The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

Rook nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, Sister Mana. I won't tell anyone, not even Mother, that Big Brother Raven is the famous Poison Expert Naver!" he promised. Then he frowned. "But Grandfather needs some help from the famous Poison Expert Naver…" he murmured hesitantly. "I don't know the details, but I heard Grandfather and Mother talking about it…"

"Don't worry about that, Rook," Raven said softly. "I am already working on it, and I will find a way to get it to Grandfather when he needs it. It is a bit difficult, and I have not been able to gather all the ingredients I need to prepare the antidote for Grandfather."

"Antidote?" General Aquila asked with a frown.

Raven nodded. "Grandfather seems to have been poisoned," he said. "He was fine when I saw him last before I was – before I came to the Emerald Kingdom." Raven barely managed to stop himself from saying that he was thrown out of the Obsidian Kingdom by his Grandfather and his family, and he would have died if Jules had not found him and saved him and taken him under his wing.

Everyone understood Raven's unsaid words. Mana quietly slipped her hand into her young fiancé's hand and laced their fingers together. Then she squeezed his hand in a reassuring manner, expressing her silent support and reaffirming to Raven that he was not alone any more. Their whole family stood with him, and even the people who didn't want him earlier were clamouring for his affections these days.

Raven smiled slightly at his little fiancée and nodded to show her that he was all right, and that his young heart was not as fragile as all of them thought it to be. Somewhere along the line in the past few months, Raven had learnt to be happy.

Of course, his actions from just now made everyone rather wary of any assurances that Raven may try to give them about being all right. They would all be keeping an eagle eye on the boy and make sure that he never, ever tried to do something so stupid again!

General Aquila and Rook frowned deeply, their faces wearing rather similar expressions of distress.

"So – Grandfather was poisoned after Big Brother Raven left…" Rook murmured. "But who would want to poison Grandfather? They have nothing to gain, right?"

"They do," General Aquila said. "Pica cannot ascend to the throne until Uncle Corvus is alive – and someone must have been getting jittery. After Raven was sent away, he could be made into a perfect scapegoat for poisoning his grandfather to death, couldn't he? It was a good chance." General Aquila looked at Raven. "Was Rook poisoned, too?" he asked bluntly.

Raven nodded. "He was, but it was a different poison, and it had been in his system only for a few days when he first came to the Emerald Kingdom," he said.

"We fed him the antidote through candies," Mana said. "Raven didn't want to alarm anyone, and Rook didn't seem to be aware of his own poisoning, either."

Raven sighed. "We can tell Father Aqi the truth, Mana," he said tiredly. He looked up at General Aquila, his rainbow eyes shadowed with sorrow. "I didn't tell Mother because I didn't think she would believe me. In any case, it was simple to remove the poison, so Mana helped me make candies which we could lace with antidotes, and all of us ate those – for Rook, it was effective to remove the poison that was already in his system, and for the rest of us, it built up our resistance to more poisons in the future."

General Aquila sighed heavily and reached out to pat Raven's hair.

"I suppose the intention of the perpetrator was to blame you if something happened to Rook as well," General Aquila said. His face turned serious. "Raven – I will have to speak to Pica and Uncle Corvus about this, I am afraid," he said, and before anyone could raise any objections, he added quickly, "I will, of course, keep your identity as the Poison Expert Naver secret from everyone – but I will have to tell them that Rook and I met the Poison Expert Naver and that Rook had been poisoned, and that this poison is now removed."

"You can tell them that Mana and I are familiar with the Poison Expert Naver and contact him occasionally," Raven said quietly. "That is more or less known to quite a few people already."

General Aquila nodded gratefully. "Thank you, son," he said, patting Raven's fine, dark hair again. "I am sorry that I have not been around to take care of you for the last ten years, my dear child."

Raven shook his head. "It is not your fault, Father Aqi," he said softly. "But I am afraid that your conjecture is correct, and that Grandfather, you and Rook will be in danger when you go back to the Obsidian Kingdom. Someone clearly has their eyes on the throne, but Mother and Grandfather probably do not consider him a threat at all."

General Aquila raised his eyebrows. "Are you suspecting Pica's third husband – that Minister Naja?" he asked.

Raven nodded. "I always felt that he had more to do with my situation in the Obsidian Kingdom in the background than anyone could ever tell," he murmured. "And with Grandfather, me and Rook out of the way, either Enca or Dale would become the heir to the throne. I could be made the scapegoat for the plots against both Grandfather and Rook – and you were already presumed dead many years ago."

General Aquila blinked, fragments of his memory floating into his head. He shook his head sadly. "That makes sense," he murmured. "I, too, have a feeling that Naja had something to do with the entire incident with the pirates ten years ago – and the puzzle pieces fall into place if it is so. As long as I was around, Pica would not cast her eyes upon him – and with me gone, he would have a chance to marry her and become the King Consort when she ascended to the throne."

Rook frowned deeply. "But Father Naja is just a weak little man," he said. "He doesn't look like he can do anything. He can't even fight properly and he is so delicate – Mother always has to protect him!"

"That is probably why your Grandfather and your Mother never suspected him," Mana said. "From an outsider's perspective, I can tell you that he is the person who sounded really suspicious the first time I heard about him. The man's powers of manipulation of others and his ability to act pitiful and harmless and useless must be top notch. I remember that the first time we met Dale and Enca – Dale was trying to act gentle and worm his way into our affections as well – if it hadn't been that we all knew Raven so well, we, too, may have fallen for that innocent act."

General Aquila tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I hope that the child can grow out of his father's shadow," he murmured.

No one said anything to that.

"What are the ingredients that you are still missing for the antidote for Uncle Corvus?" General Aquila asked Raven. "Do you know where to find them?"

Raven nodded. "I have read about them. Three of them are plants and minerals native to the Amber Kingdom and cannot be found anywhere else," he replied.

General Aquila and King Jaren both exchanged a worried glance.

Mana caught their expressions right away.

"Yes, Papa and Father Aqi – we have the same suspicions as you," she said. "Raven and I didn't want to say anything because we have no proof and all of this is just our speculations – but the poison on Grandfather Corvus seems to have originated from the Amber Kingdom – and, on top of that, it is not a poison that is known or recognisable. If Raven wasn't as brilliant as he is, he would probably not even be able to tell that it was a poison and not an illness. It would only be towards the end of its life cycle that the poison would show the signs of long term poisoning, and it would show a mix of different magical elements, and thus, the blame would fall on Raven."

General Aquila clenched his fists. "I can't believe that such a vicious man was hiding himself away in the imperial palace of the Obsidian Kingdom – and even colluding with our enemies! Where is his patriotism?! How would he betray our country like this?!" he growled angrily.

"We all have a common enemy in the Amber Kingdom, it seems," King Jaren said quietly. "It is a good thing that all of us have already agreed to work together and collaborate to stand up against King Orion and protect our own countries."

General Aquila nodded.. "We have to be very careful when we are in the Amber Kingdom," he murmured.