The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

After the desserts and the after-mints disappeared (and all the guests were given a small, exquisite box of assorted chocolates to take home), King Jaren formally announced the end of the official banquet and opened the floor for general discussions and interactions.

General Aquila immediately led Crown Princess Pica, King Corvus, Rook, Raven and Mana to the family that had saved him and housed him for ten years.

The old man, who had fished General Aquila out of the sea all those years ago and had given him the name "Nemo" after realising that he had no memory of anything, was also in attendance. After all, it wasn't every day that the king of your country personally invites you to a royal banquet, right? He was a rather jovial old man with a slightly wrinkled but ever smiling face, and his eyes lit up as soon as he saw General Aquila approaching them.

"Who would have thought that our Nemo would turn out to be such a bigshot?" he asked, getting to his feet and smiling broadly at General Aquila.

General Aquila smiled in response. "For you, Uncle, I'll always be the Nemo you saved and sheltered for ten years. Even though I've found my family now, it doesn't take away the fact that you made me a part of your family too – are you going to throw me out now, after ten years?" he asked good naturedly.

The old man burst out laughing and patted General Aquila's shoulder. "I knew it! Our Nemo would always be our family – and anyone who dares to say otherwise, I'll beat them up personally!" he announced.

General Aquila grinned at him, and the rest of the family members, who had been a little shy until now, immediately burst into a merry smiles and laughs. A young girl threw herself at General Aquila and asked, "Uncle Nemo, are you going away from us?"

General Aquila patted her head fondly. "I'm afraid that's true – but the good thing is, you can now be friends with my children, too – isn't that fun?" he asked gently. "Here, meet my sons Raven and Rook, and here's Mana, our new daughter." He pointed at the three royal children, and each of them smiled politely at the girl.

The little girl greeted them shyly.

General Aquila turned his attention back to the old man. "Uncle, I'd like you to meet my lovely wife, Crown Princess Pica of the Obsidian Kingdom, and my father-in-law, King Corvus of the Obsidian Kingdom," he introduced.

Both King Corvus and Crown Princess Pica greeted the old man politely.

"Thank you for saving our Aqi," Crown Princess Pica said. "We will always regard you as honoured guests of the royal family of the Obsidian Kingdom, and you will be accorded every courtesy in our kingdom, always," she promised.

"Indeed," King Corvus replied. "Aqi is very important to us, and you have the gratitude of not only the us as his family members, but also on behalf of the Obsidian Kingdom."

The jovial old man flushed in embarrassment. "Thank you," he said politely.

"Would you like to visit the Obsidian Kingdom?" General Aquila asked. "It is very different from the Emerald Kingdom, but it is very pretty, too."

The old man's eyes glowed excitedly. "Really? We can?" he asked eagerly.

King Corvus, Crown Princess Pica and General Aquila smiled.

"Of course," Crown Princess Pica said. "We would be privileged to have you. You will be royal guests, naturally."

"Raven and I will be visiting the Obsidian Kingdom in the summer," Mana spoke up. "Would you like to accompany us?"

The old man brightened immediately. "That would be lovely, Princess Mana," he said.

"All right, I'll be in touch, and we'll make our travel arrangements accordingly," Mana said with a smile. "All of you will come with us, right?"

The whole family looked very excited at the prospect of travelling with royalty and being considered royal guests of the Obsidian Kingdom!

They chatted with the family for a while and then went on to greet other guests. King Jaren proudly introduced Jules, Bella, Mana, Raven and Azar to the guests. Many people were fascinated by Royal Dragon Prince Azar, who had claimed his usual seat on King Jaren's shoulder. The little dragon didn't pay much attention to most of the people, but whenever someone with hostile or mala fide intentions appeared with false smiles, he would let out a soft hiss to alert his Grandpapa.

A lot of people were also interested in interacting with the members of the Obsidian Kingdom who were rarely seen in these circles, and who were generally considered very mysterious because of how little they interacted with the other kingdoms on a regular basis. Seeing so many people from the Obsidian Kingdom in one place was a novelty by itself, and getting to see the royal family of the Obsidian Kingdom was even rarer.

King Corvus could be quite charming when he wanted to be. King Jaren, Queen Carolina and King Corvus hung out together for the most part of the evening. Head Sage Yue conversed with King Orion for a while, and then gathered himself and went up to General Aquila to chat as soon as he found that Crown Princess Pica had left side. (Prince Dawe said that he was feeling unwell and it was getting late anyway, so Crown Princess Pica took Prince Dawe and Princess Enca back to the imperial guest house to put them to bed.)

"Hello, Aqi," Head Sage Yue greeted politely with a bow.

"Hello, Yue," General Aquila replied, with a cautious smile. After all, the last time they had met was the time when Head Sage Yue and people of the Moon Temple were trying to kill Crown Princess Pica and the new born Raven. Even if they were good friends before that, that incident had put the two of them on opposing sides. General Aquila couldn't forgive Head Sage Yue that easily.

The two men's thought processes were very different. Head Sage Yue was a person driven by righteousness and the rules of the Moon Temple. He was sanctimonious by nature, and think of himself as doing the right thing by discarding everything else, even his own promises and commitments in the name of righteousness. General Aquila, on the other hand, was a man of his word. If he had given his commitment to something, he would die before he would break his promise, regardless of who or what came in the middle. He didn't understand Head Sage Yue's righteousness, just as Head Sage Yue didn't understand General Aquila's insistence on keeping his own word.

And yet, somehow, the two men had been close friends once.

"It's been a while," Head Sage Yue said awkwardly.

General Aquila nodded. "It has," he said wistfully. "So much has changed in the ten years I lost…"

Head Sage Yue fell silent.

"How have you been?" General Aquila asked after some time. "Were you able to implement the things you wanted to in the Moon Temple?"

Head Sage Yue sighed. "Some of them," he murmured. "Some were rather impractical, as I learnt later. Still…currently, I'm focussing more on making it safe for Raven and Mana to visit the Pearl Kingdom and the Moon Temple, more than anything else."

General Aquila frowned. "What are the likely dangers for Raven and Mana? Have you identified the sources of trouble? What measures have you taken to protect the children?" he demanded immediately.

Head Sage Yue frowned. "You don't need to worry; I'll protect my son," he said. "Besides, Raven and Mana are perfectly capable of protecting themselves, and they even have the little dragon."

General Aquila glared at the other man. "No matter how capable they are, they are still our children. We can't compromise on their safety at all," he said, his eyes flashing angrily. "Tell me what you know and what you have prepared, and I'll guard them myself."

Head Sage Yue was startled. "You…you're coming to the Pearl Kingdom with them?" he asked.

"Of course," General Aquila said in a completely matter of fact voice. "Do you think I'd let my son walk into that den of snakes by himself?"

Head Sage Yue was annoyed, but he couldn't deny it. There were a lot of people in the Moon Temple who could be considered to be enemies of Raven, and while he had managed to somehow silence them with his own authority, he knew that there were hidden dangers lurking in the dark, waiting for an opportunity to strike out. Plus, there was the matter of the prophecy as well. Recently, Head Sage Yue had come to understand that his blind faith in the Moon Temple had been rather misplaced. He had learnt that the prophecy which had been revealed to him by the previous Head Sage, and the reason why he had chosen to send assassins after his own new born son, was incomplete. After meeting Raven and Mana during his last visit to the Emerald Kingdom, he had gone back to search for it.

And he found that the last two lines had been torn out from the ancient text.