Kwon and Clara sat in silence as they waited for them to be retrieved. Clara still had the image of him pulling her in to kiss him fresh in her mind. She couldn’t remove it no matter how much she tried.

Kwon on the other hand, had images of his mother playing in his mind. She had been the only constant memory he has had for the last ten years and now the images were stronger since his magic came into existence.

He wondered how she would react to him. Would her eyes well up with tears? Would she still be dressed in her elegant robes that he imagined she would wear?

He didn’t have to wait much longer. There was a knock on the door.

Kwon and Clara shared a look with one another before getting up to answer it.

Daesung stood there looking solemn.

“What’s wrong?” Kwon asked.

“The Duke will also be there tonight. And Seunghyun. I was just attacked by him for not completing the task he asked of me.”

Clara glared at him. “And what do you plan to do about this? We can’t have him going off and killing Kwon. Especially when we haven’t even met the King and Queen yet.”

“I know. If I wanted to off my friend, I would have done it before you left town the first time.”

Clara squinted her eyes at him then sighed heavily.

“Let’s just go. Don’t want to keep their Majesties waiting.”

Clara pushed past Daesung and let herself into the carriage. Kwon shrugged and followed after her. Daesung closed the door behind them and got in the driver’s seat and they were off.

The carriage wasn’t exceptionally large but Clara made sure to sit as far away from Kwon as possible. He noticed and scooted closer to her.

“Why do you keep distancing yourself from me?” He grabbed her arm the moment she tried to move away again.

“Please Kwon. Not now.” She said quietly.

“No. We’re going to talk about this now. I need to know.” He grabbed her chin lightly and forced her to look at him. They sat in silence for a while, the only sound to be heard was the clip clopping of the horse leading them to the castle.

“Kwon, please. I don’t want to talk about this right now. Meet your parents again. Then we can talk.”

Kwon looked all over her face. She had her eyes averted from him. Just as he was about to say something, the carriage stopped. The two of them looked out the window and saw the main tower of the castle looming over them.

“We’re here.” Daesung said as he opened the carriage door. Kwon and Clara broke apart immediately but it didn’t phase Daesung.

They climbed out of the carriage and looked around in awe. Clara more so than Kwon. Kwon looked at everything and memories were being thrown at him left and right.

As they walked down the main hallway towards the throne room, Seungri joined them.

“Glad to see you could make it. Anything coming back to you, Your Highness?”

Kwon shook his head yes without thinking about it. “I remember walking down this hallway before. But that doesn’t mean anything.”

Seungri, Daesung, and Clara all shared a look before smiling at Kwon. He wasn’t fazed as he continued to look around seeing glimpses of his past playing around him. Dancing images of him as a child, running through the palace with what looked like a younger Daesung and Seungri and another child.

“Were we friends growing up?” He asked suddenly.

Daesung and Seungri smiled at him. “Indeed we were. The three of us and Youngbae. You’ll meet him in a moment. Childhood friends. Best friends at that.”

Kwon nodded and looked ahead. He swallowed his spit as they approached the double doors at the end of the hall. He felt a hand slide into his and squeeze lightly. He looked down and saw Clara smiling at him and instantly his heart felt lighter.

The doors opened and they walked in slowly. Kwon put his hood on and Clara chuckled.

“Shy, now?” She said.

Kwon looked at her. “I just don’t want to get attacked if I’m not the right one. I also have to be careful around the Duke remember?”

Clara nodded and stuck close to him as they walked closer to the thrones. The King sat on his throne a solemn expression on his face. The Queen looked like she had been crying all day in expectation of her son’s return.

Kwon looked off to the side and looked directly at who most likely seemed to be the Duke and his son close beside him. He only glanced at them briefly before someone spoke.

“Welcome to the Dragon castle. I am glad you could make it this evening.” Kwon had just noticed the knight that had been beside the King. His eyes went wide when he recognized him as the knight that had approached them in their town.

“Make this quick boy. We don’t have all evening.” The Duke said in a snarky tone.

“Now brother. The young man came all this way. If he is my son, then we must welcome him back wholeheartedly.” The King said calmly and looked at the other knight.

The knight nodded and turned back to Kwon and Clara. Seungri and Daesung already took their places next to him.

“Go on and take off your hood, sir.”

Kwon looked at Clara, who had moved closer to him when the Duke spoke. She was staring at the King and Queen in shock. Sighing, he lifted his hand and pushed back the hood of his coat and looked up slowly, staring directly into the eyes of the Queen.

There was silence for a moment. Everyone stared at the King and Queen, waiting for their reaction.

The first to react was the Queen. She stood up slowly and walked closer to Kwon. As she was doing so, The King stood in place.

“What is your name, son?” He asked, his voice sounding on the verge of tears.

Clara nudged him. He looked at her and thought of the name that he would always tell her not to call him.

“Jiyong. My name is Jiyong, sire.”

In that moment, the ring around his neck glowed brightly and lifted itself out of his coats and engulfed him in the same pale blue light he was caught in just a few days before.

Clara gasped and covered . Jiyong didn’t know what was going on until he had a rush of power surge though him. It didn’t last long. He was soon out of the pale blue light and had fallen to his knees in surprise.

“My son! You’re my son!” The Queen immediately fell to her knees next to him and pulled him into a hug. The King came over and patted his wife’s back.

“Welcome home, my son.”

~~~

Kwon, or rather Prince Jiyong, stood in his old bedroom with Clara. She walked around and looked at everything in there.

“Looks like they left it just the way it was before you left.” She said softly.

Jiyong watched her. He had been forced into changing his attire. He was now wearing a new pair of black trousers and a wool tunic with a leather vest over it. He kept tugging at it after he put it on.

“Stop messing around with your clothes. You look fine.” She said when she caught him tugging at his collar again.

“That’s not the problem. It’s the fact that I’m wearing this now that bothers me. I’m so used to what I usually wear.”

“Now you have to get used to this all over again. Are you happy?” She sat in one of the chairs in the room and looked at him expectantly.

Jiyong shrugged and sat down across from her. “I’m not sure. I mean. I’m happy I know who I am now but…I was happy just…” He stopped himself. Telling Clara his feelings verbally were not the best thing for him right now. She would have to leave him soon and it pained him to think so.

“Just what?” She leaned over to him. His eyes grew wide at the sudden closeness but then he took advantage of it. He lifted her out of the chair and into his arms.

“Just that I don’t want—” He was cut off by the door opening. They looked at the door and saw the Queen standing in the doorway.

“Oh. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” She said looking away.

Clara realized what position she was in and pushed away from Kwon. She straightened her skirts and curtsied towards the Queen.

“It’s fine your majesty. I’ll just see my way out.” Clara left the room before the Queen could say anything. She shook her head and smiled as she shut the door.

“She’s a fine young lady, Jiyong.” She came and sat in front of him and he straightened up immediately. “But now that you’re back, you have to take up your place as prince and rightful heir to the throne.”

Jiyong cocked his head sideways. “What do you mean?”