The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

Mana and Raven went off to the imperial kitchens of the Sapphire Kingdom to make some coffee milkshake. On the way, Mana explained to Raven about caffeine and how she was worried about Azar being too young for it.

Raven thought seriously for a moment. "What if I isolate this caffeine and take it out from Azar's drink? We can also add more milk to it to dilute it," he suggested.

Mana stared at her fiancé in awe and then hugged him. Trust this heaven defying talent to find a way to make decaf in five seconds – and how many decades of research had it taken in the modern world to come up with it? And even back in the modern world, Mana really didn't like decaf – because it really didn't taste the same to her sensitive palate as normal coffee!

Raven was stunned with the sudden hug – but who was he to complain when his darling little fiancée was showering her affections on him? So he simply smiled and returned the hug.

"You're too good, just too good," Mana said to Raven. "You're seriously awesome!"

Raven didn't even know what really great thing he'd done to deserve the praise, but he wouldn't turn it down, of course – especially after what happened in the morning, which had left him feeling a little down. He knew that it wasn't his fault that Mana was sulking – but that was at a cerebral, intellectual, reasonable level – it didn't stop his heart and emotional side from aching when he saw that his little fiancée was exhausted and upset when the rest of them had barely broken into a sweat. Even Raven, who had been an undernourished little runt just a few months ago, and become a well-fed and healthy twelve year old by now. In contrast, Mana, despite the removal of the toxic Shadow Poison from her body, remained rather delicate. And no matter how much Raven's heart ached at the thought of pushing Mana to do things which she clearly didn't want to do, he also knew that this was for her own benefit and he totally agreed with his Father Aqi on this point. They couldn't afford to indulge Mana's utter disdain for physical exercise – and even Papa and Big Brother Jules were thoroughly in agreement with Raven on this point. So Mana would have to put up with it until she was strong and healthy enough by their standards – and meanwhile, if Mana threw a fit or sulked at times – well, then Raven could only try and come up with various things to coax her and cajole her – but he was very sure that he would not let her off the exercise regimen they had built for her.

Seeing Raven in a daze, Mana tapped his nose playfully. "What on earth are you thinking about?" she asked with a smile.

Raven hesitated for a moment and then asked, "Would you really hate me if I made you get up early every morning to exercise…?" His voice was rather small and so fragile that it made Mana's heart ache for the boy.

However happy and healthy Raven may appear to be now – it had only been a few months since he had come into their lives, and prior to that, a lifetime – twelve years – of being called useless and unworthy and being abandoned by all those who were supposed to love him and cherish him and take care of him – it wouldn't be washed away so easily. Positive reinforcement was working well on Raven in the months that he had been in the Emerald Kingdom and the difference in him was visible to everyone – but a lifetime of deeply ingrained insecurities wouldn't disappear just like that in a few months, would it?

Mana felt terribly guilty. She'd sulked because she had really wanted to sulk and she really, really hated getting up in the mornings and she hated exercising even more. But was her entitlement to sulking more important to her than this boy's psyche? Of course not. By now, Mana knew that she was tied to life to this little boy, and the affection she felt for him far surpassed anything else she had ever felt before. She wasn't sure at this point if she felt so strongly for Raven because they were fated soulmates and all that mumbo jumbo that both King Corvus and Head Sage Yue kept talking about – or whether, in fact, they had become fated soulmates because she felt so deeply for the boy, and it was clear that Raven reciprocated her affections, perhaps equally strongly.

And Mana would tip the world over rather than let Raven feel wronged or distressed. She remembered Big Brother Jules's words from earlier, and how he had told her that her sulking was not achieving any results other than to make Raven suffer from unnecessary distress.

So Mana did what she could to rectify the situation now. She hugged Raven again and kissed his cheek.

"Does it remotely look like I hate you?" she demanded.

Raven bit his lip. "You were very unhappy earlier in the morning…" he murmured.

"I was just sulking," Mana said. "I told Big Brother this also – I'm ten, and I'm entitled to a sulk, am I not?"

Raven could only nod helplessly.

"But how does me being in a sulk translate to me hating you – what in the world is going on in that brilliant little head of yours that made you think such an absurd and ridiculous thing? How could I possibly hate you, Raven? And who am I supposed to love if I hate you?" Mana went on, throwing Raven a challenging look.

Raven was stunned for a moment, and then a slow smile bloomed on his beautiful little face, making him look like a fresh flower of incomparable beauty and elegance.

He looked so pretty that even Mana, who considered herself jaded since she was surrounded by beautiful people day in and day out – and also because she thought she had become used to Raven's lovely face and his charming smiles, found herself staring at him in a daze.

"So beautiful," Mana murmured, reaching out with one small hand and caressing Raven's face with gentle fingers – her actions almost involuntary. "I really need to make you smile more…"

Raven was taken aback, but then realised it was a good thing and let Mana do as she pleased. He was naturally quite pleased that Mana found him to be beautiful, and if Mana wanted to make him smile more often – then wasn't that absolutely the best thing that Raven could hope for? Besides, if he could use his pretty face to his advantage and leverage it to bring Mana out of one of her sulking episodes – well, then the pretty face would have a justifiable existence, wouldn't it?

"Mommy! Daddy! Why are you standing here in the middle of the corridor and making strange eyes at each other instead of making milkshakes for us?" Azar's annoyed voice broke into the dazed thoughts of Mana and Raven.

Mana and Raven flushed and Mana withdrew her hand from Raven's face quickly. Then the two of them looked at each other and dissolved into peals of helpless laughter.

King Jaren, who had come to look for the two children along with the little dragon, smiled when he saw Mana and Raven giggling away. While King Jaren would be reluctant to admit it, he had been a little worried when Mana had gone off in a sulk earlier this morning, and he was a bit worried about Raven's downcast appearance at the time as well.

After all, both these children were very, very precious to him. And Raven had been a bit down at the breakfast table as well – although Mana seemed perfectly normal – but that was probably because of Jules running after her right away after she had stormed off and working his Big Brother magic on the young girl. King Jaren knew that the siblings were very close to each other – much closer than they were to him. He also knew that Jules, too, cared as deeply about Mana and Raven as King Jaren himself – and that both Mana and Raven practically worshipped the ground their Big Brother Jules walked on. It was a fairly harmonious family, King Jaren thought with a smile.

"New milkshake!" Azar demanded, holding out a chubby dragon paw. "Mommy! Daddy! Azar wants new milkshake right now!"

Mana and Raven burst into another bout of helpless laughter.

Finally, when they stopped giggling, Mana reached out to rub the little dragon's head.

"All right, you little foodie, Mommy and Daddy are going to make your special new milkshake first," she said fondly, her sparkling emerald green eyes full of indulgence. "In fact, Daddy has promised to cast a special magic on your milkshake only to make it extra special and that will be only for Azar and no one else – how does that sound?" Mana asked.

Azar's eyes glowed with happiness. "Daddy is a very good boy!" he chirped.

And that was how the little dragon was introduced to coffee milkshake with Raven's special healthy and tasty decaf!