The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

Thanks to King Jaren's expert advice, Mana and Raven were quickly able to pick up six types of metals they could experiment with, as well some useful tools.

Jules looked ready to faint with hunger by the time they stepped out of the shop, much to Mana's amusement. Jules' magic had recently surged after meeting King Jaren, and he needed a lot of nutrition – which meant that he was perpetually hungry these days. If he hadn't stepped out of the summer palace today (lured by the news that it was love soup day in town), he'd already have eaten at least three mid-morning snacks by now. He could have gotten himself some street food – but this was the first time he was out with his father…and he was reluctant to leave him for a single minute.

Mana realised this and thought that her Big Brother was really cute. She whispered in King Jaren's ears – Papa had clearly not realised it.

King Jaren felt rather guilty for not observing that his son was enduring his hunger for his Papa's sake. He should have realised it himself, he thought, because he, too, had a power surge like this just before his sixteenth birthday, and he had started eating mountains of food everyday – so much so that his mother had often joked that he wouldn't have a country to govern if he continued to eat like that for a few more years!

So he immediately put an arm around his son's shoulders and asked, "Where should we eat? What's your favourite restaurant here?"

"My favourite is a small place that serves only noodles and dumplings…" Jules said shyly. "We can go to another restaurant which has more variety…"

"No way!" King Jaren said, ruffling his hair. "I want eat at my son's favourite place today!"

And thus Jules led them to a small but clean restaurant in a small alley, where not too many people visited.

The proprietor was very happy to see Jules and greeted him cheerfully. She looked quizzically at the people surrounding him.

"This is my father," Jules said, pointing at King Jaren.

The woman squealed in delight as soon as she saw King Jaren, leaving Jules no time to introduce Mana and Raven.

"I'm so happy you finally found your father, Jules!" she cried happily. "And he's such a handsome fellow, too, just like you! Almost as handsome as King Jaren himself!"

Jules and King Jaren flushed, while Mana burst out laughing. "Papa, you're only almost as handsome as yourself!" she guffawed.

The woman noticed the imperial guards behind them and gasped in shock. "Your…Your…Your Majesty…?" she stuttered nervously.

Jules nodded.

"Jules! You really were a prince after all! A real prince!" she cried excitedly. She turned to King Jaren nervously and apologised.

King Jaren waved generously. "I'm just here to see my son's favourite eatery in town, and to have a nice lunch with three of my kids."

Raven looked up at King Jaren in shock, but also felt warm in his heart at the public declaration.

The women looked at him and Mana curiously. "This must be Princess Mana," she said, greeting her.

Mana returned her greetings politely. She could see that Jules was on good terms with this woman, and she seemed genuinely happy that Jules had found his parent.

The woman turned to Raven. "And this…?"

"I'm Raven," Raven said politely, greeting her.

The woman's eyes widened in shock. "Prince Raven of the Obsidian Kingdom?" she asked.

He nodded.

King Jaren ruffled Raven's hair affectionately. "This little one is going to be my son in law when he grows up, so he's as good as my own child, won't you agree?"

The woman nodded automatically, still in shock. "Prince Raven…he'll be staying in the Emerald Kingdom now?" she asked disbelievingly.

King Jaren narrowed his eyes, but nodded in the affirmative.

"But…won't the Obsidian Kingdom have a problem with that? I mean, he's so talented, and everyone knows that he's as intelligent as ten people…why would they give up such an amazing prince to us?" she asked in confusion.

King Jaren laughed heartily. "Well…let's say my little Mana and my dear Jules somehow managed to win this precious boy over!" he boomed.

Jules and Mana grinned at each other and Raven blushed.

"Could we have some food quickly, please?" Raven asked in a rush, afraid that these people will gang up on him and tease him. "Big Brother looks just about ready to start eating your furniture if he can't get food soon…"

The woman hurried away to fetch food immediately.

Jules laughed and pinched Raven's cheek. "You little brat, you're learning all the bad things from Mana and you're even teasing your Big Brother now? What happened to our sweet little Raven?"

Mana stuck out her tongue at Jules and grabbed Raven's arm. "Raven's always on my side," she declared.

"He was my friend before yours," Jules retorted. "Support your Big Brother, Raven!"

Raven looked at the quarrelling siblings blankly. He adored both Mana and Jules, and he didn't want to take sides.

As if sensing his panic, King Jaren quickly pulled him away from the noisy siblings. "Don't worry, they're not really fighting – they're just playing around," he told Raven, patting his back comfortingly. "Now, son, while two those idiot children of mine are wasting time – why don't you tell me what you and little Mana have been up to all morning?"

Raven smiled and narrated everything that had happened since they left the house.

King Jaren rubbed his beard thoughtfully. "Do you have any idea what Mana wants to do with this chocolate and vanilla thing?"

Raven shook his head. "Not exactly, but she did mention earlier that she wanted to make cakes with them." His eyes brightened. "Since she wants to farm cacao and vanilla…I think she may want to introduce these cakes in the market and then sell chocolate and cured vanilla beans separately as ingredients. Also, since chocolate is delicious by itself, although expensive…she may want to market it as a premium sweet delicacy."

King Jaren rubbed Raven's hair affectionately and smiled broadly. "Excellent ideas. I'll support the two of you in running this business – I have no doubt that you will succeed. The only thing I'll recommend is to set up a proper chain of command and train a few trusted subordinates, so that the business can be run even when you move to the capital and can't oversee the day to day activities here." He sighed suddenly. "I must go back to the capital soon, even though I'm very reluctant to leave the three of you here…but it's the safest option at the moment. I'll clean up things at the capital a bit, and then I'll come and take you all there." His eyes turned dreamy. "Once you are in the capital, I can hand over some of the imperial family businesses to you and Mana to run…and hand over some of the military affairs to Jules…"

Raven was too shocked to say anything. Jules and Mana, who had finally stopped their arguments were happily laughing together, came over and heard the last bit of King Jaren's monologue.

"Papa wants to delegate things to us and laze around?" Mana asked teasingly.

"Well…this Papa of yours is getting old, you know," King Jaren said. "And now that I have a wonderful son who can take over the throne, and a wonderful little son and daughter who can manage the economy, shouldn't I take it easy?"

"What about Big Sister?" Mana asked curiously.

"Astra is determined to marry that boy Mars and go over to the Amber Kingdom with him," King Jaren said sadly. "But it is what she wants and it is where her happiness lies, so I won't stop her." His face turned serious as he fixed his brilliant green gaze on Jules and Raven. "My two daughters Astra and Mana already know this – so my two sons should also know it now – no matter what happens, your Papa will always stand by you. Nothing is more important to me than my children and my children's happiness – neither my reputation, nor my throne, nor my life," he declared solemnly.

Tears pooled in Jules and Raven's eyes and the two boys turned away to hide it.

Mana gave the king a hug. "Papa, you're the best!" she said sincerely, knowing that his words were true. "But it works both ways, you know. It's not only you who cares about us and wants to protect us. We also love you and we also want to protect you – so don't say things like you'll throw away your life and your reputation and your throne for us. We don't want you to do that; we want you to support us so that we can all come up with a solution together."

"Mana is right," Jules and Raven said together, and joined the family hug.

A moment later, Jules's nose twitched. "I smell food!" he declared, quickly wiping his face with his handkerchief and regaining his gentle, smiling persona.

The other three quickly did the same, just in time before the proprietor walked in with a huge tray of food.