The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

Bella and Raven peered at the prone figure on the table. Now that the turbulent magic waves had disappeared (into the seemingly bottomless magical tummies of their two little baby dragons) – the face of the lady was clearly visible to all of them.

While Jules and Mana were still in a daze, thinking about the familiar figure of Mommy Dee and their own experience with the woman both of them had adored while they were growing up, Bella and Raven looked at the beautiful face of the unconscious woman on the bed and almost cried out in shock.

This woman was so similar to both Mana and Jules! And taken together with the features of King Jaren – the only possible conclusion they could derive was that this woman was the other biological parent of Jules and Mana!

Which meant that this was the late Queen Dora!

But then, who was this 'Mommy Dee' that both Jules and Mana were familiar with?! Was Mommy Dee and Queen Dora one and the same? But then, how could she be with both Mana and Jules?! And – and why had she faked her own death like this…?!

Raven was, in fact, even more worried than Bella – because he knew the truth about Mana's soul being split and sent to another world. And if Mana knew this person and was so startled to see her here, it wasn't too far a logical jump for Raven to deduce that this person had been a part of Mana's life in the other world that she had lived in for a number of years.

Did that mean that this person – if she was Queen Dora indeed – had split her own soul along with Mana's and part of her soul had gone to accompany Mana in the modern world and the other part which remained here, had gone to accompany Jules?

Raven couldn't even begin to imagine the compensation – magically and physically – that such a feat would require. They had assumed that Queen Dora had paid a heavy price and compensated with her own life and magic when she had taken the protective measure of splitting Mana's soul and sending her to another world. But if she had done it to herself as well – exactly what had she done, and how had she been able to do it? What price had she paid for it?

Raven looked at Mana, who was still lost in her own thoughts, just like Jules.

Bella looked at Jules, who was in a similar state as Mana.

Then Bella and Raven looked at each other.

Bella and Raven exchanged a worried glance and came to a silent consensus. Then the two of them moved closer to their respective partners, their bearing protective.

Neither Mana nor Jules noticed – or, perhaps, they accepted the concern, affection and protection of Raven and Bella on instinct.

Raven took Mana's hand and laced his fingers through hers.

Bella did the same thing to Jules.

Azar and Alya watched their human family and then glanced at each other, and the two little dragons made a decision between themselves as well. Azar flew to Mana and settled on her shoulder, and Alya flew to Jules and settled on his shoulder.

Azar caught Raven's eye, and the human Daddy and the little dragon son had a silent but meaningful communication simply based on their facial expression.

At the same time, Alya and Bella looked at each other, and the human Mama and the little dragon daughter had almost the same conversation in a similar manner with each other, just like Azar and Raven.

Then they glanced at King Jaren, wanting to see the situation on his side.

On the couch, Queen Carolina sat by King Jaren's side, with the Captain of the imperial shadow guards and the Imperial Supreme Mage of the Sapphire Kingdom hovering over her shoulders like two guardian angels.

The two men had been quite startled with the brilliant flash of golden light just now which had resulted in the turbulent magical waves around the bed disappearing – but they were too well trained to say anything about it. Besides, who didn't know of the extraordinary feats of Crown Prince Jules of the Emerald Kingdom, Crown Princess Bella of the Sapphire Kingdom, Prince Raven of the Obsidian Kingdom and Princess Mana of the Emerald Kingdom? Each child was formidable on their own, and together, they were invincible. No one would be too surprised to see them achieve impossible tasks any more!

King Jaren's eyelashes fluttered suddenly, and Queen Carolina and her two subordinates became alert.

Then King Jaren's eyes snapped open, and his emerald eyes were wild, clearly reflecting a strange mix of hope, joy, anxiety and fear.

"Dora!" he cried. "I saw Dora!"

Queen Carolina was stunned and looked towards the bed where the children were. She had not focussed her attention on the prone figure on the bed until now – and now that she could see clearly, she, too, gasped in shock.

For the face of the woman lying on the bed was clearly Queen Dora's!

King Jaren's eyes followed the line of sight of Queen Carolina and landed on the prone figure on the bed.

"Dora!" he exclaimed. "It really is my Dora!"

And before anyone could stop him, King Jaren leapt out of the couch and rushed towards the bed.

The moment King Jaren approached, there was a reaction from the prone figure on the bed. Her eyelashes fluttered.

The queen pendant, which was clutched in King Jaren's hand even know, flew to the woman on the bed, and there was another bright flash of golden light as the pendant fixed itself on the woman's belt – the position matching King Jaren's. Jules and Mana usually wore the pendant around their neck, though, on a thin gold chain – and Raven and Bella did the same most of the time as well.

As soon as the pendant landed on her body, the woman opened her eyes. One of her eyes was the same fiery shade of amber that was shared by both Grandpapa and one eye of Jules, and matched the amber flecks in Mana's eyes as well. Her other eye was a pale silvery hue, just like Grandma's and matched the silver specks in Mana's eyes.

And now that King Jaren, the woman, Jules and Mana were in the same viewing frame, there could be absolutely no doubt that this was a set of parents and children. The resemblance was clear enough!

Queen Dora had always been known to be a stunning beauty, and it turned out that it was not mere hearsay. (Of course, one could always argue that with the pretty faces of Mana and Jules, it was clear that both their parents had to be rather good looking!)

And this woman most certainly was absolutely gorgeous. One could easily see the resemblance between her delicate features and Mana's still childish ones, and her hair was the same shade as Jules's, and it was all too clear where Jules had gotten his elegantly high cheekbones from. Whatever features Mana and Jules had not inherited from their Papa, had clearly come from this woman – at least, that's what it looked like.

"Dora…?" King Jaren whispered.

The woman blinked slowly, as if drinking in the sight of King Jaren. She held out her arm silently.

Without any hesitation, King Jaren took her hand and helped her sit up.

The woman caressed his face lovingly with her pale, slim fingers. "Jaren," she whispered. And then she smiled, and everyone could see flowers blooming around her.

"Still so handsome, my Jaren," the woman – now confirmed to be the supposedly late Queen Dora – murmured teasingly. There was a mischievous smirk on her face, just like Mana's, when Mana teased Raven.

Mana, Jules, Raven and Bella had the rare privilege of seeing their beloved Papa blush furiously for the first time.

"And you are as beautiful as the day I first saw you and lost my heart to you," King Jaren murmured shyly.

Queen Dora laughed and it was a merry sound that lifted the mood of everyone who heard it.

"Ah, I've missed you so, my love," Queen Dora said, caressing King Jaren's face again.

King Jaren pulled her into a hug and buried his face in her shoulder. From the way his entire body shook, it was clear that he was crying silently.

Queen Dora sighed and rubbed her husband's back in a soothing manner. Her own mismatched eyes were wet, too.

"Where have you been all these years?" King Jaren asked finally after some time, when he finally managed to bring himself under control.

Queen Dora sighed again. "It's a long story, my love. I will tell you everything in detail later," she said. Then she smiled again. "But shouldn't you introduce me to the children?" she asked.

When had King Jaren ever refused anything to his beloved Queen Dora? So Mana, Raven, Jules, Bella, Azar and Alya were introduced to Queen Dora one by one.

"Grandmama," Azar and Alya said sweetly.