The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

The group soon bid farewell to Head Sage Yue and Regent Prince Yuki and used an array to go to the port town of the Pearl Kingdom. There were a bunch of citizens of the Pearl Kingdom waiting to catch a glimpse of their new king as soon as they appeared.

"Looks like you are already very popular in the Pearl Kingdom, Raven," Jules said, patting the younger boy's shoulder affectionately.

Raven rolled his eyes. "It's not like they had very high standards to begin with," he murmured, thinking of the cowering former King Min. Raven felt quite disgusted with himself for calling that abominable man 'uncle' – he really must have been blind as a bat to think that the former King Min was a decent person!

Mana immediately glared at Raven. "Don't disparage yourself," she hissed angrily.

Raven smiled slightly. It always made him feel warm all over when Mana acted like this – and he would never dare to admit it, but sometimes, when he was feeling a little low, he would deliberately mention something bad about himself in front of Mana, just to hear her speak up for him like this, like an angry kitten. It made him feel so warm and happy that he was afraid that he would become addicted to this feeling.

"Mana is right," Jules agreed quietly, patting Raven's shoulder again in encouragement. "Any country would be fortunate to have you as their king. And if the Pearl Kingdom doesn't value your worth, we are here to steal you away – well, your Grandfather King Corvus is already waiting for an opportunity to steal you back anyway…"

That was true enough. King Corvus had made it very clear that Raven would most definitely remain the heir to the throne of the Obsidian Kingdom for his generation, and that he would succeed the throne of the Obsidian Kingdom after King Corvus and Crown Princess Pica. He didn't even entertain any objections on this matter! Raven hadn't even been given a chance to ask his Grandfather how he expected Raven to be the king of two kingdoms at the same time!

Raven smiled at the brother and sister duo who never failed to cheer him up and encourage him.

"You should greet the people," Jules said softly, giving Raven a gentle push. "It is important to have the support of the public if you wish to be an influential king – and these people desperately need someone to look up to in these troubled times until things have settled down to some extent."

Raven nodded seriously, knowing that Jules was right.

Mana took her little fiancé's hand. "Come on, then," she said with a smile. "Let's go and meet your people."

Raven blinked. "You – you will come with me?" he asked, surprised. He knew that Mana wasn't fond of big crowds in general.

Mana pinched his cheeks playfully. "Of course I am," she said. "Your people are my people, too."

Raven couldn't help the brilliant smile that spread on his face.

The two of them went to speak to the crowd that had gathered to catch a glimpse of them.

The citizens of the Pearl Kingdom were stunned. Most people in this port town were either fishermen or merchants, and they had always been looked down upon by the people from the Moon Temple as well as the royal family of the Pearl Kingdom. They had never expected that their new king and his fiancée would actually come over to speak with them – and not only did they come over, but they didn't even bring any imperial guards and they didn't even stand on a high podium or look down upon them in any manner! The two young children simply walked over to the crowd and interacted with them as if it was a perfectly normal thing to do!

The merchants who had been to the Emerald Kingdom before were not as shocked as the rest of the people in the crowd – after all, they had seen how the royals of the Emerald Kingdom interacted with the citizens of the Emerald Kingdom, and they immediately felt a ray of hope light up in their hearts. If their new King Raven would indeed be like the royals of the Emerald Kingdom – then how good would their life in the Pearl Kingdom become? It was quite possible that King Raven had been influenced by the culture in the Emerald Kingdom, wasn't it? After all, their new King Raven's fiancée was Princess Mana of the Emerald Kingdom and not only that – everyone knew that King Raven had been living in the Emerald Kingdom for quite some time now, and he had been learning right along side Crown Prince Jules of the Emerald Kingdom and Princess Mana of the Emerald Kingdom, and he had also gotten into IMARI and was working with Crown Princess Isabel of the Sapphire Kingdom! Since King Raven was so close to these royals from well governed and prosperous kingdoms, and even collaborated with them closely on so many projects, didn't that mean that King Raven also thought along the same lines as them? And if he did, then didn't that mean that the lives of the common people of the Pearl Kingdom was finally going to improve?

Just then, two lavishly decorated carriages rushed towards the crowd, with the coachman yelling, "Get out of the way! The Town Mayor and the Junior Priest of the Moon Temple are coming!"

The people in the crowd were clearly frightened. They had not sought any authorisations from the Town Mayor and the Junior Priest of the Moon Temple before coming over to see their new king – in fact, they didn't know that they needed any permits for this, and moreover, they could never have imagined in their wildest dreams that their new King Raven would actually walk over to them and interact with them no nicely. They had merely gathered so that they could catch a glimpse of their new king out of curiosity. They hadn't meant any harm.

Raven frowned when he saw the citizens panicking.

"There is no need for any of you to move," he said firmly, his young voice ringing with authority.

The crowd of people that had been about to run helter-skelter simply froze at his words.

Raven held out his hand and created a protective barrier around the crowd.

The two carriages, which had been rushing towards them without any signs of slowing and would have crushed a number of people under the hooves of their horses and the big wheels of the carriages, crashed into the barrier created by Raven and broke apart.

"King Raven protected us!" several people cried out in shock. The common people of the Pearl Kingdom had never expected any form of protection from anyone with a high position in the Pearl Kingdom, let alone their new king coming forward to personally protect them!

They were stunned!

And, in that moment, Raven won over the hearts of many of his citizens – after all, for the common people of the Pearl Kingdom who had always been treated badly, this little bit of kindness and protection was extremely precious.

The coachmen, the horses and the people riding in the carriages were all thrown off.

"Who dares attack the Town Mayor and the Junior Priest of the Pearl Kingdom?!" yelled a middle aged man angrily. He was dressed in luxurious clothes befitting a king, and his huge pot belly and chubby cheeks showed how well he ate and drank.

"Who is that?" Mana asked with a frown.

"Your Highness, that's the Town Mayor," a frightened citizen next to her answered immediately. "And the thin man next to him is the Junior Priest of the Moon Temple who is in charge of our port town."

The thin man, too, was dressed in equally fine robes and was wearing a lot of expensive jewellery as well. He had a displeased expression on his face as he stood up.

"I didn't know that a Junior Priest of the Moon Temple would wear suck expensive silk and jewellery," Mana murmured. "Father is always dressed plainly and lives simply, doesn't he?"

"Yes, Father told me that the rules of the Moon Temple require the disciples, the priests and the sages of the Moon Temple to live simply. Father would certainly consider this Junior Priest's conduct to be against the rules of the Moon Temple," Raven replied in a calm voice.

The people who heard the two of them speaking looked at Raven and Mana in shock.

"Father, as in – as in Head Sage Yue of the Moon Temple?" one woman asked in a whisper.

"Yes, of course," Mana said with a small smile. "Head Sage Yue is Raven's biological father, after all, and Raven is also the successor chosen by the Moon Deity for him."

The matter of Raven being chosen as the successor to Head Sage Yue had been overshadowed by his coronation as the new King of the Pearl Kingdom, but people remembered immediately when Mana mentioned it.