The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

Since their enemies had already made an attempt to kill Jules and Mana at Verdant Hills, King Jaren decided that there was no point in staying in the summer palace any longer. Also, having failed to harm Jules and Mana this time, the villains would definitely make an attempt once again. As such, it was perhaps safer to take them to the imperial palace so that King Jaren himself could keep an eye on his children.

Plus, since Jules's identity as the crown prince had already been announced, he needed to familiarise himself with the court and the officials soon.

They had also discovered that besides magic, Azar liked to eat pretty much everything a human ate. He especially enjoyed the milkshakes and cakes Mana made.

"Like father, like son," Mana commented, watching Raven feed chocolate milkshake to the little dragon with a feeding bottle for infants. A glass of the same chocolate milkshake rested on the table by his side, meant for Raven.

Raven blushed furiously at Mana's words.

Azar had somehow decided that whatever went on Raven's plate was the best food in the house – even if everyone else had the exact same thing on their plates. The little dragon would snuggle up to Raven and peer at him piteously or nudge him with his little head until Raven gave in and let him take a bit of whatever he was eating. It amused everyone else to no end. Azar would also leap at Mana and sit on her shoulder whenever she went into the kitchen. He would watch carefully as she cooked or baked, and act spoilt until she gave him a bite of everything she made.

Little Azar's categorisation was clearly visible – Mommy and Daddy were his go-to people for food, and Grandpapa and Uncle Jules were his go-to people for toys. King Jaren and Jules spent hours playing with the little dragon and making little trinkets for him. Fox would join them sometimes, too.

The little dragon had charmed everyone – from the newest servant of the summer palace to the king of the Emerald Kingdom himself, every human was wrapped around his claw. He was especially good at using his large, luminous eyes at unsuspecting humans and getting them to do his bidding right away.

As for Mana's Shadow Poison – thanks to Azar, that was completely gone, too. Azar had wandered into the room when Raven had been removing another bit of the Shadow Poison from Mana's body, and the little dragon and rushed up excitedly.

"Mommy! Big magic!" the baby dragon had cried cheerfully and jumped on Mana's stomach.

Then, under their astonished eyes, little Azar and sucked out all the Shadow Poison from Mana and licked his lips. "Big magic bad for Mommy," he'd said childishly. "Azar eat bad man magic for Mommy!"

The little dragon burped and his eyes flashed black for a moment.

Raven frowned and picked up the dragon, then helped Mana sit up. "How do you feel?" he asked Mana, biting his lips worriedly.

"Good as new, actually," Mana said. It was true. She felt refreshed, and powerful magic gushed through her veins. She had never felt as energetic as this in both her lives taken together!

Mana twirled her fingers experimentally, trying out all three of her magic elements. A rock appeared and floated near the tip of her index finger, followed by a globule of water at the tip of her middle finger, and a flame at the tip of her ring finger.

Raven took her other hand and ran a strand of his magic through her, checking for any remnants of the Shadow Poison. There was none. It looked like Azar really had eaten it all!

"It's really gone," Raven said, his rainbow eyes alight with joy.

What a heaven-defying little creature they'd picked up, Mana thought to herself. Little Azar was like the cheat code to any magic, it seemed – which was quite unfair to their opponents. Not that Mana was complaining. She was extremely pleased to have this ace by her side, and she was determined to pamper the little dragon and bring him up as her own child. If she ever had any human children later in this life, she would ensure that all of them would revere Azar as their Big Brother!

"Mommy good?" Azar asked.

"I've never felt this good before!" Mana declared with a big grin. She put away her magic and rubbed Azar's head affectionately. "Thank you, Azar. You've done very well."

The little dragon purred like a kitten. "Azar good boy," he said proudly.

"Very good boy," Raven said immediately, tickling the little dragon under the chin.

"Azar is the best boy," Mana agreed happily.

Raven smiled, and Mana could almost see flowers blooming in the air behind him. Azar's scales matched the inky black of Raven's hair, and a smiling Raven with the little dragon in his arms made a beautiful picture. Mana suddenly wished she had a camera. Perhaps she could get Fox to modify the copy machine of the Sapphire Kingdom to a small, convenient device. For now, she decided that she would make Jules record an image of Raven holding Azar with the copy machine.

"Azar, you mentioned something about a bad man…?" Raven asked suddenly, pulling Mana from her daze.

"Bad man big magic on Mommy," Azar said, nodding his little black head.

"And you ate the big magic in Mommy?" Raven pressed.

Azar shook his head. "Azar ate bad magic in Mommy, and Azar ate all big magic of bad man!" he said happily.

Raven and Mana exchanged a startled glance.

"Then, that day…on the island…" Mana began. "Azar, the big magic you ate on the island that day…did you eat all big magic of bad men there as well?"

Azar blinked innocently. "One bad man, one bad woman," he said, holding up two of his little claws. "Azar ate all big magic, far away."

Mana burst out laughing. "Azar, you did your Daddy's reflection spell after all!" she cried. This was even beyond heaven-defying powers or a cheat code. This was the power of a god, Mana thought. She thanked all her stars that they had found this little miraculous creature. For a moment, she pitied the people who had fallen victim to Azar's appetite – but then decided that they weren't worth her pity at all. Who asked them to try to harm her family first?

"We need to find everything we can about dragons," Raven murmured.

Mana couldn't agree more.

King Jaren and Jules appeared at the door.

"How's Mana's treatment going?" King Jaren asked. This was his biggest concern before returning to the capital city. If possible, he would prefer that the Shadow Poison be completely gone before they started out on their journey.

Mana and Raven exchanged a smile.

"It's completely gone," Raven told King Jaren.

King Jaren and Jules were stunned for a moment.

"How did you…?" Jules began.

King Jaren grabbed Raven's shoulders. "Did you absorb it into your own body?" he demanded anxiously. "Didn't I tell you not to?!"

Raven shook his head. "I didn't, Papa," he replied with a bright smile. "I didn't do anything, actually."

"Then how…?" King Jaren blinked in confusion.

"Azar ate it," Raven said simply. He quickly explained what had happened, as well as how Azar had probably decimated the magic of three of their enemies by now.

King Jaren laughed delightedly. "Oh, come here, my precious little grandson," he called holding out his hand.

"Grandpapa," Azar said sweetly and flew to him obediently.

King Jaren hugged the baby dragon and kissed the top of his little black head. "You wonderful little thing," he said happily. "You are simply amazing, little Azar!"

"Azar good boy," came the childish reply.

"The very best!" King Jaren told him. "You must be the blessing of a thousand lifetimes, little one."

Azar rubbed his head against his emotional Grandpapa's cheek.

"This is amazing," Jules said, and tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Papa…doesn't that match the news you received today from the imperial palace…?" he murmured.

"What news?" Mana asked immediately.

"Aunt Sora's aide lost her magic suddenly," Jules said. "A request came from her for Physician Kale to return to the capital to take a look at the aide."

"We should hear of two more such cases, then," Mana remarked.

Jules nodded. "Although…they might be in other kingdoms…remember how Grandpa said that the volcanic eruption used some forbidden techniques of the Amber Kingdom…?"

"And the Shadow Poison is exclusive to the Obsidian Kingdom," Raven added. "Big Brother is right."

"Nonetheless, if these people are co-conspirators of this aide in the imperial palace, wouldn't they at least inform her about their misfortune and seek some sort of compensation?" Mana asked, her lawyer brain piping up immediately.

King Jaren nodded. "Mana is right. There should definitely be some correspondence…it's a good thing that I've asked for all messages to and from the imperial palace to be monitored secretly." He smiled coldly.. "We shall know soon enough."