The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

In the end, it was decided that General Aquila would attend the banquet with the identity of Crown Princess Pica's primary husband. Everyone except Dawe was quite pleased with this declaration, especially Rook and Raven.

The imperial tailors really outdid themselves – Mana had to admit. Crown Princess Pica showed them her outfits for the events, and they started churning out matching outfits for General Aquila one by one. It had only been a few hours, but General Aquila already had three full sets, and the rest were promised within the next few days.

"This is amazing," General Aquila said, looking at the outfit he was going to wear that evening for the first banquet. It matched Crown Princess Pica's dress completely, and even their accessories – everything from top to toe, were well-matched.

Crown Princess Pica was thoroughly impressed as well.

King Jaren, Mana and Raven, who had personally come to deliver the outfits to General Aquila and Crown Princess Mana, were quite satisfied. Rook, who had been, quite understandably, rather clingy with his father, looked at the outfits with wide eyes, too.

"Mother and Father will look great together when they wear these," he said. "I wish I had a fiancée, too. Then I could wear matching clothes like this…"

Everyone laughed.

"You're too young," General Aquila told his son. "There's no need to rush!"

"But Sister Mana is my age," Rook protested. "And she's already betrothed to Big Brother Raven!"

"I think we can all agree that Mana and Raven are a special case," General Aquila said.

"Indeed," Crown Princess Pica said.

"But I want to wear matching clothes, too," Rook pouted. "Everyone here seems to be wearing matching clothes!"

No one could argue against that. All the couples were following this fashion trend these days – and the textile industry that King Jaren had handed over to Mana to manage was thriving because of this! Not only the textile industry, but also the jewellery and leather and other accessory businesses! With Mana and Raven personally devising the strategy for growth of these industries and then overseeing the implementation, was it any wonder that King Jaren's state coffers were overflowing with gold at the moment, and their citizens had become even more prosperous than before?

Bella had been so impressed by Mana and Raven's business acumen that she had appointed the two children as strategic advisors to the Ministry of Economy of the Sapphire Kingdom – and even though it had only been a couple of months since Mana and Raven had started looking into the markets and economic growth opportunities of the Sapphire Kingdom, there was already an upward curve with a few simple ideas being brought in.

The citizens of the Sapphire Kingdom adored Crown Prince Jules of the Emerald Kingdom even more, after this happened! What a wonderful fiancé for their beloved Crown Princess Bella! Not only had he convinced Crown Princess Bella to show her beautiful face in public, but he was also bringing in his little sister Princess Mana of the Emerald Kingdom and her fiancé Prince Raven of the Obsidian Kingdom to help out the citizens of the Sapphire Kingdom!

While the Sapphire Kingdom was overall, quite a prosperous nation – it couldn't be compared with the affluent Emerald Kingdom. And having allied with the Emerald Kingdom by marriage, and seeing the royals of the Emerald Kingdom and even Prince Raven of the Obsidian Kingdom come forward to help the masses of the Sapphire Kingdom – that completely won them over. Crown Prince Jules had become a hot favourite in the Sapphire Kingdom, and the citizens whole heartedly blessed the young couple.

Queen Carolina was quite happy with this outcome, naturally, and so was King Jaren. Not only were their children fortunate enough to be able to find the ones they could truly love, but they had even won over the hearts of the citizens!

And in the end, most of the credit for this squarely fell on the small and young shoulders of Mana and Raven. The two of them deserved to be called a pair of extraordinary prodigies. Raven's intellect was already known widely across the five kingdoms, but Mana's aptitude and acumen wasn't something trivial, either. In fact, in some ways, Mana was more pragmatic and astute than even Raven! Sometimes, she would introduce simple but extremely unusual concepts, which would amaze everyone around her.

Like the couple outfits – such a simple thing, and yet, it had become so immensely popular!

King Jaren really was very proud of his children, and he wouldn't let go of a chance to brag about them, naturally.

And right now was a golden opportunity to show off!

"It's a trend started by Mana and Raven, actually," King Jaren informed Crown Princess Pica, General Aquila and Rook. "These two kids like to wear coordinated outfits for formal events, and it's become the latest trend among the couples here, as well as the Sapphire Kingdom, thanks to Jules and Bella also going along with the idea of wearing matching outfits. Now Astra is making Mars wear matching outfits, too."

Pride dripped from his voice like dew drops from a rose early morning!

"It's an excellent idea," Crown Princess Pica said enthusiastically. "Little Mana has impeccable taste – and I'm sure it was her idea initially."

"We worked on it together," Mana said, taking Raven's hand. "Raven is so beautiful that I, too, wanted to look good next to him!"

"You two make a beautiful couple already, even though you're so young," General Aquila said. "And both of you will grow up into stunning beauties – I can already see it."

King Jaren nodded. "Just give it a few years – you'll be as gorgeous as Jules and Bella!" he said.

Mana and Raven grinned happily.

"All right, we should all start getting ready now," King Jaren said. "General Aquila, if there's anything you need, please let us know right away."

"Thank you," General Aquila said. "You've been very kind, Your Majesty."

King Jaren chuckled. "Well, I've got to treat my little girl's favourite father-in-law well, don't I?" he said.

Everyone laughed and dispersed.