Villain: The Play of Destiny
chapter-417

"You have something on your mind, Roy." Keith smiled as he looked at the boy who fidgeting a little in nervousness, sitting across from him at the coffee table.

The chessboard was organised for the last game of the hour, and as always, Roy had lost every single one of them. But today, he was a lot more sloppy, making it apparent that his mind was somewhere else.

"Speak," Keith ordered, and the boy lowered his head further down.

"Can I call you Father?" He whispered the question after a short while, having mustered up all the courage he had in him, and Keith heard it and sensed the unmistakable hope in his voice.

"No," It was a straightforward and brutal answer that sent the boy into shock, but Roy soon managed to get over it and nodded his head, holding back his tears.

The boy picked up a Pawn piece and made his first move, and soon, the chessboard was busy.

It only took the Child of Destiny a couple of minutes to make the first mistake, and for the next ten minutes, the boy helplessly watched his plans get dismantled on the board.

As soon as the game finished, Roy quickly organised the board and then stood up to bow to him.

"Thank you for your time, Master."

Keith nodded to him, and after the boy wished him a good night, he watched him walk to the door with a desolate back.

"I am not your father, Roy."

Hearing his words, the boy stopped in his tracks, feeling a pang of hurt, and turned to nod to him.

"I understand, Master." He said, but he did not meet Keith's eyes.

"However..."

Roy immediately raised his head when he heard him speak again, and there was a slight frown on his face as he caught his Master smiling.

"In some cultures, Mentors are respected just as much as your parents if not more." He lightly said. "And even if you can not call me Father, I can not stop you from considering me a father figure in your life. It's your right to feel however you want about the people around you."

Keith stood up and then walked towards him, and as soon as he came close enough, he raised his hand and patted the boy on the right shoulder.

"You have been looking at me as your father for a while now. I am aware." He smiled some more as he watched the nervousness dawn on Roy once again. "It's okay, but one must always understand and know who they are. It keeps them focused and their minds clear."

For some reason, Roy felt immensely relieved after hearing his words.

"Thank you, Master." He bowed to him again, and this time, there was a lot more respect and love in his voice.

Even though he could not call Keith his father, he could still look up to him as one. He had the right and the permission to believe that he had a father, and it was more than enough for him.

"Tomorrow is the last lesson of your Training. I will give you a month to stay with your mother and spend it as you like, and then I will take her away with me."

He reminded the boy of the deal they had made a year ago, and his reminder did strain the smile on his face.

"Will I be able to see her again?" He hopefully asked, but in his heart, he was already sure that he would see her again.

"When you are ready, I will allow it." Keith ruffled his hair and then walked out of the study, leaving the young boy to his thoughts.

Over the months, Roy had seen how Keith treated everyone around him, and how he treated his mother. Everyone respected his Master, and it was not some forced respect or out of fear.

In his heart, there were no longer any worries that his Mother would be mistreated, and now, he even knew that she would be very safe staying by Keith's side, even safer than she would be by his side.

And she would be happy.

Roy knew that his mother would still miss him, just as much as he would miss her, but he also understood that it was important that he part ways with her.

Right now, he and his Master belonged to two very different worlds, and he had a lot to learn, achieve, and prove before he could be a part of it.

He had to live up to the expectations of his Master, who was his father in his heart now.

As the Child of Destiny walked towards his room with a renewed resolve, Keith arrived inside the lounge where his dear daughter was waiting for him, reading a story with Ingvild.

"Brother!" Ingvild happily called out to him, and when he sat down by her side, she quickly informed him about the story they were reading. "Do you know about Aura Kites?" She curiously asked. "It's a training method mentioned in this story, but there is not much detail about it."

"Aura Kites?" Keith smiled at her question and then nodded his head.

He did know about this method as he had read about it in Aerion Prince's Plan of Destiny and later asked the System for more details.

"It is a method that helps you with your Aura Control and is a great exercise and activity to learn to use it efficiently." He told them. "Aura Kites are made from special materials that can conduct your Aura, make the kite restrict it and resist it, and also allow it to respond to it. Aura Kites are tied by you with your Aura Threads..." He demonstrated to them by shaping his Aura into a very fine Amethyst thread that sparkled, "and then you fly them, letting them travel the distance in the sky until you sense that your control is shaking. The finer and longer the thread, the better your control. How long you can keep your kite in the sky depends on your Aura Reserves and your Aura's potency. It may seem simple, but it is a very tough exercise. And we can also engage in Kite Fighting, where Aurors compete against each other by trying to cut their competitors' threads with their own."

Ingvild was very excited after she listened to him, and then she cutely looked at him.

"Can we try it?"

"It's hard to find the right materials to make the Aura Kites in this world..."

"Pretty please?" She sweetly requested, and he could not help his smile.

"You can try with paper or plastic kites, and once we find the right materials, we will make the Aura Kites for the exercise."

"Thank you!" She hugged him and then kissed him on his cheek.

"You are welcome." He smiled.

Minami too seemed quite curious about the exercise, just not as much as Ingvild. And once Keith nodded to her, she leaned in his arms and then continued with the story.

Keith accompanied the two of them to bed after they finished the story, and then the two girls hugged him to sleep, happy that he was staying with them for the night.

He was just about to close his eyes when he heard the System's prompt.

{Ding! A change has been detected in Qin Feng's Plan of Destiny.}

"What happened?" Keith curiously asked.

{Meng Xue is dead. Qin Feng accepted her feelings last night, and she died in an accident today. His Fate Value is going to quickly rise in the coming few months.}

"I see." He frowned.

According to the Plan of Destiny that he had read, Meng Xue was supposed to die in the summer of 2047, but now she had died a year earlier.

"So, Qing Feng is already yearning to leave his life and the Lord of the Purgatory Island aside and return to his homeland?"

{Yes, Host. Qin Feng will likely return to China at the end of 2047. A year and a half earlier than he was supposed to.}

There was already a change in Damien's Plan of Destiny, as he had carried out his most infamous job several months earlier than he was supposed to. As things stood, Keith could see himself having to deal with the two ahead of time.

He sighed in his heart as he found all of this a little too bothersome, but then he just brushed his thoughts aside and decided to work on his plans.

At least, for the rest of this year, he could spend all his time focusing on his family.

{Host.}

"Yes?"

{Qin Rouxi, the Heroine of Destiny, has just fainted. She has caught the sickness that stems from her Special Physique. It will aggravate over the next two years before her Physique awakens.)

Keith held back all his thoughts and then took a deep breath, again sighing in his heart.

Qin Rouxi was one of the Main Heroines planned by Destiny for Qin Feng, and she was an extremely special existence, born blessed and destined for greatness.

More than anything, she was special to him, and he had been thinking about going to China for a while now.

"There are no significant changes in Roy's Plans, right?"

{No, Host. His Plan of Destiny has not seen any major changes. However, his Fate Value is rising faster than it was meant to.}

"That's good."

It was just good to know that things would work as he knew they would. Otherwise, any changes in Roy's Plan of Destiny did not matter to him. As long as his Fate Value was rising, any changes would only be welcoming.

Keith spent the next several minutes amending his plans, and then he closed his eyes as he entered his dreamland.