The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

"Poison?! What do you mean?" King Jaren thundered. "Who dares poison my daughter?"

Physician Kale stroked his grey beard. "Princess Mana's drowning can be considered a fortuitous event, perhaps. If not for her lungs being filled with water, it would be impossible to detect this poison, and we would have treated it as her chronic illness. She would not have lived past fifteen."

King Jaren was purple with rage. His emerald eyes gleamed dangerously.

Mana patted her newfound father's hand soothingly, trying to calm him down. She wanted to know more about this poison, and if it was possible to treat it.

"Could you tell us more about the poison, Physician Kale?" she asked politely.

The elderly physician nodded. "I believe this is the Shadow Poison from the Obsidian Kingdom in the south. It is very rare and precious, and I have only heard of it from my late master. From Princess Mana's condition, it is likely that its administration was pre-natal. I cannot be entirely certain without further research, but it is quite possible that Queen Dora was poisoned when she was carrying Princess Mana, and the poison caused her death while giving birth to Princess Mana – and manifested as a chronic illness for Princess Mana herself. It is impossible to detect the Shadow Poison unless a person's lungs have been thoroughly washed with lotus root water." He smiled slightly. "Princess Mana drowned in a pond full of lotus flowers, causing her lungs to be filled with water, and yet survived, and even exposed the hidden Shadow Poison. I can only say that the heavens must be protecting our little princess!"

"Aunt Dora was poisoned?" Princess Astra cried in dismay.

Mana frowned. The biggest beneficiary of Queen Dora's demise was Princess Astra's mother, the late Queen Dora's sister and the current queen – Queen Sora. The epic only had a brief mention of the late Queen Dora – she was the beloved of her husband King Jaren, who was famously monogamous in this world where polygamy as well as polyandry were commonplace. However, King Jaren had been completely dedicated to his wife Queen Dora, until an enemy diplomat had poisoned him with an aphrodisiac while the gravid Queen Dora was away, and King Jaren had accidentally ended up spending the night with the queen's sister Sora instead. After that, he had no choice but to marry Sora as his second wife, but he refused to lay a finger on her. However, the shock from this event had caused Queen Dora to go into labour prematurely, and she gave birth to a stillborn prince. Meanwhile, Sora had become pregnant and Princess Astra was born exactly nine months after the aphrodisiac accident.

It had taken Queen Dora a long time to recover from her trauma, and finally, five years later, she was expecting again. Unfortunately, while she managed to give birth to Princess Mana, she herself died during childbirth. No one had ever bothered to record why she had died in the written legend. Perhaps it was excusable, given the high maternal mortality rates of these times.

But Mana's instincts told her that there was much more to the story. She decided she needed to be on her guard and gather some power, and then she would investigate Queen Dora's death as well. She had a feeling that there was a connection between her own drowning and her mother's death.

King Jaren's face was pained at the mention of his dearly departed queen. No wonder he doted so much on Mana – although Astra was treated very well, too. King Jaren was clearly a man who cherished both his daughters…but no one would deny that Princess Mana was the apple of his eye.

"Can you cure Mana?" the king asked Physician Kale.

The elderly physician shook his head. "I can only provide temporary relief and delay the effects of the Shadow Poison, but I am unable to cure it completely." He stroked his beard again. "I know someone who may be able to, though. I will write to him immediately. If he, too, is incapable of aiding Princess Mana, we can only approach the royal family of the Obsidian Kingdom."

"I will write to King Corvus immediately," King Jaren said. "We must cure Mana as soon as possible!"

King Corvus was the current king of the Obsidian Kingdom, and the grandfather of the future evil emperor Raven. Mana wondered idly if things would change if she befriended Raven now…after all, he should be a no more than twelve at the moment.

"But Papa! We can't ally with the Obsidian Kingdom now!" Princess Astra cried. "It will affect our relationship with the Amber Kingdom!"

Obsidian Kingdom was an island nation shrouded in mystery and dark magic. The people of the Obsidian Kingdom were the descendants of a powerful demon race and despised by most people on the continent, especially the Amber Kingdom, who claimed themselves to bear the blood of the ancient sun god. It was well known that the Amber Kingdom and the Obsidian Kingdom were mortal enemies.

Princess Astra was interested in Prince Mars of the Amber Kingdom…and her chances to win his heart would certainly be adversely affected if their Emerald Kingdom was found to have an close relationship with the Obsidian Kingdom. Traditionally, Emerald Kingdom had always been a neutral country. They were a small but prosperous kingdom situated on the coast of the continent, and had easy access to most of the nations on and off the coast. Nearly all trade routes passed through their country, and were easily the richest nation in terms of natural resources as well as financial capacity. This was why no one dared to attack Emerald Kingdom, although their military power was only average.

"Silence!" King Jaren shouted at his older daughter. "Is your sister's life more important than a meagre political impression? My Emerald Kingdom has always been neutral and we work with people of all nations. Why should Amber Kingdom have a say in who we associate with?!"

Mana pulled at the angry king's sleeve. "Papa, don't blame Big Sister. She and the Crown Prince of Amber Kingdom like each other, so we should be careful."

King Jaren frowned. "Crown Prince? Mars?" he asked Astra.

Princess Astra nodded shyly.

"Well, that's good, then," King Jaren said. "But my dear Astra, let me tell you something – if that brat is so fickle that he breaks off with you simply because our Emerald Kingdom has friendly relations with Obsidian Kingdom, he is not worth your attention. He must not share his affections with anyone else! He has to cherish you the most and be prepared to stand by you no matter what – only then will he be deserving of my beautiful daughter!" He smirked. "Of course, if he dares not to treat my precious Astra well, I will slap him to death!"

Princess Astra flushed, pleased at her father's words. She really was quite lovely, with her rosy cheeks and sparkling emerald eyes shared by the direct lineal descendants of the royal family of the Emerald Kingdom.

Mana eyed King Jaren and smiled inwardly. The man may appear to be hot-headed, impulsive and a ridiculously doting parent, but he was not a simple man. He definitely knew more than he liked to show, and could astutely diffuse a situation without even appearing to do so. It was obvious why the Emerald Kingdom had flourished so well under him.

Mana liked him more and more, for he really reminded her of her own father back on earth.

Princess Astra quickly excused herself, since it was time for her music lesson.

"There is one more thing that we need to discuss," Physician Kale told his king. He eyed the servants stationed in the room.

King Jaren dismissed them immediately.

"Princess Mana's innate magic has evolved," Physician Kale whispered softly, lacing his voice with magic, so that even if someone was trying to eavesdrop, they wouldn't be able to. "Not only her potential for earth magic risen to match Your Majesty and Princess Astra, her latent fire and water magic have also been awakened. Look at her eyes."

Mana's previously plain green irises were now flecked with amber and silver. It was not immediately noticeable, though, and one had to look very carefully.

"Fire and water! Just like Dora!" King Jaren exclaimed in shock.

In this world, magic power was one of the most important attributes and displayed in the colour of their eyes. Each nation had its own special magic, and the royal families of each nation typically had the strongest magic potential. The Emerald Kingdom possessed earth magic and green eyes, while the Amber Kingdom possessed fire magic and amber eyes. The Sapphire Kingdom towards the north had wind magic and blue eyes, and Pearl Kingdom, which shared a border with Emerald Kingdom, had water magic and silvery eyes of various shades of grey, blue, green and even pink. It was rare to find people with more than one magical ability – most people simply inherited the magic and nationality from the stronger parent. However, there did exist people with different magic from their native country in all four nations because of their friendly relations, and a few famous talents with dual abilities. Queen Dora had been an exceptional talent like that, with dual magic of fire and water. Obsidian Kingdom was the only one with dark magic and it was said that no one without dark magic would be able to survive on their island.

King Jaren and Princess Astra were the most powerful earth magic users in their land, and the brilliant green shade of their eyes proved it.. Princess Mana's talent had always been mediocre, but Physician Kale now realised that this was the result of the Shadow Poison's suppression. If the Shadow Poison could be removed completely, Princess Mana would be a once-in-a-century triple magic prodigy!