The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

Jules and Bella worked quite late into the night, preparing a coordinated outfit and jewellery for their new dragon baby. Both of them somehow had a very strong feeling that their little Alya would be as fond of shiny things as Azar – and that's why the two of them sewed in as many gemstones into Alya's outfit as they could – and in the end, they were quite satisfied with the finished product.

The next morning, both Jules and Bella appeared at the training grounds of General Aquila with dark bags under their eyes – quite naturally.

"What on earth happened to the two of you?" General Aquila demanded.

"I bet they were up making an outfit for their new daughter," Mana said with a smirk, sipping on the delicious coffee milkshake Raven had made for her.

General Aquila was stunned. "What new daughter…?!" he asked.

"A super cute one," King Jaren replied, walking over with a black dragon on one shoulder and a white dragon on the other shoulder. "Meet my new dragon grandchild – Royal Dragon Princess Alya of the Emerald Kingdom as well as the Sapphire Kingdom. She is the child of Jules and Bella."

General Aquila's eyes widened in shock, and Rook rushed towards King Jaren to get a better look at the new dragon baby.

"King Uncle Jaren – she is so pretty!" Rook said enthusiastically.

Alya looked at Azar for guidance. Azar immediately puffed out his chest proudly and took on the leading role.

"Alya, this is Azar's Uncle Rook. He is Daddy's younger brother, and that is his father and my Grandfather Aqi. Alya can also call them Uncle Rook and Grandfather Aqi. They are good people, and they care very much for Azar's Daddy and Mommy," Azar declared. Then he looked at Rook and informed him, "Uncle Rook, Alya is the daughter of Uncle Jules and Auntie Bella, and Alya is also Azar's cousin and Azar's fiancée! Alya is very pretty and very nice and Azar likes her very much!"

Alya gave a shy smile to everyone and the collective 'aww' could be seen hovering over everyone's heads.

King Jaren chuckled. "Now I have two wonderful little grandbabies," he said.

"You lucky man," General Aquila said enviously.

King Jaren beamed. "I am lucky indeed," he said proudly. "Beautiful children and beautiful grandchildren – what more can a man want, eh?"

General Aquila rolled his eyes.

Then he turned to Alya and his face softened. "Welcome to the family, little one," he said with a smile.

"Thank you, Grandfather Aqi," Alya said sweetly.

Everyone could see the big battle hero General Aquila melting away into a puddle with the cuteness overload.

"Yes, welcome to the family," Rook said quickly, too, clearly wanting the adorable little baby dragon girl to speak to him, too.

"Thank you, Uncle Rook," Alya said, her little voice as sweet as tinkling silver bells.

"So cute and lovely!" Rook cried. "Alya, you are absolutely adorable! Azar is a lucky little boy dragon to have you as his fiancée!"

Alya smiled shyly and Azar puffed out his little chest proudly.

"Even our baby Azar has gotten himself such a lovely little fiancée," Rook complained. "Father, King Uncle Jaren – when do I get to have one?!"

General Aquila laughed and ruffled Rook's hair affectionately. "We'll find one for you when you are old enough to get married," he said.

"But Father…!" Rook protested.

"Do you have anyone in mind?" General Aquila asked.

Rook shook his head.

"Then how are we supposed to get you engaged?" General Aquila asked.

Rook pouted.

"There's no hurry," King Jaren said patiently. "After all, you will get married before our little Azar and Alya grow old enough to get married themselves, won't you?"

Rook thought for a moment and realised that it was true. Even if Azar and Alya had decided that they would get together, and Azar was even calling Alya as his fiancée – the truth remained that Rook was an entire generation older than them! And Azar was only a few months old – while Alya – she wasn't there yesterday, so she ought to be less than a day old! And he was their Uncle Rook, so of course, he would have to bring in and aunt for them before these two babies grew up!

And that cheered up Rook immediately. "Thank you, King Uncle Jaren! I understand now!" he said happily.

King Jaren smiled at the young boy that was the same age as his little Mana. And then he realised that Azar was pouting at him.

"What's the matter, little one?" King Jaren asked Azar. "Don't you want to give Alya a grand engagement ceremony like we are having for your Uncle Jules and Auntie Bella and your Mommy and your Daddy?" he pointed out. "I was planning to do that a few years later, after your parents are married and settled in and when the two of you are a little older, so that everyone will get to admire both of you even more and you two will have the entire ceremony all for yourselves," he said.

Azar beamed at his beloved Grandpapa immediately, not realising that his Grandpapa had just pushed off his formal engagement by several years.

"Yes, of course, we will celebrate our little Azar and our little Alya's engagement properly when they are a bit older!" Jules immediately joined in, accurately sensing his dear Papa's motives.

"Naturally," Bella chipped in as well. "Azar is the Royal Dragon Prince of two countries and Alya is also the Royal Dragon Princess of two countries – we will have to have celebrations in the Emerald Kingdom, the Sapphire Kingdom and the Obsidian Kingdom!"

"Absolutely!" Mana agreed. "May be even the Pearl Kingdom, based on how much progress we have made at the time with the Pearl Kingdom and the Moon Temple."

"The Pearl Kingdom will definitely be celebrating our little Azar and Alya's engagement, and later, their wedding," Raven said firmly. "And if the Moon Temple creates trouble, we will have a Dragon Temple instead of the Moon Temple – they will either respect our Azar and Alya as royalty, or they will have to worship them as deities! Nothing less than the best for our precious little babies!"

Mana looked at Raven, pride and satisfaction surging up in her heart.

Everyone else stared at Raven in shock. It was the first time that anyone had seen Raven act so assertively – and it seemed to be completely natural to him. Even though he was only twelve, the aura around him when he made this declaration just now – that was akin to that of a King – no, it was even more powerful than that of a King. This was the aura of an Emperor who ruled over multiple kingdoms!

But Mana knew very well what her little fiancé was capable of and how great he would be in the future – and she had no doubt that he would do exactly what he said. Raven was no less protective of the ones he loved than King Jaren, who was notorious for being overprotective about his children, or Mana, who had earned herself the reputation of being most like King Jaren when it came to being protective about her own family and friends – naturally, Raven, who had been in their company for several months now, and who had grown so much during this time with them, would have acquired some of their mannerisms – and this, coupled with the natural aura of command, brilliance and magnificence, made Raven a natural leader and someone who was destined to be great.

"Well said," King Jaren said proudly, ruffling Raven's hair affectionately. "Very well said, my boy!"

Raven smiled up at the man he had come to admire and adore, and the one who had become the de facto parent in his head and his heart.

"Indeed, well said, son," General Aquila echoed, his dark eyes shining with pride.

"Big Brother Raven is really cool!" Rook announced, his liquid eyes full of hero worship.

"Hmm, Daddy is very good boy and very cool boy!" Azar announced.

Alya nodded as well, following Azar's lead.

Jules swung an arm around Raven's shoulder and pinched his cheeks playfully, like Mana often did. "Will you look at that," Jules said happily. "How magnificent our little Raven has become in a few months!"

Raven flushed under all the praise and appreciation from his dearest family members.

General Aquila clapped his hands. "All right, now that we are sorted about future engagement plans of our little dragon babies – we still have to do something about these two," he said, pointing his finger at Jules and Bella. "I can't let the two of you go to your own engagement banquet looking like that!"

King Jaren frowned as well. "That's true," he murmured. "Jules and Bella – you had better go and get some sleep, all right? I'll wake you up for lunch."

Jules and Bella exchanged a glance.

"Er – Papa, before that," Bella said softly. "Could we have Alya try out the new outfit that we prepared for her?"

Alya's eyes lit up with joy immediately.