The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

Overall, Mana's reaction to her headache and fainting episode was better than Raven. While she was quite excited about the idea of getting stronger quickly even if it caused her a few headaches and fainting spells – she thought it was a pretty decent deal.

Raven, on the other hand, was extremely concerned and fussing about. He even wanted Mana to skip the banquet in the evening and rest in her room instead, and offered to stay in with her. He also wanted to make changes to her exercise regimen.

Mana put her foot down, naturally.

"It's a banquet being specifically thrown in my Big Brother's honour for his engagement with Big Sister Bella! How can I not attend?" Mana asked incredulously.

"But you need to rest!" Raven insisted.

"Why in the world do I need to rest? I'm perfectly fine! You checked it yourself – three times, if I may add. And you have already confirmed that I am stronger and healthier than before – so all the more reason for me to be up and about!" Mana pointed out.

Raven bit his lip. "But – but what if you get a headache again? What if you faint again?" he cried softly.

"If I feel strange, I'll leave immediately," Mana said, her heart softening up at Raven's distressed expression. "I'll stick very close to you and you can monitor me at close range, all right?" she asked.

Raven bit his lip hard enough to draw blood, clearly reluctant to let Mana venture out.

Mana immediately put her finger on Raven's lip and sent a strand of healing magic into him to make the small wound heal immediately.

Raven's eyes widened. "Your healing magic – it is much more powerful now," he said in awe.

Mana grinned. "All the more reason to let me out, yes?" she asked.

Raven clearly didn't want to, even now.

Mana decided to change her tactics immediately. "You know how important these events are for Big Brother Jules and Big Sister Bella, right?" she murmured. "They must already be so worried – and if they don't see me in the banquet – they'll worry even more, won't they? It'll spoil their entire mood, won't it? And if you and I both are not present, a lot of people will start to wonder if the relationship between the Sapphire Kingdom and the Emerald Kingdom and the Obsidian Kingdom is becoming bad again – especially the Obsidian Kingdom. Then all the work that all of us have done in the past few months will go to waste, won't it? And you know how Papa is, right? If both of us don't turn up, he will leave the banquet midway and come here – and then, can you imagine how much damage it will do to the diplomatic relations between the Emerald Kingdom and the Sapphire Kingdom? Queen Carolina is reasonable and she may not take offence, but there are plenty of others who will take offence, and it will make business and the relations between our countries so problematic – and that will make everyone in our family so upset, won't it?" she argued in a gentle voice.

Raven looked ready to cry.

"I really do feel so much better," Mana said, feeling a twinge of guilt at his stricken expression. "You can check for yourself as often as you want. That should be fine, right?"

"I just want you to be safe," Raven murmured, hanging his head low and refusing to look at Mana.

Mana approached him gingerly and gave him a hug. "I know," she said. "And I am more grateful than I can properly express that I was fortunate enough to meet you and have you in my life. You mean the world to me, Raven – you know that already, don't you?"

Raven didn't reply.

"I know you're being cautious because you care about me so deeply, and I'm actually very happy that you care so much for me," Mana said softly. "But I really am perfectly fine now. I wouldn't insist on going to the banquet if I felt sick – you've checked for yourself as well, right?"

Raven finally nodded and looked at her.

Mana smiled a him and kissed his cheek. "Then give me a smile, my beautiful Raven," she said. "Seeing your lovely smile is worth more than a thousand health potions for me!"

Raven blushed and murmured, "Don't tease me like this."

Mana grinned at him in response. "Who says I'm teasing you? I solemnly swear I speak the truth and only the truth, and nothing but the truth!" she declared, placing a hand over her heart.

Raven finally smiled a little.

Pleased, Mana took his hand and told him sincerely, "If I can see you smiling at me every day for the rest of my life, I'll be the happiest girl in the world."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Being happy and being sick are different things – you're changing your stance now," he accused.

Mana froze for a moment and then burst out laughing. Of course this brilliant boy would see through her wordplay.

"You're amazing," she said, smiling broadly. Her smile was full of pride as well as joy. "I think that you may be the only person in the world who is clever enough to see through that! You're just amazing, simply too amazing!"

Raven could see that her praise was genuine and heartfelt. And that made him feel proud and happy, too. One of the best things he loved about Mana – as well as their Papa King Jaren and Big Brother Jules – was that they were always utterly delighted when Raven did something clever or extraordinary – and they were always proud of him, and, half the time, they were happier at his achievements than Raven himself. To Raven, who was used to being neglected, and whose intellect had more often than not caused him to be at the receiving end of other people's ire – this had been a really novel experience in the months that he had lived in the Emerald Kingdom and gotten to know this quirky but wonderful and warm family, who had taken him in without a word of complaint and brought him to greater heights than he had ever expected to soar to.

And after doing all this for him, they were the ones who said that Raven had brought them good fortune instead of the other way round. In Raven's eyes, what he had received from Mana, Big Brother Jules and Papa was worth more than what Raven would ever be able to pay back in even five lifetimes, let alone one. And that's why he was determined to take such good care of Mana and this family that had shown him the warmth of a family and the feeling of being cherished by others.

"What are you thinking about?" Mana's soft voice cut through Raven's thoughts, bringing him back to the present.

Mana was looking at him with sparkling eyes – brilliant emerald with specks of amber and silver – and her eyes looked brighter than before, too. The undisguised affection that he could see in her eyes made Raven feel warm on the inside. All that affection was meant for him, and only him. Not only could Raven see it in her eyes now, he could also feel it within him thanks to the link that the two of them had developed.

Raven was rapidly realising that the link was a rather good thing. He could feel Mana's affection for him and her pride in him – and that was such a wonderful feeling.

Raven smiled at Mana. "I was just thinking how lucky I am to have found you," he said honestly.

Mana huffed. "Well, you can think so if you want to," she said. "From my side, I would say that I am by far the luckier person between the two of us. Finding a treasure like you is worth several lifetimes. I can only hope that some day, you will be able to see yourself from my eyes, and then you will realise how amazing you are for real."

Raven chuckled. "You really do think too highly of me," he said.

"Nonsense," Mana said. "I think of you exactly as highly as I should and it is nothing less than what you deserve. Besides, you're my fiancé and we're going to spend our entire life together – if I don't think highly of you, who else am I supposed to think highly of? That idiot Mars?"

Raven frowned. "Don't mention that guy," he said.

Mana laughed. "Well, I'm using him to try to show you how much superior you are – honestly, just look at it from a neutral perspective and you will realise exactly how wonderful you are and that I'm not exaggerating or anything simply because I'm so very fond of you. I can be fond of people and still recognise that they are idiots – and I can hate them and still recognise that they are brilliant. With you, the good thing is that you happen to be the cleverest and the most talented and the best person I know – and on top of that, I really care for you, so much so that you're the dearest person in this world to me – that's two different things, and now you can see how awesome you are that you've managed to roll all of that into one grand package that's yourself?"

Raven stared at her for a whole minute and then turned as red as a tomato.