The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

The next morning, King Jaren, General Aquila, Jules, Bella, Raven, Mana, Rook, Azar and Alya made their way to the Sapphire Kingdom after a quiet breakfast.

None of them said anything about Queen Dora/Sora, who was languishing in the dungeon of the magic castle that belonged to Azar and Alya.

"We will get Ma back," Mana promised King Jaren quietly, taking his big hand in her own small one, just when they were about to enter the array that would take them back to the imperial palace of the Sapphire Kingdom. "Try not to worry about it too much, Papa. We will keep Ma safe until we can figure out how to get her back, and then we will get her back."

King Jaren sighed and patted her head lightly. "Yes, my dear. Thank you," he said quietly.

Mana didn't let go of her Papa's hand. On the other side, Jules, too, came up and took King Jaren's other hand. Their hands were more or less the same size now, and King Jaren suddenly felt a little overwhelmed with emotion. His children had gotten so big and were now taking care of him…

Raven took Mana's other hand silently. Similarly, on the other side, Bella took Jules's other hand. General Aquila also came over and took Raven's free hand in one of his, and took Rook's with the other one.

Azar and Alya, naturally, continued to sit on their usual spots on each of the shoulders of their beloved Grandpapa King Jaren.

The mixed group entered the array hand in hand, and then were transported instantly to the imperial palace of the Sapphire Kingdom.

Queen Carolina, the Imperial Supreme Mage and the Captain of the Shadow Guards of the Sapphire Kingdom were waiting for them.

Bella had given a brief idea about the situation to her mother on their communication device – but she had been unable to get into the details. However, from whatever Queen Carolina had heard, she was quite alarmed. The only saving grace, she thought, was that Queen Dora was still alive and well, even if possessed, and that they had the brilliant children working on it.

At least King Jaren had some hope now.

Queen Carolina, who had already unconsciously begun to regard King Jaren as her own brother, was quite worried about him. It would probably have been fine if Queen Dora had not appeared at all – but to come back to him like this and then be tainted by another spirit – an evil one at that – that was too much. It was already a testament to how brave King Jaren was for the sake of his children that he could still manage to stand up straight and go about his duties.

Queen Carolina was not sure that she would have been able to do it herself.

After the group arrived at the Sapphire Kingdom, General Aquila went off to discuss the matter of the poisoning with King Corvus, and also to seek advice on the spirit possession. He really hoped that something useful could come out of King Corvus's vast sea of knowledge. General Aquila, too, was very concerned about King Jaren as well. The two men had become good friends in the time that they had spent together, and General Aquila really wanted his friend to be happy and safe. It was not often that people of their status came to know good people from amongst their peers. And King Jaren, with his charming, forthright personality and generous nature had easily won over General Aquila. Of course, the credit for a lot of that could be squarely put on Raven's shoulders and how well King Jaren had treated a poor, abandoned prince from another country and brought him up so well with love and care that the child had blossomed into his true potential within a matter of months.

And General Aquila was very grateful that King Jaren had taken in Raven and protected him.

And General Aquila was determined to return the favour, of course. Raven was as much his son as Rook, after all!

Queen Carolina took King Jaren aside to discuss whatever little her people had been able to find out through their investigations in the last couple of days while they were away. Jules and Bella accompanied their parents, while Mana and Raven exchanged meaningful glances with Jules and Bella and went off to the imperial library of the Sapphire Kingdom, to which they had been granted unlimited access by Bella.

And, at the end of the day, Raven was still a bookworm at heart. (Not that Mana wasn't one – after all, she had been a lawyer in her past life, and voracious reading habits is one of the most frequently found characteristic amidst the legal community!)

So, the two young bookworm children happily went to the humongous imperial library of the Sapphire Kingdom to dig through the books that were unique to the Sapphire Kingdom – and with the hope that they would be able to find something useful to help with the situation with Queen Dora as well.

"Wow," Raven murmured, as soon as he entered the imperial library of the Sapphire Kingdom.

Mana echoed his sentiments. The imperial library of the Sapphire Kingdom was twice the size of the imperial library of the Emerald Kingdom – and while it was not as big as the library at IMARI, it was definitely much prettier than the library at IMARI! The library building was shaped like a lotus on the outside, and on the inside, the panels were beautifully constructed and lined in such a manner that it felt as if you were walking inside a flower. There was even a faint lotus fragrance in the entire library, it seemed!

"I wish we had come to see the library sooner," Mana said wistfully. "It is so pretty, I could spend an entire week here!"

Raven couldn't agree more with his little fiancée. "We could ask Big Sister Bella if we can come back here again in the future," he murmured. "She won't refuse, would she?"

Mana chuckled. "I don't think she will mind," she said to Raven. "Big Sister Bella loves books as much as you do, if not more. I'm sure that she will be happy to let us visit this beautiful library of hers!"

"You really like this library?" Raven asked Mana, peering at her face carefully and wanting to catch every expression on her face.

"I love it," Mana said truthfully. "It is such a beautifully designed building – it is just wonderful to be able to sit here at leisure and read books with you!"

Raven decided then and there that in the future, he would build a private library for Mana, and he would design the building with his own hands. He would make it in the shape of her favourite flower and no one would be allowed to be inside that library other than the two of them – and perhaps, their close family and friends. Definitely not more than a dozen people, and that, too, very rarely. Most of the time, it would just be Mana and Raven in there, with all the books that they would ever want to read. Perhaps Raven could acquire copies of all the books ever printed in this world – may be if he could leverage his identity as the famous Poison Expert Naver, he would be able to acquire copies of some rare books as well from different countries! At least, the Emerald Kingdom, the Obsidian Kingdom, the Sapphire Kingdom and the Pearl Kingdom would not be much of a problem – and for the Amber Kingdom, Raven was already thinking of plans he could implement and sources he could use.

Of course, the funds and the resources he would need for this library would be immense – and while Raven was not short of money any more (thanks to all the business ventures that Mana had gotten him involved with and all the projects that he had been working on with his new family), he didn't think that he had earned enough until now to be able to sponsor a grand library like this. Also, it would take time to build something on this scale. Perhaps Raven could target Mana's fifteenth birthday as his target, and work towards that? He would give this exquisite and grand library to Mana as the birthday gift on her fifteenth birthday! That would be nice, wouldn't it?

Mana had no idea about the grand plans that Raven was hatching in his head about her fifteenth birthday. She was happily curled up on a large plush chair and immersed in a big, fat book that she had plucked off the nearest shelf.

Raven watched her reading the book intently and a warm feeling surged through his heart all of a sudden, along with a thread of guilt and self blame. He cursed himself for being stupid and scatter brained yesterday and actually trying to end his own life because of an unverified remark…

And he promised to himself yet again that he would never, ever repeat that.