The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

In the end, King Jaren activated an emergency transportation talisman and took General Aquila back to the imperial palace. He also left an imperial pass with the manager of the inn, so that he could visit the imperial palace the next day to see General Aquila.

"But… Your Majesty… isn't the banquet starting tomorrow evening…?" the manager asked, stunned at his own good fortune and looking at the pass being handed to him with wide eyes.

King Jaren smiled. "Well, since you're related to General Aquila and General Aquila is related to my boy Raven – shouldn't you attend the event with your family?" he asked lightly.

The manager was overwhelmed. "But I…" he began.

"You would be an honoured guest, not only of the Emerald Kingdom, but of the Obsidian Kingdom as well," King Corvus spoke up. He gave the manager another imperial pass, this one of the Obsidian Kingdom. "Aqi is someone we cherish very much, and by saving him, you have become a benefactor of the royal family of the Obsidian Kingdom," he explained to the manager who was frozen in shock at the idea.

"We…we just did what any decent person would…and Nemo…sorry, General Aquila…he's a very good man, even though he lost his memories," the manager stammered. "He's helped us so much over the years…it's not just us…"

"Thank you," King Corvus and Crown Princess Pica said together.

"We'll take General Aquila to the imperial palace now," King Jaren said. "It'd be best to let the imperial physicians take a look at him as soon as possible." He could see that his little dragon grandchild was starting to get impatient, and he suspected Azar may be able to do something about the dark curse on General Aquila – and King Jaren didn't want too many people to know about Azar's capabilities. The less people knew, the safer Azar would be. As it was, King Corvus and Crown Princess Pica already knew far more about Azar than King Jaren was comfortable with…the only saving grace was that they were firmly on Raven's side…for now.

And thus, the whole group was back in the imperial palace in an instant. Raven went to fetch Imperial Physician Kale and Junior Imperial Physician Vale while Mana took King Corvus, Crown Princess Pica and Rook to wash their faces and freshen up a bit – especially Crown Princess Pica and Rook.

As soon as everyone was gone, Azar bounced excitedly on King Jaren's broad shoulder.

"Grandpapa! Grandpapa! Azar wants to eat big, big, bad magic!" the little dragon cried excitedly. "Big, bad magic! Really big!"

King Jaren had pretty much expected this – and so had Mana and Raven, which is why Mana had chosen to lead King Corvus, Crown Princess Pica and Rook to the farthest washroom possible.

Raven returned almost immediately – he didn't go far, he merely stopped a passing servant and sent him to fetch the imperial physicians, while he himself rushed back to the room they had put General Aquila in.

He entered just as Azar was talking about eating big magic again – and Raven frowned slightly.

"Are you sure you'll be able to digest it? This is a very vicious curse," Raven murmured, patting the little dragon's head with gentle fingers.

"Azar will get more powerful with big, bad magic, Daddy! No indigestion!" the little dragon said immediately.

Raven looked up at King Jaren, asking for his guidance – they couldn't delay on this if they wanted to hide Azar's "eating big magic" thing from other people.

King Jaren nodded.

"All right," Raven said and turned to the little dragon. "But you have to stop immediately if you start feeling sick or uncomfortable, all right, Azar?"

Azar grinned excitedly. "Yes, Daddy!" he replied obediently, and then jumped on the chest of the unconscious General Aquila and opened his mouth wide.

There was a blinding flash of light and when it cleared, Azar was visibly bigger and his eyes were glowing brighter than ever before, and the opal spot on his throat flashed with all the colours of the rainbow.

"Azar ate big, bad magic," the little dragon said with great satisfaction, and snuggled into King Jaren's arms.

"Are you feeling all right?" King Jaren asked anxiously.

"Do you feel uncomfortable?" Raven asked at the same time.

The little dragon grinned brightly. "Azar is more powerful now," he announced. "Azar is a good boy!"

"Our little Azar is definitely the best boy ever," King Jaren said, stroking the little dragon's smooth scales. Azar shrunk back to his usual size. Ever since Azar had transformed into a bigger size during that confrontation with King Corvus, he often manipulated his size at will. He grew bigger often, but then he'd adjust himself to his usual size and because he found that this was the most comfortable size for him to cuddle with his human family.

"Absolutely," Raven agreed immediately, tickling Azar's chin. "There's no one better than our boy Azar," he said.

Azar purred in satisfaction.

There was a knock on the door and Imperial Physician Kale and Junior Imperial Physician Vale appeared. Just behind them, Mana appeared with King Corvus and Crown Princess Pica and Rook in tow. She threw Raven an apologetic look – she'd hoped she'd be able to delay the three people of the Obsidian Kingdom long enough for them to transfer some of the credit for dispelling the curse on to the imperial physicians…

As if sensing their intent, the black token of Raven, the matching token of Mana, and the red token of General Aquila flashed brightly at the same time, stunning everyone, even Mana and Raven themselves. They clearly hadn't expected this.

Both Mana and Raven wobbled when the light faded, and Azar cried out in alarm, "Mommy! Daddy!"

King Jaren, who was right next to Raven, caught the staggering boy with an arm, stabilising him. Crown Princess Pica, who was next to Mana, caught her similarly.

"What happened? What happened to Big Brother Raven and Sister Mana?" Rook asked fearfully.

King Corvus was staring at the two children with an openly shocked expression. Then, without a single word, he strode to General Aquila's figure on the bed, and examined him again.

"You two…you two actually dispelled the curse…?!" King Corvus cried out in shock.