The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

"Mana, may I speak to you for a moment? Alone?" Queen Dora asked after a happy and delicious dinner was over and everyone was in good spirits.

"Of course, Ma," Mana said easily, knowing exactly what Queen Dora wanted to talk about.

Raven shot a worried glance at Mana. For some reason, he felt really uncomfortable and insecure with the idea of Mana speaking with Queen Dora all by herself. Part of it, of course, arose from that fact that he was aware of Queen Dora's dislike for himself (even though she had been perfectly polite with him at dinner, but all of Raven's sheer instincts told him that Queen Dora didn't really like him, and Raven had learnt to trust his gut feeling through his life experience so far) and it worried him. Raven naturally wanted to be liked by everyone who was close to Mana and it made him feel insecure that someone who was close to Mana and someone who Mana cared for very much – that Mana's mother who was a legendary character herself and someone Raven, too, admired very much (although not as much as Bella did, of course – no one, not even Jules or Mana, could admire and adore Queen Dora as much as Bella did, that was for sure, let alone Raven) – didn't like him. He had felt a niggling doubt deep in his heart ever since he had met Queen Dora that she didn't really like him – but what had happened today completely cemented his belief. And even though Mana had repeatedly assured him today that no matter what Queen Dora said, Mana would stick with him – Raven wasn't too sure about that. After all, Queen Dora was Mana's mother – and a good one at that, if one was to look at the sacrifices she had made to protect her children. Queen Dora loved her children very much and would do anything to protect them, and she had proved this with her actions in the past. She hadn't even spared King Jaren – who was her own husband and the father of her two children – from a decade of heartache and misery when she had taken steps to protect Jules and Mana – so why would she spare Raven, who was an outsider in the first place? And Raven knew that there were plenty of reasons for anyone to dislike him – it was just that he had gotten complacent in the last few months because he had been so well loved and cherished in the Emerald Kingdom where he had received paternal love from King Jaren, fraternal love from Big Brother Jules – and as for Mana, Raven thought he would not be able to live at all any more if Mana was to be taken away from him. After tasting the sweetness of her affection and protectiveness and dedication and companionship – there was no way Raven go bear to go back to the unloved existence that he had spent in the Obsidian Kingdom until a few months ago. He would prefer to kill himself rather than go back to that life now.

But more than that, what worried him was why Queen Dora would dislike him. Did she merely think that Raven was not worthy of her precious daughter, or was there more to it than that? Was there something about him that made her wary? Could there be something about him that would endanger Mana in the future? Could it be that his very presence in Mana's life was detrimental to her welfare?

Because Raven was smart enough to understand that Mana had known Queen Dora as Mommy Dee in her previous life in the other world – and, if his intuition and logical reasoning were pointing him in the right direction, Queen Dora also knew something about the book that Mana had been given by the ancient master they had met in the Sapphire Kingdom. Raven had a feeling that it was much more than merely a book of prophecies – and that Queen Dora knew quite a few things about it, too. And her wariness around him, and her dislike of him – could that be because of something in that book? Could it be that Raven was destined to be a blight upon those he loved after all?

Raven's forehead was suddenly poked and he found himself looking into Mana's bright green eyes with specks of silver and amber.

"What are you worrying about now?" Mana asked him in a low whisper.

Raven shook his head. He couldn't bring himself to say anything.

Mana sighed and patted his cheek affectionately. "Don't worry, my darling," she said to him in a gentle voice. "Remember what I told you earlier in the afternoon today."

Raven could only not in response and give her a weak smile.

"If you want, you can wait here for me, and after I'm done speaking with Ma, we'll go back to the room together?" Mana suggested.

Raven nodded immediately. He had been planning to wait outside Mana's door for her to come back, but this was a much better option.

In the end, everyone decided to wait with Raven, and Queen Dora and Mana went to a side chamber to chat.

Mana put up a privacy spell as soon as the door closed behind them.

"You wanted to talk about the book?" Mana asked without preamble as soon as the privacy spell took effect.

Queen Dora nodded. "I want you to break up with Raven," she said.

"No," Mana said simply.

Queen Dora looked annoyed. "Mana, don't be stupid. You know who he is and what he is going to be when he grows up. I can't let you be with him," she snapped.

"I don't recall asking your opinion on the matter, Ma," Mana said calmly. "I'm with Raven and that's that. It doesn't matter what you say."

Queen Dora raised her eyebrows. "You are a ten year old in this world, but I had expected that some of the maturity and sensibility from the modern world would have come to this world along with your soul," she said in a mocking tone. "Clearly, I expected too much from you. But then again, if you insist on behaving like a naughty and rebellious ten year old child, I will have no choice but to treat you as one, and take decisions for you accordingly. That boy is not suitable for you and you will either break up with him yourself or I will do it for you," she declared.

Mana shrugged carelessly. "You don't have the right to do that," she said. "And, in any case, I am under no obligation to listen to you – especially not about things which you don't understand at all."

"Now, young lady, you listen to your mother and do as I say," Queen Dora snapped. "I know better than you in this case – you are clearly blinded by affection and trusting the wrong person!"

Mana laughed, sarcasm dripping from her laughter. "Queen Dora, Ma, Mommy Dee – you are the last person who should talk to me about trusting the wrong people," she pointed out. "Look at the kind of people you have trusted and the stupid things you have done."

"I was protecting you and Jules!" Queen Dora hissed angrily.

"With such stupid and nonsensical plans that ended up doing nothing except making Papa hurt and sad for ten years, caused my Big Brother to be deprived of his father's affection for nearly sixteen years, and caused me to have a torn soul with a part of it stolen away by the good master of yours – the very same person who helped Aunt Sora drug Papa and climb into his bed!" Mana retorted.

Queen Dora raised her arm to slap her daughter, but Mana shot her such a contemptuous glare that she could only drop her hand.

Instead, she adopted a pleading tone and sneakily carved a hole in the privacy spell that Mana had set up without alerting Mana – which meant that whatever she said next would be audible to the people sitting in the dining hall!

"Mana, my child," Queen Dora said in a soft, begging tone of voice. "You know that part of the book as well as I do, don't you? You understand why I am asking you to break up with Raven, don't you? Raven is the one who is destined to kill your Papa – and I can't allow you to be with the person who would be murdering your own dear father in the future, can I? Not to mention that he is the one who will cost millions of people across the five kingdoms to die…"

Mana was about to counter Queen Dora's words when Raven's pained cry reached her ears and a gut wrenching pain shot through her body through the bond she shared with Raven.

It was then that Mana realised that Queen Dora had poked a hole in her privacy spell!

Mana turned to look at Raven, whose face had turned impossibly pale.