Chapter 224: 224 – Trust Issues

Bella, who had reached Raven first, grabbed the boy's hand. "Stop," she commanded, her face stern. "Snap out of it, Raven! Have you forgotten that Mana's life is tied with yours?!"

Raven blinked slowly and the black energy undulating around him wavered for an instant.

"Yes," he murmured. "You are right, Big Sister Bella."

An opalescent rainbow hued wave of magic began to flow out of his right hand and moved towards Mana, enveloping her.

Mana, who had been unable to stand or speak until now because of the bone crushing pain she was in, suddenly felt like she could breathe properly again.

Her green eyes blazed with fury as she let go of her big brother's support and glared at Raven.

"Are you in such a hurry to die?" she hissed angrily.

Raven smiled sadly and coughed up blood. "I can't be allowed to hurt Papa…" he whispered. "Mana, you know that…"

"So you will believe the words of someone else over mine? Is this the extent of your trust in me?" Mana asked in a cold voice.

Raven froze in shock, and the black energy of destruction around him froze as well. Mana had never been so cold to him, and he could also sense her feelings though their bond, that had not been severed yet.

"But I…" he began.

"But you are so eager to play the hero and to sacrifice yourself that it doesn't matter to you what anyone else is saying at all! You wouldn't even listen to me and you decided to kill yourself simply because you overheard something that you were deliberately led to overhear?! What's the use of your brilliant brains if you're not going to use them at the right time, when you need it the most? Did you stop to think for a single moment what was happening? Did you try to listen at all to what I was trying to say?" she shouted.

"But I…" he started to say again.

"But it doesn't matter to you, does it?" Mana hissed, her voice turning cold again. "It doesn't matter to you what I'm saying because you don't trust me at all. You would rather fall into a trap that was especially prepared for you without a single thought and in all your self righteousness, you would rather destroy yourself than have a little faith in me or pause for a moment to think things through logically. Everyone here could sense that there was something wrong, and no one even accused you of anything or pointed their fingers at you, and yet you jumped to kill yourself at the first chance you got. You didn't even listen to me when I kept saying that it isn't true!"

Raven's mouth dropped open in shock. "It – it is not true…? I – I am not destined to kill Papa…?" he whispered, and the black energy around him wobbled unstably.

"Of course you are not," Mana snapped. "It's all fluid!"

"But the book…" Raven murmured.

"I could have told you right away that the book I have is different from whatever she was referring to, because the book I have is the only one, and I can guarantee that no one other than myself has ever seen it or laid their eyes on it," Mana retorted coldly. "I could also tell you that there is a false copy of the book – yes, I have seen that as well, and the ancient master spoke to me about that as well – and that false book says that you killed Papa. But it also says that I died in the drowning accident several months ago when Astra's maid tried to kill me, and you and I never met because I was already dead. It also says that Big Brother Jules died in the earthquake at the Verdant Hills – and that Big Brother and I never met, either, nor did Big Brother ever realise that his true identity was that of the Crown Prince of the Emerald Kingdom. Big Brother never met Papa, he never met you, and he never met Big Sister Bella, either. Azar and Alya never even appeared in that book, and Father Aqi was never found. Astra and Mars took over the throne of the Emerald Kingdom and lived happily ever after. And that's the book you want to believe? Instead of what I was trying to tell you so desperately?" She paused for a moment and drew a deep breath. "But, of course, you don't believe me. You would rather choose to believe someone who poked a hole in my privacy ward and deliberately let you hear the false claim – and you even went berserk without pausing to think for a moment!"

"I'm sorry," Raven said miserably. "I just thought that…"

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

"That your life is expendable, and other people's aren't," Mana said in a voice dripping ice. "Clearly your life has no meaning for you – which, naturally, means that I hold no value to you, either. And if that's the case, you can just do what you want and I will do what I want. So you can happily go ahead and kill yourself exactly as you please – that's your prerogative, and I will use my soul in exchange for your life and drag you back!"

"No!" Raven cried. "No, Mana, don't say that! I didn't mean it like that – I just, I just panicked!"

He rushed to Mana, and the black energy around him started to dissipate, but as soon as he reached Mana and was about to take her hand, she stepped back and avoided his touch.

"I'm sorry," Raven said miserably again, looking very pitiful indeed, with all the blood on his face, in stark contrast with his pale skin.

Mana remained silent and unmoving.

"I'm sorry, I'll listen to you now, I'll always, always listen to you from now on and I won't ever do anything without discussing properly with you again!" Raven said in a pleading tone, falling to his knees and looking up at Mana with tears dripping down his face. "I'm sorry, Mana…"

Mana's heart softened, but she didn't want to let him go so easily. This time, she was really, really, angry. How could Raven treat his own life in such a cavalier manner? How could he try to obliterate himself over such words coming from Queen Dora without even bothering to speak to Mana even once, and ignoring all attempts of Mana to get through to him?!

It was unfortunate that there were no therapists and psychiatrists in this world, Mana thought to herself. Raven was clearly a child who need these desperately, and Mana was not someone who knew anything about these things at all. She could care for Raven and she could try and make him understand how much she cared for him and she could pamper him to high heavens – but she didn't how else to heal his psyche.

Mana couldn't bear it. She couldn't bear the thought of the precious little boy she adored so much doing something like this. She had thought that Raven had improved a lot in the last few months, with all the love and care that had been showered upon him in the Emerald Kingdom. But who could have known that this terrible self destructive streak was simply lying dormant within him, and that he wouldn't even hesitate to obliterate himself without even bothering to find solutions?!

But, besides being angry, Mana was also terrified and overwhelmingly sad. She had almost lost Raven today – simply because of some words from Queen Dora. Of course, that was really suspicious and Mana would look into that later on – but she was very, very scared that Raven would disappear from her life – and he had even figured out a way to protect her from the backlash of the bond they shared, she thought, remembering the rainbow light that had safeguarded her from the black energy of destruction a while ago!

But if she lost Raven – what was the point of Mana being in this world any longer…?

And there was no point in her going back to her previous world either. She had nothing left in that world, after all.

Mana closed her eyes, feeling utterly exhausted. Unknowingly, through their bond, Mana had transferred half her life force to Raven to undo the damage of the black energy of destruction, and as Raven's colour improved, Mana's declined.

"Mana…?" Raven cried softly.

Mana opened her eyes and looked at his sorry appearance. She couldn't maintain her cold demeanour any longer.

"Don't do it again," she murmured. "And if you dare to try something like this ever again – I promise you that you will either see my cold dead body before you succeed, or I will exchange my soul for your life and drag you back. Don't think that you are the only one who learnt things from the ancient master…"

"I won't," Raven swore. "I won't ever do anything without asking you, Mana!"

"Good," Mana said, and then she fell to the floor in a dead faint.

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