The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

Princess Astra had no idea that Mana and Raven had played out a scripted drama outside her walls solely for her to overhear and to recruit her into their get-rid-of-Mars plan unknowingly.

The love potion was real enough, though, and its effect lasted for roughly six months – by which time Mars and Astra would be happily settled in the Amber Kingdom and out of their way. Raven had spent an entire day concocting this really complicated love potion, and he had enhanced it to make it last for six months instead of the usual three. However, now that the love potion was ready, they still needed to figure out how to administer it to that annoying Mars. Neither Mana nor Raven had any intention to give Mars anything to eat or drink and risk being the first person to be seen by his drug-addled eyes!

That's when Raven had come up with the plan to use Astra's hand instead. It would be the perfect win-win situation for all of them – Mars could happily stick with his own fiancée, and Astra would be too busy with keeping the annoying bug company to hatch any more nefarious plans against Mana. In fact, they may even gather a little bit of goodwill from Astra which may make her hesitate when she tried to harm them in the future.

And they could always use Raven's alter ego, the renowned Poison Expert Naver to their advantage!

Fortunately or unfortunately, in less than an hour of their plans taking shape, Mars found them – and this time, he came up with an even more outrageous proposal than before – marrying both Mana and Raven as concubines!

Now, having a spouse of the same gender was perfectly acceptable in the Emerald Kingdom, the Sapphire Kingdom and the Obsidian Kingdom. However, in the Amber Kingdom and the Pearl Kingdom, it was highly frowned upon. In fact, in the Amber Kingdom, male concubines of the royal family were barely better than slaves in stature, and they rarely lived beyond the age of twenty.

And to think that horrible Mars made such a proposal to Raven and even expected him to agree…?!

Mana was seriously beginning to think that there was something seriously wrong with Mars's brain. This was way beyond having a few screws loose – this was like complete dissociation from reality!

And drugging such a person wouldn't weigh on Mana's conscience in the least. Raven was rather nervous when he suggested the plan to her, thinking that she might think him to be unnecessarily cruel or manipulative or evil – but Mana's reaction had completely taken him by surprise. Not only was Mana utterly delighted by the plan, she was so impressed with Raven that she had hugged him tightly and given him a kiss on the cheek, and promised to bake his favourite cake anytime he asked for it and as many times he wanted! It was the promise of a lifetime, and it made Raven so happy that he couldn't stop smiling for an entire day.

Even Mars's disgusting proposal couldn't ruin his good mood – and Mana's immediate bashing of Mars made Raven even happier.

This was his girl, he thought to himself, feeling very proud of her.

While Mana and Raven were preparing to introduce the love potion into Mars's red wine, Astra was also busy preparing for the evening to make their plan a success. She sent away all the servants and attendants to make sure that there was no chance of Mars seeing anyone other than her when he was drinking the love potion – after all, it would be awful if he became enamoured with someone else!

Having successfully gotten rid of everyone, Astra considered if she ought to unpin Mars from the wall before dinner arrived, or if she ought to just let him hang there. After thinking over the issue for a while, she decided to simply let him be. If he were stuck to the wall, he was safely in her custody, after all. Who knows who he would go chasing next if she let him out before he had successfully drunk the love potion. After Mana and Raven, what if he proposed to Jules or Bella next? Or even King Jaren? Astra knew quite well how much her Papa's value on the attraction index had shot up after he'd shaved off his rugged beard – and she'd caught the appreciative look Mars had cast upon his father-in-law a few days ago!

It was a good thing that Mana, Raven, Jules and Bella hadn't seen it yet – otherwise Mars would have been pulverised by now. The four youngsters were no less protective of their beloved Papa than he was of them!

Astra also decided to dress up extra pretty for dinner – perhaps it would enhance the effect of the love potion if she looked as enchanting as an ethereal fairy…?

All dolled up, Astra waited by the gate for the meal to arrive eagerly when it was about time for dinner. The imperial kitchen staff wheeled in a large trolley, ready to bring it into her dining room, but she stopped them at the gate.

"Crown Prince Mars and I are having a private meal tonight," she told them. "There is no need for you to wait upon us."

The imperial kitchen staff bowed politely and left.

Astra deliberately pretended to go in and left the trolley unattended for a few minutes. In reality, she hid behind a pillar and waited for Mana and Raven to turn up with the love potion she eagerly wanted.

Mana and Raven already knew about this and they had been lurking nearby.

"We're in luck," Mana whispered in a low voice, just loud enough for Astra to hear. "Big Sister Astra has a private dinner with her fiancé – it's the perfect chance to lace the wine with the love potion! Mars will see her as he drinks the drugged wine, and he'll fall head over heels in love with her and stop looking at anyone else!"

"Indeed, it is quite fortunate," Raven said. "Let's put the Poison Expert Naver's love potion into the wine bottle quickly and leave before someone finds out."

"Will it mix immediately with the wine?" Mana asked.

"It's better to shake the bottle well for a few minutes for the best effect – but we don't have that much time. It'll still work, though the effect maybe a little weaker," Raven told her.

"Well, as long as he keeps his eyes fixed on Big Sister Astra and stops messing around with you or me, I'm happy with the outcome, even if the effect of the love potion is a little weak," Mana said.

The two of them crept towards the trolley furtively, looking around themselves carefully. Then, Mana kept watch while Raven picked up the bottle of wine, opened it and poured the love potion in. He quickly put the bottle back in its original position.

"Let's go before someone catches us," Raven said.

Mana frowned, though. "This is a really big bottle of wine," she murmured. "What if he doesn't drink all of it?" she asked.

"As long as he drinks at least two glasses of it, there will be some effect," Raven told her. "Of course it's better if he drinks the whole bottle – but there's no way for us to ensure that."

Mana sighed. "Well, I guess there's nothing we can do about that…" she murmured.

Raven pulled at her hand. "Come on, let's go," he said urgently. "Princess Astra may get a wrong idea if she sees us here."

Mana sighed again. "You know, Big Sister Astra was much nicer before she met this idiot Mars. She was kind to me and we used to play together even when I was sickly. She wasn't like this, so petty and suspicious of everything. Personally, I think she could have done better – with her being so pretty and talented. Still, the heart wants what it wants – and since she loves this guy, at least we can lend a hand in the background so she can keep him," she muttered.

"I think someone's coming," Raven said in a rush. "Let's go, Mana!"

He pulled her away.

Astra came out from her hiding place with a complicated expression on her face. Then she wheeled the trolley in, shook the bottle for a few minutes, unpinned Mars from the wall (muttering excuses about the spell being too complicated) and ensured that her fiancé drank every last drop of the wince laced with love potion.

Mana and Raven, on the other hand, returned to Mana's room and burst out laughing as soon as the door closed behind them.

They high-fived each other triumphantly, and shared a nice lollipop gifted to them by a well-wisher.