% discount on them as the rest of the Gods of Olympus do.”

“I would like another 366 bottles each year of these Wines.” Keith nodded and said.

“We shall pass the order to our Temple. And your order will be delivered within 60 days, Lord Erebus.” The old man respectfully said.

“Was it Hermes who informed you about me?” He curiously asked, already knowing well that it was likely the Messenger God or Aphrodite, but the latter was not likely to do it after what happened in Fiji.

“It was indeed Lord Hermes.” The Old man nodded his head.

“Pass him my message that I don’t wish for a lot of people to come to know about me.”

“We shall deliver your message, Lord Erebus.” He nodded his head understandably and bowed again. “Please excuse us!”

“It’s lunchtime. You may stay if you wish to.” He offered.

“Perhaps another day when we have not come unannounced, Lord Erebus. We do not wish to intrude anymore.”

“Alright. Be safe!” He did not insist and nodded his head.

After the father and son took their leave, Keith walked over to the chest and picked out one bottle from it.

“Is it some special wine?” His lovely wife asked.

“Indeed, Love.” He nodded and picked out his cellphone from his pocket to take a picture of the bottle and the chest to send it to Rebecca. “Let’s go for lunch. And you can taste it and decide for yourself if it is special or not.”

He had just asked the maid waiting outside the room to prepare for the Wines to be placed in the cellar when he received a reply from Rebecca.

[I am coming over tonight!]

[You are welcome!]

“Are you sure nothing happened between the two of you on your date?” Amelia playfully smiled and asked.

“No, my dear Wife. And if anything happens in the future, I will inform you.” He grabbed her hand again and led her to the dining room.