The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

King Jaren, Jules and Bella kept King Corvus and Crown Princess Pica at bay while Mana and Azar went off to Azar's island to fetch the medicine sent by Azar's Elf Buddy.

The royal family of the Emerald Kingdom was so filled with gratitude towards Azar's Elf Buddy that King Jaren was considering passing a royal edict and assigning a noble title and an estate to Azar's Elf Buddy, in case they wanted to visit their world at any time. He decided that he would speak to Azar and Mana and Raven about this – after all, other than Azar, who was everyone's favourite anyway, Azar's Elf Buddy seemed to be particularly fond of Azar's Mommy and Daddy, too! So, in case they wanted to visit, it would be nice for them to have their own place to stay – well, they could always stay at the imperial palace as an honoured and distinguished guest, too. But the title would ensure that they would be respected and accorded every courtesy while they were in the Emerald Kingdom!

King Corvus was quite interested in this Elf Buddy and kept asking questions, but no one was inclined to answer him. Instead, everyone was focussed on keeping a watch over Raven until Mana returned.

Fortunately, King Corvus had rather thick skin – and unfortunately, he was the only one who could give them any information on this genetic condition Raven was suffering from which was hereditary in the men of the royal bloodline of the Obsidian Kingdom, so they couldn't drive him away, either.

Raven woke up after some time and groaned uncomfortably as he opened his eyes slowly. His eyes were dark and liquid, like his mother's and grandfather's.

"What happened?" he asked in a hoarse voice, blinking at the sea of concerned faces looking at him with their full attention.

He struggled to sit up and Jules and King Jaren were by his side immediately.

"What happened?" he asked again. "Papa? Big Brother?" He looked around, clearly searching for his fiancée and his dragon child.

Mana and Azar had not returned yet from their trip to fetch the medicinal potion.

"You collapsed," Jules said softly. "King Corvus tells us that it is a hereditary condition which afflicts men with powerful magic within the royal family of the Obsidian Kingdom."

Raven frowned. "I'm only a half-blood," he murmured.

"But your dark magic has grown more powerful than that of a full-blooded royal prince of our Obsidian Kingdom," King Corvus pointed out. "And of all my grandchildren, you're the one that's most like me – it is quite natural that you get the same thing that I did when I was young."

"Raven is nothing like you," Bella said snidely.

King Corvus smiled at her. "Crown Princess Bella of the Sapphire Kingdom, I would have agreed with you to some extent until recently – but the truth is the truth. Look at my daughter and that useless idiot Yue – where do you think Raven inherited his brains from?" he asked. "He was a weakling before, that's true – but at least he still had his intelligence."

King Jaren, Jules and Bella glared at King Corvus.

"Raven is worth a thousand of you – no, a million of you," came a childish voice from the door and Mana entered with Azar in her arms.

Azar was cradling a small glowing vial of a brightly coloured potion in his hands with great care. The little dragon's full attention was focussed on protecting the small bottle in his arms.

Mana walked to Raven's bedside and asked softly, "How are you feeling now?"

"All right," Raven said first, and then, seeing Mana's disbelieving face, he flushed slightly and amended his reply. "Not too great actually," he murmured. "But a little better than before."

Mana nodded and carefully deposited their darling little dragon on Raven's lap.

Azar offered the glowing vial to Raven, looking very proud of himself. "Daddy! Magic potion from Elf Buddy!" he declared.

Raven smiled at the little dragon and accepted the vial. "Thank you, Azar," he said. "You're the best."

The little dragon puffed out his chest proudly. "Drink quickly, Daddy! Drink all of it!" he urged. "Azar wants Daddy to get better real quick!"

Raven chuckled. Then, under the watchful gazes of his new family as well his old family, he opened the vial and downed the contents.

"How can you just let him drink an unknown potion like this?!" Crown Princess Pica asked King Jaren.

King Jaren shrugged absently, his entire attention focussed on Raven. "How do you feel son? Did it taste bad? Shall I get you a milkshake?" he asked anxiously.

Raven smiled up at him. "I'm already feeling much better, Papa, and my magic feels stable now," he replied.

King Corvus stepped forward. "May I check?" he asked.

King Jaren looked at Raven – without the boy's permission, he wouldn't even let a deity lay a finger on Raven, let alone a human relative.

Raven blinked at his grandfather. "All right," he said finally, holding out his arm.

King Corvus took the outstretched hand and checked his magic quickly before releasing him. Surprise and a hint of fear was written all over his face. "Your magic really has stabilised," he murmured. "This is…this is a miracle." He hesitated. "This…this 'Elf Buddy' of yours – is it Poison Expert Naver?" he asked.

No one gave him a reply to that – so King Corvus assumed it to be true.

Mana and Raven could clearly see that King Corvus had reached a completely erroneous conclusion – but they had neither the intention nor the inclination to correct him.

"Is there more of this potion available? What if Raven has another episode like this?" Crown Princess Pica asked worriedly.

King Corvus shook his head. "He won't. His magic is completely settled now – in fact, it has even been enhanced a little more. He won't face any instability problems like this until his second magic surge at all," he informed her.

King Jaren fixed his glowing green eyes on King Corvus. "Isn't it about time that you told us more about this hereditary condition of yours that is affecting Raven?" he asked.

King Corvus sighed. "There isn't much more than what I told you. It's magical instability at certain times," he replied.

Mana narrowed her eyes at King Corvus. "How many surges have you had? When was your last surge?" she demanded.

King Corvus stared at her for a moment and then burst out laughing.. "What a delightfully devious little princess you are!" he praised.