Chapter 201: 201 – Regent – Protector

King Jaren, Mana and Raven stared at the emerald green flames in dismay, watching the pendants disintegrate bit by bit.

"What's happening?" Mana asked in a shaky voice finally. "Are – are the pendants being burnt to ashes because – because I – because I am not the real Mana…?" she whispered.

King Jaren immediately knelt on the floor in front of Mana and hugged his daughter tightly. "Of course you are the real Mana," he said firmly. "You are my little Mana – you are the flesh of my flesh, and the blood of my blood. There is no way I would not know my own child, my little Mana. You are my Mana, with your soul completed now."

"But – but Papa, I – I – the pendant…" Mana cried softly, big tears rolling down her fair cheeks.

"What does a pendant matter?" King Jaren said. "Does a bit of jewellery take away our relationship? As long as you think of me as your Papa and as long as I think of you as my daughter, what force in the world can separate us? You are my child, now and forever, and nothing in this world will ever change that!" he said firmly.

"But – but what if – what if I was not your biological daughter?" Mana whispered in a faint voice.

"So what?" King Jaren asked. "Even if you were not my biological daughter, you would still be my child, you would still be my little Mana. Is Azar not your child and my precious grandchild, even without the bond of blood? Is Raven not my child without the bond of blood? Is Bella not my child without the bond of blood?" he demanded.

Mana buried her face in her father's broad chest. "Yes, Papa," she whispered in a small voice. "Papa will always be my Papa."

"Good," King Jaren said, wiping his own eyes. He held out his other arm, beckoning at Raven.

Raven stepped forward hesitantly.

King Jaren huffed and pulled the boy into the hug as well. The two baby dragons also leaned in.

"Mommy is always Mommy," little Azar said firmly, nuzzling Mana's face with his head.

Mana chuckled tearfully. "Yes, my little Azar," she murmured, pressing a kiss on the top of his head. "Azar is always Mommy's precious baby, too. Thank you, little one."

"Azar is right, and so is Papa," Raven said softly. "Mana is Mana. A pendant is not going to change who you are."

Mana nodded tearfully, her heart filling up with warmth. "You don't mind…?" she asked Raven.

Raven blinked innocently. "Why would I mind?" he asked, his rainbow eyes filled with confusion. "You are you, as Papa said and as Azar said – and I said it too. It is you that I love, not your pendant – so how does it matter to me?"

"Well said, little Raven, well said!" King Jaren boomed, his emerald eyes filled with pride and joy. "Hear that, my little Mana?" he asked, rubbing Mana's hair affectionately.

"Yes, Papa," Mana said shyly. "Thank you, all of you."

Alya also nuzzled Mana's face with her head. "Auntie Mana is a good girl, and Alya likes Auntie Mana very much," the little white dragon said sweetly.

Mana wiped her tears and smiled at the loving family she had somehow managed to acquire.

The emerald green flames hissed, as if annoyed at their emotional display. Then it spat out two new pendants, one at Mana and one at Raven.

Mana and Raven caught the pendants on instinct.

The flames hissed again, seemingly angry.

King Jaren chuckled. "Looks like we were worried for nothing," he murmured. He held out his hand towards the flames. "I'm sorry. We assumed wrong things – we shouldn't have doubted you," he said apologetically.

The emerald green flames blazed a brilliant shade and hissed again.

"Yes, yes, I understand," King Jaren said, scratching his head sheepishly. Then he bowed towards the flames. "I am very grateful to you for looking after my little ones. Thank you, and once again, my apologies for doubting you."

The flames flashed brightly for an instant.

Seeing her Papa bow down in apology, Mana immediately bowed as well. "I am sorry, too. I should not have doubted you and made stupid assumptions. Please forgive me," she said politely.

The flames flashed again.

Since King Jaren and Mana were already bowing their heads in apology, Raven did the same.

The flames flashed again, and somehow, it seemed to be saying 'All right, you are forgiven, but don't doubt me again' like a petulant child.

King Jaren smiled at the flames, his face full of happiness and gratitude.

The flames blazed brightly for a moment and then disappeared.

You are reading story The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart at novel35.com

Mana and Raven examined their new pendants.

"Papa – this pendant seems to be different from the earlier one," Mana said, holding up her pendant for King Jaren to see.

King Jaren nodded. "Yes, it would be different – otherwise your earlier pendant wouldn't need to be destroyed, right?" he said absently, and then bent his head to look at the pendant that was being held out by Mana.

Seeing the pendant, however, King Jaren was startled. He turned to Raven and asked, "Raven, what does your pendant say? Can you show me?" There was a mix of excitement and anxiety in his voice.

Raven held up his pendant for King Jaren to see as well.

King Jaren examined both the pendants carefully and then beamed at Mana and Raven.

"Do you two know what this is?" he asked with a big smile.

Mana shook her head and looked at Raven, who hesitated.

"I can't read these runes," Mana said, pointing at the pendant. "It looks pretty, though. And better than the one from before."

"Of course it is better than the one from before," King Jaren said, with a smug expression creeping on to his face as well as his voice.

Mana raised an eyebrow in an enquiring manner. "What does it say?" she asked curiously.

King Jaren smiled at her and then ruffled Raven's dark, inky hair. "I think our little Raven can read these runes," he said.

Mana stared at Raven in awe. "You can? Really?" she asked, her eyes filled with admiration and pride.

Raven flushed. "Well, I – I found a book in the library that talked about the ancient runes of the Emerald Kingdom and it looked very interesting so I read it…" he murmured shyly.

"Amazing," Mana said reverently, her emerald eyes sparkling like gemstones. "You are so, so cool!" she praised.

"I have to agree with that," King Jaren said. "I remember how much I had to be scolded before I somehow managed to learn those runes – it is mandatory to learn those within five years of being named the heir to the throne. Ah, that reminds me, we have to get Jules to learn the ancient runes as well…"

"Oh," Raven said. "Big Brother has already learnt them. I showed him the book about the runes when I found it, and he thought it was interesting as well, so…"

King Jaren was stunned into silence for a long moment, and then he laughed happily. "My dear child," he said to Raven, ruffling his hair affectionately. "It looks like I must start paying you the salary of an imperial tutor!"

Mana huffed. "Raven is worth more than that," she told her Papa.

King Jaren chuckled. "Of course he is," he told his young daughter. "But Raven just saved me a lot of gold by teaching the Crown Prince of the Emerald Kingdom these ancient runes…"

"Papa, you can invest that gold in Mana's next business venture instead," Raven said hurriedly.

King Jaren laughed and hugged the two children again. "All right, all right, I'll do as you say, my dear children!" he told them.

"So – what do the inscriptions on the pendants say?" Mana asked curiously. She had already decided that she would bug Raven later and have him teach her these ancient runes as well.

Raven hesitated.

"Go on, Raven," King Jaren encouraged the boy.

"If I'm not wrong," Raven murmured. "Then Mana's pendant says 'Regent – Protector' and mine says 'Regent Consort – Protector' – is that right, Papa?" he asked, looking up at King Jaren with his rainbow coloured eyes.

King Jaren nodded. "Yes, that's what it says," he said. "Very good, Raven."

Raven flushed.

"But what does this mean?" Mana asked curiously. "What is a 'Regent – Protector'?" She had never heard this term before. What was this position? It sounded rather grand, but Mana didn't understand how it was different from being a princess of the Emerald Kingdom.

King Jaren poked Mana's forehead. "You have been sleeping in the imperial structure classes, haven't you?" he asked crossly.

Mana couldn't deny it – but she felt that she should have remembered things about the royal family, at least!

Raven came to Mana's defence immediately. "Actually, Papa, it was not covered in what we were taught in class by the imperial tutors," he said quickly.. "It was only there in the additional reference material, so it is not surprising that Mana is unaware of it."

You can find story with these keywords: The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart, Read The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart, The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart novel, The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart book, The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart story, The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart full, The Evil Emperor's Fragile Heart Latest Chapter