The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

"Azar, no," Raven said quietly and seriously, coming to the rescue of Queen Carolina after seeing that the monarch of the Sapphire Kingdom was completely stuck with the little dragon's unreasonable demand. Raven could see that she didn't want to let the baby dragon have a sip of alcohol, but she also didn't want to turn him down because he looked so utterly adorable. 

Queen Carolina shot Raven a thankful glance.

Azar pouted. "But Daddy – just one sip," he murmured in a small voice.

"It is bad for your health, Azar," Raven said gently. "Wine is only for grown ups. You know how your Mommy and I don't drink wine, either."

The little dragon pouted even more and grumpily returned to King Jaren, who immediately plied him with a fresh peach to cajole the baby dragon.

Mana felt Raven's conflict through their bond, and immediately reached out to pat the boy's arm.

"You did well," she whispered. "Thank you. I'm very proud of you for being able to stand firm and choose what is best for our little dragon despite the fact that he made himself look so adorable that anyone would find it difficult to say no. Thank you, Raven."

Raven looked at his little fiancée. "Do you think I was too harsh on him?" he murmured.

"Not at all," Mana replied without a shred of hesitation. "You did very well – you were very gentle and yet firm at the same time. That's a rare talent and a wonderful skill!"

"Really?" Raven asked. "Azar doesn't seem very happy right now."

Mana gave him an encouraging smile. "He's used to being pampered by everyone and doesn't like to hear a refusal, that's all – Papa will cheer him up in no time, you'll see," she said. She patted his hand in a reassuring manner. "Don't worry so much. Remember the chat we had about your beautiful face?" she teased with a mischievous smile.

Raven flushed. "All right," he murmured.

Other than Azar's little tantrum in the middle, the banquet went pretty well. There was no movement from the imprisoned cursed living ghost corpse, either.

Bella and Jules gained an even more dedicated fan following after the banquet – in fact, there were so many people clamouring to speak with them that the young couple had to stay back for nearly two hours after the banquet officially ended!

King Jaren, Queen Carolina, Jules, Bella, Mana and Raven gathered in a small meeting room that had become their place to discuss things quite often these days. King Jaren immediately set up a privacy barrier spell and the group discussed the events of the day and the banquet – of course, Azar was happily fast asleep on King Jaren's shoulder.

Suddenly, however, the little dragon woke up with a jerk, his eyes glowing brightly.

"Grandpapa! Go to Azar's island! Now!" he demanded.

King Jaren looked at the little dragon quizzically.

"Elf Buddy sent Azar a fiancée! Azar wants to see his fiancée! Like Daddy has Mommy and Uncle Jules has Auntie Bella!" the little dragon explained.

Everyone froze for a moment. Did Azar mean to say that his mysterious Elf Buddy from another world had sent him another dragon?

"Grandpapa! Uncle Jules! Mommy! Come with Azar to Azar's island!" the little dragon demanded imperiously.

When the three humans didn't move, Azar tugged at King Jaren's hair. "Grandpapa! Hurry! Azar wants to see his fiancée!" the little dragon said impatiently.

Then he looked at Bella. "Auntie Bella should come, too!" Azar said. "But not Daddy," he added crossly.

Mana raised an eyebrow. "Why not Daddy?" she asked.

The little dragon huffed. "Azar does not want to speak to Daddy!" he declared.

"Why?" Mana asked archly, a hint of danger in her voice.

But then again, what would a little baby like Azar understand about the danger in Mana's voice? Even a lot of adults would have missed it – at the end of the day, it was only those who were really close to Mana and knew her well who would be able to pick up on subtle things like this.

Azar stuck out his tongue childishly. "Daddy doesn't let Azar take a sip of wine, so Azar won't let Daddy on his island!" he declared.

Raven froze. Mana immediately slipped an arm around his waist and pulled him close, reassuring him with her presence.

"Raven is not alone on that. I won't let you drink a sip of wine, either, and neither will Papa or Big Brother or Big Sister Bella, for that matter," Mana told the little dragon.

"But Mommy! Daddy rejected me at dinner!" Azar complained. "Azar does not want to speak to Daddy and Azar does not want to take Daddy to Azar's island!"

"No one is going to your island without Raven," Mana said flatly, putting her foot down on the subject.

"Mommy! That's not fair! Daddy scolded Azar!" Azar whined.

"And it was well deserved scolding, Azar," Mana said. "Raven did nothing wrong. You are not going to drink wine until you are old enough to drink – and that's that."

The little dragon burst into tears. "But – but Azar is a good boy! Daddy scolded Azar and so Daddy is a bad boy now!" he wailed loudly.

Raven sighed sadly. "It's all right – you guys can go ahead to the island and see what the matter is. I will wait here," he said in a small voice.

"No," Mana said immediately. "No one is going to the island without you."

"But Azar wants to go!" the little dragon yelled. "And Azar doesn't want to take Daddy!"

"Then we are not going anywhere until you apologise to Raven," Mana said firmly to the little dragon. "You can continue to throw a tantrum here, Azar, but it is not going to solve anything. You have been very rude to your Daddy right now, and you have to apologise to Raven. If you do that sincerely and properly, we will all go to the island with you and see what your Elf Buddy has sent for you. But if you can't do that, we will all stay here."

"But – but – Mommy! Azar's fiancée!" the little dragon protested.

"Your fiancée will have to wait until you are sensible enough to apologise to your Daddy for being rude to him," Mana replied.

The little dragon looked up at King Jaren. "Grandpapa!" he complained. "Mommy and Daddy are being mean to Azar! Grandpapa, scold them!"

King Jaren sighed and rubbed the little dragon's head gently. "Little one, Raven stopped you for your own good," he said softly. "And Mana is right – you shouldn't be rude to your Daddy – he refused to let you drink wine because he loves you very much and doesn't want to see you being harmed by wine. If he didn't love you so much, he would have let you drink, but then it would be bad for you and you would feel sick – and that would be horrible, right?" he tried to coax Azar with gentle words, stroking his dark scales in a soothing manner.

Azar blinked innocently up at his beloved Grandpapa. "Daddy does not let Azar drink wine because Daddy loves Azar very much?" he asked.

"Yes, absolutely," King Jaren said. "You Daddy loves you very much indeed. You can ask him yourself. Isn't that right, Raven?" he asked, turning to look at Raven.

Raven nodded vigorously. "Of course I love our little Azar very much. In fact, I love you so much that it is bigger than this world," he said firmly. "Azar is my precious little son and Azar and Mana are the most important people in the world to me."

Azar's eyes glowed. "Daddy really loves Azar?" he asked.

"Of course, little one," Raven told him. "Who will I love if not my own son? You are my precious little son, aren't you? You claimed me as your Daddy the moment you were born, didn't you?"

Azar leapt out of King Jaren's arms and flew directly into Raven's arms. "Daddy! Azar loved Daddy, too!" he chirped happily. "Daddy is a good boy! And Azar is sorry that Azar called Daddy a bad boy before! Daddy is not a bad boy and Daddy is a very good boy! Daddy is a very good boy just like Azar is a very good boy!"

Raven hugged the little dragon and patted his smooth scales. "Yes, little Azar, you are a good boy, and Daddy is a good boy, too," he said softly.

"Azar is sorry, Daddy!" the little dragon said. "Azar didn't understand properly. Now Azar knows that Daddy loves Azar very much, so Azar will always be a very good boy for Daddy!"

"Thank you, Azar," Raven said softly, rubbing the little dragon's head with gentle fingers. "You are definitely a good boy."

Azar preened.

"Well then," Mana said. "Now that we are all on the same page that both Raven and Azar are very good boys – should we go to the island and see what is the whole deal with Azar's fiancée?"

Everyone nodded.