The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

The banquet was quite successful overall. Most people were so bedazzled by Crown Princess Isabel of the Sapphire Kingdom and Crown Prince Jules of the Emerald Kingdom that they would probably even promise the moon if Jules and Bella smiled together and asked for it.

Discussions and business negotiations – a lot of which had been initiated in the banquets of the Emerald Kingdom, continued to move forward and crystallise in the Sapphire Kingdom, and the merchants and other important people of the Sapphire Kingdom took full advantage of this fact.

Besides, the relationship between the people of the Emerald Kingdom and the Sapphire Kingdom had always been quite amicable – but now with the addition of Jules and Bella, their respective people became best buddies overnight!

After the banquet ended, Queen Carolina, King Jaren, Jules, Bella, Mana and Raven held a small meeting in a side room after throwing up sound proofing magic barriers.

"It went rather well, didn't it?" King Jaren asked with a smile, speaking rather softly. Azar had fallen asleep in his arms – it was well past the little dragon's bed time – and King Jaren didn't want to wake up his precious grandchild.

"It did, thanks to Jules and Bella." Queen Carolina nodded, her reply equally soft. She didn't want to wake up Azar, either. In fact, she was looking forward to the day when the little dragon would cuddle up in her lap and fall asleep – or maybe if Jules and Bella could get a dragon child of their own…then Azar could have a little cousin, too…

Jules and Bella looked at each other and smiled. Every possible word of beauty and praise had been showered on them all evening, and they were a bit overwhelmed, to be honest.

"You're certainly a sight for sore eyes," Mana told her Big Brother Jules and Big Sister Bella. "You two need to dress up like this whenever we are going for a business negotiation in the future. They'll give us whatever we want when they see the two of you looking like this."

Everyone burst out laughing and then they quickly moderated themselves so that Azar's sleep wouldn't be disturbed.

"I'll have a full report from the Imperial Supreme Mage in the morning," Queen Carolina said quietly. "At the moment, things are under control, and there have been no changes or fluctuations in the magical rainbow net."

Raven nodded. "There wouldn't be. If it becomes unstable, Mana and I will be able to sense it. I think that it is quite possible that Azar's addition in the end has stabilised the magical rainbow net and that it will last for a longer time now," he said. "But I'm not sure about it completely at the moment. The normal fluctuations which I expected by this time haven't happened at all."

"That's a good thing, right?" Mana asked.

Raven nodded. "It is," he said. "Let's wait for the report from the Imperial Supreme Mage of the Sapphire Kingdom and then decide what we need to do accordingly." He looked at Queen Carolina. "Are you sure that you are all right with people from the Obsidian Kingdom and the Pearl Kingdom knowing about the identity of the cursed living ghost corpse? Mother and Father may not be able to figure it out right away, but I know that Grandfather and Father Aqi will know as soon as they see the face of that person. The resemblance is obvious if you are looking for it."

Queen Carolina shrugged. "We have agreed to cooperate with the Pearl Kingdom and the Obsidian Kingdom anyway," she said. "Besides, I trust you, Raven. You are already a recognised family member of the royal family of the Sapphire Kingdom, as I said earlier. The fact that you are concerned about this issue gives me great reassurance."

Raven flushed slightly. Mana smiled and sipped her hand into his, interlacing their fingers.

"Don't worry your pretty little head over it so much," she said.

"Mana is right," Bella said. "It's fine if they get to know about it – at the end of the day, they are our allies, aren't they?"

"That's right," Queen Carolina said. "I will show them my goodwill – and this will be my expression of trust. And Raven, your grandfather King Corvus is the only one among us who has dealt with a cursed living ghost corpse before. We cannot afford to not have his assistance, and more importantly, I will not allow you to exhaust yourself or deplete your own magic over it. We have already discussed this in the morning, haven't we?"

Raven could only nod. Mana's grip on his hand tightened, and Raven could sense her apprehension. He turned to her and gave her a smile. "Don't worry," he said quietly. "I promised you, didn't I? I won't do anything stupid." At least not until he figured out a way to shield Mana from harm, he added silently in his own head secretly.

Mana felt a bit reassured. Raven wouldn't break his promise, she knew – but then, she also knew that he was probably the only one in this world that was clever enough to find a loophole in this entire thing and then use that to somehow protect Mana from the consequences of something and bear the whole brunt of it on his own. And that's why she was determined to keep a very close eye on the boy from now on.

Jules and Bella exchanged a glance and their jaws tightened with determination as well.

"We will help you, of course," Jules said quietly. "Please, Raven – never think that you are alone or that there is something that you need to face by yourself. We are all here for you – that's what a family is for, isn't it?"

"Indeed," Bella agreed whole heartedly. "A family – especially this family – is our sanctuary and this is something I have understood properly only after meeting Jules and becoming close to you all. Before that, it was only Mother and I – but now I have all of you, and my life is so much richer for it. Isn't it the same for you, Raven?"

Raven nodded. He couldn't even begin to express how grateful he was to have met Big Brother Jules and Mana – words would never suffice for the overwhelming gratitude and affection and sheer love that he held for this new family of his – and now, because of them, even his relationship with his estranged parents and siblings were being repaired slowly but steadily – in fact, those relationships had already become much, much better now that Raven had ever imagined them to be in the wildest of his imaginary dreams even half a year ago!

"Well, I'm sure my Jules and Mana will agree with me when I say that our family is the richer and happier for having found the two of you, Bella and Raven – in fact, if it weren't for Raven, I wouldn't have found Jules myself, and little Mana wouldn't have been cured," King Jaren said.

"I have to agree with Papa on this one," Jules said. "I didn't even know I was a prince – and I think it really did start from when I met Raven. This boy is a star of fortune for us."

Raven blushed. "You were the one who saved me that day, Big Brother," he said. "I owe you my life."

"Well, if we were going to count, don't we owe you our life many times over?" Jules said with a smile and ruffled Raven's hair. "Besides, I got an adorable little sister and an adorable little brother at the same time – and thanks to your help, I somehow managed to win the heart of the most amazing girl in the world – so let's just be grateful for our blessings and at our good fortune at finding each other at the right time."

"Yes, Big Brother is right – I'd have been dead by now without you, Raven – don't forget that," Mana said.

Raven shot Mana a horrified look. "Don't talk like that," he said, a frown marring his delicate brow. "As long as I'm alive, you're not allowed to die!"

Mana smiled and poked Raven's forehead with her finger, smoothing away the frown on his brow. "All right, then you make sure that you and I are safe and healthy from now on," she said.

"I will," Raven said. "I will also draw up an exercise schedule for you. You need to be stronger physically as well. I think you should also take up swordsmanship."

Mana froze – it was well known by everyone by now that she detested getting up early in the morning and that exercising was really not her forte.. And that she didn't like swords or swordplay – it was bad enough that General Aquila was determined to teach her how to use some weapon or the other and that she'd finally settled for archery – but now, Raven was going to make plans for her exercise regimen and things…Mana shuddered.