The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

Mana stared at Raven, stuck speechless. He wanted to make her into a pocket sized Mana and carry her around like a mascot?! What strange things went on in that little head of his which was already filled with heaven defying intelligence?

Seeing Mana frown, Raven's face fell immediately. "I – I am sorry," he said in a small voice. "I just thought – I just thought that it would be really cute…" he murmured.

Mana immediately felt a twinge in her heart at his expression. "Well," she said lightly. "I don't really mind being your pocket sized mascot for a day – but I have a condition and you have to promise me that condition before I agree to be your experimental subject for this," she added.

Raven brightened immediately. "Sure," he said, without even bothering to ask what was the condition that Mana had in mind. If it was something Mana wanted, Raven would do it for her anyway, regardless of whether she put it out as a condition or a request or even just a casual thought. Unless it was something that actually harmed Mana – Raven would do anything and everything for this little fiancée of his!

Mana raised an eyebrow. "You don't even want to know what condition I have in mind before agreeing to it?" she asked.

Raven smiled at her. "There is nothing in this world that would deny you," he said sincerely. "Er – not unless it was something that would be harmful for you, that is." He added the second bit quickly.

Mana giggled. "Oh, heavens," she said, and leaned forward to kiss the boy's cheek. "You are truly a treasure – no, you are my treasure!"

Raven flushed, his fair cheeks turning a delicate shade of pink.

Mana grinned at him so widely that the corners of her lips seemed to touch her ears. There was a mischievous glint in her eyes. "So," she said, batting her eyelashes slowly (again, something Azar did when he was trying to act cute and trying to wheedle his way into getting one of his human family members giving him something he wanted). "What I want is reciprocity. I become your pocket sized mascot for a day, and you become my pocket sized mascot for a day," Mana told Raven. "What do you think? Fair enough?" she asked.

Raven stared at her for a long moment and then burst out laughing, his happiness erupting like a volcano from deep in his heart. That was all Mana wanted? Wasn't it what Raven wanted, instead?

"Is that really all you want?" Raven asked finally, his rainbow eyes still glowing with joy. "You do know that I would give you the whole world on a platter if you wanted."

Mana laughed and pinched the boy's fair cheeks playfully. "I already have you – that's worth far more than the world on a platter," she told him.

"I should be saying that," Raven replied shyly.

Mana poked him in the middle of his forehead again. "Some day, I swear I'm going to be able to make you believe in your own worth," she retorted. "Until then, you just have to rely on my judgement when it comes to your greatness, all right?"

"Your eyes are biased when you look at me, as I keep saying," Raven told her with a smile. "But I am very happy about that, actually. I hope this bias can last for a lifetime."

"Oh, it will," Mana said immediately. "And some day, I hope you will realise that what you think is a bias right now is nothing but the bare truth!"

Raven chuckled. "We shall see about that," he murmured.

"Indeed, we shall," Mana said with a smirk. "And you will see that I was right all along and then I will gloat at you and tell you that I told you so years and years ago!"

Raven laughed, and Mana felt a warm current in her heart – which, she realised later, actually came from Raven and not herself.

---

Jules and Bella were sitting in Jules's room, poring over a sheaf of papers on which they had sketched endless designs for their new little baby dragon girl. However, even after chalking out over a dozen designs, these two gorgeous humans were not satisfied with what they were able to come up with!

"I want Alya to look absolutely stunning in the banquet tomorrow when Mother and Papa introduce her to the world," Bella said, tapping her temple with a pencil. She looked rather frustrated. "The little one is so pretty and cute herself – whatever we give her to wear should match her own natural cuteness!" she said.

Jules nodded, completely in agreement with his beautiful fiancée. "Of course," he said. "Our little baby has to look as good as her Mama, doesn't she?"

"Do you think we should change our own outfits?" Bella suggested. "The ones we were planning to wear tomorrow – I don't think that would be very suitable to bring out the best side of our little Alya. I know Mana and Raven keep Azar's colouring in mind whenever they are choosing or designing outfits for themselves for any special occasion – Azar likes to wear things which match his Mommy and Daddy – and I think Alya will, too."

Jules tapped his chin thoughtfully – the gesture just like Mana's (or King Jaren's, even – it was clearly a hereditary trait, since all three of them had the exact same pose and motions when they were deep in thought over a serious matter and were tapping their chins thoughtfully, or rather, in an absent minded manner). "I think you are right," he said. "Should we go with the blue and green combination with silver trimmings?"

Bella immediately pulled out the set of clothes Jules just suggested. Her dress and Jules's matching outfit – these were in the colour combination of sapphire blue and emerald green, and all the trimmings were silver, and the silky cloth itself possessed a delicate silvery, shimmering sheen, especially at the folds when the light hit them. The sapphire blue was the exact shade of Bella's eyes, and the emerald green matched one of Jules's eyes (and his father's).

Jules and Bella nodded at each other in satisfaction. With Alya's sparkling white colouring and her blue and green eyes – this would, indeed, be a better fit for her first appearance to the world – not only would the contrast with her beautiful white scales show up nicely, but the sapphire blue and emerald green would also emphasise the different colours of Alya's eyes – one blue and one green, again, the exact same shade as that of her newly claimed human parents!

And thus, Jules and Bella got to work, creating the perfect set of things for their new baby to wear for her first public appearance!

---

King Jaren sat under the peach tree in his secret garden space, resting his back against the tree trunk and watching the two little dragons frolicking about with endless energy in the garden in front of him with a big smile on his face.

King Jaren was over the moon, naturally. What could possibly be better than having a cute little dragon grandchild? It would be – of course – having TWO cute little dragon grandchildren!!

Azar and Alya flew around in the garden, enjoying themselves thoroughly. Azar told Alya all about his time with his human family and all the things they had done and how well he was cared for, and Alya was quite satisfied that she had ended up with this particular set of loving humans. She had to admit, she had been rather apprehensive and not too keen on being sent to this world when Elf Buddy had decided to send her here, but now, after meeting Azar, and finding a beautiful and powerful pair of humans to be her human parents – and gaining a great and caring family like this – Alya's fears were laid to rest, and she was quite content with her situation. More than anything else, she was quite happy with her newly found cousin Azar, who was a bit goofy but she really liked him, and she was not completely against the idea of being his fiancée when they grew up, actually. Alya could see that Azar was already very powerful – much more powerful than she had originally expected, actually – and she was reasonably sure that a large part of that was attributable to the tender loving care of his human family in this world.

And she had already become especially fond of this rather young Grandpapa with his warm hands and a permanent supply of delicious peaches!

"Azar, Alya – time for bed, my little ones," King Jaren called out with a big smile. "Come on – if you don't get any sleep now, you won't be able to enjoy the banquet tomorrow properly."

"Ten minutes, Grandpapa!" Azar whined immediately. "And a mandarin for Azar and a mandarin for Alya!"

King Jaren chuckled, his emerald eyes full of fond indulgence as he looked at the two little dragons.. Then, naturally, he stood up, walked to the mandarin tree and plucked two ripe ones for the two babies.