Villain: The Play of Destiny
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chapter-426
"It's a beautiful estate," Qingyue admitted after Feifei gave them a tour around the place, and her words brought a smile to her face.
"Uncle Qin bought this place when Rouxi was five years old," She informed them. "His business was still young and was going through a hard time, but he spent all his savings to buy this place after she took a liking to it. Uncle Qin loved her way too much." There was a hint of melancholy in her voice as she remembered Rouxi's father.
Since the two girls had almost grown up together, she thought of him as her father too, and his death was just as hard on her as it had been for Rouxi.
"How's she coping with the loss?" Qingyue politely asked, and Feifei sighed at her words.
"Rouxi has never been good at expressing her emotions. I have never seen her cry in my life, and even when Uncle passed away, she did not shed a tear.""Oh..."
"It's not that she does not feel pain. I know she does." Feifei ruefully smiled. "She has been very quiet these days, even when she's alone with me. And I have found her lost in her thoughts way more often now. She's also spending most of her time focusing on the business. Perhaps, it is her way of dealing with the pain."
"How about you?" Keith smiled and asked.
"I am brave." She spoke with a proud yet childish stubbornness, and it made Qingyue smile at her.
"That you are." She nodded, and then both the girls giggled as they met each other's eyes.
"Do you like horseriding?" Feifei curiously asked.
"I do, but I am more fond of Archery," Qingyue replied, and her words surprised the girl a little."I love it too!" She happily informed her. "Rouxi doesn't show much interest in it, but she's outrageously good at it. She's way better than me." She pouted a little, as if complaining about her friend's talent, but then smiled again. "You should join us someday."
"Sure." Qingyue nodded her head, and then the two girls chatted with each other as they headed back to the cabin where Rouxi was resting.
"Rouxi!" The little miss of the Wei Family happily ran over to her friend when she saw her coming out of the Cabin.
And Rouxi could only smile at the tight hug she received.
"My apologies for what happened earlier. I haven't been feeling well lately." She lightly said to Keith and received a smile in return.
"It is fine. I gave you a check-up, and the problem isn't serious or harmful. If you want these episodes of fainting to go away sooner, you should get in some more sleep. I would recommend fourteen hours of daily sleep."
The two girls looked at him in surprise at his words.
"You said it isn't serious!" Feifei was seemingly a little panicked.
"It isn't. Sleep will fix it." He flashed a bright smile at her, quite amused at the glare she sent his way.
"I am afraid I can not afford to sleep fourteen hours a day." Rouxi took his words rather calmly, and she had deduced from the choice of his words that the issues would go away eventually. "How long would it take for these symptoms to go away if I stay on my current schedule?"
"Around 90 days."
"And if I sleep fourteen hours a day?" She frowned and asked, and even Feifei anxiously waited for his answer.
"Four weeks." He informed her, and he could tell that she was seriously considering his words. "It is fine if you fall unconscious when you are at home with someone to take care of you, but it would be a serious issue if you fainted in the office, in a meeting, or worse, whilst driving."
"I will stay with her!" Feifei subconsciously spoke up, and it brought a smile to Rouxi's face.
She knew how much her best friend cared about her, and her heart felt a little warm.
"Thank you." She said to her friend and then looked at Keith. "Can you not fix it?"
"I can." He nodded. "But it isn't the right time for it, I will help you when the time is right. There are other methods as well, but they would be harmful to you, so I don't recommend them."
"Hmph!" Qingyue could not help but show her dissatisfaction at his words as she understood what method he had up his sleeves, and it made the two girls frown a little.
Seeing Keith chuckle at his wife's response made them frown some more.
"There really isn't a way to fix the issues soon?" Feifei narrowed her eyes and asked, doubting his intentions, and she had a bad premonition when she saw the sly smile on his face.
"There is a way that would fix the issues faster."
"What's that?"
"Miss Rouxi needs to stay by my side for most of the day." He challengingly looked into Feifei's eyes and the girl immediately glared at him.
"You are a bad man!"
"Feifei," Rouxi admonished her and then met Keith's eyes. "I will try to get some more sleep."
"I understand."
"Maybe we should consult another doctor..." Feifei was about to retort when Rouxi squeezed her hand to shut her up, and the girl stopped speaking, understanding well that it was not the right thing to say. "Hmph!"
"She's a little wilful, Master Demiliore. Please don't mind her words."
"I won't." He chuckled. "She's cute, and your girlfriend has been really kind to us. She showed us around the estate, and I must say, it is a beautiful place."
"Girlfriend?" Rouxi frowned at his words, and when she turned to look at her best friend, she found her burning in a scarlet blush.
"I was just trying to stop the bad man from taking advantage of you..." She argued, and Rouxi could only sigh at her antics.
Feifei threw another glare at Keith for selling her out but turned her eyes away when she found that insufferable smile still plastered on his face.
"I am not cute." She stubbornly said, and Keith smiled in amusement.
"Well, of course. I was just trying to keep your heart."
"Hey!" She glared at him again and frowned when she heard her best friend stifle a giggle. "Don't you have a business to discuss with him?" She reminded Rouxi.
"I was just about to invite them to the house." She smiled and then looked at Keith and Qingyue. "Please."
The two of them, accompanied by their horses and the beautiful wolf arrived at the mansion that was Rouxi's home, and the Child of Destiny smiled at her beautiful pet.
"You want to come inside, Eira?" She asked the wolf, who was sticking by Keith's side, and the cute howl that she responded with warmed her heart. "Okay." She said then gave the wolf some loveable caresses before looking at Keith. "I have never seen her show interest in someone before."
It was clear that she was a little intrigued by what was happening, and Feifei immediately grabbed her hand and dragged her inside the house before Keith could respond.
"Be careful around him." She quickly whispered into her friend's ear.
"What?"
"He's a bad man." She whispered again, and when Rouxi raised her brow at her, she hesitated a little.
After sneaking a glance behind her, and seeing that Keith and Qingyue were still standing where they had been, she leaned near Rouxi's ear again.
"He's interested in you."
Rouxi frowned a little at her words.
Having grown up with Feifei, she knew about the outrageously sharp intuition that her best friend possessed, and Feifei had never been wrong about anything so far.
"True?" She seriously asked, and Feifei nodded her head in reply.
"Everything okay, Miss Qin?"
The two girls jumped in a scare when the sudden voice sounded out from right behind them, and they were a little alarmed at how close Keith was standing.
When did he approach them?
They both had the same question, but Rouxi soon recovered her wits.
"My apologies, Master Demiliore. Feifei had something urgent to speak to me about. This way, please." Rouxi gestured towards the hallway that led to the drawing room.
They were on their way when they came across an aged maid, who was carrying a bouquet of fresh orchids of different colours, and she had a very tired smile on her face.
"Miss Qin." The maid sighed as she approached them, and Rouxi frowned as she looked at the envelope inside the bouquet.
"Did that despicable Wang Zemin send these again?" Feifei bluntly asked, making the old maid sigh. She angrily picked up the envelope and opened it to read it.
"My dear, Rouxi..." She hastily went through it, reading it to Rouxi, and then tore it before putting it back inside the bouquet. "Put it inside the lobby. I will ask someone to pick it up and send it to the Wang Mansion."
Rouxi sighed at her friend's behaviour, but this Wang Zemin was, indeed, a headache to her.
Had her father not partnered up with the Wang Business in Hangzhou, she would have easily rebuffed him. But too many things were at stake now.
"Who's this Wang Zemin?" Qingyue curiously asked.
"Just some unscrupulous Young Master who thinks he can woo Rouxi." Feifei bluntly answered, and she then subconsciously turned to look at Keith.
A playful glint passed through her eyes, which made him raise his brow at her intentions, but she did not say anything and then started walking towards the drawing room.
An hour later, the four of them were sitting inside the drawing room, and whilst Keith and Rouxi sat separately, discussing the details of their business projects, Feifei was chatting with Qingyue, asking her about the Demiliore Family and life in Netheria.
"Do you like racing?" She off-handedly asked, but Qingyue could guess her intentions now.
"Not particularly, but I do enjoy it. Keith and Rebecca love racing."
"Your sister-wife?" She curiously asked. "She's the blonde one, right?"
"Yes."
"Who's better between Keith and her?"
"Keith." She smiled. "What do you intend to do?"
Feifei was a little taken aback by her straightforward question, but after she glanced at Keith and Rouxi, she sat closer to Qingyue and spoke again in a very light voice.
"Wang Zemin loves racing. He's slightly better than me at it, and he is organising a racing event tonight. Do you think Keith would be interested in it?"
"I can't say." She showed some uncertainty.
"Can you convince him?" Feifei seriously asked.
"You know, you can ask him about it yourself."
"No."
"Why not?"
"He will jump on the chance to pull my leg and might even make me promise something to take advantage of me."
Qingyue laughed inside her heart as she knew Feifei was very right about it.
"If you help me, I will accompany you to an Archery Range tomorrow, and we will have a match." She gave her an incentive, and it made Qingyue giggle a little.
"Alright. I will ask him later and will let you know about it."
"Thank you!"
"Don't you think that pinning my Husband against this Wang Zemin could be a bad idea?" She curiously asked and became even more curious when Feifei shook her head.
"The Wang Family would not support him if he made an enemy out of your husband. I think he is smart enough to realise it and would stop bothering Rouxi."
"Have you tried asking your grandfather for help?"
"I did, but it isn't a plausible enough reason for him." She was clearly not happy with her grandfather right now, and it made Qingyue smile.
"I thought you did not like Keith."
"I don't."
"And isn't he a bad man?" She mischievously asked.
"He won't harm me and Rouxi."
Qingyue curiously raised her brow at her words.
"Why are you so sure?"
"I just know it." Feifei simply shrugged and then stood up as she saw that Keith and Rouxi were done with their discussion.
"I will have my secretary send the files to your hotel, Master Demiliore."
"It's fine. I will come to the office tomorrow." He smiled at her and then drew his hand forward to her. "It was nice to meet you."
Rouxi hesitated a little as she did not like shaking hands with people, especially men, but since they had already done it earlier, she was in a dilemma now.
It would be very rude of her to refuse it, and making up her mind, she drew her own hand forward.
Feifei frowned when she saw her best friend shake hands with Keith again.
In all her years that they had been together, she had not seen Rouxi shake hands with a man other than her father, and today, she had done it twice with Keith.
"Miss Wei." She broke out of her thoughts when she heard him call out to her, and she found his hand extended to her, waiting for her.
"I don't shake hands with men." She slightly bowed, but her words were not apologetic at all.
And she was not lying. She had picked up some habits of her dear friend over the years.
"My apologies." Keith gracefully drew his hand back and gave her a slight bow too, and the sincerity in his words made Feifei feel a little unwell in her heart.
She did not know why but she was regretting a little now that she had not shaken his hand, but she soon put the thoughts aside and accompanied her friend to see off their guests.