The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

King Jaren, Mana, Raven, Azar, Rook and General Aquila used the special royal transportation array to arrive at the Sapphire Kingdom a couple of days before the first banquet of the Sapphire Kingdom.

Thanks to Queen Carolina, Jules and Bella, the arrangements were perfectly in place and the new arrivals were shown to their rooms by Jules and Bella themselves.

Jules and Bella were quite relieved to see that King Jaren hadn't overworked himself into exhaustion.

Jules pulled Mana aside for a chat, while Bella gave the others a brief tour of the appointed guest rooms and the facilities.

Jules led Mana to the luxurious room that had been assigned to him at the time of his first visit to the Sapphire Kingdom. It was right across Bella's, and other than the colour scheme, it was very similar to Bella's room. Jules liked it very much – just this room showed how much Queen Carolina cared for her soon to be son in law.

Mana entered the room with Jules, and then the latter immediately set up a sound barrier to keep their conversation from being overheard. By now, this had become a habit for them, actually, and it had saved them a lot of trouble, especially since Astra and Mars and their spies and minions often tried to eavesdrop on the conversations of Jules, Mana, Raven, Bella and King Jaren. And so far, they hadn't been able to gather anything except the information that Jules, Mana, Raven and Bella wanted them to overhear and let slip deliberately. It was always a mix of real and fabricated information that they leaked, which often made the spies (and consequently, their masters) become thoroughly and utterly confused. It had worked to their advantage so far – very much so!

"All well?" Jules asked Mana lightly, as he set up the sound barrier.

Mana smiled up at him. "Yes, Big Brother. We made sure that Papa ate his meals on time and got his rest on time as well," she informed him. "Actually, Azar was the one who made him sleep every day."

Jules grinned back, relieved. "Our little Azar truly is a treasure," he said.

Mana couldn't agree more. "He's still quite clingy with Papa," she told Jules.

"Papa is looking much better than how we left him a few days ago – you guys have done a great job," Jules praised. "About Azar…" he trailed off.

All four children – Jules, Mana, Raven and Bella – had become alert when Azar became unusually clingy with King Jaren – Azar's instincts were unerring, and all of them were worried that there may be some nefarious plans afoot.

"Did you find anything unusual?" Jules asked his little sister after a while.

Mana shook her head. "Nothing," she said. "I think our original analysis was probably correct – the Emerald Kingdom and the Sapphire Kingdom are safe zones, but we don't know about the others. I'm especially worried about going to the Amber Kingdom after this."

Jules nodded. "King Orion has been trying to suck up to Grandpa," he murmured. "I find that rather suspicious. Everyone knows that Papa appointed Grandpa as the Regent after the incident with Queen Sora – and sucking up to the Regent instead of the King himself…" Jules paused. "I don't like it, Mana. I spoke to Grandpa and Grandma earlier, King Orion, Mars and Astra – all three of them having trying to get into the good books of Grandpa and Grandma desperately."

Mana nodded seriously. "Astra always had her eye on the throne of the Emerald Kingdom," she said. "That's why she was always so eager to get rid of me, despite me being more or less permanently on the verge of death – until Raven came along and cured the Shadow Poison." She sighed deeply.

Jules nodded seriously, his handsome face filled with worry. "And if Astra had these plans, then it can be expected that King Orion and Mars also played a role in it."

Mana nodded. "They've had their eye on the Emerald Kingdom for years," she murmured.

Jules clenched his fists. "It makes me angry enough to cough up blood every time I see them," he said. "They killed our Mother, and now they are targeting Papa, but we have no proof of either."

Mana sighed. "I know, Big Brother," she said quietly. "I'm as angry as you, to be honest. But, for Papa's sake, we'll have to lay low until they make another move. After all, Papa is still very fond of Astra."

Jules sighed as well. "I can hardly believe that we share blood with Astra, if I have to be very honest," he said. "How could she scheme like this against her own family? Papa has always treated her very well, and showered her with as much love and affection as he does for us. I simply can't understand why she would do this or how she could bear to betray Papa."

Mana gave him a wry smile. "Her line to the throne has been blocked, and King Orion and Mars, who were probably planning to grab the power behind the throne of the Emerald Kingdom by putting Astra on the throne as a puppet monarch, are quite anxious, I suppose. With your arrival and with me cured, and especially with you being officially as well as publicly recognised as the Crown Prince – there's naturally a wrench in their well-laid plans which have been working in the background for years," she said with yet another sigh.

Jules bit his lip. "I'm worried, Mana," he murmured. "I'm very worried that they'll harm Papa, even when we remain vigilant. We can't monitor Papa every moment of the day indefinitely."

"I'm worried, too," Mana said softly. "But we have Azar, Big Brother. And we have made sure to lock on a lot of protective charms on all of Papa's things. Raven and I have personally supervised everything that was packed for him. Father Aqi has also promised to keep an eye out for Papa."

Jules was surprised. "You guys roped in General Aquila into this as well?" he asked curiously.

Mana shook her head. "We didn't have to," she said with a smile. "Father Aqi figured it out himself – he's really smart and has impeccable instincts, you know."

Jules grinned, relieved. "He does, doesn't he? He's really awesome. I'm so glad you and Raven found him. With him around, I won't have to worry too much about you two when you go to visit the Obsidian Kingdom in the summer," he said. "Raven also seems much happier with him around, and Papa seems to have found a good friend, too."

Mana nodded enthusiastically. The appearance of the long lost General Aquila couldn't have come at a better time, really, she thought to herself.

"Someone's coming," Jules said, and removed the sound barrier on his room.

There was a knock on the door. It turned out to be Raven. Mana and Jules pulled him into the room and put up the sound barrier again.

Raven looked at Mana enquiringly. "Did you tell Big Brother yet?" he asked quietly.

Mana shook her head. "You can tell him yourself. I still think that we should keep it as our back up option and not the primary one," she muttered. There was a tinge of unhappiness and reluctance in her voice.

Jules raised an eyebrow curiously. It was quite rare for Mana and Raven to have different views on the same subject – these two were usually so much in sync that it was as if they shared even brain waves and thought patterns. Sometimes, Jules even suspected that their brains were actually linked to each other's!

Historically, the only times when Mana objected to something Raven wanted to do – those were the times when Raven wanted to take a risk upon himself to achieve certain results that would benefit everyone. Raven's sense of self-preservation was very low, and although it had gotten much better in the months that he had been with them, he still tended to put himself last especially when it came to the people he cared about. And Jules knew all too well how much Raven cared for Mana and their family. Fortunately for all of them, Mana's overprotective instincts were no less than their Papa's, and she was especially attuned towards any dangers or threats posed towards Raven. Raven's low sense of self-preservation taken together with Mana's overprotectiveness towards the boy somehow made up for a balanced total.

Raven shot Mana a helpless look, and then shot a beseeching look at Jules, clearly begging for his Big Brother's help in soothing Mana's ruffled feathers.

Jules smiled slightly and threw an arm around Raven's shoulder.

"What plan have you come up with now? Given Mana's reaction, I'd say that it has a certain element of danger involved, and that danger is aimed at you, right?"

Startled, Raven fell silent for a moment, and then shook his head. "Not really," he murmured. "I've made the calculations properly, there shouldn't be any danger, actually…"

Mana huffed in annoyance.