The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

All the milkshakes disappeared soon enough, and it was clear that the two little dragons needed to take a bath after their adventures with the chocolate milkshake. Azar and Alya had polished off four glasses each – it was a good thing that Mana had quickly whipped up a few extra glasses just in time.

"Sister Mana, when I find a fiancée, you have to teach her how to make chocolate milkshake like this!" Rook said, rubbing his tummy.

General Aquila narrowed his eyes at his son. "You little brat, you want to get yourself a fiancée just to drink chocolate milkshake?!" he demanded, pulling Rook's ear playfully.

"But Father, it is so delicious!" Rook protested, blinking up innocently at him.

Mana laughed. "Why don't I teach you instead, and you can use this skill to chase the one you like?" she suggested.

"Now that's a better idea – if you want something, it's best to do it yourself," General Aquila said, shooting Mana an approving glance. "Look at little Mana, you brat – she's the same age as you, and she's so much wiser!" he said.

"But that's because Sister Mana is with Big Brother Raven!" Rook said happily. "If she wasn't almost as cool as Big Brother Raven, they wouldn't be together, right, Father?"

General Aquila couldn't help but laugh and ruffle his son's hair fondly.

"We should leave Mana and Raven to rest until dinner," King Jaren said, scooping up the two little dragons. "And you two little ones need a bath! Look at the mess you've made."

"Yummy milkshake!" Azar chirped, blinking innocently up at his Grandpapa.

"Really yummy milkshake!" Alya repeated, copying Azar's actions.

Naturally, King Jaren melted on the spot. "Come on, then, let's get you cleaned up. What flavour of bubble bath do you want?" he asked.

"Strawberry!" Azar and Alya said at the same time.

"All right, let's go," King Jaren said to them, wiping their faces with his handkerchief.

Then he turned to Mana and Raven. "Get some rest. We'll see you at dinner," he said gently.

Both the children nodded, and Mana said softly, "I'll take care of Raven, Papa, don't worry."

"We'll have all this cleaned up," Jules said to King Jaren. "You go ahead with Azar and Alya, Papa."

King Jaren nodded and left, with Queen Dora hurrying behind him.

Jules and Bella left to find servants to clean up, and Rook tagged along with them as well.

Mana looked at General Aquila curiously. "Father Aqi, did something happen between Ma and Papa?" she asked.

General Aquila hesitated and then scratched his head awkwardly. "Er, not really, it's just that your mother had some concerns…" he murmured.

"About me?" Raven asked quietly.

Mana's eyes sharpened. "What concerns?" she demanded.

General Aquila sighed. He didn't want to tell the children about Queen Dora doubting Raven. But then, he also wanted to tell them about how vigorously King Jaren and the two little dragons had defended Raven!

"Father Aqi, please tell us," Raven said, his rainbow eyes filled with anxiety.

"There's nothing for you to worry about, son," General Aquila said gently, patting Raven's dark hair affectionately. "Queen Dora was just concerned that someone as young as you would not be able to perform soul searching magic properly. She just met you, so she doesn't know how brilliant you are – other than you, there aren't any twelve year olds in this world who would be able to perform such powerful magic, right?"

Raven frowned. He had a feeling that there was much more to it than that.

Seeing him frown, General Aquila hurried to explain, "But King Jaren and Azar and Alya immediately put her right!" And then he told them how valiantly his prodigious talents had been defended with great gusto.

Raven was still a little concerned – after all, he didn't want Papa to have a disagreement with his beloved long lost wife because of him, when he had just found her after ten years!

Mana frowned as well, but then, seeing Raven's nervous expression, she calmed herself down. She would have a chat with Queen Dora later – it was possible that Queen Dora was still affected by the original story of 'The Legend of Mars' and plus, that nasty old man Zed had also contributed to unsettling her. There was clearly far more to the whole incident than Mana and Raven knew – they would have to speak with Jules and Bella later on to get the details.

Mana could definitely tell that there was something wrong – but she didn't know yet what exactly was wrong. She would probably know more once she had spoken to Queen Dora later, she thought to herself.

And she would never let Raven be wronged. Mana knew by now that the boy meant the world to her already, and she was not willing to let him suffer even for a bit. He had already suffered enough in the first twelve years of his life, and from now on, Mana was determined to keep him happy and safe and healthy and pamper him to her heart's content.

"Well, that's the problem with genius, isn't it?" Mana said lightly, pinching Raven's fair cheeks in a playful manner. "See, now you know why keep telling you that you are a heaven defying talent that comes by once in several millennia! How cool is that, eh? It takes a while to truly believe how amazing you are, you know. And even then, people need to see it with their own eyes several times to seriously learn that it's actually true and that you are seriously that magnificent in real life! You are the stuff legends are made of, my darling!"

Raven flushed under her lavish praise and General Aquila heaved a sigh of relief. He was beginning to appreciate little Mana more and more every passing day, and he was very glad that Raven had found himself such a wonderful companion. His little boy deserved all the happiness in the world, and little Mana was probably the only one who could bring him that happiness! So General Aquila would support them whole heartedly for the rest of his life.

"Little Mana is right – it does take a while to believe how amazing you are, son," General Aquila said with a big smile on his ruggedly handsome face. "As for me, I have not yet ceased to be amazed by your talents, little one, and I am very proud of you," he added.

Raven brightened and smile sweetly at General Aquila. "Thank you, Father Aqi," he said shyly.

General Aquila chuckled and ruffled his hair again, his face soft with affection. "I'll take your leave now. You two should get some rest," he said, waving his hand in a farewell gesture. "I'll see you both at dinner."

Both the children nodded.

Soon after General Aquila left, Jules, Bella and Rook turned up again with several servants, and some more packaged snacks for Mana and Raven.

"Keep these around," Jules said to Mana. "I know you'll want to make him eat something every few hours until his magic is fully restored – but you don't need to go out for that, do you? Just stay here and take care of your little fiancé."

Raven flushed at being called Mana's little fiancé and looked up at Jules with aggrieved eyes. "I am taller than Mana, and I am also older than her, Big Brother!" he protested.

Jules chuckled and patted Raven on the head as if he was a small child. "Yes, yes, but to me, you are still my little brother," he said.

"Mana and Rook are younger," Raven said petulantly.

"But I am taller than you, Big Brother Raven!" Rook piped up immediately. "Big Brother Jules is right, you should listen to him and eat more, and then you can be as tall as Father or Uncle Jaren or Big Brother Jules! Don't you want to be really tall like them?"

Raven frowned. Head Sage Yue of the Moon Temple of the Pearl Kingdom, his biological father, was a full head shorter than General Aquila. What if he only grew as tall as Head Sage Yue? Crown Princess Pica and Head Sage Yue were almost the same height, even. And King Corvus was tall, of course – not as tall as General Aquila, but as tall as King Jaren, definitely. But, what if Raven had inherited his height from his biological father instead of his mother's side of the family?

On Mana's side, both King Jaren and Queen Dora were tall – so it was likely that Mana, too, would grow tall, since both her parents were. What if Raven didn't grow enough? What if his figure didn't fill out enough to match Mana's? What if he looked horrible standing next to Mana?

"What are you worrying about now?" Mana asked, poking Raven in the middle of his forehead with a gentle finger.

"What if I don't grow tall enough?" he asked Mana worriedly. "What if I look bad next to you?"

Mana blinked in surprise and then burst out laughing.