The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

Head Sage Yue's face was dark as thunder when he looked at the grovelling, cowardly monarch of his kingdom.

He quickly tied him up using his magic, apologised to everyone and left with King Min floating in the air helplessly behind him.

Mana, Raven, Bella and Jules immediately rushed to King Jaren.

"Papa, are you all right?" Bella asked worriedly.

King Jaren smiled at the four children who were clamouring anxiously around him. He patted each of them on the head one by one and assured them that he was perfectly fine. After all, he didn't even have to do anything; the defensive array had done everything.

And Azar and Alya had woken up and leapt out of his secret space the moment they realised that someone had come looking for their beloved Grandpapa with bad intentions.

"How come all of you are here?" King Jaren asked when everyone had calmed down.

"We heard a scream," Jules said. "It seemed like it came from the direction of your room."

"Same with us," Mana said.

"Why was Yue with you?" King Corvus asked Raven suddenly.

Raven quickly explained what Head Sage Yue had told them.

King Jaren tapped his chin and nodded. "Looks like Head Sage Yue is at least taking the responsibility of protecting Raven from King Min properly," he murmured. "That's a good thing."

"And it looks like he's also colluding with King Orion," Mana murmured.

King Jaren sighed. "It is difficult to imagine that a country would be sold out to another country by its own monarch…" he murmured. "I'd rather die before I sell out my Emerald Kingdom!"

"Indeed," King Corvus said, fully agreeing with King Jaren.

"Head Sage Yue said that King Min will be dethroned officially in the morning," Jules said in a quiet voice. "I wonder who will be put on the throne of the Pearl Kingdom, then?"

"If I'm not wrong, they have some sort of a choosing ceremony for the monarch at the Moon Temple," King Corvus said. "Everyone will even a drop of the royal blood line of the Pearl Kingdom is sent to the Moon Temple, and the choice is made by the Moon Deity."

The four youngsters, who had not known about this at all, were quite surprised.

"Does that mean that Raven would have to be there as well?" Mana asked with a frown. "After all, Head Sage Yue is of the royal blood line, isn't he? And a direct descendant, at that."

In the original version of the book that was supposedly incorrect according to the ancient master Ned – the 'Evil Emperor Raven' had been an emperor because he had not only throne of the Obsidian Kingdom, but the Pearl Kingdom as well. After that, he had acquired the Emerald Kingdom, and was on his way to acquire the Amber Kingdom when Mars and Astra had valiantly brought him down with great difficulty. It had been emphasised over and over again in the book that the 'Evil Emperor Raven' was a young man of great ambition and avarice, and that he wanted to rule the entire world and take over all five kingdoms.

However, there hadn't been any information about how he ended up acquiring both the Pearl Kingdom and the Obsidian Kingdom. Could it be that he had been chosen in a ceremony? The book had only mentioned that the 'Evil Emperor Raven' had taken over the Pearl Kingdom and had nearly wiped out the righteous Moon Temple and its followers.

Mana frowned. What were they supposed to do if Raven was indeed chosen for the throne of the Pearl Kingdom tomorrow? There was no way she was going to leave him alone in the Pearl Kingdom – and given the current situation of the Pearl Kingdom, it was far more trouble than it was worth. It had been hollowed out from the inside, and Mana knew that if Raven was made responsible for the affairs of the Pearl Kingdom, he would nearly break his back to make it work – and it was going to be a hell lot of work even if all of them were actively helping out Raven.

And the most concerning part of it was that Raven would probably have to spend a significant amount of time in the Pearl Kingdom to make it work. Which meant that Mana would have to split her time between the Pearl Kingdom and the Emerald Kingdom whenever Big Brother Jules went to the Sapphire Kingdom, because they couldn't leave King Jaren alone until the danger had passed. Also, what would they do about their two little baby dragons if the family was going to be thousands of miles apart? Who would Azar and Alya stay with?

And Mana couldn't leave Raven alone in the Pearl Kingdom. General Aquila would have to stay with him, of course, because of the fealty magic, but even then, there were too many hidden dangers in the Pearl Kingdom. After all, if the monarch of the Pearl Kingdom himself was colluding with their enemy, the Amber Kingdom – then who knew how many of the ministers and courtiers and people in high places had already been bought out or threatened into changing sides and working with the Amber Kingdom?

And there was nothing more desirable for the Amber Kingdom than to tear Mana and Raven apart and leave King Jaren and the Emerald Kingdom unprotected. If Raven was left alone to face the dangers in the Pearl Kingdom, he would be in a very vulnerable position, because no one knew who was trustworthy and who was not in the Pearl Kingdom any more. But if Mana stayed with Raven, then wouldn't King Jaren be left alone? Even though it was much safer for King Jaren in the Emerald Kingdom than anywhere else, it was still not right to leave him alone there – especially when they didn't know the situation with Queen Dora yet. They would be able to bring Queen Dora back, but Mana was still not fully convinced that Queen Dora had not been brainwashed or magically induced to harm King Jaren yet, even without the spirit of the former Queen Sora haunting her. They would be able to gauge the exact situation only when their device was complete. That would also take some time.

Mana's apprehensions were not just hers alone. Everyone was thinking the same, and all of them were worried about this matter. No one wanted Raven to have to stay in the Pearl Kingdom a minute longer than necessary.

Raven himself didn't want to have anything to do with the throne of the Pearl Kingdom, either. If he could, he would rather spend the rest of his life in the Emerald Kingdom, where he and Mana could help out Papa and Big Brother Jules as and when needed. And Big Sister Bella, too, of course.

The Obsidian Kingdom could still be bearable, because Father Aqi was back now, and Rook was supporting Raven ardently, and Grandfather and Mother had also changed their attitudes towards him. And Raven himself was powerful enough to know that he could easily protect himself in the Obsidian Kingdom – besides, most people in the Obsidian Kingdom were exactly like Crown Princess Pica and Prince Rook – they admired and liked people who were stronger than them, and looked down on those who were weak. The primary reason why Raven had been looked down upon and bullied so badly in the past was because he was weak and his magic was incomplete, after all. If he had displayed his current magical prowess right from the start, he knew that his position would not have been much worse than Rook's. No one would have raised any objections about the half of his blood that came from Head Sage Yue – or, even if they didn't like it, they wouldn't have dared to say or do anything to his face. Unfortunately, Raven's magical elements had not awakened and his magic remained incomplete until he came to the Emerald Kingdom and met Mana.

And that brought Raven to his biggest reason for not wanting to have anything to do with the throne of the Pearl Kingdom – he didn't want to leave Mana, not even for a single day. Raven had never known true, genuine affection and tender, loving care until he met Mana, and he didn't want to give it up for any reason whatsoever. He was neither greedy for wealth nor power – all he wanted was the affection of his new family in Emerald Kingdom and he wanted to spend his life with Mana.

Looking at the pensive and fearful faces around him, King Corvus sighed and reached out to pat Raven's head in a gentle manner, startling Raven. "I am afraid that our little Raven will have to put up with it," he murmured. "Child, make sure that you carry your black emperor token from the royal family of the Obsidian Kingdom as well as the pendant from the royal family of the Emerald Kingdom.. Perhaps those would be able to keep you from being chosen."