Chapter 16: Chapter 16 - Chocolate

"Chocolate!" she exclaimed, jumping off her seat and grabbing Raven's hands. "It's actually chocolate! This is what I wanted to find, Raven! The cacao beans!"

Raven had a thoughtful look on his face. "Milk, sugar and…oil?"

Mana nodded eagerly. "With this beautiful texture, must be olive oil," she said.

The manager stood up so abruptly that his chair fell over. "By heavens! I can hardly believe it! Princess Mana and Prince Raven have identified the love soup!" he shouted.

Applause broke out in the restaurant. Some people even whistled. The chef and his wife, who had been watching from the side, came up to them and shook hands with Mana and Raven.

"Chef, this chocolate – do you make it separately? Do you sell it?" Mana asked frantically. "Where did you find it? Can we get some?"

The chef laughed at her excitement. "We should have a box or two left by the end of the day, if Princess Mana is interested. We got the beans and the recipe from some merchants from the Sapphire Kingdom many years ago. We grow them in our own garden and harvest the beans. The quantity is limited and the process is tedious, so we have to keep the price quite high, unfortunately – that's why no one has ever wanted to buy it."

Mana bit her lip. "If I buy the box now…would you be able to make enough by the time the next date for love soup arrives?" she asked anxiously. She desperately wanted the chocolate – but she couldn't ruin the restaurant's signature dish for it.

"What a sweet child," the chef's wife said with a broad smile. "Princess Mana, we serve our love soup only once in each season and that's why we sell it all day long on these days – a total of four times in a year – because it takes a long time to prepare its ingredients, so you don't have to worry about it. We'll have enough chocolate for the next time even if we sell all our remaining chocolate of today evening to you."

Mana was overjoyed. "Then I'll come by in the evening and buy them," she promised.

She turned to her entourage. "Could one of you go back to the summer palace and tell Papa and Big Brother that it's love soup day here? I'm sure everyone would want to taste this fantastic dish!"

A guard and a servant left immediately.

The chef gave Mana and Raven a tiny box with two pieces of chocolate. "This is different from the one in the soup," he whispered. "Part of the prize for identifying all the ingredients."

The two children popped it into their mouths. This was dark chocolate with a soft core of raspberries.

"Awesome!" Raven blurted out.

Mana agreed whole heartedly. "Chef, I'll come to discuss opening a cacao farm with you. Let me know when you're free, please," she said.

"We can speak in the evening when you collect the chocolate box, if it suits you, Princess Mana," the chef told her. With the royal family involved, he could see his business multiplying and the clink of gold filling up his coffers.

Quite satisfied with the result, Mana bid farewell to the restaurant manager, chef and his wife, promising once again to return in the evening.

Looking at the happiness on her face, Raven couldn't help but comment, "The royalty in the Emerald Kingdom is really different from other places."

Mana raised an eyebrow enquiringly. "Good different or bad different?" she asked archly.

Raven chuckled. "Good different, of course," he replied, his rainbow eyes sparkling in the sunlight. "In fact, the best different."

Mana rewarded him with a satisfied smile. "Let's go and take a look at the vanilla beans now; I want to get it before Papa turns up with everyone!"

"Yes, my lady," Raven said with a bow and offered her his arm.

Mana took his arm, making her motions exaggeratedly haughty, but burst out laughing halfway through. She didn't let go of his arm, though.

"I think you're my lucky charm, Raven," she said. "We had such an amazing breakfast, won a challenge together, and we actually found chocolate! Now I have high hopes for the vanilla beans, too!"

Raven immediately started praying to every deity he could name that the vanilla beans were truly what Mana was looking for. He couldn't bear to see the disappointment on her face if they turned out to be something else.

Looking at his serious little face, Mana smiled and poked his cheek lightly. "Don't frown," she told him. "You look the most beautiful when you smile."

Predictably, Raven flushed. Mana suddenly felt like a flirty and lecherous Casanova teasing a pure and innocent maiden. The thought made her giggle.

"You blush so easily," she remarked.

"I'm…not used to compliments," Raven replied, with a faint melancholy in his voice.

Mana patted his arm comfortingly. "You'll have to get used to it, you know? You're so amazing, and here in the Emerald Kingdom we tend to be rather outspoken…so how can we stop ourselves from complimenting you?" she asked with a teasing smile. "You can either learn to get used to people praising you or you can pretend to be stupid…and maybe wear a mask, because this pretty face can't be ignored."

"Would you like me to?" Raven asked.

"Like what?" Mana replied.

"Would you…like me to pretend to be stupid and ugly? I can do that," Raven offered.

Mana huffed. "Are you out of your mind?! Why on earth would I want that? I want the whole world to know how magnificent you are. They'll all be so jealous and regret it so much – but I won't care at all and I'll laugh at them for being morons, because you're part of our family now!"

Raven stared at her, feeling warmth in his heart. He knew he was being greedy when he asked her that question, but he wanted to hear her say something like this. It always made him feel wonderful, hearing this easy acceptance of him – he, who had been discarded as an abomination by his own father, and barely tolerated by his own mother, siblings and maternal grandfather. He had always been jealous of his siblings…he had tried so hard to study well, to learn…just so that his mother or his grandfather would drop a word of praise…but the result had always been the opposite. When his combat teachers praised him, his half-brothers cried because he was better than them, and his mother had shut him up in the library for three days as punishment. He was not allowed to learn any combat skills after that. Similarly, he had been thrown out of his music class because his half-sister was upset that he could play a song perfectly within an hour, while it took her over a week of practice. The only fortune he had ever known was that his three half-siblings detested studying, so they would hardly pay any attention in class and made him do all their homework. Raven didn't really mind…and began to stay longer and longer in the library, withdrawing himself from everyone and burying himself in books. He gave up all expectations of ever being praised by any member of his family. No one other than some old teachers bothered with him anyway and not many people outside even knew of his existence, until his cousins and half-siblings paid a prank on him and sent him as participant to a conference of international scholars at the age of seven. Raven hadn't known that it was a prank – he participated seriously and even won the conference, winning international acclaim – that was the origin of his fame as "the boy with the intelligence of ten men". However, this conclave was held in the Pearl Kingdom, and his father spotted him and presumably wrote to his mother in not so polite terms about letting the evil cursed child roam free. She was absolutely furious and locked him in the library yet again. This time, his grandfather finally condescended to visit him after several days of confinement and told him to keep a low profile if he wanted to live. After that Raven practically lived in the library and never went out until King Corvus threw him to the Emerald Kingdom a few weeks ago. All his work as Naver had been done remotely, through magic, and not a single person knew about it until he met Jules and Mana and revealed his identity.

Unknowingly, his face had turned gloomy again while he was lost in his thoughts. A sudden touch on his cheek pulled him out of his thoughts. He found Mana staring at him intently.

"Don't be so sad," she said softly. "Those idiots don't deserve a precious treasure like you." She clenched her fists angrily. "And if anyone ever tries to harm you again, I'll kick them!"

Raven smiled at her, his eyes turning soft again. He thought that earth magic was appropriate for the people of the Emerald Kingdom – they were as accepting and tolerant and caring as the earth itself…they were powerful and nurturing beings, and had a lot of patience…but if you somehow managed to anger them, they were probably the most dangerous. And this was why the Emerald Kingdom managed to remain neutral all these years, despite being a peaceful and prosperous country. He was sure that other nations – especially the Amber Kingdom and the Pearl Kingdom – eyed them covetously, but still didn't dare to attempt an invasion. King Jaren looked easy going and temperamental, just like Mana, while Jules looked easy going and gentle – but each of them were fiercely protective of those they loved. Once they loved, they opened up their hearts without any barriers – but what would happen if that love was betrayed and abused…?

Raven shuddered. He would rather not find out the answer to that. Little did he know that very soon, a royal drama was about to unfold…and that he would be dragged into it as well.