The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

"I hope it's not Astra again," Jules murmured as he stood up and went to open the door, dissolving the privacy barrier as he went.

However, when Jules saw who was at the door, he wished that it had indeed been Astra – or even both Astra and Mars.

Because the one who had come knocking at Mana's door now was none other than Prince Liam of the Amber Kingdom – someone all of them despised thoroughly. To think that this guy could be shameless enough to come to meet Mana at this time!

Prince Liam seemed surprised to see Jules opening the door.

"Er – good evening Crown Prince Jules of the Emerald Kingdom," Prince Liam said awkwardly. "Did I come to the wrong room? I am looking for your little sister, Princess Mana of the Emerald Kingdom."

Jules crossed his arms and refused to budge, because in his current position, he could easily block the view of Prince Liam and the dozen or so lackeys who were right behind him.

"Prince Liam of the Amber Kingdom," Jules said with a polite smile that did not reach his eyes at all. "Why would you be looking for my little sister at this time?"

Although Jules's tone was courteous and his expression pleasant, there was no hiding the ring of steel in his voice and his attitude. He was in full protective big brother mode – there was no way he was going to let this creep come anywhere near his precious little sister!

Prince Liam felt a chill run down his spine. The aura of this Crown Prince Jules of the Emerald Kingdom had changed drastically since the last time they had met. How had this teenager become so powerful? The aura he was giving off now and pressure that seemed to be radiating from him was actually at a level that Liam often felt from his own father, King Orion. Even his big brother, Crown Prince Mars of the Amber Kingdom, did not have an aura that was so powerful!

Prince Liam forced himself to smile. It was not like he had come to look for that horrible little girl voluntarily. It was just that his father wanted him to woo that little girl and make her break off her engagement with Prince Raven of the Obsidian Kingdom and accept Prince Liam of the Amber Kingdom instead. Ever since Prince Liam had lost his magic, his father King Orion had been very dismissive of him – but recently, an ancient master had come over to their imperial palace and he had started teaching Prince Liam a new kind of magic that he could practice without having his innate fire magic that had somehow been lost in a backlash because of an array that they had used to cause trouble in the Emerald Kingdom but which had somehow backfired on them instead. And now that Prince Liam was learning necromancy – well, he didn't call it necromancy because that sounded terrible – instead, he chose to call it alternative magic, which sounded much nicer and much more respectable – Prince Liam could become powerful again, and so, King Orion was not as dismissive of him right now as he had been earlier.

And King Orion had told him specifically that he must court the little Princess Mana and win her over and convince her to break off her engagement with Prince Raven of the Obsidian Kingdom so that she could become engaged to Prince Liam of the Amber Kingdom instead. King Orion had even granted Prince Liam a new estate so that he would have something to show off to Princess Mana and impress her. Of course, both Prince Liam and King Orion knew that it was impossible to snatch away Princess Mana of the Emerald Kingdom from under the noses of King Jaren of the Emerald Kingdom (who had once refused Prince Liam's proposal for Princess Mana without even the slightest bit of hesitation) as well as King Corvus of the Obsidian Kingdom, who seemed to have accepted the young Princess Mana as his grandson Prince Raven's fiancée quite easily.

And, to be honest, given how much the Emerald Kingdom, the Obsidian Kingdom and the Sapphire Kingdom had benefitted from the brilliance of Princess Mana, it was not surprising that she was held in high regard by all these people. King Orion had even said that if Queen Carolina of the Sapphire Kingdom had another child – a boy – she, too, would have been putting her son in the race for wooing Princess Mana and winning her over as a future daughter in law! Fortunately, Queen Carolina had only one off spring, and that one, too, had gotten together with a child of the royal family of the Emerald Kingdom – Crown Prince Jules, who was currently glaring at them.

This Crown Prince Jules was rather good looking, too, Prince Liam thought, and he remembered that he had heard many people talk about how ethereally beautiful Crown Princess Isabel of the Sapphire Kingdom was, and how Jules and Bella were the most gorgeous couple they had ever seen. Envy filled Prince Liam's heart. Why couldn't he have a fiancée like that, too? Instead, he was stuck with having to court a little kid – and he would have to wait for years and years to be able to do anything with her. If Princess Mana had at least been fifteen or sixteen, it would have been so much easier to set a honey trap for her – but with such a little kid, you couldn't even do that!

Mana would probably have clubbed Prince Liam to death if she heard his filthy thoughts. Fortunately, thanks to her Big Brother Jules, she didn't even have to face the repulsive young man at all.

Prince Liam pasted a smile on his face. "I just wanted to check in with her and see if she needed anything or if I could help her with anything," he said in a slick voice. "After all, Princess Mana and I can be said to be old friends, and I am one of her ardent admirers."

It took all of Jules's self control to keep himself in check and to avoid punching Prince Liam and beating him into a pulp until he forgot who Princess Mana of the Emerald Kingdom was.

"This is not a convenient time for a visit to my little sister," Jules said firmly. "I shall have to turn down Prince Liam's good intentions and request you to leave."

"Don't forget who you are speaking to!" one of Prince Liam's lackeys spoke up indignantly. "Who are you to stop our Prince Liam from seeing whoever he wants to?"

Jules raised an eyebrow sarcastically. "Interesting," he said. "Is this the hospitality of the royal family of the Amber Kingdom, Prince Liam? If that is the case, perhaps it would be best for my family to leave immediately. I am afraid we are not worthy of such standards of hospitality from the Amber Kingdom."

Prince Liam flushed in embarrassment and glared at the man who had spoken up. "Apologise to Crown Prince Jules of the Emerald Kingdom right now!" he growled angrily. After all, this man was going to be his brother in law in the future if things were to go the way his father wished, and it was important that Prince Liam got into his good books. Otherwise, what would he do if this Crown Prince Jules of the Emerald Kingdom simply refused to let Prince Liam meet Princess Mana of the Emerald Kingdom at all? From the information that had been gathered by Prince Liam about the two siblings – Crown Prince Jules of the Emerald Kingdom and Princess Mana of the Emerald Kingdom – had a very good relationship and were very protective as well as very supportive of each other. Some people had even said that the relationship of Princess Mana of the Emerald Kingdom and Prince Raven of the Obsidian Kingdom had started because of Crown Prince Jules of the Emerald Kingdom. It had been Crown Prince Jules of the Emerald Kingdom who had become friends with Prince Raven of the Obsidian Kingdom and had brought the latter to meet his little sister, and that is how they had met. Then the three youngsters had started hanging out together and their relationship had gotten closer and closer, and that is how Princess Mana of the Emerald Kingdom and Prince Raven of the Obsidian Kingdom had ended up getting engaged with each other. It had also been said by several people that Crown Prince Jules of the Emerald Kingdom held Prince Raven of the Obsidian Kingdom in very high regard, and cared for the younger boy as if he was his own little brother.

And since that was the case, it was very important for Prince Liam to not only win over Crown Prince Jules of the Emerald Kingdom to his own side, but also to make sure that the good friendship between Crown Prince Jules of the Emerald Kingdom and Prince Raven of the Obsidian Kingdom was destabilised.