The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

King Jaren sighed heavily. "What would it take for you to leave Dora's body?" he asked.

Queen Dora/Sora laughed manically. "I want you to be my husband properly and I want you to hand over the throne of the Emerald Kingdom to my daughter Astra and retire yourself. Once these two conditions are fulfilled, I will let go of Dora and you can go and do whatever you want."

Before King Jaren could reply, Mana stepped forward and said in a firm voice, "No."

Queen Dora/Sora glared at her. "Don't you want your precious Ma back, little Mana? I never imagined that you would be the one refusing such an offer," she snapped.

Mana crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows with a slight smile on her lips. "Why on earth would I accept such a stupid offer? Papa and Big Brother may be soft and may want to make a deal with you because they are good and sentimental people – but don't assume for a single moment that I am the same," she said.

Queen Dora/Sora raised her hand to slap Mana, but was met with a steak of dark magic that caught her arm instead.

Raven would never let anyone lay a finger on his precious Mana!

"What do you think we should do?" Raven asked his little fiancée.

"I think we should put her in a rainbow net and stow her away somewhere," Mana said. "We could ask your grandfather to take a look at her later, and then, based on what he tells us, we will be able to take action."

"Where do you want to keep her?" Raven asked. "We can't take the risk of her running away."

Mana smiled. "How about the dungeon of Azar and Alya's magic castle that was gifted to them by their Elf Buddy?" she asked.

The two little dragons agreed immediately.

"Bad magic spirit will not be able to run away from the dungeon in the castle," Azar said. "And Grandmama's body and spirit will also not be harmed!"

"Excellent," Mana said. She looked up at King Jaren and Jules, seeking their confirmation.

"Go ahead," King Jaren said. They didn't really have any other option at the moment, did they? And if there was a way to keep Dora safe for the time being while they tried to figure out how to get rid of Sora from her body – King Jaren would take it with both hands, naturally. He didn't want to lose his Dora again, but he also didn't want to endanger any of his children. He was quite relieved that his Dora was actually back, and even though Sora's spirit was haunting her at the moment, as long as there as a chance to bring the real Dora back, King Jaren was all right with imprisoning her temporarily.

Queen Dora/Sora shrieked in protest, but everyone simply ignored her. Raven, Mana and Azar cast a rainbow net again – with Alya helping them this time, and then the two little dragons disappeared with the captured figure and went to stow her away in the dungeon of their magic castle that was already well established in the secret space of Mana and Raven.

Mana turned to King Jaren and patted his hand. "Papa, don't worry too much," she said gently. "We will get Ma back from her clutches."

"Yes, Papa, we will get Ma back," Raven promised in a serious voice.

King Jaren nodded at the two children, and then pulled them into a hug.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. "I'm sorry you two had to go through so much because I was too blind to see what was going wrong here…"

"It's all right, Papa," Raven said quietly. "I can understand. If someone had impersonated Mana so well – I would be no better than you. In fact, I would be far worse…"

Mana pinched Raven's cheek with one hand. "What did I just tell you? What did you just promise me?!" she demanded angrily.

Raven smiled slightly. "I remember, Mana, and I will keep my word," he said sweetly.

Mana huffed. "You'd better," she said. "Or I will tie you up and throw you in Azar and Alya's castle for the rest of our lives!"

Raven burst out laughing. "I don't mind being imprisoned by you," he said, his rainbow eyes gleaming mischievously. "As long as you're there to accompany me, of course…"

King Jaren and General Aquila exchanged a startled glance. What on earth were these two young kids talking about?! How could they be so shameless at their age already?! Did they even understand the innuendo that would normally be there behind these words if they were spoken by an adult?!

King Jaren flicked both Mana and Raven on their foreheads at the same time. "Behave yourselves," he warned.

Mana and Raven flushed, and Mana, who had been an adult in her previous life in the other world, immediately realised what their conversation would have sounded like to an adult! She was too embarrassed to say anything, so she hung her head and nodded.

"Don't say these things in front of other people!" General Aquila, too, scolded the two children.

Mana and Raven nodded obediently.

Their innocently shameless gaffe lightened the heavy mood in the room, and Jules and Bella, too, smiled gently. To be honest, Jules didn't think Raven was joking – when it came to Mana, Raven had no bottom line. If Mana really did want to imprison Raven in her room later in the future, Jules had a feeling that the boy would happily agree to it! Because if Bella did the same, Jules would agree as well!

Of course, Jules had more sense than Mana and Raven and wouldn't say these things out loud.

Bella, who could sense what Jules was thinking, rolled her eyes.

Azar and Alya appeared soon after, and the two little dragons immediately took up their usual spots on each of King Jaren's shoulders and nuzzled his face affectionately with their small heads, clearly trying to make him feel better.

"Grandpapa, we will get Grandmama back," Alya said in a sweet voice. "Azar and Alya found an old book and some seeds in the magic castle, and Uncle Raven can make a potion from that when the seeds grow up into big plants!"

Raven blinked. "What…?" he blurted out, surprised.

"Uncle Raven is the famous Poison Expert Naver, isn't he? Uncle Raven is a genius at making magic potions, isn't he?" Alya asked quizzically.

Now, King Jaren, Jules and Mana knew about this alter ego of Raven – but the others didn't. Bella wasn't too surprised – after all, she had worked closely with Raven and she knew exactly how outstanding the boy was, and she could easily believe that he had a hidden identity like this.

General Aquila and Rook, on the other hand, were stunned.

"Raven, you…" General Aquila muttered in utter disbelief.

Rook, on the other hand, when he recovered from his shock, became an even bigger fan of his Big Brother Raven! With stars shining in his eyes and his grin so wide that it threatened to split his face apart, Rook grabbed Raven's shoulders and cried excitedly, "Big Brother Raven! You are the famous Poison Expert Naver! You are even cooler than we knew! This is so awesome! My Big Brother Raven is the absolute best!"

General Aquila, too, was no less impressed by this. The reclusive but extremely famous Poison Expert Naver was well known across the five kingdoms!

Raven flushed. "Father Aqi, Rook, Big Sister Bella – could we keep this a secret, please? I don't want people to know that I am the Poison Expert Naver. Please?" he asked quietly.

"Of course, Raven," Bella agreed immediately. Raven was already very famous, and besides, this alter ego had probably saved his life many times before. Bella could understand why he wanted to keep it a secret from other people.

Rook frowned. "But why do you want to keep it a secret, Big Brother Raven? Isn't it a really good thing that you are the famous Poison Expert Naver?" he asked curiously.

Raven bit his lip, not wanting to explain to his younger brother.

"Many people will be after Raven's life when they learn that he is the Poison Expert Naver," Mana spoke up. "Rook, you want to protect your Big Brother Raven, don't you?"

Rook nodded enthusiastically. "Of course!" he said proudly. "I will always protect Big Brother Raven! When Big Brother Raven grows up and becomes the king of the Obsidian Kingdom, I will be a big battle general like Father and I will always protect Big Brother Raven from our enemies!"

Mana smiled at the young boy who was the younger brother of her fiancé. "Good boy," she said. "It is great that Raven has a good younger brother like you," she praised.

Rook preened happily.

"But all protection for a talented person cannot be provided by a battle general alone," Mana said.. "There are always enemies in the dark, and that's why you need to keep this secret from everyone."