It wasn't even morning as our carriage left, the sky foreshadowing the arrival of the day and the birds humming the melodious folklore of their origin. It was just so peaceful that a smile scrawled on my lips. 

"What is it?" Arashi asked.

"The environment here is so calm. I love it." I said leaning against his comfortable arm. 

"You will like the garden behind our palace in Shinkyo too then." He said.

"There is a garden too?!" 

"Yes, the biggest garden. My mother loved to collect different kinds of plants and trees, so my father used the old palace and the surrounding area as her garden. It is still the same, I hope." Arashi said and I imagined the new and foreign plants I'd get to see.

"Where are we going?" 

"Capital of Wansai, Nagaishi." Arashi looked at me, "After seeing the emperor, my grandfather, we will go to my palace, Shinkyo." He answered.

"You have a palace?" I asked.

"Yes, not far from Nagaishi. Because my men and their families stay in the city of Shinkyo." He said, "Like I said, my men are not part of the Wansai army and besides the large number of men who were captured during the war, no one would want to shelter them as they were from Kosaki." 

I nodded. It was right. They were immigrants in their eyes and they certainly wouldn't treat them well. 

It took us a few more hours to reach the locality and people just knew who it was by the men who were following us. They gathered around both sides of the road and tried to peek inside.

Some even recited in a language I couldn't understand. I asked, "What are they saying?"

"Prayers for returning home. That is a local language." He said.

It was very different how they treated their superiors. They had the biggest smiles and they gave off welcoming vibes as we crossed them. It was no doubt they were curious as to why their Prince left all of a sudden and then came back.

We finally reached our destination, Nagaishi. The city was very big and decorated. It was more composed than the capital of Kosaki and where I used to live with my father. 

I was nervous because I finally was in the place where Arashi was born and spent his early days. It was almost exciting and overwhelming at the same time. Also, I was nervous because I was about to meet his family here.

I heard from Brother Hiroshi that he had a lot of cousins. I could feel my nerves pumping as I didn't know what to say or what to do in front of them. They were all royals and I was a normal girl. 

After we reached the palace ground, I saw each and everyone present there bending their heads as Arashi went down from the carriage. His face, his whole body gave an authoritative vibe. He certainly was a prince, wasn't he? I was still finding it hard to believe.

He stretched out his hand toward me and with shaky hands, I took them. He helped me to come down from the carriage and I looked around. I saw their gazes were on me as curiosity and shock nested on their eyes. I was a bit overwhelmed as I stuck close to Arashi and my heart was hammering against my chest.

There were few crowds forming around Arashi but as usual he was calm and collected. The Kuro soldiers formed a line so the people wouldn't get to us and I saw Wansai soldiers in deep brown attires come as well. They formed another line from the palace and bent down their backs as a group of people came. 

They all were wearing smiles on their beautiful faces and I could notice they had expensive robes and clothes on them. Were they the relatives of Arashi? My heart now pumped on my ears as I froze at my place. How to greet them?

A curtain person came forward and greeted Arashi, "Brother, I am glad you are here. Where were you all these years?" 

He was tall like Arashi and had long black hair. He looked different but I could notice the resemblance. They might be brothers or cousins. Behind him, another two men and a few women came as they all started to surround Arashi and started to throw their questions to him.

They seemed to have so many questions but Arashi didn't say much, just a few words, "It's nice to see you all again but I am afraid both my wife and I are tired after this long journey."

At that my cheeks got warmed as I froze and all of their eyes were on me. Were they shocked? They were and it certainly was visible from the round eyes they had on their faces. But some women from the group showed me a distasteful glare. 

I gulped. They might not like me at all...

My gaze followed Arashi as I was asking for his help. I had no idea what to do. Should I bow? But I saw Arashi didn't bow to them. It was the opposite. He glanced at me and said, "She's Bianka. My wife."

"When did you get married?" The brother who was the first one to greet him asked, "Is she a princess of some other country?"

No. I wasn't but they might not like the fact and I was a bit scared at that thought.

"I will tell you everything later." Arashi said, "We need to see the emperor." 

And some of their faces sunk low at the mention of the emperor. Arashi stiffened and my worried gaze fell on Arashi. He must love his grandfather too much since he gave off tension filled air around him. 

"Where is he staying? I need to meet him." Arashi said and the cousin brother of him nodded. 

He said, "In his chamber."

Arashi started to walk as I followed him from behind and I noticed the others were giving me glares or displeased faces. Even the cousin brother he was talking with eyed me. I could feel my stay here wasn't going to be pleasing.

It was a large palace as we crossed long corridors. I saw they had gardens and cherry blossoms surrounding the whole palace. We took a turn and we finally reached in front of a massive door. 

Arashi stood there for a moment as if he was gaining courage to enter the room. I placed my hand on his shoulder and patted as he looked at me. 

"It is going to be alright." I said, smiling although I had no idea if his grandfather was well.

His eyes were a bit puffy and I could see he was worried. Despite his hard face I could see he was crying inside. He took a long breath and opened the door.

As he opened the door, I saw a massive bed was at a side where an old man was lying down. He looked weak and the wrinkles on his face were telling the years he had been witnessing everything. A white cover was covering him and a few people were sitting all around him. 

They all looked at us and as they saw who was at the door, gaps formed on their mouths and eyes struck with shock. 

An old woman came and as she reached him, she started to cry and Arashi immediately embraced her. "Rian, your grandfather..." The old lady trembled in his arms as she sniffed.

A young woman came behind her and started to pat, saying, "Please, grandmother empress, don't cry. Your health will become worse."

Following her, two other women came, one had a little child clutch against her chest and she was crying as well. And the other one seemed to be in her late forties as she was patting the young woman who was patting the empress. "Akio, don't tell the empress not to cry. The doctor said that..." And the lady started to sob.

They were all sobbing as Arashi said, "Don't worry he'll be fine. Let me take a look."

"But the doctor is already inspecting him," the young woman named Akio said.

Arashi didn't answer them as he went near the emperor. The woman who had a child said, "Brother Rian, welcome home."

Arashi looked at her and patted her head and asked, "How are you, Rei?"

The woman gave a sad smile and looked at her child as she said, "My husband died and I had to come back home with my son."

Arashi's face got a frown. He was speechless and he said, "I am sorry I wasn't there when I should have been here by your side as your elder brother." Guilty laced on his voice and I felt Arashi's pain. My lips quivered as I saw the brother and the sister reuniting after a long time. It seemed like many things happened while he was away and it pained me that he was going to feel guilty about it.

Rei shook her head and said, "No. I know you have other things that you need to look after. I understand it."

Rei added, "I am going back to my room, brother and mother emperor, I need to feed him."

Arashi nodded as she left but I saw the tears coming down from her eyes.

The whole situation was a bit tense at the moment and they were all scared that something might happen to him and they weren't ready for this. From this, I could see how everyone loved their emperor so much. The emperor might have been protecting them and showering them with love and my heart yearned for it as well. Hiroshi said the emperor loved Arashi too much. Then maybe he would love me too?

----
7th July, 22
1649