The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

To be honest, Raven was a little tempted by the idea of learning necromancy – but then, looking at the fierce faces of King Jaren and General Aquila, and noting the worry in their eyes, he didn't say anything at all.

"I can teach you necromancy which doesn't affect your soul or your magic at all," Zed said eagerly. "Do you still not want to learn?" he asked with a shrewd expression on his face, and his gaze targeted at Raven.

Mana moved in front of Raven protectively, shielding him from the greedy gaze of the old man in front of them. Zed's eyes made her feel very uncomfortable, for some reason.

Raven was startled by Mana's overprotective action – but he trusted Mana's instincts.

"Thanks but no thanks," Raven said to Zed in a light voice.

"But you want to, don't you?" Zed cajoled.

"Even if he wants to, Raven will not learn it from someone as shady as you," Mana said in a flat voice.

"You won't get anyone better than me!" Zed boasted proudly. "You already figured out that I am the last of the ancient masters! And little Mana, you know about the other world as well, don't you? Don't you want to go to that world?"

"Thanks but no thanks," Mana said, echoing Raven's words. Why would she want to go back to that world when she had such a beautiful life and such a beautiful family here?

"Not even if I can teach you how to bring back some people to life?" Zed asked slyly, his eyes glowing.

Mana chuckled. "Thanks but no thanks," she repeated.

"What a stubborn couple of children!" Zed complained. "Well, I'll see you in the Amber Kingdom soon, and then, you will know why you should collaborate with me instead of just saying 'no' all the time!"

And then, with a blinding flash of light, the old man disappeared.

"Papa! Ma! Are you guys all right?" Mana asked worriedly. "What did that crafty old coot do?"

Mana was about to rush to her parents, but Raven grabbed her arm. "Let me check you once," he said anxiously. "Azar said that the old man stole a part of your soul…"

Colours swirled madly in Raven's eyes and his magic enveloped Mana completely – this time, it wasn't the comfortable hot tub or hot springs feeling – but, instead, it felt like something was tightly wrapped around her and was poking at her the pressure points in her body and mind.

Still, knowing that Raven was really concerned, Mana swallowed her complaints and let the boy examine her soul.

Mana didn't feel any discomfort any way, and the occasional empty feeling that she had felt in her previous life in the modern world – she had not felt a single shred of that – perhaps it was since she had come to this world and had woken up as Princess Mana of the Emerald Kingdom. Or, more likely, since she had met the ancient master in that cave in the Sapphire Kingdom and inherited the supposedly correct book from him – at least, that's when she had noticed that she didn't have that somewhat lonely feeling any more.

In any case, Mana was reasonably sure that her soul was intact at the moment.

Raven finally released Mana after a few minutes of intense magic washing over the two of them. Mana had no idea what this magic was, and she didn't know that one could actually examine someone else's soul at all. But then, if it was Raven, she didn't doubt that he would somehow be able to manage to do things like these anyway.

"Did – did Raven just conduct a soul search…?" General Aquilla asked, stunned. It was very, very advanced magic!

"Looks like it," King Jaren replied.

"Daddy did big magic," Azar agreed happily.

"Raven, what's the verdict?" Jules asked worriedly. "Is Mana's soul complete?"

Raven nodded tiredly. The soul search had drained him, but his heart was much lighter now that he had verified for himself that Mana's soul was whole and complete and there was absolutely nothing missing!

Azar had a smug 'I told you so' look on his face.

"Thank you, son," King Jaren said gratefully.

"No need to thank me, Papa," Raven said gently. "There is nothing more important than Mana's well being for me…"

Mana slipped an arm around Raven's waist. "You used up a lot of magic power just now, you must be tired," she murmured. "Come on, then, what do you want to eat? I'll especially make it for you."

"May be later," Raven muttered, resting his forehead on Mana's shoulder.

"How about a chocolate milkshake, then?" Mana asked, trying to persuade him. She wanted him to get some nutrition right away. She had felt the powerful magic he had used just now, and she could feel how tired he was.

Jules and Bella exchanged a glance, clearly understanding that Raven didn't want to be away from Mana at the moment.

"Mana, why don't you take Raven to your room to rest? Bella and I will go to the kitchen and fetch the ingredients for a chocolate milkshake and some small snacks. Then you can make the chocolate milkshake yourself – does that work?" Jules suggested.

Comprehension dawned on Mana immediately. "Yes, Big Brother, thank you!" she replied gratefully.

She looked at King Jaren and Queen Dora. "Are you two all right, Papa and Ma?" she asked.

"We are fine, Mana," King Jaren said. "Jules and Bella can fill you and Raven in on the details later. For now, I think you should take Raven back to your room as Jules suggested. Let him eat something and rest for a bit. We will meet again for dinner."

Queen Dora looked at her husband in surprise. "Aren't we going back to the Sapphire Kingdom?" she asked.

"It would be better to go tomorrow," King Jaren replied. "In any case, we still have time before we need to leave for the Amber Kingdom."

"Makes sense," General Aquila said. "All of you should get some rest today. Who knows what awaits us in the Amber Kingdom."

King Jaren nodded, and Queen Dora, too, had no objections.

"Azar and Alya, you two are all right?" Mana asked.

The two little dragons nodded cheerfully.

"Do you want chocolate milkshakes as well?" Mana offered the two little foodie babies.

Azar looked rather conflicted. It was clear from his face that he really, really wanted to have a chocolate milkshake (well, more than one, if his past track record was to count for anything) but he was too hesitant to go with Mana and Raven for some reason.

"Azar will stay with Grandpapa," the little black dragon said finally, his crestfallen expression tugging at everyone's heart strings.

As for the little white dragon, she had no idea what a chocolate milkshake was, so there was no chance of her looking so pitiful, but then, Azar's disappointed appearance affected her as well.

"That's fine," Jules spoke up immediately. "Azar and Alya should stay with Papa. Bella and I will bring chocolate milkshakes for you. Since Mana is going to make chocolate milkshakes, she can make for all of us, right?"

"I'll help, too!" Rook spoke up.

Azar beamed at Jules and Rook. "Thank you, Uncle Jules! Thank you, Uncle Rook!" he said happily. Then he turned to Alya and started telling her what an amazing thing a chocolate milkshake was and how much he loved it and how he was absolutely certain that Mana would like it, too!

Azar's monologue on chocolate milkshakes was so enthusiastic that everyone's mouth watered as they listened to him.

Raven chuckled weakly and Mana decided to take him away immediately.

"All right, then," Mana said. "Raven and I will be in my room if anyone needs us. Rook, Big Brother and Big Sister Bella, we'll see you in a bit with the ingredients?"

Jules and Bella nodded. 

Then Mana led Raven away before anyone else could say anything.

Jules, Bella and Rook, too, went off to the kitchens to procure stuff for chocolate milkshakes and some snacks to go with it.

Queen Dora could hold herself back no longer. "Neither of you seem too shocked that a little boy of twelve just performed such powerful magic? And you are trusting the results blindly?" she asked.

King Jaren frowned at his wife. "What do you mean?" he asked sharply.

General Aquila's eyes sharpened as well. "Yes," he said in a right voice. "Do tell."

"Are you certain that it was proper soul search magic that Raven just performed?" she asked. "Are you ready to trust that he performed it properly? He's a child. Where did he learn such powerful magic? How do you know that he was able to do it properly? What if it harmed our little Mana?"

King Jaren's frown deepened. "Raven would never harm Mana," he said firmly.

"Daddy would never harm Mommy," Azar spoke up, his little face puffed up with anger.. "Daddy is not like you, Grandmama."