The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

Queen Dora laughed manically. "I didn't expect that you all would be able to find out about this so soon," she said. "The people from the Obsidian Kingdom are really knowledgeable about these things, it seems."

General Aquila stepped forward and shielded King Jaren behind himself. "Who are you and what is your purpose in possessing Queen Dora?" he demanded.

Queen Dora laughed. "Jaren knows very well who I am," she said with a laugh. "Don't you, my dear darling?"

King Jaren narrowed his eyes at the woman in front of him. "Sora? It's you, isn't it? You gave up your own body to come and haunt Dora?" he asked.

Queen Dora – or rather, the spirit of the former Queen Sora that was haunting Queen Dora's body at the moment, chuckled.

"Well," she said. "If it were anyone else, do you think my sister would have hesitated to destroy the spirit in an instant? It was only because it was me that she couldn't do it – after all, she is still my sister, no matter what, and her hesitation to destroy my spirit caused the momentary lapse that was more than enough for me to get through and take over her body. To her credit, though, she has been struggling ever since, and I am not sure how long I will be able to hold on to this body, actually. That is why I made the mistake of rushing through my plans to get rid of that menace from the Obsidian Kingdom that is constantly foiling any and all plans I make for my little Astra to be able to take over the throne of the Emerald Kingdom!"

She glared hatefully at Raven. "You little bastard – it is all your fault! You are the one that keeps saving that wretched little Mana and that nuisance Jules all the time! Without you, I would have succeeded in establishing Astra as the heir to the throne of the Emerald Kingdom – but you just had to turn up and ruin everything!" she snapped at him.

Mana and Jules immediately moved to cover Raven protectively.

"You see?" Mana said to Raven in a complaining voice. "Now do you know how valuable you are, when you can hear it directly from the mouth of our enemy? Without you, Big Brother and I would be long dead!"

Raven flushed and nodded. "I'll only listen to you in the future, and no one else," he said seriously with a red face.

"Good," Mana said with a satisfied nod. "Remember this the next time the urge to do something stupid and harmful crosses your mind. Your welfare is not yours alone!"

Raven nodded obediently. "Yes, Mana," he said seriously. "I will remember this. And going forward, I will protect you and Big Brother Jules and Papa and everyone else properly, and not believe stupid lies from other people at all."

"Good boy," Mana said with pride and approval reflected in her face as well as in her voice. She kissed Raven on the cheek as a reward.

"Daddy is finally a good boy like Azar," the little black dragon declared – he would naturally not miss a chance to call himself a good boy! "Don't be a stupid boy any more, Daddy! Be a good boy like Azar!"

"Yes, Azar," Raven said, smiling softly at the little dragon sitting on King Jaren's shoulder. "Daddy will listen to you and Daddy will try to be a good boy like Azar."

The little black dragon nodded in satisfaction.

"Any ideas on how we can get rid of this evil spirit from Ma's body?" Jules asked, looking enquiringly at General Aquila.

General Aquila sighed. "I don't know all the details, I am afraid. The only person I can think of, who would be able to help us in this situation – that would be Uncle Corvus," he said. "Other than proper necromancers – I don't think that there are any other people who know as much about these things as Uncle Corvus."

"That is probably true," King Jaren murmured.

"So what should we do now?" Bella asked. "Should we take her to the Sapphire Kingdom, or should we bring King Corvus back to the Emerald Kingdom to take his advice?"

"We also have to go to the Amber Kingdom," Rook murmured. "Should I go to the Sapphire Kingdom and bring Grandfather here? Then we could join the travelling group for the Amber Kingdom directly on the way instead of going back to the Sapphire Kingdom. It might save us some time."

"That sounds feasible," Bella said. "I will have to go with you, though. We will have to modify the royal array of the Sapphire Kingdom to extend the access to King Corvus as well, otherwise he will not be able to use it from that side."

"Alternatively," Jules murmured. "We could wrap up Ma in a rainbow net and imprison her in the Emerald Kingdom for a few days, until we come back from the Amber Kingdom. We will have a few days of gap between the festivities at the Amber Kingdom and the celebrations in the Pearl Kingdom."

"Or we could skip the banquets at the Amber Kingdom altogether," King Jaren said quietly. "We could just stay here and figure a way out to get Sora's spirit out of Dora's body."

"No!" Queen Dora/Sora cried out loudly. "No, Jaren, you can't do that! I want to see my little girl's banquet! I want to see her become the crown princess of the Amber Kingdom, and then I want to see her become the empress of the Amber Empire, which will include the Pearl Kingdom as well as the Emerald Kingdom! Maybe even the Sapphire Kingdom!"

King Jaren shook his head ruefully. "I cannot allow that," he said. "You stole Dora's body and her memories – and I cannot allow you to be seen by the public. It would be best to wrap you up in a rainbow net and imprison you in the Emerald Kingdom, and we will stay here and figure out a way to get you out of Dora's body. That is definitely more important than attending the banquet for Astra. No one needs to go there."

"NO!" Queen Dora/Sora protested. "How can you say this, Jaren? What face would Astra have left if her own father does not show up for her engagement banquet? Her reputation would suffer and everyone across all five kingdoms would think that Astra does not have her father's favour, and this would cause so much trouble for her! No one in the Amber Kingdom would take her seriously!"

"Should you not have thought about these things before trying to harm my children?" King Jaren asked in a quiet voice. "I have never short changed Astra, and I have often indulged her and forgiven her for things I should not have, even at the expense of Mana and Jules and Raven – but Sora, I am very, very tired. I cannot do this any more. I cannot bear to harm the rest of my children for the benefit of one, and the one that seeks to harm my children, no matter who they are – must be stopped by any means necessary."

"No, Jaren, you can't do this! I know that you don't want to harm our little girl Astra – you always loved her so much!" Queen Dora/Sora cried.

King Jaren sighed heavily. "You are not leaving me with any other alternative, Sora," he said. "I can forgive you for plotting against me and trying to get the best deal for Astra – but I cannot forgive you for harming my children or my Dora. You nearly got Raven killed just now – and believe me when I say that if Raven had actually managed to kill himself just now – you would not have escaped from this room alive, and neither would Astra get anything she wants."

Queen Dora/Sora glared at King Jaren. "Always Dora! It's always Dora! You would always do anything for Dora and her children, wouldn't you, Jaren?! Why did it have to be her?! Why did you always have to give everything to Dora and her alone, and never to me?! Why was it always her, even when she was dead?! Why is it still her, even when I am the one occupying her body?! I have spent all my life chasing after you, and you wouldn't even spare me a glance! I managed to somehow get you that one time with the help of my uncle from the Amber Kingdom, and he agreed to help me even though he and Father were already enemies by then – and it worked! You had to marry me and make me your wife! But then, even after we got married, even after I gave birth to your daughter – you would never lay a finger on me, you would never treat me as your wife! So I had to get rid of Dora and her children – but even after I did that – you would still not look at me!"