The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

"Raven!" Mana called loudly, waving her arms at the boy practising with his sword.

The boy put down his sword and turned to smile at her. King Jaren had asked him if he preferred to call himself Naver or Raven, and after much thought, he'd chosen the latter. For one, he wanted to keep the identity of Naver, the poison expert, as a secret.

"I'll take care of that," King Jaren has promised him. "Other than myself, Mana and Jules, no one will remember that you are Naver from tomorrow morning. You'll be Prince Raven, who has kindly agreed to come and treat Princess Mana in response to my request. You met with a mishap on your journey, and luckily, Jules found you, and then Mana brought both of you here."

"What about Physician Kale, Grandpa and Grandma?" Mana had asked.

"No need for them to know," Jules had said quietly. "He's already put in so much effort to keep Naver's real identity a secret and separate from his identity as a prince of the Obsidian Kingdom – it's better to have as few people as possible know about it. In fact, it's fine if even I can forget about it. Mana should know, and Papa will have to know to cast the required magic."

Raven had wanted to keep Jules in the know, though. After all, Jules had been the first person to help him without seeking a benefit, his first real friend, and now his Big Brother.

And thus, from the next morning, everyone only recalled the lovely little boy with rainbow eyes, Prince Raven, who was friends with their Princess Mana and Jules, who was going to be their Crown Prince soon (by now, everyone in the summer palace knew the true identity of Jules and that King Jaren had acknowledged him as his oldest child and his heir).

Grandma, Grandpa, Physician Kale and head servants and guards were also informed of the planned betrothal of Princess Mana and Prince Raven. All servants and guards had been instructed that Prince Raven must be accorded every courtesy and that his status was at par with Princess Mana and soon-to-be Crown Prince Jules.

Prince Raven was still wondering if he was caught up in a dream. He had not only found himself a friend-cum-fiancée and a friend-cum-Big Brother, but also a father figure that actually liked him! King Jaren was an openly affectionate person, and made absolutely no attempts to hide his fondness or indulgence towards Jules, Mana and Raven. Mana had lived with it all her life and Jules got used to it pretty quickly, since he had been brought up with much love and care by Grandma and Grandpa…but Raven, who had never received the slightest affection or tenderness from his own biological father, was quite overwhelmed, and yet loved it. He was no longer envious of Mana and Jules.

"Hey, Raven? Why are you in a daze?" Mana's sweet voice pulled Raven from his thoughts and he wiped the silly smile off his face.

"You're up early, Mana," he said instead. He loved how she spoke his name, with affection dripping from every syllable.

Mana nodded excitedly. "The head cook told me last evening that some merchants from the Pearl Kingdom are in the town these days, and they have something which looks like vanilla beans! I wanted to go down to the town this morning to take a look…do you want to come with me?"

"Sure," Raven said. "I'll quickly wash up and then we can go."

Mana gave him a thumbs up.

Raven rushed to his room and got ready in record time. He found Mana waiting impatiently outside his door as soon as he stepped out.

She brightened when she saw him and grabbed his hand. "Quick, let's go!" she cried and dragged him away. A carriage and several guards and servants were waiting for them.

"We don't need this many people," Mana said, frowning. "Just one guard and one servant should be enough."

The Guard Captain shook his head. "My apologies, Princess Mana. We have His Majesty's instructions that Prince Jules, Princess Mana and Prince Raven are to be accompanied by at least three guards and two servants each at all times."

Mana rolled her eyes. "Papa and his overprotectiveness," she mumbled. She turned to Raven. "Are you ok with it?"

Raven nodded, a warm feeling spreading inside of him.

"All right, then, let's go!" Mana said, pulling Raven into the carriage.

A few minutes after the carriage started moving, Mana asked Raven, "Are you hungry?"

"Not particularly," he replied with a shrug. "I can easily go three days without food."

Mana frowned. "That's not good for children of our age," she told him. "We'll have Physician Kale draw up a nutrition chart for you as well and prescribe some tonics," she added gleefully.

Raven smiled fondly. "Are you sure that you don't just want me to keep you company for those bitter medicinal concoctions?" he teased.

Mana stuck out her tongue. "Well, there's that, too – but don't you want to be tall and strong like Big Brother?"

Raven sighed longingly. "That would be nice," he murmured.

Mana made a mental note to add more meat and milk products to the boy's diet.

"We'll have breakfast in town today," Mana declared. "Remember that restaurant Big Brother told us about? The one with a different soup every day and fresh bread and a block of cheese to go with it?"

Raven nodded.

"I've been dying to eat there since he spoke of it," she confessed. "And since we had to visit town today for the vanilla beans anyway, I thought we could come a little early and have breakfast there."

Raven watched her bright eyes and rosy cheeks and smiled involuntarily. He now had a chance to spend a lifetime with her, he thought warmly.

Mana suddenly leaped forward and pinched Raven's cheeks. "Why are you in a daze again?" she demanded. "Did you get so hungry that you started daydreaming about food?"

Raven laughed and shook his head. "I'm just looking forward to spending time with you," he said shyly.

He looked so sweet and adorable that Mana felt the urge to pick him up and squeeze him. Her adult self would definitely have done so, if she'd seen a child this cute and lovely in her original world. But here she was just a ten-year-old girl, even younger that the little boy in front of her.

"Now you're in a daze," Raven teased.

Mana giggled. "I'm just thinking how cute you are," she told him.

Raven flushed. "I'm two years older than you!" he protested.

"Yes, but I have the wisdom of someone thrice my age, remember?" Mana retorted.

Raven pouted. "You're still much cuter than I am," he said firmly.

Mana simply laughed in response.

They soon arrived at the town which was located at the foothills of the mountain where the summer palace had been built. It was a nice little town, very picturesque – and quite prosperous, by the looks of it. Mana and Raven had passed through this town when they had arrived in the Verdant Hills, but they only had time to taka quick at the time. Today they could explore the town at leisure.

True to her word, Mana took him to the restaurant to have breakfast first. The restaurant had just opened its doors when they arrived, and they were the first customers of the day.

"Hello!" Mana greeted cheerfully.

The manager smiled at her and then caught sight of the imperial guards behind them.

"Oh, my! Is this out little Princess Mana?" he asked, clearly delighted.

Mana nodded and tugged at Raven's sleeve. "And this is Prince Raven of the Obsidian Kingdom," she introduced.

"Oh, the little prince with the intelligence of ten clever men?" he asked, smiling so broadly that his eyes curved up. "How wonderful!"

The manager greeted the group of guards and servants behind them as well and then led the entire group inside.

Raven was once again surprised by how casual things were in the Emerald Kingdom, and how the royal family mixed in seamlessly with the ordinary citizens. Mana and Raven claimed a small table for two by the window recommended by the manager as the best seat to watch the streets, while the guards and servants took up the other tables around them. Everyone placed the same order.

Mana struck up a conversation with the manager of the restaurant and soon, two steaming bowls of soup were placed in front of them, along with two large plates of bread and cheese.

"What soup is this?" Mana asked curiously, eyeing the colourful soup in front of her. A delicious fragrance tickled their noses.

The manager grinned. "If you can guess the ingredients, your soup will be free of charge. It's the privilege of our first customer every day, Princess Mana." He looked at Raven. "Since both Princess Mana and Prince Raven are not of age and you're our first customers today, how about both of you work on it together?"

Mana looked at Raven. "Shall we try?" she asked.

Her eyes were shining with anticipation, so naturally Raven couldn't turn her down.

"All right," he agreed. He looked up at the manager. "Manager, does this soup have a name?"

The manager laughed heartily. "Prince Raven really is as clever as they say!" he cried. "It does have a name – it is one of our most famous soups, and till date, no one has managed to get all ingredients right!" The manager looked very smug as he said this.

Both Mana and Raven's curiosity was piqued.

"What's it called?" Mana asked eagerly.

The manager grinned.. "Love soup," he replied with a smirk.