The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

Around midnight, Mana, with a sleeping Azar in her arms, crept out of her room stealthily and walked towards Raven's room. She was worried that he may be suffering from nightmares.

Raven had seemed calm and at ease when Papa had shooed all of them off to bed, but Mana knew that it wasn't so easy to dispel these things. She didn't know all the details of Raven's miserable past with either of his parents – neither the original 'incorrect' book she had read, nor the 'corrected' version of the ancient master delved into Raven's childhood in detail. She knew the basics, and some of the events, and Raven had sometimes spoken of a few things…but she also knew that there was far more to the story than she knew. Although the attitudes of both Head Sage Yue and Crown Princess Pica had improved by the end of their meetings, their initial attitudes had made a number of alarm bells ring in Mana's mind. And if she had been so alarmed…Raven, who had borne this kind of mental and even physical abuse all his life…she couldn't even imagine the impact of these two people on his young psyche. The fact that Raven was still such a sweet, wonderful boy and capable of affection even after suffering at the hands of these sort of people who shouldn't even be allowed near a child, let alone procreate…that spoke volumes about Raven's inner strength and tenacity. It had taken the combined efforts of Jules, Papa and herself to bring Raven a little out of his shell, and he was already doing so well…he had achieved so much in such a short time. Mana had been afraid that these two people who didn't even deserve to be called parents would render all their efforts useless, and that was the main reason why she hadn't wanted to leave Raven alone. After meeting them, however, all she wanted was to beat them to death and keep Raven as far from them as possible.

But she had not missed the yearning in Raven's eyes. What child didn't crave for their parent's acceptance and acknowledgement, no matter how horrendous or incapable the parent was…? And that's why she hadn't been as vengeful with Head Sage Yue and Crown Princess Pica as she had originally intended to be. She had been prepared to tear both of them to shreds – but the longing that Raven tried so desperately to hide had moved her. If the situation could be salvaged even a little…she had to try, for Raven's sake. The boy had suffered enough. Mana wouldn't let him go through that again – not on her watch!

Mana knew that even if she had completely ended any chance of reconciliation between Raven and his parents, Raven wouldn't have blamed her. He would have accepted it without a word, and he may even have been grateful for it. But Mana didn't want that. She wanted to let the boy be able to do what he wanted…to have the things he wanted. She didn't want other people to decide for him; not even herself.

And thus, she had decided that she would make both Head Sage Yue and Crown Princess Pica regret abandoning Raven. It was easy to make them adore Raven, to want to be close to him. Raven was a charming child, and both his parents were already very impressed with his achievements. From what she had seen today, Head Sage Yue was a snob who would favour anyone acknowledged by powerful people…and he clearly knew more about the origin of the bloodstone and its significance than Raven did. Perhaps there was a prophecy, she thought. Didn't magical worlds always have a prophecy? As for Crown Princess Pica, she only respected strength. Now that she knew Raven was powerful, she would probably try everything she could to get into his good books.

But Mana wasn't satisfied with just that. It wasn't enough for Head Sage Yue and Crown Princess Pica to acknowledge Raven and appreciate him and adore him. How could that suffice for twelve years of Raven's suffering? Mana wanted both of them to thirst for Raven's affection. Whether Raven chose to give it or not…that would be his decision. Mana wouldn't interfere with that – she would simply stand by Raven's side and support him with whatever he wanted.

And if either of them tried to harm Raven again…Mana smiled dangerously. That's when she would unsheathe her claws for real.

Caught up in her thoughts, Mana nearly walked past Raven's door. If it wasn't for a tiny choked sob that caught her attention, she would have.

Mana sighed and knocked softly on Raven's door.

There was a sound of something falling to the ground. Mana cursed.

Azar woke up with a start. "Daddy upset?" he asked blearily.

"Probably," Mana replied.

No doors or barriers could ever stop Azar from going where he wanted. Naturally, Raven's locked door was no match for the little dragon. His eyes flashed and the door opened, allowing Mana to walk in with Azar.

Raven had indeed fallen to the floor, tangled up in the bedsheets. He was still in the throes of a nightmare, tearfully begging his mother to spare him, and begging his father not to kill him…promising to be a good boy worthy of them…

Mana's heart ached.

Azar leapt out of her arms and flew to Raven. He clawed at the sheets restricting Raven, ripping them into ribbons.

"Daddy?" he called fearfully. "Daddy, are you hurt?" His big, round eyes filled with tears as he looked up at Mana. "Mommy, what is wrong with Daddy?"

The tremor in Azar's usually cheerful voice drove Mana to action. She hugged Raven tightly and rubbed his back, while trying to pacify Azar.

"Daddy is having a bad dream, Azar," she said softly. "We'll try to calm him down first and then gently wake him up, all right?"

Azar nodded tearfully.

Mana patted his head. "Thank you, my little darling," she said.

With a warm little dragon sitting in his lap and Mana rubbing his back and humming softly, Raven soon calmed down and woke up by himself.

"Azar…? Mana…?" he asked incredulously. "How…? Why are you here?"

"I was afraid you might have a nightmare after all that happened today," Mana admitted frankly. "So I came to check on you."

Raven flushed. "Sorry," he murmured.

Mana poked him in the middle of his forehead. "Don't you dare apologise for things that aren't your fault," she said sternly.

"Yes ma'am," Raven deadpanned.

Mana poked his cheek and handed him a glass of water.

Raven felt better after that. He looked at the shredded bedding scattered across the floor all around him. "Er…what happened here…?" he asked warily.

"We heard you fall from the bed when we were outside," Mana told him. "Thanks to Azar, we were able to get in. You were caught up in your nightmare and entangled in the sheets quite badly. You seemed to be struggling to get out, so Azar helped you by tearing up the sheets and getting you out. You seemed to be a little better after that."

"Mommy and Azar calm Daddy down," Azar spoke up. His round eyes were still teary. "Daddy feels better now?"

Raven stroked the little dragon's smooth scales and kissed the top of his head. "Much better," he said softly. "Thank you, Azar. You helped Daddy a lot just now."

Azar nuzzled his head against Raven's cheek.

Mana looked at the bare mattress on Raven's bed and the mess on the floor. She stood up slowly and held out a hand to Raven. "Come on, then," she said. "You can sleep in my room tonight."

Raven flushed a bright red, visible even in the dim moonlight streaming through the windows.

"That…that would not be appropriate," he muttered.

Mana rolled her eyes. "I'm ten and you're twelve and Azar's not even a year old. Things like propriety – they don't matter for us yet. Besides, we're engaged anyway, so even if we were older, it would still be fine," she pointed out.

Raven bit his lip.

"Azar and I will be too worried if you don't come with us," Mana said, shamelessly using their baby dragon's charm. "Right, Azar?"

Azar nodded immediately, and his eyes brimmed again. "Please, Daddy? Come with us?" he begged. The little dragon's tearful eyes would melt even the hardest of hearts – let alone Raven, who was tender-hearted to begin with, and loved Azar to death on top of that.

Raven sighed. Mana and Azar were his biggest strengths and also his greatest weaknesses. How could he bear to turn them down…? Besides, deep down, he didn't want to be alone tonight. Meeting his parents had triggered his memories of the past…unpleasant memories which he liked to keep locked up in a corner of his head as much as possible. Raven hadn't experienced much kindness in his life until he arrived at the Emerald Kingdom, after all.

"All right," he said, taking Mana's hand. He completely missed the triumphant look exchanged between Mana and Azar!