The Evil Emperor’s Fragile Heart - Chapter 259

“Did he touch you? Where did he touch you?” Head Sage Yue asked Raven in a low voice so that other people around them would not be able to hear him. His hands, too, tightened on Raven’s shoulder, not enough to hurt, but enough to make his presence felt.

Naturally, Mana and Raven heard him. They could also see the concern and panic in his light eyes. Raven could also feel the light tremble in Head Sage Yue’s hands on his shoulders.

Looked like the man was not faking his concern this time – he really was worried.

Head Sage Yue rounded upon Mana. “And you! How could you let an old pervert touch your own fiancé right in front of your eyes?” he demanded.

Mana raised her eyebrows, not sure whether she ought to be surprised or amused or appalled. Was Head Sage Yue simply feeling jealous of King Min because the latter was able to establish a rapport with Raven right away after meeting him for the first time, and because Raven was speaking to him nicely and calling him ‘Uncle Min’ immediately after King Min asked him to do that, while Head Sage Yue had to work quite hard before Raven had called him ‘Father’ and even then, all of them knew that Raven was quite wary of this biological father of his. There was hardly anyone who didn’t know that Raven considered King Jaren and General Aquila to be his father figures rather than his biological father – and Head Sage Yue had no one but himself to blame for that. Hadn’t he been the one who had wanted to kill his son as soon as he was born because of some fake prophecy and then he had despised Raven’s existence for twelve years, and it was only after Raven had become famous and valuable that he had come looking for his biological son to derive benefits and to try and repair the relationship between them. Even if Head Sage Yue was sincere and wanted to make amends with Raven, it would take a bit of work. Twelve years of Raven’s suffering could not be erased with just an apology and a promise to do better. Head Sage Yue would have to earn Raven’s affection and respect by himself, and it would not be very easy to do so.

Mana thought about the current situation objectively – while she herself hadn’t gotten any malicious vibes from King Min yet, but then, there hadn’t been enough time for it, and she had also not fully focussed on the man. Besides, the man had barely patted Raven on the shoulder when Head Sage Yue had turned up and pulled Raven away. But then, if Head Sage Yue was reacting like this, then Mana would definitely pay attention to this King Min of the Pearl Kingdom from now on…

And Mana wasn’t offended that Head Sage Yue was scolding her, actually. Instead, she was rather appreciative of the fact that Head Sage Yue did have some amount of fatherly protective instincts left in him, after all.

As for her fiancé, the tiny bit of good feeling that was welling up in Raven’s heart towards his biological father disappeared immediately when he scolded Mana.

“You have no right to speak to Mana like that,” Raven said coldly. “If you thought that your cousin and the monarch of your country is a pervert who preys on young children, why did you bring him to meet us in the first place?” he asked, his voice dripping ice.

Head Sage Yue was taken aback. “I – I didn’t think…” he murmured.

Mana looped her arm through Raven’s. “I’m sure he’s not like that all the time, otherwise your father would not have brought him to meet you,” she said to Raven.

Raven blinked, confused. Why was Mana taking the side of Head Sage Yue who had just been so rude to her? However, he understood the moment Mana spoke up next.

Mana looked up at Head Sage Yue. “Are you sure that his intentions towards Raven are bad?” she asked.

And Raven understood why Mana had dismissed Head Sage Yue’s rudeness immediately. She had done so because she was concerned about Raven, and she took Head Sage Yue’s words seriously, and her protective instincts towards Raven had flared up! No one knew better than Raven how protective Mana was about those she loved – and he also knew very well that he was high up on that list. Warmth filled Raven’s heart and a corner of his lips titled up on its own, without him realising it.

Raven, too, looked up at Head Sage Yue, waiting for an answer.

Head Sage Yue bit his lip nervously. “I am not entirely sure,” he said quietly. “But I felt that the way Cousin Min was interacting with Raven was wrong, and when he put a hand on Raven’s shoulder, something felt very strange here.” He pointed at his own chest, where his heart was. “It just felt wrong. And – and it has happened once before, it was in the past when he had married a girl who was barely thirteen, and she killed herself almost as soon as she was brought into the imperial palace of the Pearl Kingdom. That was over a decade ago, but still…”

A sense of danger immediately permeated through Mana’s senses and alarm bells rang out loud through her mind. She spent a moment cursing Head Sage Yue internally, thinking that if King Min already had such a track record in the past, then why on earth had he let that man come to meet Raven? Didn’t he know what a beautiful child Raven was, or did he think that because Raven was a boy, he would be safe from the sights of King Min? Or had he not thought about this at all and only realised it now?!

They would have to be careful, Mana thought. Her face became serious and her eyes sharpened. Raven could feel the change in Mana right away.

“You saw King Min touching Raven’s shoulder just now and you felt that it was wrong?” Mana asked Head Sage Yue specifically. She would never underestimate the pervert detection radar of a parent, even if the parent was not up to her standards of a parent. She would definitely have preferred to have the views of King Jaren or General Aquila or Queen Carolina or even Crown Princess Pica on this – but still, Head Sage Yue knew some insider stories here, so Mana would not ignore his concerns. And the other four had been pulled way to speak with other people, so none of them had been able to see the interactions between King Min of the Pearl Kingdom and Raven. Besides, when it came down to anything to do with Raven, Mana would most definitely prefer to err on the side of caution instead of taking a chance and ignoring a potential danger. And Mana made a mental note to speak with King Jaren, General Aquila, Queen Carolina and Crown Princess Pica separately, and have them gauge King Min by themselves – she was sure that if Head Sage Yue’s apprehensions were right, then at least one out of the four of these people would be able to pick up something, and then they would be able to decide on how to proceed further on this matter. Still, even if no one else other than Head Sage Yue thought that King Min posed a danger to Raven, no matter how small, Mana would definitely take precautions against King Min. There was no way she would jeopardise Raven’s safety in any manner, even if the danger was small or latent.

Head Sage Yue nodded. “I did,” he said simply.

“Thank you for letting us know,” Mana said with a nod at the man in front of her. “I will make sure that he doesn’t get to touch Raven again, and that Raven never has to be alone with him again.”

Raven looked at Mana, his rainbow eyes wide with shock. “Mana, what…?” he began.

“We can’t take a chance when it comes to your safety,” Mana told him before he was able to finish voicing his question. “If Head Sage Yue feels that there is a potential danger here, then we have to guard against it.” She sighed internally. After all, Raven was a real child, only twelve years old, innocent and unaware of how terrible some people could be and the depths of depravity that some people could sink to. Even if he had been an abandoned prince and his mother and his grandfather had not really cared for him until he grew powerful, at least they had not let him near any perverts.

“But – but Uncle Min didn’t seem like a bad person at all,” Raven murmured. “Why don’t we wait for Papa and Father Aqi to meet him properly and then decide?”

A flash of hurt quickly swept through Head Sage Yue’s face, but Mana noticed it nonetheless.