Chapter 57: 57 – Fox Feels Lonely

In the aftermath of the success of the communication device, the group of five youngsters became overnight celebrities. They shared their research with the bigger group at IMARI and produced more models. King Jaren personally sponsored research trips for several members to test the limits of the communication device. After two weeks of frantic travel, they were able to confirm that the devices worked all across the Emerald Kingdom, no matter the distance. The next thing they needed to do was to check if it would work beyond the boundaries of the Emerald Kingdom as well, researchers from the Sapphire Kingdom, Pearl Kingdom and Amber Kingdom immediately volunteered. Soon enough, it was confirmed that the communication device really worked regardless of distance!

"It's all thanks to your dark magic," Fox told Raven. "Without you, we would at most have been able to make it work across the capital city."

Raven shook his head. "We all worked very hard on this. I did no more than you did," he said modestly.

Now that there were other people to deal with production, the five of them had a lot of free time. Headmistress Ana had generously given them a week off as a reward once the positive results from the other kingdoms came back.

"It would have been nice if we could test it in the Obsidian Kingdom as well," Professor Bella murmured.

Raven looked away awkwardly. Princess Bella didn't know about his domestic situation, and he didn't really like to talk about it either.

Mana grabbed Raven's hand under the table and squeezed softly in comfort. Raven shot her a grateful look.

"Let's hope we can do that someday," Jules said lightly. "We all know how mysterious the Obsidian Kingdom. I'm just thankful that we somehow managed to steal away Raven and keep him to ourselves!"

Professor Bella smiled slightly and didn't pursue the topic. Clever as she was, how could she fail to notice the tension in the air?

Fox groaned piteously. "I'm bored," he complained. "I don't want to see another performance and I don't want to visit another shop or another restaurant ever again!"

Mana wondered if he was actually bored or simply envious of the pink bubbles floating all around them these days.

Jules and Bella had finally managed to confess to each other and were officially dating now. Papa was over the moon. He liked Professor Bella very much to begin with, and now that she was dating his son, she became as precious as Jules, Mana and Raven to him, and he insisted that she call him 'Papa' like them.

Bella's reserve couldn't stand up to the open affection of the warm and hearty King Jaren. Not to mention, he was the beloved husband of the late Queen Dora, whom Bella absolutely worshipped as well as the founder of IMARI, which was her favourite place in the world. And he was Jules's father and looked just like an older version of Jules. With these triple qualifications, Bella came to adore King Jaren as much as the rest of his children – well, barring Astra, but including Raven.

So, with Bella and Jules surrounded by pink bubbles and roses, and Mana and Raven being an old couple by now, Fox was the only one left single. He hadn't even managed to confess to Vanilla before they parted…and now all his friends were entangled in matters of the heart, leaving him all alone and lonely.

Mana and Raven soon figured it out, though, and Mana decided that this was a good time to get Fox to craft fountain pens which would make their lives infinitely easier. She had also sent people to bring Vanilla to the capital, but she wouldn't disclose that to Fox just yet. The shock of Vanilla's sudden appearance could be the trigger Fox needed to confess his feelings. Mana already knew that Vanilla had taken a liking to this eccentric the first time they met, but Vanilla was a proud woman with a naturally cautious nature. She wouldn't make the first move. Unlike Professor Bella, who proposed to Jules in the middle of a dinner in the imperial palace, in full view of Grandpa, Grandma, Papa, Mana, Raven, Fox and Azar – but then, the Sapphire Kingdom was matriarchal and matrilineal, so it was to be expected. Jules had nearly choked on his soup, but somehow managed survive with his dignity intact and his heart on cloud nine. Bella had also clearly stated that she expected Jules to be monogamous (with a promise of reciprocity from her) and any infidelity would lead to irreconcilable separation. That had resulted in Jules going down on one knee, taking her hand and solemnly taking an oath, which finally made Bella as red-faced as her boyfriend.

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

The dinner had turned into a celebration and the new couple had received blessings from all quarters. King Jaren, naturally, leaked the information to his courtiers the very next morning, and the news soon spread to the citizens as well. Thankfully, Bella had written in advance to her mother, the monarch of the Sapphire Kingdom, of her intention to woo the Crown Prince of the Emerald Kingdom. Professor Bella had no idea that her stern mother had been so ecstatic at the news that her research-crazed daughter had finally taken fancy to another human that she had declared a national holiday for the first time in her reign of nearly twenty years! Queen Carolina's biggest worry had always been her only daughter's future husband or wife – to be honest, she didn't care if her daughter found a man or a woman or a mutant or anything – as long as it was a living creature and devoted whole-heartedly to her daughter and could take care of her. And now that Bella had managed to find herself a young man – a Crown Prince at that – Queen Caroline was even happier than King Jaren. She could hardly wait to see her future son-in-law! The people of the Sapphire Kingdom were as pleased with the news as the people of the Emerald Kingdom. While the Sapphire Kingdom tended to remain neutral and maintained friendly but slightly aloof relations with all other kingdoms, they had very little goodwill towards the Amber Kingdom or the Pearl Kingdom, and didn't know enough about the Obsidian Kingdom to judge. Emerald Kingdom, however, was actively liked, and thus, in their eyes, there couldn't be a more suitable match for their Crown Princess Isabel than Crown Prince Jules of the Emerald Kingdom! And they had even worked together to create an amazing communication device that would soon change the world! What a glorious new chapter in the history of both kingdoms!

Anyhow, the loving new couple was currently blissfully unaware of the blessings being sent their way from the overjoyed citizenry of two kingdoms. They were caught up in a conversation of their own that no one wanted to eavesdrop on.

Mana stood up and grabbed Fox's hand, dragging him out of the room. Raven followed behind her with Azar dozing in his arms. The little dragon was getting bigger again. If he continued to grow at this rate, he might be almost as big as Mana by this time next year, Raven thought.

Mana found a nice, empty room and pushed Fox into a new seat.

"I have a new project for you," she said without preamble.

Fox's eyes gleamed with anticipation. Mana's ideas were highly unorthodox and innovative, and he always looked forward to hearing from her.

Mana showed him her drawings of a fountain pen and explained quickly how it worked.

"Basically," Mana concluded, "It is easier to write with a hard, pointy thing than the calligraphy brushes we use. Have you ever tried writing with a lump of charcoal?"

Fox nodded enthusiastically. He had mostly used charcoal lumps to write when he was young, but it had never occurred to him to craft a new kind of 'pen' that could use ink as a medium, just like a calligraphy brush, but maintain the convenience of charcoal! How simple and yet how ingenious!

Raven, too, was very interested in this new object.

Thus, the three of them started working on their new project, which had the double benefit of keeping them out of the love-struck royal teenage couple and leaving no time for Fox to mope or feel lonely.

It took them less than a week to make a basic fountain pen, and Mana was so happy to hold one in her hand that she nearly burst into tears. Fox actually did burst into tears when he started writing with it and realised how easy it was to use compared to their traditional pens. Instantly, his handwriting became perfectly legible (although not as beautiful as the royals).

Raven, on the other hand, struggled with the fountain pen, which amused Mana and Fox to no end. Raven's calligraphy was normally so beautiful that Mana felt bedazzled every time she saw it. But the downside was that he had only ever used calligraphy brushes, and he was used to controlling the soft hairs of a brush. Now, faced with a metal nib, he was lost.

Looking at his little frustrated face, Mana and Fox made a silent pact that they would keep the fountain pens to themselves and the others use their calligraphy brushes as usual.

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