The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart

King Jaren glared at Jules. "So you want me to let that King Corvus stay and attack Raven again?!" he asked angrily.

"Of course not," Jules said reasonably. "Why would we tolerate Raven being bullied?"

"Then what do you want to do?" King Jaren demanded.

"Shouldn't we make him apologise to Raven?" Jules asked casually. "After all, Raven is a member of the royal family of the Emerald Kingdom, and King Corvus violated our rules by attacking him. The very least he can do is to bow down and apologise to Raven."

"Not just apologise, but to compensate Raven as well," Bella chipped in. "And then Raven can be generous and forgive him…for now."

Jules and Bella exchanged a glance and smirked.

Mana caught up to her Big Brother's train of thought right away. "Ah," she said. "And then we'll repay him in full when we're visiting the Obsidian Kingdom. After all, revenge is a dish best served cold!"

Looking at the evil smirks on the faces of Mana, Jules and Bella, King Jaren finally calmed down. The children were right – there was no benefit to launching a war right now – it would only tarnish Raven's reputation and there were always those hypocrites of the Pearl Kingdom waiting in the side lines. They wouldn't let go of this opportunity to proclaim Raven as the harbinger of disaster and war – and there will always be suffering citizens looking to shift the blame to someone so that they could focus all their hatred on that person and relieve their own negative mindset after venting their spleen. It was a natural and psychological phenomenon that tacticians often used to manipulate the crowds to their own benefit or towards their own goals.

King Jaren glanced at Raven, who looked rather terrified at the moment.

"King Corvus – grandfather – he would never bow to the likes of me," he said softly. "In his eyes, I have never been anything more than a filthy mongrel."

"Don't deride yourself," Mana warned Raven.

"I don't think that's true, actually," Bella said, rubbing her chin as she was wont to do when she was turning something over in her head. "To me, it seems that King Corvus is somewhat afraid of you. Maybe he knew from the start that you were destined for greatness – wasn't he the one who sent you those tokens which turned black? It doesn't make sense for him to antagonise you at this point – and whatever else he may be, King Corvus isn't a fool."

Bella's words triggered the 'corrected' book in Mana's mind. The book had been silent and unchanging for so long now that Mana had almost forgotten about it. Just now, after Bella spoke, several new pages opened up and Mana was able to read a little more.

The new pages talked about King Corvus – Mana wasn't surprised by that at all. She read through them quickly.

"Mana? Why are you in a daze?" Jules asked her, putting a gently hand on her shoulder.

Mana, who had just finished reading the new pages, looked up at his handsome face that was filled with concern. "Ah, sorry, Big Brother. I was thinking about what Big Sister Bella said – and I think that she's absolutely right. Otherwise, it doesn't make sense. If King Corvus really hated Raven and considered him inferior, he would not have issued the royal heir token to Raven at all," she said. "I was too angry to think clearly before – but it makes sense now."

She turned to Raven and took his hand in her own. "Do you have any idea what your grandfather could possibly want from you? Has he ever mentioned anything? Like a prophecy or something?" she asked him.

Raven shook his head. "I have spoken to my grandfather a total of forty seven times in my life," he murmured. "Out of those forty seven times, forty three were complaints and insults about my incomplete magic after he tried to test me or set magical traps for me. Twice, he punished me – once on Enca's account and once on Rook's. Once, he saved me from my mother's wrath – if he hadn't stepped in, Mother may have accidentally killed me. Today was the forty seventh time."

Jules and Mana immediately hugged Raven from two sides.

Azar, too, cuddled up with them.

Bella cleared her throat awkwardly. "We should probably take Papa to see the guests – and if Papa doesn't want to see them, we have to send them away, right?" she said softly.

King Jaren was much calmer now, although his eyes glowed with magic that was ready to escape at a moment's notice.

"Let's go and see them," King Jaren said. "Who all have come, Jules?"

"I'm not sure," Jules said. "I didn't see them myself properly; I simply caught a glance, issued instructions and came to get you."

King Jaren nodded and strode out. Everyone else followed after him.

When they entered the third meeting room, they found that there were only two guests – and they were actually King Corvus and Crown Princess Pica.

King Jaren's face darkened immediately.

King Corvus chuckled. "Ah, King Jaren, it is a pleasure to meet you. You have taken very good care of my grandson," he said.

"I wish I could say the same, King Corvus," King Jaren replied flatly. "Also, in case you have forgotten, you are no longer qualified to refer to Raven as your grandson."

King Jaren's eyes glowed green as he spoke, and King Corvus, too, released a powerful aura. However, everyone in the room had very powerful magic, and they all stood their ground.

"Impressive," King Corvus murmured. "The child no longer cowers like a weakling when I release my magic." He smiled at King Jaren. "You really have taught him more in a matter of months than we could for a dozen years," he said.

King Jaren raised a mocking eyebrow. "Let me tell you the secret key to parenting, King Corvus – you need to nurture the children, not bury them under your shoe," he said.

King Corvus laughed. "Ah, that makes me want to test Raven's strength again," he said. "Pica tells me that he has grown quite powerful, and I saw a little glimpse of it myself earlier today. I'm curious to see exactly how powerful the boy has become to turn both Pica and Rook into his ardent, adoring fans!"

As he spoke, an immensely powerful wave of dark magic burst out of him and attacked Raven.

Raven, who had been standing next to Mana, immediately pulled her behind himself and held out a hand to block the magic attack.

However, Azar was much faster than the humans. He flew in front of his dear Daddy and opened his mouth, gobbling up the magic attack with ease.

"Not as tasty as Daddy's magic," the little dragon commented.

King Corvus was stunned into silence. "This dragon just…ate the magic wave?" he whispered dumbly, almost as if he were talking to himself.

Azar glared at King Corvus.

And then, suddenly, the little dragon started growing bigger and bigger, until he stood head and shoulders above all the humans. He stood protectively in front of Mana and Raven and pointed a sharp claw at King Corvus.

"You're a bad man," Azar thundered. "You can't touch Azar's Daddy – or Azar will eat all your magic!"

It was not for nothing that King Corvus was known to be fiendishly clever. Just from that, he could deduce that the two people who had lost their magic a few months ago when their destructive arrays at the Verdant Hills were broken – that was Azar's doing! King Corvus had been wondering if little Raven had actually managed to perfect the array reflection magic that no one had ever been able to (and many had even died trying to make it work). And that's why he had been quite amazed to learn that Raven was perfectly hale and hearty – in fact, he was healthier and more powerful than ever before!

"You really did have several fortuitous encounters, didn't you?" King Corvus asked Raven. "You must have found some part of an ancient master's legacy, at the very least, for you to have awakened a dragon!"

"It doesn't concern you any longer," Mana spat at the old king.

"You must be a part of his fated encounter as well…" King Corvus murmured.

Mana glared at him. "Are you afraid of the Raven's power, or are you afraid of the prophecy?" she demanded angrily.

Everyone except King Corvus looked at her in shock. What prophecy?! None of them had ever heard of anything of the sort – well, they knew there was one about Raven in the Pearl Kingdom, made by his grandmother and subverted by the Moon Temple to suit their own evil purposes.

King Corvus smiled at Mana. "And how do you know about the prophecy, little one?" he asked.

"Irrelevant," Mana retorted.

King Corvus pursed his lips. "Don't test my patience, little one," he warned. "You won't enjoy the consequences of me being angry!"

Raven's eyes flashed a dark, liquid black and shadows began to rise around him.

King Corvus was delighted. "Yes, little Raven, show me, show me more!" he cried, rushing towards Raven.

Azar breathed blue flames right at King Corvus, making him step back in alarm.

"Azar warned you before," the no longer little dragon said. "You can't touch Azar's Daddy!"