Raven knocked on the door of King Jaren's study and peeked in. "Papa? Do you have some time to spare?" he asked quietly.
One of the first things King Jaren had done upon their arrival at the imperial palace was to relay strict instructions that Jules, Mana and Raven were never to be kept waiting if they wanted to see him – regardless of whether he was in his study or bedroom or court or anywhere. He had also specifically mentioned that Astra was not entitled to the same privilege any longer.
It had been a couple of days since their showdown with Princess Astra, and she was still grounded. King Jaren had taken Azar to his personal treasury where gifts and tributes from other kingdoms were stored and let him choose whatever he liked as an apology gift. Azar had chosen an interesting mechanical toy from the Sapphire Kingdom, and the little dragon had spent several hours playing with it. It was shaped like a miniature carriage and had a spring mechanism that used magic to wound up. Azar was currently small enough to ride in it easily, and enjoyed it very much!
King Jaren looked up from the memo he was reading and smiled tiredly at Raven. "Come on in, son," he said, waving his hand.
Raven walked in silently and took the seat indicated by King Jaren.
"You look very tired, Papa," he said softly. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
King Jaren chuckled. "Thank you, dear child," he said with a smile and ruffled Raven's here. "I'll definitely let you know when I need your help. For now, I just want all of you to focus on your studies – the faster you learn, the sooner I can hand off all this stuff to my children and retire!"
Raven observed him silently. Then he quickly withdrew some herbs from his space and prepared a sachet.
King Jaren watched him, fascinated. "What a refreshing fragrance," he murmured.
"I can't do much yet to help you," Raven murmured. "But at least I can prepare these things." He held out the sachet to King Jaren. "It will help you with your exhaustion while you work."
King Jaren took it gratefully and put it in his pocket right away. "This really helps, thank you, son."
Raven smiled shyly. "I'll make you another one to put next to your pillow…it'll help you sleep well," he offered.
King Jaren rewarded him with a broad smile. "My little Raven, you really are an amazing child! We're fortunate to have you," he praised.
Raven flushed a little, but smiled back. He was slowly getting used to exuberant praises from his new family. It was a wonderful feeling…and it made him afraid that he would be unable to survive if he had to return to his lonely life back in the Obsidian Kingdom.
"You had something to speak to me about, right?" King Jaren asked. "Tell me."
Raven hesitated and glanced around.
King Jaren took the hint and gestured with his fingers. A transparent magical barrier with a greenish tint flashed around them for a moment before fading.
"You may speak freely now," King Jaren assured Raven. "No one will be able to hear us now, even with magic spells."
Raven was relieved. "I…wanted to ask you about the situation in the imperial palace," he said quietly. "Are the investigations going well?"
King Jaren sighed heavily. "Not very well, I'm afraid," he replied.
Raven bit his lip nervously. "Papa…do you really not know the perpetrators?" he whispered.
King Jaren fell silent for a long time. "I do have an idea," he said finally.
"Then…are you unwilling to bring them to justice?" Raven asked.
"We don't have enough evidence," King Jaren told him. "In our Emerald Kingdom, we don't sentence anyone unless their crime is proved beyond reasonable doubt. I would rather let a criminal roam free than punish an innocent person."
If Mana had been part of the conversation, she would have appreciated this progressive school of thought, for sure.
Raven looked away.
"You don't agree?" King Jaren asked.
"Aren't you also letting them destroy evidence, Papa…?" Raven spoke in a hushed voice. "You know as well as I do that it was Astra who tried to kill Mana back then by drowning her in the lake…isn't it clear from how Astra immediately beheaded the maid who was about to reveal the truth? And yet you let her get away with it, and even now, you're protecting her."
Rage flashed in King Jaren's brilliant emerald eyes for a moment before fading away. "I'm just a father trying to protect all his children," he murmured.
Raven shook his head. "Forgive me for saying this, but if you really believe that, I'm afraid you're deluding yourself," he said softly. "We have been in the imperial palace for less than three days, and I've had to detoxify Jules and Mana four times already. Twice, our food was poisoned. Once, poisoned incense was lit in their rooms, and once poison powder was dusted on their handkerchiefs."
King Jaren stood up abruptly. "Is that true?" he demanded angrily. "Why didn't you tell me before?!"
Raven shrugged. "It's not like you'd do anything about it. At most, you'd change the servants – which hardly matters. The servants are hardly more than serving bowls – unless you remove the poison from the cooking pot itself, changing the ingredients or changing the serving bowls wouldn't make a difference."
King Jaren fell back in his chair heavily and buried his face in his hands.
"Papa," Raven called gently. "I know this is difficult for you. I know you love Astra as much as you love Jules and Mana…perhaps even more. But I'm sorry, I can't let Mana be killed again."
King Jaren stared at the boy sitting calmly in front of him, and his face as white as a sheet.
Raven sighed. "You know it, too, don't you?" he asked. "Your daughter Mana actually died that day when she drowned in the pool. The Mana now is different from before, isn't she? I believe Mana's soul went to another world and lived out a life there – most likely the world the ancient master and his people came from. And her soul was pulled back here when the first Mana died. This can explain why she remembers her life here, but also has knowledge beyond our comprehension."
King Jaren smiled bitterly. "You really deserve your title as the child with the intelligence of ten grown men, Raven. You're only partly right, though," he said. "My Mana…the one from before…had an incomplete soul. It was only after she died that her soul was restored to a complete one – but it's not someone else; it is my own daughter." He looked down at his hands. "It was always much more than the Shadow Poison that ailed Mana – and perhaps that was the reason we didn't realise anything about the Shadow Poison until recently."
"Soul magic?!" Raven cried out in horror.
King Jaren nodded. "Half her soul was in another world…and it was pulled back to merge with the remaining half here. She must have died painfully in the other world, otherwise her soul wouldn't have lingered long enough for the bridge to work."
"You…you actually made a soul bridge?!" Raven shouted, his eyes flashing black.
King Jaren shook his head. "I don't have the ability to," he said. "Dora did. She arranged for it before her own death…she was always much wiser than I."
"So…since Astra's attempt at murdering Mana had the happy consequence of completing Mana's soul, you're letting her run free?" Raven asked bluntly.
King Jaren didn't respond.
"I can offer you a few options," Raven ploughed on. "I know you're caught between your children…but I have no such dilemma. I just want to protect Jules and Mana."
"Let's hear your offer, then," King Jaren said, eyeing the boy in front of him warily. An abandoned twelve-year-old child – all alone in a foreign country with no support except his own monstrous intelligence…what gave him such courage to come and insult the monarch of the only place that had offered him shelter? King Jaren didn't know if he should be annoyed with Raven suddenly challenging his authority like this, or if he should be pleased that this little boy was risking everything to protect Mana and Jules.
"I can make the truth potion, which forces people to answer any questions truthfully," Raven said. "That is the first option – if you really want to gather evidence and see justice served."
"What else?"
"The second is to trigger an epidemic in the imperial palace. You can choose who lives and who dies – the antidote is to be taken in advance, and I can guarantee that no one, not even my grandfather, would be able to tell that it was poison, not disease. You can even use this option in combination with the first to leverage Jules's popularity by calling it heaven's punishment on the guilty."
"What else?"
"The third option is to let Astra marry that Mars guy from the Amber Kingdom and let her go with him, and Queen Sora can fall ill and either retire to a remote village with her parents, or to a nunnery."
"Anything else?"
"The last option is that I take Jules, Mana and Azar – and perhaps Fox as well – and disappear forever."
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Powerful magic burst out of King Jaren. Raven was flung out of his seat and crashed painfully into the wall behind him.
"You dare to take my children away from me?!" King Jaren thundered.
"It's better than letting them stay here and get killed!" Raven replied, standing up gingerly. His right shoulder throbbed, probably dislocated.
"You little thing – you think you can protect them?" King Jaren sneered. "You are but a child – don't overstep your limits!"
"If even I, a mere child, can see the truth, why can't you, Your Majesty? Your promises to protect Jules and Mana, and to seek justice for your late Queen Dora – are they anything more than empty words?" he retorted.
"Mana and Jules won't go with you!" King Jaren declared.
Raven smiled slightly. "I'm not above using dirty tricks to deceive them into going with me. I'd rather that they be alive and safe enough to hate me for my deception than be die while still caring for me."
King Jaren glared at him.
Raven's eyes flashed black again as he looked straight at King Jaren. "Neither Mana nor Jules are hungry for power or riches. They care far more about their Papa than the throne their Papa sits on…and this is their strength as well as their weakness. They would rather let themselves get hurt than allow you to feel sad or face danger."
The older man staggered. "I know that…" he whispered.
Before he could say anything further, the door to the study burst open and Mana and Jules flew in. Azar leapt from Mana's arms towards Raven with a distressed cry.
"Raven!" Mana's voice trembled as she rushed to him.
Jules quickly closed the door behind them.
"What the hell is going on here?" Mana cried furiously, glaring at King Jaren. "Why is Raven injured?"
King Jaren blinked in confusion, and finally noticed the awkward angle of Raven's right shoulder. Guilt flooded his heart. How could he hurt a child?! He gestured with his fingers to include Mana, Jules and Azar within the sound barrier and approached Raven.
Mana and Jules immediately blocked his way, protecting Raven.
"I'm not going to harm him," King Jaren said sadly. His face was full of regret.
Mana's eyes flashed angrily. "Aren't you the one that injured him in the first place? How else would he get hurt in a room with only the two of you?!"
"I didn't realise…" King Jaren began, but then stopped. "I'm sorry, it's my fault…I lost my temper," he whispered. "Raven, dear child…why didn't you hit me back?!"
The three children looked at him as if he'd lost his mind.
Anxious, he peered at Raven. "Let me take a look," he murmured. "Do we need to call Physician Kale?"
"No need," Jules said coldly. "I'll heal him myself." He put an arm around Raven's waist, supporting the younger boy. "Mana, Azar, let's go."
"Wait!" King Jaren called.
"It's ok, don't be angry," Raven said softly to Mana and Jules. "I was the one who offended him first – and he didn't mean to harm me. His magic just burst out involuntarily."
"That's no excuse to harm a child, especially not from a parent figure," Mana said sternly.
Raven shook his head. "It's not like that at all," he said. "Anyone would react like this if someone threatens to take their beloved children away. It really was just an accident."
Mana was startled. "You…threatened Papa?" she asked in disbelief.
"We can discuss the details later," Jules snapped. "Let's take Raven back first."
Raven shook his head stubbornly. "I want to finish the conversation with His Majesty and hear his decision," he stated.
Jules sighed. "At least let me heal you first," he muttered.
"Thank you," Raven said gratefully as Jules concentrated his magic upon his dislocated shoulder and set it right.
"Are you injured anywhere else?" Mana asked worriedly.
Raven shook his head.
Mana turned to King Jaren. "What happened?" she asked.
"Raven came to scold me," King Jaren said, scrubbing his face despondently. "Rightly so, since I have jeopardised your safety over and over again. He also offered to 'take care' of things for me in various ways."
"And what is your decision, Your Majesty?" Raven asked.
King Jaren stared at the young boy pitifully. "Raven…you won't even call me Papa anymore?" he asked sadly.
That startled Raven. "Do I still have the right to?"
King Jaren was taken aback. "Why wouldn't you?" he asked. "I know I behaved despicably right now and injured you inadvertently – and you can hit me back for that if it'll make you feel better. But that doesn't mean I won't care for you anymore. I've told you before, haven't I? That you're as dear to me as any of my children?"
"Even after what I just said to you?" Raven challenged.
"I'm not happy with what you said, naturally," King Jaren replied bitterly. "We had a disagreement – but…that isn't going to stop me from thinking of you as one of my own." He bowed his head. "I know I've failed as a father figure and that I've disappointed you terribly…but if possible…could you forgive your old Papa and give me a chance to redeem myself…?" He knelt on the floor and opened his arms.
Raven burst into tears and ran into King Jaren's arms. The older man apologised over and over again while hugging him.
"It's ok, Papa," Raven whispered tearfully. "I'm sorry, too."
"You have nothing to apologise for, my boy," King Jaren told him, wiping his own eyes. "It took great courage for you to stand against me to protect Mana and Jules…and you have my admiration as well as my gratitude for it."
Raven flushed.
"And, at the risk of being presumptuous…I'd like you to promise me something," King Jaren said quietly. "In the future, no matter who tries to harm you, you must retaliate and protect yourself."
Raven looked away, unwilling to respond. He knew that he would never be able to retaliate against the ones he loved.
"Papa is right," Mana said quietly.
"Yes, Raven," Jules agreed, too. "You must protect yourself."
Raven shook his head. "I won't let my enemies go," he said softly. "But…I can't hurt the people I love. There's only a handful, anyway…and if I have to hurt them…I'd rather take on the damage myself."
"Not acceptable," Mana snapped.
King Jaren sighed. "Raven," he said seriously. "You mustn't do to Mana what Dora did to me. It…destroys a person in ways you can't imagine."
Raven held the older man's gaze steadily. "I don't intend to," he said firmly. "And this is exactly why I came to you with my offer."
Looking at the befuddled expressions of Mana and Jules, King Jaren summarised their conversation and Raven's offer – leaving out the part about Mana's split soul. That subject could wait for another day.
Mana and Jules exchanged a meaningful glance.
"Big Brother and I had a similar conversation just now…then Azar suddenly woke up crying that his Daddy was hurt," Mana said, rubbing the little dragon's head.
"I'm sorry," King Jaren said miserably.
"Since Raven is willing to forgive you, we can let it go just this once, Papa," Mana said. "But there won't be a next time."
Jules nodded in agreement. "Raven has already suffered enough at the hands of his biological family," he said quietly. "You are the first parent that cared for him, and he gave you his whole-hearted affection. I'm very disappointed that you hurt him, Papa, even if it was accidental."
"I know," King Jaren whispered. "I've failed all of you terribly."
"We don't want to cause you pain, Papa," Mana said gently. "And we don't like seeing you cornered like this…and we don't want to force you into making a difficult choice." She took Raven's hand and held it. "Perhaps…it really is better for us to disappear."
"No!" King Jaren cried. "Absolutely not!"
"I wouldn't want to leave our citizens at Astra's mercy," Jules said. "But other than that, I agree with Mana. Our presence here is causing you too much trouble."
"No, please, no!" King Jaren broke down into sobs. "Don't leave me alone again, please!"
Alarmed, Jules, Mana and Raven moved close to the older man and patted his broad back.
Azar nuzzled King Jaren's cheek with his small head. "Grandpapa sad?"
King Jaren calmed down miraculously and stroked the little dragon with gentle fingers. "I'm sorry," he said softly.
"Don't be sad, Grandpapa," Azar said cutely.
"We won't leave," Jules said. "But Papa…things really can't go on like this."
King Jaren nodded. "We will go to meet Sora tomorrow and confront her about the past as well as the present crimes," he said with a heavy sigh. "As for Astra…please give me some time. I still believe that she is not entirely malicious. And I…I don't want to lose a child. Let me speak to her…and if she still doesn't mend her ways, I will lock her up until she can marry Mars and go to the Amber Kingdom."
Mana, Jules and Raven looked at each other.
"All right, Papa," they said finally.
Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation, please?
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