The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

Head Sage Yue finally managed to get hold of Mana and Raven a day before the first banquet. King Corvus and Princess Pica had been taken away by Rook for a private conversation (without Dawe and Enca) about the new development with General Aquila's token – and Head Sage Yue pounced upon the opportunity to grab Raven and Mana for a long chat. Azar, who was sticking to his Mommy and Daddy, naturally followed along.

For an hour, Head Sage Yue explained the various steps he had taken in the Moon Temple and the Pearl Kingdom to ensure that Raven would not have any trouble being accepted by them now.

Then he looked at Raven, as if expecting him to be bowing in gratitude for this "grand" blessing.

Mana and Raven looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"That's all?" Mana asked. "Do you really think that Papa and I will take Raven to the Pearl Kingdom with this kind of half-hearted attitude from you?"

"But I made an official declaration that he is my son and eligible to be a prince of the Pearl Kingdom! No one will ever disrespect Raven in the Pearl Kingdom after that – it'll be disrespecting the royal family as well as the Moon Temple!" Head Sage Yue cried. "What more could you possibly want?"

Mana opened her mouth to argue but Raven took her hand and patted it gently to calm her down.

"All right, then, thanks Father," Raven said. "We won't cancel our trip to the Pearl Kingdom. And you can rest assured, I neither want your position in the Moon Temple nor the throne of the Pearl Kingdom."

Head Sage Yue stared at him, frustration leaking from every pore of his body. "What in the world do you want, then?" he asked with gritted teeth.

Raven gave him a bitter smile. "A just a little bit of fatherly love and affection, actually. But don't worry, Papa has given me enough of that, freely and unconditionally, to last me for a couple of lifetimes," he said.

"It's nothing less than what you deserve," Mana said immediately. "It's your elders who have failed you in the past, Raven – you're so good, you deserve all the love and affection in the world!"

Raven blushed, his fair cheeks turning a delicate shade of pink. "Your eyes are awfully biased when you look at me," he murmured.

Mana laughed and pinched his cheeks with gentle fingers. "This isn't the first time you're telling me this," she said lightly.

"Daddy is very good," Azar spoke up, in his happy, chirpy baby voice. "Daddy is the best! Right, Mommy?"

"Yes, absolutely," Mana agreed immediately. "And our little Azar is also the best!"

"Like Daddy?" Azar asked with bright eyes.

Mana rubbed his head affectionately. "Yes, just like Daddy," she said.

Azar beamed at her.

Head Sage Yue watched the three of them interact with a complicated expression on his face. He felt he'd already done so much for Raven and that the boy should be really grateful about it – but looking at them now, he remembered how King Jaren interacted with Raven and how the boy responded to the other man, and a pang of envy rose up in his heart yet again. He, too, wanted that kind of a relationship with his only off-spring, even though he'd been the one who had discarded the child in the first place. And, as he had recently come to realise, his late mother had been right, and Yue himself had been blinded and fooled by prejudice and sanctimony in his younger days. So what if Pica turned out to be the Crown Princess of the Obsidian Kingdom? Hadn't he fallen in love with the woman herself, and hadn't he, too, hidden his own identity. For the first time in many years, he had been feeling vague stirrings of guilt and unease within himself. He had seen that Raven had accepted Pica much more easily than himself. And as for King Jaren…that ship had already sailed; Yue had no way to compete with the man for the position of Raven's father figure anymore. But there was still time, wasn't there? He could try to get into Raven's good books…

"I will try my best," Yue found himself saying. "I…I'm not used to being affectionate, Raven. But I'll try. And I won't let any harm come to you while you're in the Pearl Kingdom – that much I can promise you, for sure."

"All right," Raven said casually. It's not like he was going to pin his hopes on this strange biological parent of his.

Mana, however, heard the loophole in Head Sage Yue's words. She narrowed her eyes at him. "You won't let Raven come to harm? What do you mean by that? Who's trying to harm Raven in the Pearl Kingdom?" she demanded.

Head Sage Yue chuckled wryly. "You really are far wiser than your age, Princess Mana," he said ruefully. "I'm glad that you have chosen to accompany my son, really. He needs powerful allies."

Mana huffed. "Yes, yes," she said impatiently. "Who's trying to harm Raven, and what have you done about it?" she snapped.

Head Sage Yue sighed. "The upper echelon of the Moon Temple isn't willing to accept him," he said. "I made a decree as the Head Sage and made your recognition official as my son – as I already told you just now. But not everyone in the Moon Temple is willing to accept that. You…do have the blood of the royal family of the Obsidian Kingdom, after all, and they think that it dilutes your magical bloodline." Seeing Mana open her mouth to argue, he quickly added, "I know that Raven is far more powerful than most children his age, but you see, there are some things which need a specific and undiluted bloodline of the Pearl Kingdom, and…"

"Some things?" Mana asked sharply. "Like the holy sceptre?"

Head Sage Yue froze and then smiled uncomfortably. "Yes, that would be one of them, but unfortunately, it has been lost for many centuries now and that's why we've not had as much clarity in the workings of the Moon Temple, but…" his eyes widened in shock and his words petered out as Raven took out the sceptre and tapped it to make it full size.

"You…how…where…?!" Head Sage Yue was so shocked that he couldn't even find words to say.