Setting off, Ca and the others made travel southwest to reach the capital of Biyou: Mas. Mas was only a 5 day's journey from Nos.
On their way to Mas, they ran into no obstacles as no bandits wanted to mess with the princess's guards as they were covered in armor and carrying their weapons, ready for battle at any moment.
( Clop! Clop! )
"Your highness, we have reached the capital," one of the guards outside whispered into the carriage.
"Excellent, quickly make our way back to the palace," replied Ying.
The princess's entourage quickly got through the main gate as the guards on the gate knew who the princess's guards were. Making their way through the capital, Ca looked out the window of the carriage and saw people walking around just like any other city.
The capital's streets were filled with many vendors trying to sell their products. Ca also noticed like in most cities some people looked like they were slaves, but in the capital, there seemed to be a lot more slave-looking people.
After what felt like being in the carriage for 20 minutes, Ca finally made it to the royal palace. The royal palace was in the middle of the capital and they had to pass many gates to reach it.
The royal palace had a huge stairway, not particularly high, but wide. Walking up the stairs with his mother and his stepsister, the first thing Ca saw when the palace entrance door opened was the throne room. The throne room was huge and there was plenty of space in the middle of the room, the left and right sides were filled with chairs. The center of attention in the room was the huge golden throne sitting in the front of the room. The throne had a dragon detailed on it with a blue sky background behind the throne.
"Woah," Ca said in his head as he saw the throne.
The throne did its job, as it was made to capture the attention of anyone who had first witnessed it.
Coming out of both hallways, on the right and left of the throne room were the servants of the royal palace. There were plenty of girls and guys working for the king and his family. All of the servants bowed their heads and greeted Ca at the same time, "We welcome the crown prince of Biyou!".
Not knowing how to respond, Ca bowed his head also and replied, "Thank you for having me!".
After his response, he could Ying chuckle a bit. She found it funny as royals are supposed to be higher than commoners and shouldn't bow their heads to them.
"Oh, you're finally back, Ying!" shouted a red-haired lady with plenty of makeup on.
The lady ran to Ying and hugged her and told Ying how worried she was about Ying's well-being.
Ca could notice his mother trying her best not to make eye contact with the lady.
"Mother, I'm sorry but we have to delay our celebration of my return as father requested urgency with meeting Bel Wu and her son," replied Ying.
"Oh, yeah go on ahead," replied Ying's mom.
Going through the left hallway and making a series of turns in the huge palace they eventually made it a giant doorway.
( Knock! Knock! )
Ying knocked on the door before saying, "Father it is me, Ying. Like the letter I had sent you, I had brought back Bel Wu and her son."
A voice could be heard through the door, "Yes, please let them in.".
( Creak! )
The door opened and a frail-looking blonde man could be seen lying on a bed.
"I'll take my leave, as my husband is probably concerned about me," said Ying as she turned and walked away.
"Wait, Ying. Thank you for actually getting them as I know your situation," the man lying on the bed said.
Unbeknown to Ca and his mom, Ying was given the task to find them by the king and the queen was against it as she hated the idea of there being another kid in the palace that isn't hers, she also wanted to forget that her husband cheated on her with a commoner.
Ying paused before continuing to walk away.
In the room was now just Ca, his mom, and what looked like to be the king, who was sick. The king looked to be in his 40s or 50s but his body looked very weak. His hair looked healthy as he still had a full set of hair but his face showed that he hasn't been able to eat properly. His face was skinny and it looked as though he had no fat left on his face, under his eyes were huge black eyebags for what looked like lack of sleep.
"Come here boy, as I want to feel the hands of my son who I didn't even get to see be birthed," said the king in a gentle voice.
Ca hesitated and looked at his mom for some reassurance, his mom nodded her head for him to go over to the man. He took his time walking to the bed as he was uncomfortable with the situation.
The king noticed Ca's hesitancy and told him, "I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to feel your hands and see what my son has been through.".
Ca reached out his hand before the king gentling held it and said, "Hmmm, I see you been working hard as you have quite the rough hands. I'm sorry for what you had to go through as I wasn't able to be a father for you and that in our first meeting you have to see me in this sorry state."
Hearing those words, Ca's past burdens and emotions rushed him all at once and he couldn't stop himself from crying.
Slowly getting up, the king hugged his son for the first time. Being in that position and feeling all of the emotions that he was feeling, Ca didn't move for a couple of seconds and continued to cry on his father's shoulders.
Finally able to somewhat get past his tears, Ca was able to say something, "Why didn't you come earlier, why didn't you let my mother stay, why did you want to see us again after all this time?". Ca asked all of the questions he had, all at once.
"I'm sorry, I wanted to see you and your mother earlier but I have my duties of being a king," his father replied.
The three of them spent a lot of time in the room just talking and catching up, Ca felt the genuineness coming from his father as they talked.
During the conversation Ca couldn't find it in himself to call him father once though and the king could notice it.
"Well both of you must be hungry as you made your way here, have the two of you eaten yet?" the king asked.
( Growl! )
Ca was so hungry, just the mention of food made him hungry.
"Haha, well that answers it," The king reacted to the growl from Ca's stomach.
"Let's go eat, oh, Ca, if you aren't comfortable with calling me father yet, you can just call me Leo, now why don't you help me get up so we can eat something as I am also hungry," said the king.
Ca helped up the king as they made their way to the dining hall. The king instructed the others to get ready for a meal: cooks had to make food, servants had to prep the table and find the other royals to tell them to come to eat if they wanted as it wasn't the formal eating time, where all of the family of the king had to eat together.
The dining hall was huge but only had a small table fit for 12 people because the larger table wasn't needed as it was only a family meal and not a feast.
To Ca's and the king's surprise, all of the royals joined in and sat down at the table. Ca was introduced to his stepmother, his other stepsister, and Ying's husband.
Unlike Ying and him, his stepsister Ting wasn't a blonde like them. She took after her mother with having red hair.
Ying's husband didn't look like a man who fought in battles, Ca later found out he was from a successful merchant family.
Taking their time eating and conversing the family mealtime ended and Ca and his mother was introduced to their personal guards and servant. They also were led to their rooms.
Ca was shocked to see how large his room was. It was as big if not bigger than his house in Nos, although his house was small, it stilled showed how big his room was.
Two months later, Chan had made his way to the capital, with an entourage, per the request of Ca.