Chapter 58: 58 – The Much-Awaited Banquet Is Finally Decided

King Jaren of the Emerald Kingdom and Queen Carolina of the Sapphire Kingdom met at the imperial capital of the Sapphire Kingdom a month after Bella's proposal. Both monarchs were of the opinion that their children were too young to get married right away, but they wanted to formalise the engagement and throw a luxurious banquet to celebrate.

"I had originally planned for a banquet at winter solstice to celebrate Jules's coming of age and taking up the mantle of the Crown Prince of the Emerald Kingdom, as well as the engagement of my younger daughter Mana and Prince Raven of the Obsidian Kingdom. My older daughter Astra is also supposed to get engaged with Crown Prince Mars of the Amber Kingdom, but I haven't received the official proposal from them yet," King Jaren informed her. "Should we expand the banquet into a one week celebration so that we can cover both the Emerald Kingdom as well as the Sapphire Kingdom?"

Queen Carolina frowned. "What about King Corvus? Does he not wish to celebrate his grandson's engagement in his own kingdom? And, if I remember correctly, Prince Raven's father is the Head Sage of the Moon Temple in the Pearl Kingdom. What about him?"

King Jaren sighed. "Raven's family situation is a bit…complicated," he murmured.

Queen Carolina's frown deepened. "Nonetheless, King Corvus is quite sly. Getting engaged to your daughter, acquiring a dragon, being part of the team that invented the communication device…he will not ignore these achievements of Prince Raven."

King Jaren nodded ruefully. "I'm afraid you may be right," he said. His face hardened. "But I won't give up little Raven without a fight and not without an absolute, unconditional guarantee of his well-being."

Queen Carolina nodded in approval. King Jaren's protectiveness of his family was quite famous, and she was glad that her only daughter now fell under that reliable umbrella, too.

"With Prince Raven's current fame, it is also possible that some of those sanctimonious hypocrites from the Moon Temple may turn up at the banquet, even if Head Sage Yue himself does not. The Pearl Kingdom has been trying to sell a rather large and mostly useless piece of land to me lately, so they may want to take advantage of their connection to Raven to push that forward as well," King Jaren remarked.

"If the other four kingdoms congregate, King Orion of the Amber Kingdom won't be far behind," Queen Carolina said. "A marriage proposal for your older daughter may also be waiting for your when you return to your kingdom."

"To be honest, Astra's situation is not ideal, either," King Jaren said sadly. "I'm not sure if Bella told you yet, but since we are relatives now, I think you should know so that you can take precautions accordingly." Once again, he briefly explained recent events to her.

Queen Carolina pursed her lips. "Your older daughter seems to be perfectly suited to the Amber Kingdom," she said flatly.

King Jaren sighed heavily.

Queen Carolina sighed. "Since the matter is like this, I believe we should have a systematic plan. I suggest you go ahead with the planned banquet at the winter solstice – we just need to scale it up a little. After a three day celebration in the Emerald Kingdom, Bella and Jules will accompany me to the Sapphire Kingdom. The rest of your family can either come with us or arrive a day or two later. We will have the new year celebration in the Sapphire Kingdom. I am reasonably sure that either King Orion or King Corvus will want to host another celebration right after that, possibly both. Whether you accept it or not is your decision, I will support you either way."

King Jaren was very grateful for her advice and her cooperation. Finally, one of his children had gotten themselves a reasonable, decent in-law!

"Would you like to visit your daughter at IMARI?" King Jaren asked. "We could add you to our family array so you can visit her any time you wish in the future."

Queen Carolina's brilliant blue eyes glowed with joy. "That would be lovely," she said courteously. "Before we go, though, please tell me if it was your son who convinced Bella to shed her mask."

King Jaren shook his head. "Jules is surprisingly neutral about it; he says Bella should do what she wants to do and wear what she wants to wear, and the important thing is for her to be comfortable. Other people's opinions don't matter. I agree with him that it is Bella's choice, but I am also very pleased that Bella chose to stop hiding herself. She is quite possibly the loveliest young girl across all kingdoms at the moment."

Queen Carolina was surprised, and this son-in-law immediately became even more pleasing to her in her mind! Her question still remained, though. "If it wasn't your son, then who was it?" she asked.

King Jaren laughed. "It was my little brat Mana. She took Bella out for shopping and got her a new wardrobe." He sighed deeply. "And now the two of them go shopping almost every weekend – and there isn't a single shop in the capital city that doesn't try to get into their good books now, and merchants from other kingdoms have started turning up in the capital city every weekend hoping to catch their attention. Whatever Bella wears become high fashion the very next day. Mana took over the management of some of my textile industries recently, and thanks to Bella, she's already made a fortune."

Queen Carolina felt a twinge of envy. She had never been out shopping with her daughter.

"In fact, if you're not careful, the two girls may drag you with them on one of their shopping trips!" King Jaren remarked. "Jules, Raven, Fox and I are the usual victims. They even managed to pull Ana along once!"

"Even Headmistress Ana?!" Queen Carolina was shocked.

At the time, she had no idea that she would become a regular shopping companion for Bella and Mana quite soon.

While the two monarchs were discussing their children's engagement banquet, back in the Emerald Kingdom, Mana and Raven were facing a teary-eyed little dragon.

"Want to go to old island," Azar said tearfully, stamping his little feet. A wisp of black smoke curled up from his mouth.

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"Azar…can't we go later?" Mana asked helplessly. "Once Papa comes back? You know neither Raven nor I can operate the propulsion machine properly…and Fox can't go without Papa."

The little dragon cried harder.

Mana and Raven were almost on the verge of tears themselves.

"Let's ask Fox to teach us," Raven said finally. "Maybe we can learn quickly."

Mana sighed. "All right, then. Let's tell Big Brother and then ask Fox."

Raven nodded and picked up the little dragon. "Ok, Azar?"

Azar finally stopped crying and buried his head in Raven's shoulder. "Ok, Daddy," he said sweetly.

Mana and Raven heaved a sigh of relief.

Jules was predictably surprised. "Why do you want to go to the island again, Azar?" he asked curiously.

Azar gave him the same response Mana and Raven had received earlier. "Treasure!"

Jules chuckled. "Well, I was about to head to IMARI anyway; we may as well go together," he suggested.

The four of them entered the array together and landed in IMARI. Jules hurried off to find Bella, while Mana, Raven and Azar went to find Fox.

Fox turned rather green the moment they mentioned the propulsion machine, but his complexion improved rapidly as soon as he gathered that he didn't have to ride it himself. He happily explained the works to the two children.

Mana was surprised to learn that it wasn't too different from driving a car back in her world. She missed the Lamborghini her big brother had gifted her on her twenty-fifth birthday…but now it seemed that she could utilise her driving skills on this propulsion machine.

Since Mana was able to navigate the propulsion machine quite well, Fox decided to give it to her. Actually, as someone with motion sickness, he could hardly wait to get rid of it!

"Take it as your engagement gift from your friend," Fox told her. "I'm not going to use it ever again, so what's the point of me keeping it? Besides, you can't keep coming to me every time little Azar wants to go to the island, right?"

Mana and Raven thanked him profusely, making the older guy flush with embarrassment. Azar kissed Fox on the cheek and said adorably, "Thank you, Uncle Fox!"

Fox laughed happily and gave Azar a colourful candy. The little dragon ate it happily as he returned with Mana and Raven.

Raven set up the initiating array for the propulsion machine, and then the two children and one dragon climbed in. A few minutes later, the three of them reached the magical island.

Azar flew about happily and dragged Mana and Raven to the place where they had found his egg. This time, there was another stone here, which hadn't been here earlier. The hilt of a glowing sword protruded from the stone.

"Where did this come from?" Mana wondered.

"Gift from elf buddy!" Azar said with a merry laugh. He grabbed the sword and pulled it out easily. "Mommy! Daddy! Look, Azar got a sword!"

The blade glowed a greenish blue, as if responding to Azar's joy.

"There are some markings on the stone," Raven said. "s-w-i-l-1-3 – what could this possibly mean?"

"Elf buddy!" Azar said, grinning ear to ear.

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