Chapter 65 - Dont Die On Me, Villain

"Villain! Villain! Don't you dare die on me," Persephone shouted for the nth time as she gently slapped his face to make sure that he remained conscious until they get some kind of medical help. 

Right now, Emanuel was driving the ranger rover left behind by Matteo and his little army. Even though they knew that using their car was not a good idea as these cars come with GPS which would certainly show all of their locations to the enemy, they still had no other option. 

Villain was dying…

The fucker shot him in the abdomen… 

Not only did he shoot him but also successfully ran from there. 

Santiago could see Persephone's blurred image shouting at him, cursing him to rot in hell if he dared to die, and all the innovative and amusing curses he had never heard before. 

Suddenly, dying didn't feel painful to him… 

He used to always think that one day he would die and there would be no one to cry on his grave… 

But he had never felt those words more wrong than today. 

"Don't die, Villain, please. Just stay with me," Persephone whispered, breaking into sobs as she felt his shallow breaths. Suppressing her sobs, she said, "Don't you now remember your goal? You still have to screw the great Alessandro Marino over. There is Nicolas too. Make him regret that he failed as a man and so I will use the guilt against him to get out of the wedding." 

"Still thinking about you, Red?" Santiago painfully smiled. 

"I know that I am selfish, petty, narrow-minded and all the bad things," Persephone sobbed. "But so what? You were right. Goodness will not lead you anywhere if not become a hindrance in your path. Where did my goodness take me? My mom is dead, my brother is dead and the boy I genuinely loved as my family is deaf too. Now even you are dying...but you see, I will not let you leave me here to pick my pieces again…" 

Santiago knew what she was doing… the stupid girl was boosting his ego. She was doing so in hopes that he would argue or nod with her. 

Stupid girl didn't even know that he had no intention of dying… but if he ended up dying...he had nothing to regret. 

After all, he never did something to regret. 

Good or bad...he would bear all the consequences… 

However, right now… he couldn't bear to see her crying...yet at the same time, he was feeling something for the first time in years seeing her in tears for him. 

Persephone Marino was bad for his health. She was as addictive as a deadly drug and intoxicating as alcohol. 

Seeing his eyes were about to close, she shook him again. "Listen to me, you stupid and ridiculously handsome Villain, you are not allowed to stop talking to me...if you did--"

"If I did?" Villain terrorized. 

"Then...then…"

"T-then?"He asked in a broken voice. 

"Then, I am going to marry Emanuel, have his babies and bury you in our back garden, " Persephone deadpanned. 

If Santiago could, he would have laughed at her being so cute. 

Currently, he was not her captor or her father's enemy...just a man who was dying in the lap of a woman he found attractive… 

"Miss Persephone, please keep me out of your threats. I love my life and have no wish to end it soon," Emanuel screeched as he sprinted the car at a faster speed. 

"See, your 'little man' is backing out," Villain tried to joke. But only if it was working… 

"Emanuel, I am going to bury you right beside Villian in our back garden after I marry you and have your babies," Persephone threatened the poor boy. 

"Please, Miss Persephone, I have a lover," Emanuel said while making a crying face. 

"So what?" Persephone said. "I have a lover too. Moreover, I have a fiance back at home. Still, I am sleeping with my captor. What's wrong if we got married despite you having a lover?"

Emanuel purses his lips as he had no retort to Persephone's words. It was either she was so funny or she was too dumb. 

Looking down, she saw Santiago's closed eyes, she shouted, "Emanuel, drive faster. He is not reacting...and…" 

____

"With all due respect, Your Majesty, what you are asking is too much," Ronan Joseph said. He looked too calm for the person whose father was just murdered a few hours ago. 

King Leonardo had to admit that this young man was impressive. Not only did he not let the party take advantage of his father's death nor did he blame the crown. 

However, he had to admit it too that this young man was more scary and threatening to his position than his dead ambitious father. 

Now for what His Majesty was trying to obtain from Ronan was indeed too much. But nothing much that couldn't be obtained with the right amount of the price. 

However, the question still remained answerless as to what did Ronan want as the price? 

Surely, he wouldn't do this favor to the crown just for anything… There must be something that Ronan desired. 

"Mr. Joseph," Leonardo called out his name in his trademark business voice. Deep and rough around the edges. He was, by all means, going to stop the destruction created by the dead PM. "I agree with you. What I am asking you is indeed too much...however as the king of the country it's my first and foremost duty to stop the people from destroying the nation they got after a long struggle." He paused for a moment, his hands placed on the table, his eyes fixed on Ronan's face, and his face still carrying a gentle smile as if he was talking to his own child. "If preventing the cause of late PM Joseph's death from reaching the public ear is something that you can help us with...we will abide by all your conditions." 

Ronan Joseph was silently hearing what King Leonardo had to say. When he was taken against his own will to the King's office, he was angry, too angry that he would have smashed this sly king's face if not for the fact that he was the king, the ruler of the land. 

He had to admit that the king was not only sly but shameless to the core. 

Convincing him to not announce the cause of the PM's death in public? Hah, the king had got some nerve to threaten him when he had the king and his supporters by their balls. 

Yet, he wasn't going to do anything against them. 

The reason was simple: he needed something that only His Majesty could give him, the real reason why he went to his father's residence. 

If His Majesty could give him complete ownership over that thing...he wouldn't bother about how his bastard of the father died. 

Moreover, he had more reasons to not announce that his father was murdered and his balls were chopped than the royal family… 

Heaving out what seemed like a long and painful sigh, Ronan began, "Your Majesty, politics is what my father or you do. It has nothing to do with me. Although I am oblivious to the so heard hidden rivalry between the royal family and the late prime minister, I'm not so ignorant as to assume what His Majesty and his advisors are trying to attain." 

"It's good to hear that the PM Joseph's son doesn't share his ambitions," King Leonardo said bluntly, making Ronan's jaw twitch. 

They had heard that the king was known for his blunt and direct statements. But today they experienced what it felt too. 

"Again, my ambitions have nothing to do with my father and politics," Ronan replied calmly. Although his face was carrying an indescribable calmness as if nothing in this world can affect or offend him, he still was seething inside. He so badly wished to rip off this bastard's face. Smiling a bit, he continued, "I can announce to the world that my father died of heart attack or cancer or whatever...but Your Majesty, you have to promise me to get me what I will request." 

King Leonardo was right when he said that this young man was as frightening as he was calm. Yet, he somehow impressed him. He reminded him a bit of the dark horses, Scary, calm, and shameless. Still, he was nowhere near any of them. Their charm was unspeakable...their auras too suffocating… And their heart made up of gold. 

"Say what you want," King Leonardo sighed. He should have seen this coming… 

"Calliope Wilding, " came the reply, making all the guards pointing their guns at him. 

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Note: We will be ending this arch soon. After this, the New York Arc will start and you guys are going to get drama with an endless supply of violence, a pinch of tears, sprinkles of ghosts, and garnishing the love pie with cuteness… 

One more thing...Santiago and Persephone's character will go through a huge change in the second arc… They will get more mature, wise, 'loving' and obsessive… 

Plus, Callum and Calliope's romance won't be starting until the next big leap. 

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