The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

King Jaren laughed heartily for quite some time after hearing Raven's response. "Good, good," he said, when he finally stopped laughing. "Look how the boy jumps to defend you right away, little Mana!" he teased.

Both Mana and Raven flushed. Then Mana took Raven's hand in her own and smiled sweetly at him, making the boy blush even more.

"But what does it mean?" Mana asked curiously. "This Regent – Protector – what does it actually mean?"

"It means that you are in charge of protecting the Emerald Kingdom," King Jaren said, the smile on his face turning serious. "You have to protect the monarch, the heir and the people of the Emerald Kingdom. And in the monarch's absence, you are the second in command," he explained. "Both you and Raven, since he has received a protector pendant as well."

Mana raised an eyebrow enquiringly. "I have never heard of this Regent – Protector business," she murmured. "And Raven and I would protect the Emerald Kingdom anyway."

King Jaren chuckled. "I know you will," he said. "Regent pendants of any nature – these are actually quite rate, you know. I don't think there's been any for several hundred years, at least. Also, it is even rarer for the chosen partner of a regent to be issued the same pendant – usually, they would get one of an imperial concubine or spouse, depending on their status. To get a Regent Consort – Protector pendant – I don't think there have been more than a couple of people in the entire history of the Emerald Kingdom who have managed to get that," King Jaren explained, tapping his chin thoughtfully.

"So, it's a good thing?" Mana asked her Papa.

King Jaren sighed. "In one way, it is," he murmured. "Because it means that the Emerald Kingdom has gained two strong champions. On the other hand…" His voice trailed off.

"On the other hand, it means that the Emerald Kingdom will be facing danger – so much so that it will require additional protectors," Raven finished softly.

Mana nodded. "That makes sense," she said.

Both King Jaren and Raven shot her a strange look.

"Little Mana, are you not scared?" King Jaren asked curiously.

Mana blinked and then smiled at him. "Well, I'd like to avoid a dangerous situation if possible – but we have been expecting it for a while now, haven't we?" she asked quietly. "We know that the Amber Kingdom is up to no good, and then there's this entire matter with the cursed living ghost corpse – so we are already aware that we will be facing dangerous things in the future. However, it is reassuring to know that we have the strength to meet these dangers head on and be able to protect our Emerald Kingdom, isn't it?"

Both King Jaren and Raven stared at her, stunned. Then both of them smiled at her.

"Yes, you are right," Raven said, his rainbow eyes glowing. "It means we have the strength to protect what we love."

"Indeed," King Jaren said.

"Grandpapa! Azar is hungry!" the little black dragon said suddenly, tugging at King Jaren's hair.

Alya did the exact same thing. "Alya is hungry, too, Grandpapa!" the little white dragon complained.

"All right, all right, Grandpapa will take his little ones to get some delicious food now," King Jaren said fondly, rubbing the smooth scales of his two dragon grandbabies.

Before he could move, though, two small magic circles, glowing a brilliant emerald green and filled with complex arrays that radiated power, appeared in front of the two little dragons.

Azar and Alya's eyes widened in delight and the two little dragons grabbed the magic circle in front of them and took a bit.

"Yummy! Tasty!" Azar said happily.

"Very tasty!" Alya agreed. "Very big and very good magic!"

"Looks like the innate magic of the Emerald Kingdom adores our baby dragons just as much as we do," Mana said with a laugh.

King Jaren chuckled.

Raven nodded and looked up at the two little dragons. "Don't eat all of the very good and very big magic at once, all right?" he told Azar and Alya. "You have to save it and eat it slowly. You can store it in your own pendant for a very long time. Why don't you try putting it in your pendant, Azar and Alya?"

Both Azar and Alya looked like they were rather reluctant to do so, but Raven had the gentle but firm demeanour that was impossible to refuse.

With very similar pouts on their faces, the two little dragons put away the half eaten magic circles in their respective pendants.

And then they chirped in delight immediately!

"Daddy! Daddy, look! The very good and very big magic became full again when Azar put it in the pendant!" the little black dragon cried excitedly.

"Uncle Raven! Uncle Raven! If Alya eats a little of the very good and very big magic and then Alya puts the very good and very big magic back in Alya's pendant, the very good and very big magic will become full again and Alya can eat it again?" the little white dragon asked Raven, her eyes shining with hope and excitement. Little Alya was even faster in her deductions that her older cousin, it seemed.

Raven nodded. "Yes, as long as you save it in your pendant, the very good and very big magic will grow full again," he told the two little dragons. "But if you eat all of it, then there will be nothing left and the very good and very big magic will never grow again," he warned. "So, you should eat a small bite and put it back, and in an emergency, you should eat half and put it back in the pendant, all right?"

The two little dragons nodded vigorously.

"Yes, Daddy!" Azar promised. "Azar will take teeny tiny bites and save the very good and very big magic!"

"Alya will also take little bites and save very good and very big magic, Uncle Raven!" Alya promised as well.

"Very good," Raven said, tickling the two little dragons under their chin. "Azar and Alya are very good children," he praised.

The two little dragons preened.

King Jaren and Mana watched this exchange with identical indulgent expressions on their faces.

King Jaren also sent another mental note of gratitude to the innate magic of the Emerald Kingdom for looking after the two little dragons and giving them such a nice present. The response he received was akin to that of an extremely indulgent great-grandparent (well, with a lot more 'great's in front of the word!) and King Jaren could only laugh happily. In his eyes, naturally, his two little precious dragon grandbabies were entitled to be pampered by anyone and everyone in the whole world!

"Did you know that the magic circles would replenish themselves if Azar and Alya put them in their pendants?" Mana asked Raven curiously, taking his hand.

Raven smiled slightly. "I thought so – there is a storage and fulfilment rune on their pendants, so it seemed logical to make such a deduction," he answered.

Mana was suitably impressed. "You are amazing," she praised, and kissed Raven on the cheek.

Raven could only flush in response.

"Well, we should go out now," King Jaren said. Then he frowned a little. "Mana, Raven – perhaps you could keep the matter of being appointed as Regent – Protector and Regent Consort – Protector under wraps for the time being?" he asked. "I don't like keeping secrets from our own family – but it seems that the time is not yet right for the others to know."

Mana and Raven nodded. If the innate magic of the Emerald Kingdom intended for everyone to know about the change in the status of Mana and Raven, it would not have waited until everyone else was out of the sacred ancestral chamber before pulling them back in for giving them the new pendants. While they were not sure of the exact reason, and there was certainly and absolutely no question of not trusting Queen Dora, Queen Carolina, General Aquila, Rook, Jules and Bella with this secret – but, as King Jaren said, they didn't know why the secret was required to be kept. It was possible that something or someone had secretly hidden something on one of them that could be used to spy on the royal family of the Emerald Kingdom.

Fortunately, the shape and overall appearance of the two pendants were quite similar to the original ones Mana and Raven had – unless you looked carefully, you wouldn't know that the inscriptions had changed, or that the material was a bit different, or that the power was quite different.

"Grandpapa, Azar can tell Uncle Jules and Auntie Bella about the very good and very big magic, right?" the little black dragon asked.

"Alya wants to tell Dad and Mama about the very good and very big magic," the little white dragon added.

"Yes, of course, my dear little ones," King Jaren said.. "You are our precious royal dragon grandbabies – of course the innate magic of our Emerald Kingdom would adore you and give you a little present. There is no harm in talking about it!"