The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

"Well, you may accompany us if you wish," King Jaren said. "But I am afraid I do not see the point of bringing Mana and Raven here, especially since the cursed living ghost corpse Vir is not even here at all. As such, I do not understand why my children are required to come here?" he asked politely, but his brilliant emerald eyes gleamed menacingly, ready to protect his children.

Zed sighed. "Well, you got me there," he murmured. He looked at Queen Dora, "You didn't tell me that your Jaren was this smart, Dora," he complained.

"Of course he is smart," Queen Dora replied. "My Jaren is the best mix of beauty and brains and bravery – there is no one better than him!" she declared proudly.

The old man rolled his eyes.

"But Jaren is right, master," Queen Dora said. "Why do you need little Mana and Raven to visit this place if the cursed living ghost corpse Vir is not even here?" she asked curiously.

"Well, I was hoping I could convince them to go to the Amber Kingdom with me and help me release Vir from the rainbow net," the old man muttered.

Queen Dora frowned. "We are going to the Amber Kingdom anyway," she pointed out. "You can come with us, as Jaren suggested. Wouldn't that make things easier?" she asked.

Zed sighed. "Well, let's just say that I am not the safest person to be chosen as anyone's travelling companion, let alone a bunch of royals, especially children," he muttered.

"But you just said that you wanted Mana and Raven to accompany you to the Amber Kingdom," Jules pointed out. "Aren't you contradicting yourself?"

The old man turned to Queen Dora. "Your family is being really unreasonable, Dora," he complained.

Queen Dora frowned. "But Jules has a valid point, master," she said. "You mentioned that you wanted to take Mana and Raven along with you, but then you said that you can't travel with the rest of us because it is too dangerous for us to be in your company. If it is too dangerous for me or Jaren, why would either of us let Mana and Raven walk the same path?"

Zed sighed. "All right, all right," he said in exasperation, throwing up his hands. "I will meet you guys in the Amber Kingdom, and then you all can come to see me with little Mana and Raven, all right? You don't have to send them anywhere with me."

"Why should we meet you again?" Bella asked frankly. "We wanted to see you because we wanted to find a way to destroy the cursed living ghost corpse and protect our kingdoms. I don't see any reason why we should meet you again if all you want is to use Mana and Raven to free the cursed living ghost corpse."

Zed frowned at her. "That cursed living ghost corpse is your father. Don't you want to see him? Don't you want to speak to him? Don't you want to save him?" he asked, his eyes wide in disbelief.

"My father died the day he betrayed my mother," Bella said quietly.

"But I just told you why he did that, didn't I? He was trying to protect your mother and you," Zed protested.

Bella shrugged. "That is what you say," she said in a flat voice. "I am afraid I don't see any reason to believe you."

Zed's eyes widened in shock. "But – but he is your father!" he cried. "He is the only father you will ever have!"

Bella smiled slightly. "Of course not," she said. "I have a very real and very true Papa right here." She pointed at King Jaren. "And I am not so starved for affection that I would need to run after a traitor who intends to harm my mother, my kingdom, my new family and myself to beg for a scrap of affection," she said in a soft voice.

Zed sighed and shook his head. "Too bad," he murmured. He turned to Queen Dora. "And what about you, Dora? Are you going to let your children speak to me like this?" he demanded.

Queen Dora bowed her head. "Master," she said quietly. "I am indebted to you in more ways than I can count, and I will spend my life repaying you for your great favours. However, I cannot implicate my children."

"You won't let me have little Mana?" the old man asked. "Do you know that I still hold a part of her soul and that I can call her to me without needing any permission from any of you?"

Queen Dora went very pale. "How is that possible?!" she cried. "That would make her soul unstable! Master, you can't harm my little Mana like this! Please return her soul!"

"Scary old man is bad and scary old man is lying," Azar said loudly. "Mommy's soul is complete."

"Are you sure, little one?" King Jaren asked worriedly.

The little black dragon nodded vigorously. "Yes, Grandpapa," he said. "Azar is a good boy and Azar looks after Mommy and Daddy and Grandpapa. Mommy's soul is complete now and Daddy's magic is also complete now. Scary old man is lying. Scary old man is a bad, bad man with big bad magic."

"Azar is right," Alya spoke up, looking up at King Jaren with her big and innocent eyes. "Auntie Mana's soul is complete now, and Uncle Raven's magic is also complete now."

"Impossible!" Zed cried, digging into his pockets. He pulled out a small vial made of crystal and held it aloft triumphantly. "Here you are! Look, this is a fragment of Mana's soul!" he declared.

King Jaren, Jules and Bella smiled and shook their heads.

Queen Dora cleared her throat awkwardly. "Master, the vial is empty," she pointed out in a quiet voice.

The old man froze in disbelief, and then he brought the vial close to his eyes and examined it carefully. It was indeed empty.

He flung away the vial in frustration and disgust. "How is this possible?!" he cried angrily.

He glared at Queen Dora. "Was it you? Did you steal the soul fragment and take it back to your child?!" he asked angrily.

Queen Dora shrugged. "No, but I am very glad that it is not in your hands any more," she said. "Master, even though you saved my life, I cannot allow you to harm my children. Please do not do anything like this ever again. The debt between you and me – I will not involve my children in it."

The old man deflated. "I am not trying to harm your children, Dora," he murmured. "If I wanted to harm you or your children, why would I have helped you all this time?" He shook his head tiredly. "I just want to know the truth about what happened with Vir. He is my godson, my nephew – something must have happened, and I must know what."

Queen Dora remained silent. She truly regretted bringing her family to see her master – and she cursed herself for being so blind that she had never been able to realise the true colours of her master before this.

But one thing was certain. Queen Dora would never willingly put her children in danger again. Now that things were finally settled for the Emerald Kingdom, and she was back with Jaren and Jules and Mana, and they even had the lovely Bella and the wonderful Raven with them, not to mention the two utterly adorable little dragons Azar and Alya – there was no way Queen Dora would let anyone or anything jeopardise this beautiful family ever again. No one was going to harm a hair on their heads as long as she was around!

Zed sighed. "Dora, I am sorry for this, but I will have to try something bad now," he said. Then he flung out his arms with an eerie reddish black haze rising from his fingers.

However, just when the reddish haze was about to reach Queen Dora, her royal pendant flashed brightly and the haze dissipated instantly.

"How is this possible?!" the old man cried furiously. "I cast that curse on you many years ago and it was still in place when I sent you to the Sapphire Kingdom a few days ago! How could it disappear all of a sudden like this?!"

Queen Dora was stunned. "Master – you cast a curse on me?" she asked in a shocked whisper.

"Of course I did! It was supposed to be my insurance for a time like this! I knew you wouldn't hand over that child so easily, and I took precautions against it!" the old man retorted furiously. "What, have you been thinking that I saved you out of the goodness of my heart? Of course I didn't! Orion sent me initially to help out your evil sister – which I did, by the way – but then, I saw that you had much more potential and I needed a powerful ally against Orion!"

Queen Dora's face turned cold. She walked over to where King Jaren, Jules and Bella with the two little dragons.. "Let's go home," she said.