Villain: The Play of Destiny

Chapter 525

"I have lived long enough to see past the liars. So, your attempts to shift the blame are futile."

"Now you are just being rude." He chuckled.

"What were you doing in the Elysian Empire?" She asked, and he silently sank back into his chair, looking her in the eyes but not answering her. "So, you are going to play dumb now?"

Mirka took out a metallic ball from her space ring, and then she activated the device, which soon floated in the air and generated a holographic screen.

A series of images was played on the screen, from the moment he and his wives arrived at the Gate of the City of Sin from the Elysian Empire, and then the images of him and his family during their time in the city.

"The girl with white hair, she is an Orayen, isn't she?" She asked, but he stayed silent. "You arrived at the Gate of the City of Sin a few hours after the death of my son. And then three became seven when you exited into the Sylvanian Empire the same day. Last night, you brought three more people with you into the city. And this morning, you came here with four girls, who have recently created a new Guild."

Keith still stayed silent at her words, and seeing that he was not going to speak, she continued.

"What are the odds that you accepted a Quest from the House of Nemerus, the Zurks, whom my son had gone to battle against? And now you are here, having lunch and making yourself at home?" She smiled. "We know that the Zurks were trying to reach the City of Sin and come here to take refuge under the Nemerus Family. Zyron had promised them a haven."

Her words made the two Nemerus furrow their brows, and whilst they were fretting over who leaked this information, Keith just raised his brow and confusedly looked at the woman, who was clenching her hand a little too hard.

"You doubt that I helped the Zurks?" He asked.

"No. You killed them." She coldly smiled. "And you are here to kill the Nemerus Family as well. My son and his platoon just happened to be at the wrong place and at the wrong time, right?"

"Why would I kill the Zurks?" He curiously asked, ignoring the look the two Nemerus were giving him.

"The Orayen have a blood feud against the Barbarian Tribes, and Zurks are their enemies. The Nemerus Family has a blood feud with them as well."

"Interesting hypothesis, but you are wrong. I have nothing to do with the Orayen Family, and my wife is not an Orayen." He shook his head. "And I came here to save their son and finish a quest that my daughters picked up for their Guild."

Mirka narrowed her eyes at him and smiled.

"You saved their child in less than half an hour when the finest of doctors had failed." She said, and her smile deepened. "Looks like the work of a poison master who knew exactly how to solve the poison and the curse that he himself created."

As soon as he heard those words, he started laughing, confusing the other people at the table.

"You are clever and quite masterful at pushing people to explain themselves and reveal things that they otherwise would not." He exposed her goal. "Sorry, but I am not going to explain myself or excuse myself out of the accusations you have made against me. You are free to blame me all you want." He shrugged and then stayed seated in the chair, still looking into her eyes.

As time passed and both of them remained silent, Zyron, who had finally made up his mind, spoke up.

"You have overstayed your visit, Elysian. Please leave my home."

As soon as he said it, he stood up, and his wife followed his lead.

Mirka kept looking at Keith and then she slowly stood up on her feet before turning to the Nemerus couple.

"Pray that I don't find out about your involvement in my child's death, Zyron. And if those Zurks are still alive, I will find them." She promised and then turned around to leave.

Cairo seemed a little conflicted at his mother's behaviour, and he politely nodded to all of them before leaving with her.

"Interesting woman." He chuckled when he observed the frowns that the two Nemerus were wearing on their faces.

"There is a reason why she is known as the Rogue Queen of Elysia." Zilya sighed and then smiled at him. "Sorry for the inconvenience. She was targeting you because of us."

"It's fine. And no, she was genuinely suspicious of me." He chuckled. "Then again, my actions in the South were indeed a bit suspicious for anyone who was looking for a suspect."

His words made the couple curiously look at him, but they did not raise any questions, respecting his privacy.

Both sighed in their hearts as they realised that if they had been less experienced, they might have fallen into Mirka's game and doubted their benefactor.

She truly was a Rogue Queen, who was soon going to become a Rogue Empress.

The couple then led him to the dining hall, where they joined the girls and continued with their meal there.

"Are you going to stay in Westesia for a while?"

"No, I will be leaving soon." He shook his head. "The girls plan on exploring the Grimgrove, and they might stay here for a while."

"It's not a safe place for a group of four," Zilya advised as she looked at the girls, and Kiara smiled at her.

"We have numbers, who are already waiting for us in the forest. We will be fine."

"Oh." The Lady of the Nemerus Family smiled in relief, and she excused herself from the table first as she wanted to check up on her child and stay by his side.

"Are the Elysian Zurks dead?" Keith curiously asked after he finished eating, and Zyron sighed at his question.

"Most of the princes of the Nemeron Family are dead, but the Patriarch and his two grandsons are still alive. Most of the Life Cards of the females belonging to the main family are safe as well. We are trying to search for them, but they have simply disappeared. We have no leads at all."

"If they are safe, then I guess it is best that they can't be found." He commented, and Zyron smiled and nodded his head.

The Demiliore stayed at the Nemerus Estate for a couple of hours. After finalising the transfer and accepting the Property Deed of the Black Nest, and collecting their set of 10 Earth-Grade Armours, they took their leave.

Zilya seemed to have used a very precious Life-Rejuvenating Treasure on her son, as he was awake when they were leaving, and the girls immediately took a liking to how cute the little boy looked.

Ingrid and Ingvild laughed when he innocently confused them as family, given their red hair, and it was only after their explanation that he noticed the difference in the shade.

The Carmilla Princesses possessed carmine-red hair, whereas the Zurks possessed a shade closer to scarlet colour. And then there was the obvious difference in the shade of their eyes.

"Zyrios is cute. We will recruit him in our Guild when he is older." Alana decided, and her sisters agreed with her suggestion.

They did not rush out of the city, but once they entered the woods, they picked up the pace to shake off the spies who were following them.

Keith already knew that he was on Mirka's radar, and she was not going to easily let go of her suspicions.

And the issue was that there were only a few hours left before the Steele of Time & Space would initiate the Cataclysm.

He had to find a place where he could take everyone, including the Zurks, out. A place where they could stay for a couple of weeks.

It took them a while to trick the spies, and Keith used the System to disguise their trail.

Once he was out of their perceptive range, he sent the girls inside Aerzar and moved forward more freely.

"Find me a suitable place." He asked the System, which used up some System Points and then guided him to the very centre of the forest.

Exactly three hours later, he arrived next to the lake, which was formed thanks to the stream that came down the mountains.

This was the place where the most dangerous of the Magical Beasts of this forest resided. And he could sense a few signatures deep inside the lake, where the water shimmered under the dappled sunlight filtering through the ancient trees.

However, for him and his family, wild Magical Beasts were not an issue at all.

Keith still took some precautionary measures and spent the next hour creating a Formation that isolated the vicinity of the lake from the prying eyes, and then he finally called everyone out of Aerzar.

"Get to work. Set up the cabins." He told his daughters who were ready to start playing around, and the girls pouted at him before they started creating wooden houses for everyone.

"Interesting place." Venessa mysteriously smiled as she looked around and then her eyes settled on the lake.

"Have you been here before?" He asked, and she surprisedly looked at him.

"Why do you say that?"

"Just a hunch." He smiled at her when she nodded her head.

"I have been to Amaya before. But it has been a long time, and this world has gone through a lot of changes..." She isolated their conversation and then stopped talking when she saw Minami approach the lake and sit by its side.

Keith too curiously looked at his daughter, and he noticed the pendant that she was wearing on her neck.

"She gave her Beast Ring to Alana, so, I gave her something even better."

"You should give me something too." He smiled at her and received a grin in return.

"No. You will have to work for things that you want." She told him and then walked over to sit next to her daughter.

It took the girls well over an hour to set up three campsites, and once the job was done, they started preparing the meals for the family, the savoury scents of roasting meats and simmering herbs wafting through the crisp forest air.

The Blood Guards were in the second campsite with the Hubo Family, and the third and largest campsite belonged to the Zurks.

Qingyue was with them, making sure that everyone was settled in, and she was helping them out with the preparation of meals as well.

Seeing him approach, the old Patriarch, who seemed to be in much better health, bowed his head.

"Tell me about the Zurk Tribe." He asked the old man as he sat down on the bench, next to Qingyue.

"What does the Lord wish to know about our Tribe?"

"Everything that you know about your Tribe." He smiled at the surprise on the old man's face. "Take your time. We will be staying here for a couple of weeks."