The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

After Astra and Mars happily left for their date, King Jaren caught hold of Mana and Raven.

"What did you do?" he demanded.

Raven became nervous immediately, but Mana patted his arm comfortingly. "I'll explain to Papa," she told him.

"Yes, even I want to know how you two managed it – you refused to give me the details last evening," Jules complained.

Bella, too, revealed a curious expression.

Grandpa and Grandma had already retired for their post-lunch siesta, and Azar was snoozing on King Jaren's lap as usual.

Mana launched into an explanation of how she and Raven had managed to deliver the love potion to Astra and notified her about it in a sneaky manner – and how it was ultimately Astra's hand that had made their plan a success.

King Jaren frowned. He didn't blame Mana and Raven at all; in fact, he thought it was rather ingenious of them to come up with such a solution – and ultimately leave the choice to Astra herself whether to drug Mars or not. Still, the fact that Astra had unhesitatingly chosen to use the wine laced with love potion on Mars…

Well, on one hand, King Jaren was a bit appalled that his own daughter could be so ruthless – and this was the daughter who had always presented herself as a delicate and gentle and fragile creature – but then, on the other hand, he was quite relieved, because it meant that Astra wouldn't be a pushover in the Amber Kingdom in the future. The initial days were important, and it was good that Mars was now completely love-struck. Still, he couldn't help but worry about what would happen when the love potion wore off.

"How long will it last?" King Jaren asked. "Are there any side effects?"

"It should last about six months," Raven replied. "There shouldn't be any side effects – in fact, it will wear off gradually after six months so Mars will not even notice anything. I've modified the original recipe, actually."

"So…if required, Mars can be drugged again in the future?" Jules asked with a smirk.

Raven nodded, lowering his head to hide his own smile. Mars could be drugged as many times as they wanted – but next time, he wouldn't give it to Astra for free. After all, Poison Expert Naver's drugs were expensive! Also, he couldn't let Astra use her influence on Mars to create mischief for Jules or Mana ever again.

"Excellent!" King Jaren boomed, patting Raven's shoulder proudly. "You've done very well, son!" he praised. "You, too, Mana. It was an excellent plan, and I am very grateful that you chose to leave the final decision in Astra's own hands. Thank you, my children."

Mana and Raven exchanged a slightly guilty look – neither of them were being noble when they left the last step in Astra's hands – it was merely out of necessity. If it hadn't worked out according to plan, they'd probably have tried something far worse to get rid of Mars!

"Bad asshole ass-lunatic guy still bad," Azar murmured sleepily. "Bad woman still bad."

King Jaren sighed and patted Azar's dark scales absently. "I know, little one, but I can only hope that things will be better once they are safely away in the Amber Kingdom."

"With Mars like this now, it should be safe for Astra to accompany him to the Amber Kingdom," Bella said. "Also, given Astra's mindset, I don't think she'll let anyone take advantage of her. You don't need to worry so much, Papa."

King Jaren nodded. "I'll have an empty nest after the banquets," he murmured sadly.

Raven and Mana exchanged a look.

"About that, Papa," Mana said. "Raven and I were wondering if we could come back with you after the last banquet, actually, instead of staying over in the Obsidian Kingdom. There will be an upheaval in the Obsidian Kingdom after Raven's inheritance is announced, and it won't be too safe for us."

King Jaren frowned deeply. "King Corvus and Crown Princess Pica are planning to announce your inheritance so soon?" he asked. "You already told her that you plan to accept?"

Raven shook his head. "We will inform Grandfather and Mother when we have the banquet in the Obsidian Kingdom. We do plan to ask them to keep it a secret…but even walls have ears. It may not be possible to hide it completely. Also…Mother can be a little too trusting at times," he murmured.

"And we promised to tell them Raven's decision when we visit the Obsidian Kingdom," Mana said. "So we can't go back on that promise."

"So we thought we could come back with you, and then visit the Obsidian Kingdom in the summer instead," Raven said quietly. "As for the Pearl Kingdom, I have no intention of promising them anything."

King Jaren nodded. "That makes sense," he said. "When you two go over to the Obsidian Kingdom in the summer, I'll send my imperial guards with you. If there's even the slightest bit of danger, I want both of you to come back to me immediately."

"Yes, Papa," Mana and Raven said together.

Actually, their plan was made more out of concern for King Jaren rather than the situation with Raven's inheritance. It had already been decided that after the banquets, Astra would be sent to the Amber Kingdom for several months to stay with Mars and to familiarise herself with the Amber Kingdom and its culture. Queen Carolina had also requested that Jules and Bella come over to the Sapphire Kingdom and stay for some time – after all, Bella was the Crown Princess of the Sapphire Kingdom and Jules, too, needed to adapt and learn about the country of his fiancée,

Mana and Raven's plans hadn't been settled yet – but King Jaren, who was repeatedly receiving letters from King Corvus and Crown Princess Pica about letting Mana and Raven stay in the Obsidian Kingdom for a while, was considering letting them stay over after the banquet. He had planned to stay over for a couple of weeks himself to keep an eye on the two children, and then return to the Emerald Kingdom and let Mana and Raven stay over for a bit. After he returned, Jules and Bella would leave for the Sapphire Kingdom. Astra was supposed to leave with Mars directly from the Obsidian Kingdom.

Which meant that King Jaren would be all alone in the imperial palace of the Emerald Kingdom.

And that was rather lonely, especially for someone as affectionate as their dear Papa. And thus, Mana and Raven had come up with this excuse to come back with him.

Jules and Bella agreed whole heartedly with their plan. They didn't want to leave Papa by himself all of a sudden, either. It would feel even worse after all the celebrations in the five kingdoms if he were to be suddenly alone.

So, Mana and Raven – who didn't even want to stay in the Obsidian Kingdom any more than they had to, in the first place – found a good excuse to come back home to look after Papa. With Azar around, Papa wouldn't have a chance to be lonely at all.

And once Jules and Bella returned from the Sapphire Kingdom, all of them could have a nice celebration and spend time together until the summer.

In summer, Mana and Raven could visit the Obsidian Kingdom for a few weeks, and Jules and Bella would remain in the Emerald Kingdom. This way, Papa won't have to be lonely at all.

Of course, they couldn't tell King Jaren all this, so they found viable excuses instead.

King Jaren, who was already reluctant to let Mana and Raven go to the Obsidian Kingdom anyway, was actually quite relieved when the two children made this proposal, and agreed immediately. As for the Pearl Kingdom, he didn't care a fig about them until they gave Raven proper recognition and respect!