The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

While Mana and other were busy making their preparations for the upcoming banquets, Princess Astra wasn't too idle, either. She was still grounded, but King Jaren had assigned people to help her prepare for the banquets, so her outfits and jewellery and accessories etc. were well taken care of. Astra did try and send many weepy requests to King Jaren – but this time, especially after what had happened with Raven and Mana later because of Astra's conduct, King Jaren had no inclination to pander to Astra's whims. He felt that it was already good enough that Mana and Raven were being generous and not demanding a harsher punishment for Astra.

It wasn't that King Jaren didn't care for this daughter of his; it was just that even he realised that it was extremely unfair to his other children if Astra was allowed to continue as before, with no consequences for her vile actions. His concession for his affection towards her was that he had given her a light punishment in comparison to the severity of her crimes. Had it been anyone else, their heads would have gone flying or their magic would have been reduced to zero for attempting to harm a member of the royal family.

As the banquet date drew nearer, the citizens of the Emerald Kingdom became more and more enthusiastic – after all, this was going to be the biggest event they had ever seen. All three royal children were getting engaged at the same time! And to royal children of three different kingdoms, at that! No one had seen a celebration of this level, which would span across all five kingdoms, in their lifetime!

The guests were due to start arriving a week or two before the solstice, and most of them had already confirmed their arrival dates. The contingent from the Amber Kingdom, too, was supposed to arrive ten days before the solstice – but, to everyone's surprise, Crown Prince Mars of the Amber Kingdom turned up almost a month earlier, all by himself, and declared that he wanted to spend more time with his dear fiancée before the official engagement ceremony.

The citizens didn't suspect a thing – they merely thought that Crown Prince Mars of the Amber Kingdom doted on their Princess Astra, and that was always a good thing. After all, the misdeeds of Astra weren't publicly known.

As for why Crown Prince Mars was really here…

"Hello, little Mana," Crown Prince Mars said with a big grin, reaching out to pinch Mana's cheeks.

Mana ducked and moved out of his way quickly, avoiding his touch. Instead, she latched on to Raven's arm.

"I shall thank you to keep your hands to yourself and away from my fiancée, Crown Prince Mars," Raven said coldly.

Crown Prince Mars blinked, fixing his amber eyes on Raven.

Raven stared back, his beautiful rainbow eyes flashing dangerously.

"Ah, you must be the previously abandoned prince that's suddenly become hot property everywhere," Mars said rudely. "What filthy street did little Mana pick you up from?"

SMACK!

A small shoe slapped right on to Crown Prince Mars's face with a loud noise, leaving a dirty print all over his handsome face. Mana withdrew her arm with a satisfied smirk on her face.

"How dare you?" Mana hissed angrily. "Apologise to Raven right now!"

Crown Prince Mars was so shocked that he was unable to move or speak for several moments.

Raven flashed him a triumphant smile.

That mobilised Mars and brought him out of his stunned daze. He shook himself and glared at Mana. "You – you actually hit me?!" he cried out in disbelief.

"Yes," Mana said flatly. "You insulted my Raven, and I hit you."

Mars's eyes burnt with anger. "Have you lost your mind, Mana? Did this insidious brat from the Obsidian Kingdom brainwash your little mind?" he scolded.

Mana lifted her other foot, which still had a shoe on it. "I have another one," she said with a dangerous smile. "In case you'd like to collect a pair."

Mars's face started changing colour – warring between red for embarrassment and purple for rage – and ultimately settled halfway. He stared at Mana as if he couldn't believe his eyes. "You used to be such an obedient and sweet little thing earlier, following me around like a duckling – and now – now you dare to hit me? And even threaten me?!" he said incredulously. "All for this evil spawn of the Obsidian Kingdom?!"

A greenish haze began to rise around Mana. "I will not tolerate anyone disrespecting Raven, especially inferior creatures like you," she said menacingly.

Mars was stunned into silence for a whole minute.

Then he seemed to gather himself visibly and his brows furrowed with anger. "You – you little fool, do you actually think that this brat is better than me?!" he shouted.

Mana nodded easily and told him, "Of course. One toenail of Raven is worth more than a hundred thousand of you."

Mars was nearly apoplectic with rage by now. "I was going to offer to make you my concubine out of the kindness of my heart," he said, anger dripping from every word. "But now, I will never consider you even if you come begging and crying to me later on!"

It was Mana's turn to be stunned. She stared at Mars as if he was a dancing monkey for a whole minute and then burst out laughing. She laughed so hard that tears pooled in her eyes and she doubled over, clutching her belly.

When Mana finally managed to get herself under control, she looked Mars straight in the eye and asked bluntly, "Why on earth would I even want to look at you when I have Raven?" She held up her fingers and started counting one by one as she spoke, "He's infinitely smarter, more powerful, better-looking, more talented, richer and overall superior to you in every single thing that I value. He cherishes me and treats me well, and my Papa and Big Brother adore him. Besides, I love him dearly and he is the father of my child."

And, to drive home the point, Raven pulled Mana closer and planted a chaste kiss on her brow. His face, so soft when looking at Mana, turned hard and dangerous as soon as he turned his head and faced Mars instead.

Mars gaped at the two of them. "Child?!" he cried. "What child?! How can you possibly have a child?! You're ten years old, for heaven's sake!"

As if on cue, with a cheerful and chirpy, "Mommy! Daddy!" – Azar flew into the room and straight into Mana's arms.

Mars was shocked into silence yet again. He recalled vaguely that Astra had mentioned a little reptile, but he tended not to pay too much attention to Astra's impossibly verbose and lengthy (and often whiny) letters, so he didn't really remember well.

Azar eyed the new person curiously. Then he huffed and buried his face in Mana's shoulder. "Bad guy," he declared. "Smells bad." He looked up at Raven with pleading puppy-dog eyes. "Daddy, flower tea for Azar?"

Raven chuckled and rubbed the little dragon's head. "All right, little one. Daddy will make flower tea for you to get rid of the bad smell," he said, casting a suggestive glance at Mars.

Mars spluttered angrily for a while.

"Why don't you go and visit Big Sister instead of wasting your time here?" Mana asked bluntly.

"I'll ask a servant to show you the way," Raven said, and summoned several imperial guards with a snap of his fingers.

"Crown Prince Mars of the Amber Kingdom wishes to meet Princess Astra," Raven said. "Please show him the way to her chambers. Do remember that Princess Astra is still not permitted to step out. Crown Prince Mars, however, remains free to go out of the imperial palace whenever he wishes, but he cannot enter the royal family's personal chambers at will."

The imperial guards nodded and a speechless Crown Prince Mars was led away.

"Asshole," Mana cursed, making Raven and Azar giggle.

"Asshole," Azar repeated.

Mana sighed. "Azar, you can't use this word," she murmured, regretting speaking it out loud. "It's a bad word."

"Mommy said it," the little replied, blinking innocently.

"Mommy was wrong," Mana said. "Even when we meet bad people like this, we shouldn't use bad words."

Azar huffed. "Bad word suits bad guy!" he insisted.

Mana and Raven exchanged a glance and then burst out laughing.