The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

Now that Raven had become King Raven of the Pearl Kingdom – the youngest monarch ever, across all five kingdoms, at the young age of twelve (the previous record was a legendary queen aged fifteen) – the people of the Pearl Kingdom were very happy, especially since Regent Prince Yuki was also in the picture, and Regent Prince Yuki enjoyed a good name amidst the public.

Head Sage Yue, too, was quite relieved.

"Congratulations, children," he said to Raven and Yuki both, his pale eyes shining with pride.

"Thank you, Father," Raven said, smiling slightly. He was not entirely unhappy with the situation, somehow – although he feared that Mana may not be very pleased. He glanced nervously at where Mana and his family members from both the Emerald Kingdom as well as the Obsidian Kingdom and the Sapphire Kingdom were seated. Mana caught his eyes and waved cheerfully at him, showing him a thumbs up gesture that he had learnt was a positive action showing 'like' or 'good job'.

Raven blinked and resisted the urge to rub his eyes. Mana didn't seem to be displeased at all. She was still smiling at him!

"Thank you, Uncle Yue," Regent Prince Yuki said quietly. "If not for you taking me in and teaching me and protecting me…"

Head Sage Yue shook his head and patted the teenager's shoulder. "It is all your good work, child," he said. "You have a sincere heart, and smart head and diligent hands. Our Pearl Kingdom needs good seedlings like you."

Regent Prince Yuki flushed. "Uncle Yue, you can't praise me to high heavens like this when your son Cousin Raven is such a heaven defying talent!" he protested in a mild voice.

Head Sage Yue chuckled. "Raven is Raven and you are you. Both of you have your own talents, and I hope that both of you can work well together," he said.

Regent Prince Yuki nodded. "I will protect Cousin Raven," he said firmly. "He is still so small and he is so pretty, there will definitely be bad people trying to bully him. I won't let that happen at all!"

Head Sage Yue chuckled. "I don't think that there's anyone left who would dare to bully our Raven any more," he murmured. "You should see how fiercely Crown Prince Jules and Princess Mana of the Emerald Kingdom protect him. That girl nearly bit my head off the first time we met." He turned to look at Raven. "You should call Mana over. She is your fiancé, after all, and she will be the Queen of the Pearl Kingdom in the future," he said.

Raven immediately waved at Mana, calling her over.

Mana didn't hesitate at all. She jumped up from her seat and rushed to the centre of the stadium like place, to the podium where Raven stood with Head Sage Yue and Regent Prince Yuki. Behind Mana, King Jaren, King Corvus, Grandpa, Grandma, Queen Carolina, General Aquila, Crown Princess Pica, Crown Prince Jules, Crown Princess Bella, Prince Rook, Fox, Vanilla, Princess Enca and Princess Dawe – everyone sauntered along.

Azar and Alya were also out today, nestled in their Grandpapa King Jaren's arms.

Mana hugged Raven as soon as she reached him. "Are you all right?" she asked in a soft whisper, murmuring in his ear.

Raven nodded.

"You are not unhappy? You are all right with being the King of the Pearl Kingdom?" Mana asked.

Raven nodded again. "I am all right with it," he said shyly. "Cousin Yuki will help. He seems nice."

Mana peered at Raven's fair face to make sure that he was really all right with it and not just saying so to keep her from worrying about him. When she was satisfied that he was fine, she heaved a sigh of relief and hugged him again.

"Congratulations, my dear King Raven," she said to him, smiling brightly. "The youngest king ever – how amazing is that!"

Raven found himself smiling back at her. "Are you fine with it?" he asked, slightly anxious. "If you are not, then I will find a way to abdicate as soon as possible and…"

Mana shook her head. "All I want is for you to be happy," she said. "As long as you are fine with it, I am, too. Besides, if you look at it from the ordinary people's point of view, isn't it absolutely amazing?"

Raven flushed. "Thank you," he said shyly.

Mana chuckled and kissed him on the cheek, causing a loud round of applause.

The Holy Sceptre suddenly leapt from Raven's hand to Mana's, causing everyone to gasp in surprise. After all, everyone knew that no one but the master of the Holy Sceptre could touch it, and other than Head Sage Yue and King Jaren, no one was aware that Mana and Azar could play with the Holy Sceptre at will.

Mana caught the Holy Sceptre with a smile. It glowed brightly for a moment, and then a tiara appeared above Mana's head, matching the crown on Raven's head. The glowing tiara settled on Mana's head slowly.

The crowd gasped in shock. The Holy Sceptre had even recognised King Raven's fiancée, Princess Mana from the Emerald Kingdom! Loud cheers broke out amidst the crowd.

"That's Princess Mana of the Emerald Kingdom, isn't she?" someone shouted.

"Yes, yes! Look what a nice couple they make, our King Raven and Princess Mana of the Emerald Kingdom!" another one said.

"Isn't Princess Mana of the Emerald Kingdom known to be a business genius?" someone else cried.

"I heard that she has a golden finger! She can even turn mud into a great business idea and earn a lot of money!" another person said excitedly.

"Isn't that something that runs in the royal blood of the Emerald Kingdom? Isn't that why the Emerald Kingdom is so prosperous? Look at King Jaren – wasn't he just a child himself when he set up IMARI, and look what IMARI has become now!" one more person chipped in.

"So, now that we have our King Raven and Princess Mana is our future queen – will she help our Pearl Kingdom, too?" someone asked anxiously.

"We are a poor country, but we do have some good things," one more person spoke up. "I am sure that Princess Mana will help us!"

"Yes, yes, we are related to the Emerald Kingdom now, aren't we? Didn't you hear before that Princess Mana and Crown Prince Jules of the Emerald Kingdom went to the Sapphire Kingdom and helped them a lot and made them even richer than before? Wasn't that just because Crown Prince Jules of the Emerald Kingdom is engaged to Crown Princess Isabel of the Sapphire Kingdom?" another person pointed out.

"We are the same, then, aren't we? I heard that even the Obsidian Kingdom made money because of Princess Mana's business, and she only did that because of our King Raven, who was just Prince Raven of the Obsidian Kingdom at the time!" someone else spoke up.

"Our King Raven was brought up by his mother, Crown Princess Pica of the Obsidian Kingdom, so, naturally, he would have a soft spot for them," a more rational person said sternly. "As for the Pearl Kingdom, haven't we treated him badly in the past? Even if there was a false prophecy in the Moon Temple and King Min was a traitor – does it take away the fact that we tried to kill our King Raven as soon as he was born and even considered him to be a jinx and a curse until recently? If Head Sage Yue hadn't found things to be suspicious when he met his son in the Emerald Kingdom and came back to investigate things properly, we would never have known the truth! We all owe our King Raven a big apology! We have really wronged him! Didn't you see the ancestral spirits buzzing around him? If I had to guess, I would say that King Raven refused the position and the ancestral spirits were trying to cajole him. If I were him, even I would not want to be the king of a country that has persecuted me since birth!"

Many people agreed with the speaker, and they all felt rather guilty. Especially the merchants, who had been to the Emerald Kingdom and knew how well loved Raven was there.

Meanwhile, in King Jaren's arms, Azar pouted.

"Daddy and Mommy both got matching crowns, Grandpapa," he grumbled. "Why isn't Azar getting a matching crown, too? When Daddy and Mommy wear matching clothes, they always get one for Azar!"

As if sensing the little black dragon's displeasure, the Holy Sceptre glowed brightly again, and a beam of light shot towards Azar.

Azar huffed.

The Holy Sceptre flew out of Mana's hands and shrunk to a small size before hovering in front of Azar like a toy. It looked like the Holy Sceptre was trying to cajole the little black dragon. Finally, Azar grabbed the Holy Sceptre and chewed on it, and a small crown matching the ones on Raven and Mana appeared for Azar as well.

Mana and Raven saw the antics of Azar and the Holy Sceptre and laughed.