The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

Jules and Bella had crafted their engagement rings themselves, just like Mana and Raven, under the able tutelage of King Jaren. They, too, had a shared storage space now, and the couple was so delighted with it that they disappeared in their space for hours. Ultimately, Azar, who could miraculously get into any space, had gone into their space to fetch Uncle Jules and Auntie Bella.

Azar's ability to get into the secret shared spaces was quite handy (and fearsome). King Jaren had been forced to tidy up his abandoned garden space thanks to the little dragon, who popped in unannounced one day and started howling piteously at the sight of Queen Dora's favourite peach tree which had almost withered. King Jaren had been frightened to death by the sobbing dragon, and it was a while before he realised why his little grandson was so upset. After that, King Jaren had consulted with Mana and Raven. Azar claimed that the spring water – well, waterfall rather than spring now – from Mana and Raven's space had miraculous healing properties which helped all living creatures. Its power wasn't fully developed yet since Mana and Raven's magic was still nascent, but the water was very good for plants. Mana and Raven weren't too surprised to hear that – both of them had realised that the plants in their secret space grew much better and healthier than outside, and they didn't really need to take much care. So Mana and Raven had provided some healing water for King Jaren's plants, resulting in a happy little dragon that often flew into his Grandpapa's secret space without permission.

However, King Jaren was single and devoted to the memory of his late wife Dora…while Jules and Bella were teenagers who had just found love. There was no telling what they may get up to in their space. Since this was the first time they opened their space, it should be safe enough to send Azar in, she thought, but in the future, she'd instruct the little dragon not to get into Uncle Jules and Auntie Bella's space unless there was an emergency. Azar was only a few months old, after all, and some things shouldn't be seen by babies!

"So this is the secret of the royal family of the Emerald Kingdom," Bella murmured after returning.

Mana grinned. "It doesn't work for everyone, though. First of all, one of the partners needs to have royal blood of the Emerald Kingdom; second, you have to be compatible and your magic has to resonate with each other – and third, and most importantly, both of you have to be truly in love with each other. The space only opens up when we find our soulmates, and only if we really, really, really care for them. I think there are some other parameters as well – Papa explained when Raven and I were making our rings, but I forgot about the rest. Ask Raven if you want to know."

"Papa didn't tell us about that," Jules complained.

"You probably didn't ask," Mana pointed out. "Raven asked some fifty questions when Papa was teaching us!"

"Not fifty," Raven muttered under his breath. "Only twenty eight."

Jules and Bella immediately crowded around Raven and began to ask questions. Mana smirked mischievously, picked up Azar and went off to find Fox. Vanilla was supposed to arrive today, and she didn't want to miss Fox's reaction when he saw her!

Vanilla had already arrived at the inn indicated by Mana that morning. She had taken a short nap and then a long bath, and was now waiting eagerly for Mana to show up.

"Hi, Vanilla!" Mana greeted her, waving cheerfully.

"Princess Mana!" Vanilla exclaimed. She leapt out of her seat and bowed.

"Hey, no need to bow, I told you before," Mana said, grabbing her hand. "Here, say hello to my son Azar."

Vanilla peered curiously at the little dragon sitting proudly in the crook of Mana's arms. Azar had grown too big to sit on Mana's small shoulders now. Only King Jaren and Jules had shoulders broad enough for him these days, and with his growth rate, the little dragon would soon no longer be 'little'!

"Hello, Azar," Vanilla greeted courteously. "You have your mother's eyes."

Azar preened happily. "Hello, Auntie Vanilla," he said sweetly.

Vanilla went 'awww', naturally.

Mana giggled. "Ready to meet Fox?" she asked.

Vanilla flushed and nodded.

"He's been pining for you," Mana said with a smirk. "I haven't told him that you'll be coming, by the way. He'll be so shocked!"

The two girls walked down the street, chatting amicably. Vanilla gave Mana updates on the vanilla and cocoa farms. They now had enough material to open a small pastry shop in the capital city. Vanilla had been diligently practising the cake recipes Mana had left with her before her departure and was eager to show Mana how well she could bake now.

Mana was glad to hear that. She immediately made plans to try out Vanilla's baking tomorrow morning. Since they would soon be getting a lot of visitors from other countries, she wanted her pastry shop to be up and running as soon as possible. She had already purchased a spot in a nice location and had the basic fittings done. Now that Vanilla was here, they could wrap up the decorations this week and open it next week.

Fox had been dragged out of IMARI by Mana on the pretext of trying a new restaurant. The young man arrived at the gate of the restaurant just as Mana and Vanilla rounded the corner.

Fox did a double take as he saw Vanilla. Then he rubbed his eyes, not daring to believe what he was seeing! How could Vanilla be here? Shouldn't she be back in the Verdant Hills, managing the farms for Mana?

"Hi, Fox," Vanilla said shyly.

Fox rushed towards them. "Vanilla! You're really here?! I'm not dreaming?!"

Mana winked at Vanilla, who turned red.

Vanilla reached out a hand and patted Fox's shoulder. "I am here," she said.

"And she'll be here for a while," Mana chipped in. "She's going to be the boss of my new pastry shop!"

Fox's eyes turned misty.

Mana laughed at his dazed expression and gave the two youngsters a push. "Go on and have your lunch. I've reserved a private table for you two," she said. She didn't mention that she'd ordered the full romantic treatment – red roses, fragrant wine, soft music…or that this restaurant was the hotspot for couples and one of the most popular places for making proposals.

She also didn't mention that she had secretly bought the run-down and almost bankrupt restaurant soon after her arrival at the capital and completely overhauled it and made it into a romantic restaurant. Not even Papa or Raven knew that she was the hidden owner of this place! And the amount of money it earned her was quite impressive!

Fox took Vanilla's hand gallantly and led her to the restaurant, sending a silent glance full of gratitude to Mana.

Mana grinned and gave him a thumbs-up. Azar replicated her gesture, although he had no idea what it was supposed to mean. Mana patted his head fondly and made her way back to the imperial palace. Of course, Azar stopped her several times on the way to buy random things that caught his fancy. No one was ever able to say no to the little dragon, so Mana ended up throwing a cartload of things into her secret space for him.

"Daddy is upset," Azar said when they were near the imperial palace. "Mommy, hurry!"

Mana ran in the direction pointed by her baby dragon, and ended up in front of the door of the meeting room for foreign emissaries.

"Grandpapa and Daddy are inside," Azar informed her. "And strange-smelling people."

Mana didn't hesitate. She knocked on the door and entered before the guards outside could stop her.

King Jaren and Raven brightened when they saw her and Azar. The little dragon immediately flew to Raven and nuzzled his cheek with his small head.

Mana looked around the room. It seemed that representatives of the Pearl Kingdom as well as the Obsidian Kingdom had arrived.

Among the people from the Pearl Kingdom, there was a handsome silver-eyed and silver-haired man whose face bore a remarkable similarity to Raven. Right now, he was glaring fiercely at a gorgeous woman with inky black hair and luscious pink lips, just like Raven. Her eyes were dark and liquid and exquisitely shaped, just like Raven's. Her face was full of disgust, currently, as he glared back at the man.

They had to be Head Sage Yue of the Moon Temple from the Pearl Kingdom and Crown Princess Pica of the Obsidian Kingdom…Raven's biological parents.

Raven had clearly inherited the best features of both his parents in the best possible permutation. No wonder he was so beautiful, Mana thought.

"Come, Mana," King Jaren said, beckoning her over to where he and Raven sat.. Mana hurried to them.