The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

Before General Aquila could speak up, Raven rushed to his Father Aqi's defence. Raven was still held up in the air like a small child by General Aqi. Actually, since General Aqi was a really big man – the scene wasn't too strange. It was quite harmonious, actually, like a worried father holding up his young son to check him for injuries.

"Father Aqi raised me for two years, until he was lost at sea," Raven said quietly, his rainbow eyes steady as he looked at Head Sage Yue. "Until I met Papa, he was the only father I have ever known. Father Aqi was, and remains, and will always be my first father."

Head Sage Yue stared at Raven, stunned to the core. But there was nothing he could do to refute that. Regret washed over him again, and he wished he could turn back time and return to the past to fix his own stupid mistakes.

"Never mind all that," General Aquila said impatiently, settling Raven on to his own waist – like parents of children between the age of three to five usually do. "Little one, you tell me what happened and why your magic fluctuated. Do you feel any discomfort? Shall I take you to Junior Imperial Physician Vale?"

Raven shook his head. "I'm all right, thanks to Mana," he said. "I just remembered something unpleasant, but she helped me get back to stability again."

General Aquila regarded Raven intently and then nodded. "You do seem to be stable now," he murmured. Then he turned to King Jaren. "That little girl of yours is quite something, eh?" he remarked with a big smile.

King Jaren beamed proudly. "Of course, Mana and Raven make me very proud, and they are so well suited to each other, it's like the heavens made them to fit together like two halves of the same whole," he replied.

"I must say I agree with that," King Corvus said. "Princess Mana and Raven are a fated pair, indeed."

"Actually, we may need your help – and this is part of the reason why Raven was agitated earlier," Queen Carolina said quietly. "Do any of you have any knowledge of a cursed living ghost corpse?"

Everyone stared at her in shock.

"Abominable creatures," King Corvus said. "I hoped never to encounter one ever again in my life." He sighed and rubbed his temples with his fingers. This was the first time in his entire life that Raven had seen his previously all powerful and devious grandfather looking so old and tired.

Queen Carolina, on the other hand, looked like she had seen a ray of hope. "King Corvus, you have encountered one before? How were you able to deal with the cursed living ghost corpse?" she asked.

King Corvus's eyes widened in shock. "Queen Carolina – are you telling me that you encountered a cursed living ghost corpse right now?!" he demanded.

Queen Carolina nodded. "Mana and Raven managed to contain the cursed living ghost corpse, though," she said. "However, Raven says that their rainbow magic net won't last longer than three days, and they will need to reinforce it every two days to keep things safe. If there's a better way to deal with it…"

King Corvus was speechless. "Raven – Mana – these children – contained a full fledged cursed living ghost corpse?!" he cried.

Queen Carolina nodded.

King Corvus closed his eyes and took a deep breath for several moments. Then he opened his eyes and fixed his dark eyes on Queen Carolina. "Please tell me what happened," he said.

Queen Carolina nodded again and gave him a brief overview of what had happened – without revealing the identity of the cursed living ghost corpse as her supposedly late husband Vir.

Everyone was stunned.

"Princess Mana – her earth magic and her water magic are already strong enough to be of this level…? To even contain a cursed living ghost corpse?" King Corvus murmured.

King Jaren cleared his throat. "Actually, Mana's net was able to hold the cursed living ghost corpse for only half an hour or so," he murmured. "Then the cursed living ghost corpse started dissipating it and a red haze started to rise from him, destroying the net slowly. After that Raven and Mana cast another one together, and this rainbow net was what managed to disperse the red haze completely and capture him. Azar helped, too."

"Azar is a good boy," the little dragon said, puffing his chest out. "Azar helps Mommy and Daddy."

"Of course you do, my dear child," King Jaren said, rubbing the little dragon's head affectionately.

"That is still something amazing, so much so that I am a little afraid," King Corvus said. "Back then…back then it took us five earth magic elemental users – fully grown and considered very powerful, and three water magic elemental users – also fully grown and considered very powerful – to achieve this effect! I was still a boy at the time – younger than Raven is now. It was my grandfather and grandmother – and your great grandfather and your great grandmother, King Jaren – and also your great grandfather and your great grandmother on your mother's side, Head Sage Yue – who got together with these earth magic elemental users and water magic elemental users. All their combined efforts could only contain the cursed living ghost corpse for only a few minutes. If it hadn't been for the necromancers – ten of them – putting in a collective effort to destroy the cursed living ghost corpse back then, I'm afraid half of the Pearl Kingdom would have been utterly and completely demolished."

"Necromancers!" Head Sage Yue cried out in disgust.

King Corvus sighed. "Please tell me that you bunch of idiots from the Moon Temple haven't wiped out all the necromancers of the Pearl Kingdom," he murmured.

"Of course we have," Head Sage Yue said with a proud huff. "The purge was already done even before I was born!"

King Corvus sighed again. "Then we have no way left to deal with the cursed living ghost corpse. I do not think that necromancers of any other kingdom have ever dealt with cursed living ghost corpses," he said. "Your Moon Temple is the most useless thing I have ever seen – doesn't do any good, and worse still, destroys useful things. Pray, tell me, how in the world were you planning to deal with cursed living ghost corpses without your water elemental necromancers?"

Head Sage Yue opened his mouth to argue, but King Corvus ignored him and turned to Queen Carolina. "Queen Carolina, you should send this cursed living ghost corpse to the Moon Temple for them to deal with," he said. "The only technique that I know of to destroy a cursed living ghost corpse completely used to be the closely guarded proprietary technique of the water elemental necromancers of the Pearl Kingdom. I don't even know if these sanctimonious morons have at least preserved the literature of their water elemental necromancers or burnt them all."

"Blasphemy!" Head Sage Yue cried before Queen Carolina could reply. "How dare you say such a thing?" he asked King Corvus, glaring at him with hatred pouring from his eyes like a solid, tangible object.

King Corvus smirked. "I merely speak the truth," he said. And then, after a dramatic pause, he added, "Idiot."

Head Sage Yue looked angry enough to explode.

"All right, all right, calm down everyone," Queen Carolina said, rubbing her own temples to ward off a headache. "So, if I understand this correctly, we have no way to destroy the cursed living ghost corpse because the Moon Temple has killed all the people who were qualified for this task, and we can't gain any information on the process or techniques because the Moon Temple has burnt all the literature?" she asked in a sombre voice.

"That's correct," King Corvus said.

Head Sage Yue merely spluttered angrily.

"Are there any books on necromancy left?" Raven asked softly. "I can try to learn and then figure it out."

"Daddy, NO!" Azar cried immediately. "Very bad magic! Bad for Daddy's soul! Daddy's soul will get sick and then Mommy will get sick and then…" The little dragon looked very anxious and his round green eyes which shone like speckled gemstones filled with tears.

"But I…" Raven began.

"No," King Jaren and General Aquila said at the same time.

"The Moon Temple has burnt all the books anyway," Crown Princess Pica, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up. "There's nothing for you to learn from, Raven. Besides, why should you have to be the one to clear up the colossal mess created by the Moon Temple anyway?"

Raven blinked. Was his mother trying to protect him? A small, involuntary smile appeared on his face.

"Pica is right," General Aquila said. "You've already done enough."

"Absolutely," Queen Carolina said. "We have already imposed on you and Mana more than we ought to, Raven."

King Jaren fixed his emerald green gaze on Raven. "We all appreciate your help, son," he said softly. "But you must not rush to sacrifice yourself any more.. Remember that your life and soul are tied to Mana's now."