The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

"Necromancy is probably the only answer," Raven murmured after some time.

Mana frowned. "You are most definitely not going to dabble in necromancy," she said.

Raven sighed. "Is there any other way? The Moon Temple has already exterminated the necromancers who could have dealt with this issue and destroyed whatever records they would have kept," he said.

"Well, since we have a cursed living ghost corpse, that means that we have at least one functioning necromancer somewhere," Mana pointed out. "And this one has managed to stay hidden for well over a decade – doesn't that mean that there is a chance that there are other necromancers in existence as well?"

Raven tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Yes, I do agree with you on that point – but where and how are we going to find these necromancers?" he asked.

Mana shrugged. "Is there anything in the scripts you received from the ancient master?" she asked.

Raven shook his head. "There is a little about necromancy – but not too many details – certainly not enough for me to become a necromancer myself," he said, a frustrated frown on his fair brow. "There is also nothing about how or where to find necromancers."

Mana secretly heaved a sigh of relief – thanking all the powers that be that Raven hadn't been given access to necromancy manuals – otherwise the little idiot would definitely have gone ahead and learnt it on the sly, and harmed his own soul in the process. And despite their fated bond or soul mate bond or whatever it was – Mana had no doubt that Raven was secretly planning to figure out a way to do dangerous things without Mana being affected by any harm caused to Raven – and she knew better than anyone that Raven was more than capable of finding a loophole and working his way around the bond! And once the clever little boy did that, he would again go off and do dangerous things without telling them!

And Mana was determined not to let that happen at any cost.

"Have you been able to spot anything unusual around Papa?" Mana asked, changing the subject. "I haven't been able to – but I can't get rid of this gut feeling that Papa is in danger. I don't know if it is simply because Azar is so determined to stick to Papa or because I'm actually sending something but unable to process it consciously," she said, letting her frustration with the situation reflect in her voice.

Raven, too, shook his head and looked equally frustrated. "I have the same feeling," he murmured. "I don't know why I can't get any more information or sense anything else…"

Mana sighed. "We'll continue to keep an eye on Papa, then – I don't see what else we can do," she said.

Raven nodded. "We will be going to the Amber Kingdom next – and I have a really bad feeling in my gut about it," he muttered. He looked at Mana, concern pooling in his rainbow eyes. "Will you be all right? That Liam fellow will be there, right?" he asked.

Mana arched an eyebrow. She hadn't expected Raven to have guessed that her hatred for Liam went far beyond her regular annoyance with Mars or Astra or any of the others that bothered them.

"You figured out that something is wrong with Liam, eh?" Mana murmured almost under her breath.

Raven bit his lip. "Your reaction to him is – is a bit different," he said nervously. There was a trembling note of insecurity in his voice, and that bothered Mana more than she would care to admit.

Perhaps it was time for her to tell Raven the truth about the Liam in her other life, Mana thought to herself. Other than the fact that 'The Legend of Mars' was a book in her other world and that Raven was actually the unfortunate evil emperor of a villain in that book (which Mana wouldn't allow to happen any more now that she was here and Raven had most definitely become her person) – which was something she would never, ever let Raven know; this would be a secret she would take to her grave – but other than that, Mana didn't see why she shouldn't let Raven know about Liam from the other world. Besides, there may be some connection here that she wasn't able to gauge herself, but Raven may be able to – after all, he was definitely cleverer than her, even at this young age! And it was better for Raven to know the truth, right? That she had no feelings other that pure and sheer hatred for that scumbag Liam!

Especially if it was bothering Raven.

"Liam was my fiancé in my other life," Mana said bluntly.

Raven froze for a moment, and then his hands started trembling, and he clenched his fists hard.

Mana noticed his reaction, but didn't reach out to him. Instead, she continued to speak. "In the other world, Liam was my childhood friend, and we practically grew up together – and then he betrayed me in the worst way possible, killed all my family members – my mother, my father and my big brother – and I was paralysed – that is, I lost the use of my body – for several years. And then he slit my throat with his own hands, and I woke up in this world." She kept her voice calm and level, but her disgust and loathing for Liam definitely slipped through.

The glass next to Raven exploded.

Mana instinctively threw up a magical barrier, protecting both Raven and herself.

Raven's eyes had turned into dark, liquid pools of unfathomable depth. Mana immediately engulfed him in a hug.

She hadn't expected Raven to lose control like this at all!

Mana quickly poured her own magic into Raven, trying to bring him out of his enraged state.

"Raven? Raven – darling – can you hear me?" she said in his ear. "I need you to come back to me, Raven," she said, pouring even more magic into Raven. Mana could feel her magic intertwining with Raven's and his magic settling down gradually.

And she also knew that General Aquila and Azar would probably come running soon if she didn't get him under control right away.

Raven blinked slowly. "Mana?" he asked in a trembling voice.

"I'm here, sweetie, I'm here," Mana said, caressing his face. "Come back to me, Raven."

"You're here," Raven breathed. "You're all right…"

"Yes, yes, I'm all right," Mana said immediately. "I'm here with you and I am all right."

Raven let out a shuddering breath and buried his face in Mana's shoulder. Mana rubbed soothing circles on his back until his breathing stabilised, and slowly, the magic that was running rampant within him, merged with her own magic and settled down.

Mana heaved a sigh of relief. It really hadn't been a good idea to spring the truth about Liam upon Raven like that, she thought – but then, hindsight was always twenty by twenty, she thought ruefully.

"He was your childhood friend and your fiancé…" Raven murmured softly, still not lifting his head or looking at Mana. "Like me?"

Mana could feel the trembling of his body and she instinctively tightened her arms around Raven.

"He was absolutely nothing like you," she said firmly. "He was always a selfish scumbag – it's just that I was too blind to see it. He isn't even worth as much as a discarded nail clipping of yours."

Raven remained silent.

Mana sighed. "I think the heavens must have taken pity on me and decided to show me what a real childhood friend and what a real fiancé is supposed to be like," she murmured softly. "And that is why they sent you to me, so that I could see what a perfect person is like. That is the only good thing that came out of my association with Liam, I think. If he hadn't slit my throat and killed me in the other world, I would never have ended up here in this world, and I would never have met you or Papa or Big Brother or little Azar or any of the others. And that is the only reason why I haven't gone on a mission to exterminate that scumbag Liam from the face of this world! Otherwise, I would have definitely asked you to help me get rid of that disgusting vermin permanently!"

Raven finally raised his head and peered at Mana's face carefully.

Mana didn't hide any of her feelings, knowing that Raven would probably need to feel what was in her heart to be completely convinced of her sincere thoughts, and then he could also see for himself that she held nothing but disgust and hatred for that despicable Liam!

Mana was right. Raven could sense her feelings very clearly, and that reassured him that Mana really did not possess any lingering affection for Liam at all. He could also sense her disgust and dislike for the man.

But as far as Raven was concerned, Liam could not be allowed to exist. He had harmed Mana and even killed her in her last life, and he had tried to harm Mana several times in this one.

And Raven would never, ever forgive anyone who sought to harm his dear fiancée.