The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

Mana and Raven decided to help Rook search for his token. Azar, too, wanted to come along, so the three children went to inform King Jaren that they were going out.

King Jaren was quite concerned about the matter as well. He had met General Aquila a few times when the man had been alive, and he had a good impression of the man. He had earned his reputation as an honourable and powerful warrior, and if he hadn't been lost at sea all those years ago, he could have become the most powerful warrior across the kingdoms by now. It truly had been a pity that such a brilliant and talented young man had been lost. And so, when Mana had Raven had informed him earlier that General Aquila might actually still be alive, King Jaren had been quite pleased with the matter, overall – not only because he had a favourable impression of him, but also because he thought that Crown Princess Pica would be better off having a decent man with her – which would, in turn, mean less trouble for Raven. And the biggest reason, naturally, was that Raven would gain a very powerful ally. If General Aquila's red token had recognised Raven as his monarch and General Aquila could be found – King Jaren would sleep much better when Raven and Mana visited the Obsidian Kingdom during the summer. Because General Aquila would be there to protect them.

But then again, that depended on whether they could even find General Aquila, and what shape he would be in at the time. After all, he had been gone for a very long time. King Jaren was reasonably sure that there must be something very seriously wrong with the man for him not to try to return to the Obsidian Kingdom or his beloved Crown Princess Pica.

And so, he was more than happy to let Mana and Raven and Azar go along with Rook – even if they couldn't find the token or the man himself, perhaps they would be able to find some leads that could help…

And in the meantime, King Jaren would have a separate talk with King Corvus and Crown Princess Pica about how exactly these tokens worked. He was sure that there was more to it than the children knew – while Raven would have gained all the bookish knowledge on the subject available in the imperial library of the Obsidian Kingdom, there would be a lot of hidden things which can't be learnt from books.

So he needed to speak to King Corvus personally and worm some information out of the wily old coot!

As it turned out, King Jaren and the children ran into King Corvus and Crown Princess Pica on their way out.

"There you are, Rook!" Crown Princess Pica cried in relief when she saw her second son. "You naughty boy, you were supposed to have lunch with us and you disappeared without a word! What were you thinking?" she asked angrily. "I'm not stopping you from seeing your Big Brother Raven – but shouldn't you at least let us know when you're coming over?!"

Rook hung in head. "Sorry, Mother," he said quietly.

"It's not really Rook's fault," Raven spoke up. "He was searching for the lost token…he didn't even eat all day until we made him eat just now."

"Lost token?" King Corvus asked immediately, before Crown Princess Pica could say anything. "You lost Aquila's token?!"

Rook shrank back fearfully. Mana and Raven both placed their hands on his shoulders to express their support.

"He didn't lose it," Mana said. "It was taken. The pouch is still there in his pocket."

King Corvus was stunned into silence. Then, an excited gleam flashed in his dark eyes. "Where did you lose it, boy? Quick, tell me!" he demanded.

"We're just about to head there," Mana said. "Do you want to come with us?" she asked.

"Yes, yes, I will certainly accompany you!" King Corvus said eagerly.

Crown Princess Pica looked rather lost.

"Cheer up, girl," King Corvus scolded. "You do realise that the token can only be touched by Aquila, Raven and Rook? The kids are here – so, it is quite likely that Aquila is around!"

It was Crown Princess Pica's turn to be shocked speechless. Then, a slow smile spread across her face and she looked at Rook. "Let's go and find your father, then," she said softly.

Rook nodded excitedly.

King Corvus eyed Raven with great expectations in his eyes. "You have your black token on you, right?" he asked.

Raven nodded.

"Good, keep it on you at all times, even when you're sleeping," King Corvus instructed. "You must not be separated from it for longer than a few minutes, or it will affect your powers drastically."

Raven blinked, and everyone else was taken aback.

"Why didn't you mention this before?" King Jaren asked. Looking rather annoyed. "This is something which causes a direct impact on Raven's heath!"

King Corvus smirked. "Raven should already know this," he replied. "This is very basic."

King Jaren snorted in annoyance. "Did you guys ever teach him any basics? If Raven wasn't so smart, he would probably have been left illiterate by your guys!"

Neither King Corvus nor Crown Princess Pica had a proper response for that. After all, they had never spared Raven a second glance all these years because he was too weak for them to pay attention to! But now he was an important part of not only their Obsidian Kingdom but also a very influential person across all five kingdoms!

They could only thank their stars that Crown Princess Pica somehow managed to win over Raven before that idiot Head Sage Yue did something and stole the boy from them! King Jaren wasn't a threat – because he respected Raven's choices and let him to what he wanted.

"All right, we're sorry – but Raven read all those books, he'd have come across this as well," King Corvus replied.

"Let's go," Crown Princess Pica said loudly. "If Aquila is alive, let's fi bring him home!"

Rook nodded eagerly.