Chapter 78: 78 – Raven Loses His Temper

After the unexpected and extremely unpleasant interruption by Princess Astra, none of the youngsters were in a good mood.

"Prince Liam…that's the one who lost his magic, right?" Bella asked Jules.

Jules nodded. "Do you want to know how he lost his magic?" he asked.

"Azar ate bad guy magic," the little dragon boasted sagely. "Azar is good boy!"

Mana hugged the baby dragon. "Yes, my baby, you're the absolute best!" she praised. "Isn't he, Raven?"

Raven nodded, but his eyes were still flashing darkly – clearly his rage hadn't subsided yet.

Bella looked rather confused, and so did Vanilla. Jules went on to tell them about the evil arrays and the volcanic eruption that had nearly destroyed Verdant Hills and killed them all.

The two girls were quite horrified.

"Such a thing happened…?!" Bella cried angrily. "This Amber Kingdom, they are going overboard!"

"Indeed," Raven said dangerously.

Mana and Azar scooted closer to Raven and cuddled up with him, trying to calm him down. They had never seen Raven like this before, and it was quite unsettling.

"But…how did Prince Liam take a fancy to Princess Mana?" Vanilla asked. While she was slowly getting used to referring to the royal children by name, she lapsed into honorifics when she was upset or stressed. Clearly this matter with Astra and learning about her own close brush with death had really unsettled her.

Jules sighed. "Mana caught Liam's eye the first time Raven and I met her," he said. He went on to narrate the disastrous encounter.

Even Fox didn't know about this. He was as shocked and dismayed as Bella and Vanilla.

"What a jerk! Serves him right to lose his magic!" Fox said viciously.

Bella and Vanilla nodded vigorously, fully in agreement with that statement.

"You really did well to eat up that bad guy's magic, Azar!" Bella praised the little dragon.

Azar puffed up and stuck out his check proudly, making everyone smile.

"I think we should go back to the imperial palace," Raven said. "I don't trust Princess Astra at all. Papa is soft hearted when it comes to people he cares about, and she has extraordinary talent in wriggling her way out of sticky situations and planting the blame on someone else."

Bella raised an eyebrow.

It was Mana's turn to sigh. "We may as well tell them everything, Big Brother. Especially Big Sister Bella – she deserves to know the full story instead of the brief outline we told her earlier," she said. "Big Sister Bella is your fiancée, and Fox and Vanilla are already known to be our people – it's better for them to know everything so that they can be careful in the future and not fall into any traps inadvertently."

Jules sighed as well. "You're right, Little Sister," he murmured. "Bella, do you remember that I told you a little about Queen Sora and how Mana used to suffer from the Shadow Poison…?" he asked.

Bella nodded. "That was just part of it? There's even worse?" she asked, horrified.

Jules smiled bitterly. "Queen Sora killed our mother with the Shadow Poison – our mother, she tried her best to absorb the poison herself so that she could give birth to Mana safely…but Mana got poisoned as well," he said. He and Mana took turns to explain everything, even how Mana nearly drowned and that it was Astra's doing – but they couldn't prove it with enough evidence.

"That evil…evil…creature!" Bella cried. "How could she do this to Queen Dora? She was so brilliant and so amazing and…"

Mana and Jules exchanged a bewildered glance before remembering that Bella was the number one fan of their late mother – naturally she would be incensed!

Raven stood up abruptly, his fair face as dark as thunder. "Let's go back to the imperial palace," he said resolutely.

"All right," Mana said, standing up as well and handing Azar to her fiancé.

Azar nuzzled Raven's face with his head. "Daddy angry?" he asked softly.

Raven sighed heavily. "I'm trying very hard not to be, my dear," he murmured.

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Azar patted his cheek comfortingly. "Azar and Daddy will protect Mommy together!" he promised.

Raven kissed the top of the baby dragon's head. "Yes, Azar," he said fondly.

The group quickly packed up and returned to the imperial palace, dropping off Fox and Vanilla at IMARI. The two of them were reluctant to let their friends face the combined nefarious plots of Princess Astra and the Crown Prince and others of the Amber Kingdom by themselves in the imperial palace, but the four royal children assured them that they would be extra careful with everything.

By the time the group of four royal children and one royal grandchild reached the imperial palace, Princess Astra somehow managed to convince King Jaren to give up his idea of writing to King Orion and nullifying the marriage arrangement between Prince Astra and Crown Prince Mars after hours and hours of crying and pleading and promising never to ask anything of Mana or Jules in this context ever again.

Ultimately, King Jaren gave in and grounded her again. She was also forbidden to ever mention Prince Liam in front of Mana, Jules or Raven ever again.

This is what Mana, Raven, Azar, Jules and Bella saw when they entered.

King Jaren was warning Astra and she was wailing pitifully.

"But Papa! How will I do my shopping for my engagement if you ground me now?!" she sobbed. "At least let me go out for shopping! You can send your imperial guards with me and you can send Mana away if you want to keep her safe from me! She can go to the summer palace again, can't she?"

Raven erupted like a volcano. Powerful dark magic burst out of him, enveloping Astra and throwing her up in the air.

"How dare you?!" Raven thundered, his eyes flashing a deep black like an endless abyss. "How dare you try to harm Mana again with your evil tricks?!"

Princess Astra's green eyes were as wide as tennis balls and her face was pale as a sheet of paper. "Papa! Papa, save me! This…this lunatic is trying to kill me!" she screamed.

King Jaren sighed. "Raven," he said softly. "Calm down, child. Put her down, all right?"

Raven glared at King Jaren. "Are you going to let her harm Mana again?!" he demanded angrily. Tendrils of the other four elements began to emerge from him, surrounding him.

Mana watched with great fascination. Raven looked utterly magnificent.

Azar, too, rose behind Raven, hovering above his shoulder. The little dragon's eyes and throat glowed dangerously and he seemed to grow visibly bigger in front of their eyes!

"I won't let Astra harm Mana ever again," King Jaren swore quietly. "Nor will I let her harm you or Jules or Bella. I promise."

Astra was crying hysterically by now, wrapped in dark magic and hanging mid-air. "Papa! Get me out! Save me, Papa!" she wailed over and over again.

King Jaren shot Mana a beseeching look.

Mana slowly walked up to Raven and hugged him, letting her magic flow out and seep into him. A few moments later, Raven's murderous aura disappeared and Astra fell to the ground. Raven buried his face in Mana's shoulder, and she rubbed his back with gentle movements. Raven's entire body was trembling – whether with emotion or magic, Mana didn't know. For now, she just wanted to soothe him to the best of her ability.

King Jaren quickly called some imperial guards and issued strict instructions to keep Astra confined to her rooms until further notice.

After Astra was taken away, King Jaren sighed heavily and rubbed his temples. "I'm sorry, my children," he murmured. "I…don't know what else to do except to ground her. Shall I send her away to the Amber Kingdom in advance…?"

Jules blinked. "Weren't you going to break it off with them?" he asked.

King Jaren sighed yet again. "Astra is desperate to marry that Mars. I've told her she cannot involve any of you, and if Mars plans to take other wives, she has to deal with them on her own. Mana will not be used as a bargaining chip, ever. And I will never separate Mana and Raven, or let anyone else do so!" he declared.

"Good," Jules said, satisfied. "Mana and Raven belong with each other. I won't stand for anyone trying to break them apart."

"Absolutely," Bella said. "I'm with you on this, Jules. No one is permitted to harm our little brother and sister. Not under my watch!"

Azar, who had calmed down along with Raven, flew into King Jaren's arms. "Bad woman upset Grandpapa?" he asked.

King Jaren stroked his head absently. "Mana? Raven?" he called. "Are you all right?"

The two children were still hugging. Hearing King Jaren's voice, Mana looked up. She patted Raven's back gently, urging him to look up and speak to Papa as well.

The next moment, without a warning, Raven slumped in her arms, unconscious.

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