The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

Five minutes after the food was served, everyone understood why this was Jules's favourite restaurant. Even though the fare was simple noodles and dumplings, it had a wholesome, homely aroma and flavour that made one very satisfied when they ate.

"This is really good," Mana said appreciatively. "We must come here more often!"

Jules laughed and ruffled her hair. "You're such a foodie," he said fondly.

King Jaren had a bittersweet smile on his face. "It is so wonderful that my little Mana is able to eat well like this now…" he muttered.

Jules and Raven looked at him enquiringly.

"I was very sickly before," Mana said mildly.

King Jaren's eyes misted over. "Yes…she used to be so pale and thin and could barely eat anything…"

Mana patted his arm to comfort him. "But I'm all right now, Papa, thanks to Raven, and we even found Big Brother! I have a feeling that things will be really good from now on!"

King Jaren smiled broadly. "Yes, that's true," he said, and ruffled Jules and Raven's hair next. Then he proceeded to put more dumplings on everyone's plates, and ordered some more for Jules especially.

Mana and Raven soon gave up, clutching their stomachs and declaring that they couldn't eat a single bite more.

So, King Jaren ended up focussing the entirety of his "feeding-people-syndrome" on Jules. The other two children watched in amusement and then astonishment as King Jaren kept piling up food on Jules's plate and Jules continued to polish them off.

Mana was full of disbelief. "Big Brother is quite lean…where does all that food go?!"

"Most people get like this when they are experiencing a magic surge. The more powerful their magic is, the more they need to eat. Big Brother is really powerful, judging by his consumption," Raven explained.

Jules looked quite smug when he heard that.

King Jaren laughed heartily, his green eyes glowing with pride. "You should have seen your mother when her magic surged the first time. She ate even more than I did!"

Mana was horrified. "There's more than one surge?!"

Everyone laughed. "Most people only have two or three. However, really powerful magicians have been known to have as many as ten," Raven told her.

"Is there any way to tell how many surges one will have?" Mana asked curiously.

Raven nodded. "There is a device made by the Sapphire Kingdom using unique crystals from the far east which senses one's magic potential growth. I've never seen one, but I read that it is usually very accurate."

Mana turned to King Jaren and said urgently, "Papa, we need to get one of these devices as soon as possible! And then we'll have to come up with more business ideas and earn more gold, because I'm sure that between Big Brother and Raven and me, we'll end up with many, many surges! We need to be able to afford all that food!"

King Jaren burst out into helpless peals of laughter. He laughed so hard that tears pooled in his eyes and dripped down his handsome face.

Mana glared at him. "I'm serious, Papa! We need to earn more gold! I have a gut feeling that both Big Brother and Raven will have surges in double digits!"

"It is certainly possible and it is likely for you, too, Mana," King Jaren said, wiping his eyes and finally getting his amusement under control. "Both Dora and I had nine surges, and both you and Jules inherited magic from both of us."

Mana had another bad premonition. "Are the surges in any way related to how many magic elements we have?"

"There is some speculation, but it has not been conclusively proven yet," Raven said mildly.

"What's the speculation? Is it that more elements mean more surges?" Mana asked.

Raven nodded.

"The hypothesis has some merit," King Jaren said thoughtfully. "Dora had two elements and nine surges, but your maternal grandparents and aunt only had five each."

Mana buried her face in her hands and groaned.

King Jaren laughed again. "Silly little Mana, do you think your Papa can't afford to feed you? Have you forgotten that we are the richest kingdom in the world?"

Mana brightened.

"But I definitely agree that we should earn more gold," King Jaren said thoughtfully. "Raven told me you had some ideas about this chocolate and vanilla thing?"

Mana squared her shoulders and immediately launched her pitch. As a corporate lawyer and the daughter of a prominent business family, she was well-versed in business management and had helped many clients start their new ventures as well.

Listening to her speak to eloquently and explain her ideas of setting up, marketing strategies, expansion, estimates…King Jaren, Jules and Raven were mesmerised.

King Jaren sighed deeply when she finished. "Little Mana," he said quietly. "Were you always this smart?"

"Probably not," Mana said innocently. "But I do find myself becoming cleverer as Raven and Physician Kale progress with their treatment plan." She turned to Raven. "Does the Shadow Poison supress intelligence as well."

Raven nodded. "It suppresses magic as well as intelligence. Removing the Shadow Poison won't grant you additional intelligence, but it will certainly restore your natural intelligence."

Mana grinned. "So I'll get even smarter in the future?" she asked. "And more powerful, too?" She would never admit it out loud, but it irked her that both Jules and Raven were far, far more powerful than her, and as far as intelligence was concerned, she was simply glad that she wouldn't have to bother hiding her high IQ in the future…and if she gained a few more IQ points thanks to the removal of this stupid Shadow Poison thing – well, no one would complain if they got smarter, would they?

Raven nodded. He already suspected that Mana's intelligence was not too far behind his own. It was a pity her talent had been suppressed for so long. What was even more surprising was how someone had managed to get hold of the Shadow Poison to administer it to her mother Queen Dora in the first place. Even in the Obsidian Kingdom, Shadow Poison was very rare, and the people who had access to it could be counted on the fingers of one hand. And no one outside of the Obsidian Kingdom would be able to make it. So…the only possibility that remained was…someone high up in the Shadow Kingdom had conspired with someone high up in the Emerald Kingdom to murder Queen Dora and her unborn child. If Queen Dora hadn't had the foresight to hide Jules away earlier, it was quite possible that he would have met with the same fate.

At least, this was what Raven thought, and he had discussed it separately with King Jaren in private. He didn't want either Mana or Jules to know about it until there was irrefutable evidence. He also suspected that the current Queen Sora was somehow involved, and he knew that both Mana and Jules had the same suspicion, but none of them could bear to tell Papa about it.

And everyone knew that someone in the capital city, most likely in the imperial palace, was trying to murder Mana…that's why King Jaren had sent her away to the summer palace with his handpicked guards and servants as soon as she'd said that she wanted to go.

What the three children didn't know was that King Jaren had deliberately leaked the information about Mana being inflicted with the Shadow Poison to certain parties, but not the fact that an effective treatment was already underway. This ensured that her enemies wouldn't bother to come all the way to the remote Verdant Hills to make an attempt on her life. After all, the Shadow Poison was specifically known to be incurable.

The enemies had no idea that now their troubles had increased threefold. Not only was Princess Mana not dying anymore, but there was the bona fide Crown Prince Jules and the prodigious Prince Raven of the Obsidian Kingdom thrown into the mix. King Jaren no longer had to protect Princess Mana single-handedly.

Each of the royal family members were lost in their own thoughts for a while.

King Jaren suddenly hugged Raven. "Thank you," he breathed. "Thank you, son. You saved my little Mana…"

Raven finally smiled like a child before his parent. "You don't need to thank me, Papa," he said.

"Raven does need your help with something, though, Papa," Jules spoke up.

"Anything, son. What do you need?" King Jaren asked.

"We've got tutors for earth, fire and water magic…but Raven has no one to teach him wind and dark magic," Jules said.

"We've been scouring the library in the summer palace to find some useful books, but there weren't too many, and Raven's already read most of them by now," Mana said. "Also, Big Brother needs more advanced tutors. His levels were much higher than the tutors even before his magic surged, since they are for a beginner like me.. Raven is fine with the other three for now, but he'll also need advanced tutors soon."