The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

After their identities were revealed, the town guards of Red Brick Town had a complete change in their attitude towards the distinguished group of people that were at the gates. They kept apologising profusely and started fawning over the royals so much that it was quite nauseating.

Ultimately, it was the cold glares from Grandpa and King Corvus, and a healthy dose of threats from the flames of hell and heavenly thunder that floated around the two of them respectively when they glared at the fawning town guards, that got rid of this nuisance and the group was able to enter the Red Brick Town finally.

The town guards, under the orders of their superior, showed the group to a large inn in the centre of the town and helped them settle in. The staff members at the inn were quite stunned when they saw the town guards fawning over this large group of people, but after one of the town guards pulled the innkeeper aside and explained the situation to him, even the staff members at the inn became eager to serve the group. After all, it was not every day that they got to house members of the royal families of other kingdoms! And there were three ruling monarchs under their roof at this moment! How prestigious was that! They could brag about this for several generations!! And if they served them well, who was to say that they couldn't get work opportunities in the Emerald Kingdom or even the Sapphire Kingdom?

After all, everyone knew how prosperous the Emerald Kingdom was, and the Sapphire Kingdom was not far behind, either. Many people dreamt of working and living in the Emerald Kingdom and living a better life than they were living currently. So, if they could take this chance to impress the great King Jaren of the Emerald Kingdom as well as his two children, Crown Prince Jules of the Emerald Kingdom and Princess Mana of the Emerald Kingdom, both of whom were quite proficient in business despite their young age – wouldn't that mean that they had gotten themselves a ticket to a better life? And there was also Queen Carolina and Crown Princess Isabel of the Sapphire Kingdom, and the latter was engaged to Crown Prince Jules of the Emerald Kingdom and a partner in his business, too! If they were able to impress any of these people, they would be able to improve their lives! They could be rich!

Several people eyed Fox and Vanilla enviously. The two of them had become rather famous across all the kingdoms by now, as commoners who had risen to the position of nobility in the Emerald Kingdom – and neither of them were even natives of the Emerald Kingdom themselves! One was from the Sapphire Kingdom, and one was from the Pearl Kingdom, and yet, through sheer merit and hard work, the two of them had risen so high, and now, they were even referred to as close friends by Crown Prince Jules of the Emerald Kingdom, Crown Princess Isabel of the Sapphire Kingdom, Princess Mana of the Emerald Kingdom and Prince Raven of the Obsidian Kingdom! They were even partners in the business being run by these royal children! How amazing was that!

Feeling the envious on them, Vanilla, who was much more socially adept than Fox, frowned slightly. She understood that her position and Fox's position was rather unique and that there would be a lot of strange glances directed towards them, but that didn't mean that she had to like it. And she knew that she had to protect Fox, because the boy might be an absolute genius inventor, but when it came down to social stuff, there was hardly anyone more awkward than him. It was a good thing that Vanilla thought that this side of Fox was really cute and she liked looking after Fox when it came to this stuff. They complemented each other really well.

Mana noticed the expression on Vanilla's face and immediately moved closer to her friends.

"Is something wrong?" Mana asked Vanilla.

Vanilla indicated with her eyes, and Mana understood immediately. Raven, who had come up with Mana (everyone had more or less gotten used to the fact by now that these two were a package deal), also frowned, and engaged Fox in a discussion before the young man could notice (although the chances of that were lower, but still, no one wanted to upset Fox).

With a princess of the Emerald Kingdom and a prince of the Obsidian Kingdom acting like their guard dogs, no one dared to cast strange glances at Fox and Vanilla any more.

"Thank you," Vanilla said to Mana, a grateful look on her face.

Mana chuckled and patted the older girl's arm. "What are you thanking me for? Aren't we friends? Besides, if those weird people got you and Fox in a bad mood, wouldn't it be terrible for our business?" she said.

Vanilla laughed. "I thank the heavens that I got to meet you, Princess Mana," she said with a broad smile. "If I hadn't met you, I don't know what I would have been doing now…"

Mana patted her arm again. "You would have done well anyway," she said. "You are a strong and brave and wonderful young lady, Vanilla. The fact that we met and we got to be friends and work together – that just made things faster for you, nothing more. You would have been successful anyway. Although, your meeting with Fox would have been delayed, I suppose, so it really is best that you met us when you did!"

Vanilla could only laugh at that. It was true enough. How would she have met her dear Fox if she hadn't met Mana and Raven?

Thanks to the enthusiastic treatment from the staff members of the inn, the group settled down in their rooms nicely, and got to treat themselves to a hot bath and a grand meal. Of course, the meals of the Amber Kingdom – let alone a poor little town like this – was not up to the mark for most people from the Emerald Kingdom and the Sapphire Kingdom and even the Obsidian Kingdom, to a large extent, but after travelling for an entire day and then having to face the fear of being caught in a dangerous ancient array of the Amber Kingdom, they had the three best spices that added the most flavour to any dish – exhaustion and relief and hunger. So, no one raised any complaints about the meal they were being served, much to the relief of the inn keeper and his staff members. They had all heard legends of the grand banquets of the Emerald Kingdom, of course, and they had been worried that these elite royals from foreign countries would look down upon their simple, rustic meals – but to their surprise, they found that even though these were some of the highest ranking people in their world, they were exceptionally polite and courteous and treated the staff members very nicely.

It was such a contrast to the kind of treatment the commoners received in general from the royals or even the high ranking officials of the Amber Kingdom that they could barely believe their eyes and ears.

Even the despicable people from the Obsidian Kingdom, who they had always been brought up to hate from their childhood, were so polite and well mannered! The staff members of the inn were quite confused and questioning their own beliefs up to now. Was this the fearsome King Corvus who was supposed to the devil incarnate, the one who was supposed to be monstrously ugly and the one who was said to feast on human flesh and the one who was rumoured to smite people left, right and centre with his horrible heavenly thunder? Why was he a rather handsome and distinguished looking older gentleman instead, and he was laughing and chatting with their former Duke of Flames and King Jaren and Queen Carolina so happily, and seemed to be reaching for the desserts more often than the others? And he was even polite to the waiters and the other staff members! How was this a monstrous old man that was the devil incarnate?! He was such a charming old gentleman!

King Corvus had no idea that he was actually developing a little fan club in an enemy nation at the moment. He was too busy catching up with Grandpa and Grandma, and to his surprise, he was really enjoying chatting with them and taking a trip down memory lane when they were the age of their grandchildren and having the time of their lives. Of course, it also drove home the point how much more their cute little grandchildren had already achieved in their short lives compared to their grandparents!

And, then, of course, like it happens in all gatherings of doting grandparents in all worlds, each of them started bragging about their own grandchildren. Naturally, King Jaren and Queen Carolina joined in – after all, who could compare with their adorable little dragon babies when it came to cuteness of grandchildren?