Edited by: Chip (my friend who doesn't really have experience editing but they wanted to help me so I really appreciate her). I still need an editor though ahaha.

It took about four days to arrive in the capital where Cyrus and Wallace lived. They reached the capital before lunchtime, which was ahead of schedule. 

The Great Dragon Forest was to the southwest of the Hirean Empire, so they had to travel northeast to reach the empire.

The capital was more toward the center of the Empire with a large river to the east, so the land was fertile. There were also a lot of fish that came through the river, creating a large fishing industry. To the east, there was a forest that surrounded a giant mountain. That mountain was where numerous amounts of magic stones were dung up. It was owned by one of the Ducal families as it was on their territory.

To the west, there were travel routes to the Holy Kingdom. To the north, there were no other countries, but the land was covered in snow most of the year. There was also a large mountain where some dragons lived. Finally, to the south, the land was fertile and the weather was suitable for agriculture all year round. 

The capital of the Hirean Empire was called Hirim. It was based on the name of Sohtris’ first disciple. She later became the first Emperor after Sohtris. 

Hirim was the largest city in the Hiream Empire. It was ten times the size of the first town Atlas went to. The most common transportation was either by buses or carriages both powered by magic. The former was publicly funded, so everyone could use them, while the latter was used by the rich. Cars were not a thing just yet because the consumption of magic was too much even for carriages. Horses and horse-drawn carriages were another popular transportation method. 

Hirim also had much taller and sturdier buildings. As for the materials, Atlas wasn’t quite sure, but it looked like a large castle town with buildings that even reached 6 stories high. 

There were five districts, North, South, East, and West, as well as the central district. The central district had the palace, the Imperial Academy, as well as the main Dragon’s Temple. In the northern district, it had the homes of many nobles, but these were mostly high-ranking nobles. The lower-ranking nobles were to the west. The southern district was the commercial district. Shops and stalls lined the streets, bustling with activity. Lastly, the east district was the residential district for the common folk. It was one of the largest districts after the central district. Most commoners only navigated between the east and south districts as there were ample amounts of security in the central, north, and west districts. 

Cyrus saw the awe in Atlas’ eyes and couldn’t help but smile. Atlas’ undisguised emotions made him feel like he would be able to express his emotions again soon. He felt comfortable enough to be himself. 

“When there’s time, we will explore the capital, but for now, we must go to my house. Is that alright?” 

Looking at Atlas, he knew that the other wanted to explore the markets, but they had other things to do… 

“That’s fine! Then we have to go when we have time. It will be my first time going to a big market like this. I want to buy and eat lots of stuff!” 

Atlas was easy to please and coax. It was just how he was… He was like a golden retriever. 

Cyrus patted his head. “Very cute.” 

“Heehee,” Atlas grinned while humming an unknown tune. 

Wallace, who was in the carriage, felt like a third wheel even though he knew that Atlas and Cyrus were siblings. Cyrus even had a fiancée. Maybe it was because the two were very close that it seemed like they were in their own world? 

He was sure that Cyrus’ fiancée wouldn’t be very happy… Hopefully, they will be able to talk it out. 

It took 30 minutes for the carriage to arrive at Cyrus’ family mansion in the capital. The Alnhart family was situated in a mansion near the palace. Since Cyrus’ father, Everet Alnhart, was the Prime Minister, he had to be close to the palace. They also had land in a nearby territory; but that was being managed by Cyrus’ mother, Mirabelle Alnhart. She was currently in the capital waiting for Cyrus to come back with Atlas. 

“I hope your family likes me…” Atlas felt a little nervous. Even his biological parents from this world didn’t like him, what happens if they think he’s evil or something? 

“They will, I promise.” Cyrus patted him on the head to try to comfort him. “My family is your family. If they don’t like you, then I will leave too.”

Hearing this, Wallace felt a bit of cold sweat on his back. He knew Cyrus wasn’t joking. He could only hope that his good friend and his wife would like Atlas.

Well, his worries were for naught because Atlas would definitely be loved by his new family, the Alnharts. 

“But I don’t want you to leave your family. That’s why, I hope they will like me too.” He rubbed his hands on his legs, trying to calm his anxiety.

“Don’t worry. I’ve told my family about you, and they can’t wait to meet you,” Cyrus said because he saw Atlas nervously looking at the mansion as it got closer and closer. “My mom especially has been excited because she’s always wanted another kid but she’s been weak after giving birth to me.” 

Atlas felt a bit more relieved to hear that. Hopefully, Cyrus was right.

When they arrived, there was a large group of people in the front. The people in maid uniforms were to the left and the ones in butler uniforms were to the right. There were feminine-looking people wearing butler outfits, as well as slightly masculine people wearing maid outfits, so Atlas couldn’t gender them. He decided to just split them up by clothes instead. 

One of the knights that came with Cyrus opened the door for them. Wallace was the first to walk out. 

“Ah, finally I can stretch my legs!” He did his stretches near the carriage without any regard to the servants’ stares. 

Wallace didn’t really care what other people thought of him, so he did whatever he wanted. 

He really wanted to go home though. Once he dropped these kiddos off, he could finally see his wife! He was a man with eyes only for his wife… Once they were inside, he was going to leave like he had never been there.

Cyrus ignored his master and got out of the carriage first. He then extended his hand out to Atlas. “Let’s go. Everyone’s dying to meet you.”

Atlas nodded, still a little nervous, but he grabbed Cyrus’ hand. 

Sir Walter jumped out of Atlas’ arms, landing gracefully outside of the carriage. He stood next to Cyrus, waiting for Atlas to come out. 

After living in the forest for almost two years, he wondered if his communication skills were bad. The language was also a little tricky, so he didn’t want to make too many mistakes! Well, he practiced with Cyrus, so he shouldn’t be too bad. 

Why was he nervous?! Maybe it was because they were rich… 

All the servants bowed the moment he stepped out of the carriage. “Greetings, to the Second Young Master and Third Young Master.” 

Now he was utterly confused. Third Young Master??? 

“Be at ease. Thank you for welcoming Atlas so warmly.”

Then he whispered in Atlas’ ear, “I made sure to tell them that you are my brother. Father and Mother have also approved of this, so everyone will be calling you Third Young Master from now on. Servants that are closer to you are permitted to call you Lord Atlas, though.” 

“What a mouth full, but okay…”

Atlas trusted Cyrus. If this was best for him, then he would roll with it! 

“Second Young Master.” An older gentleman with gray hair approached. He gave a polite bow. “Master, Madam, and First Young Master are waiting for you, Third Young Master, and Sir Walter in the parlor.”

“Understood. Please escort us there.” 

“Of course.” 

The butler turned to Atlas. “Greetings Third Young Master and Sir Walter, I am the head butler who oversees the servants on behalf of the Master. My name is Odin Aldnim.” 

Sir Walter, who was standing next to Atlas, gave a soft bark to respond to Odin. Everyone could see that Sir Walter was intelligent and able to respond to people. 

Atlas thought it was cool to meet another person with a name from Norse mythology. 

“Odin is the third son of the Aldnim family. The sons and daughters who don’t take over the family will become servants of the Alnhart family. They are long-standing Barons, but are incredibly loyal and talented.” 

“You flatter me, Second Young Master.” 

Cyrus gave a nod and then lightly tugged on Atlas’ hand that he was holding. “Let us go meet my parents and older brother. We have kept them waiting.”

“Okay, lead the way.” 

Everyone watched Cyrus and Atlas, hand in hand, walking to the parlor. Sir Walter walked beside them, following them without being curious or jumping around. He was calm and collected, ignoring everyone that ogled at them.

Everyone felt it was incredible to see their Second Young Master with a gentle expression on his face! He must cherish the newly found Third Young Master very much. He wasn’t like that with anyone else, not even his fiancée! 

Would his fiancée be happy to hear or see this? Well, they couldn’t gossip so they kept their mouths shut. 

In Cyrus’ defense, it wasn’t like he hated his fiancée. Actually, he got along with her, but he’s still trying to get to know her. He’s met Atlas every night for almost two years. Of course, he’s more comfortable with him than the fiancée he met maybe once a week if they were lucky.  

Cyrus and Atlas followed Odin to the parlor. On the way, Atlas looked at the white marble floors, the gold trimmings along the walls, the gaudy ornaments, and even the large windows that brought in tons of light. He had never been in a place like this, only seeing them in movies. 

“To be honest, our mansion is a lot more… humble than most nobles.” 

Cyrus saw Atlas’ shock so he had to tell him the hard truth. He, too, thought this was too much until he went to a relative's house for the first time. Of course, he had a disguise. 

“Humble?! I wonder what my tree house looks like in comparison. Probably worse than a shack.” Atlas half-joked. 

“Well, your tree house is special, so you can say that yours is much more modest but ideal for those who worship the Gods.” 

“That’s true…” 

When Atlas found out that Mama Sohtris used to live in the same tree as him, he was surprised but also happy. She made his stay in the forest so comfortable, he didn’t even have to worry about bugs! He was eternally grateful to her. 

Odin finally stopped moving and knocked on the door in front of him. The doors were large, white, squared double doors with gold trimmings. 

He knocked twice. “Master, Madam, First Young Master, I have brought Second and Third Young Master. Sir Walter is accompanying them as well.” 

“Thank you, Odin,” a deep male voice said. “Let them inside.” 

Atlas assumed that this was Cyrus’ father.  

Odin opened the doors and stepped to the side. It was to let Cyrus and Atlas come inside. Once they entered, Odin stepped back outside the door and closed them. He knew that it was a family reunion along with the meeting of the new young master, so his presence was not needed. 

“Cyrus, Atlas, welcome home!” Duchess Alnhart was the first to greet them. She stood up and walked over to hug Cyrus. 

Then she looked over at Atlas. “It’s so nice to finally meet you, Atlas. We have heard a lot about you from Cyrus.” She wanted to hug him, but she felt it was rude to do so on their first meeting, so she held back. 

She also greeted Sir Walter, “It’s a pleasure to have the Divine Beast, Sir Walter, in our home. Our home is your home.”

Sir Walter barked in reply, then jumped into Atlas’ arms. 

Atlas responded hesitantly, “It’s nice to meet you too… Mom?” 

Cyrus said that his parents were also his parents, so he could call them mom and dad right? Well, he also called Sohtris and Avlios Mom and Dad. Would they be okay with him calling them his parents too? It was confusing. He suddenly gained a lot of parents. Maybe he should call Sohtris “Mama” and Avlios “Papa” instead. He would have to get back to them on that one. 

Duchess Alnhart almost squealed. Atlas was willing to call her Mom on the first meeting. Was she dreaming? She pinched her thigh but it hurt really badly so she knew she wasn’t dreaming.

“Oh, Darling! Of course, you can call me Mom!” she gave him a tight hug, suffocating Atlas half to death. Even Sir Walter could not escape her death grip.  

“Dear, could you let go of Atlas and Sir Walter? Let us greet them too.” Duke Alnhart chuckled while getting up to stand next to his wife. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you at last, Atlas. Feel free to call me ‘Dad.’ Well, only if you are comfortable.”

Duchess Alnhart let him go and he took a deep breath. 

“Okay, Dad.” 

Atlas was always quick to adjust. He had a good mentality and it was hard to break his spirits. Plus, he already saw them as his parents. He was just nervous at first because he didn’t know if they would like him. 

Now that he could see they were happy to see him, he was also happy and not nervous anymore. 

The final person he had to greet was Cyrus’ older brother, Sirius. He looked like a younger version of his father, Duke Alnhart. Even so, he seemed to inherit a bit of his mother’s kindness. His smile was warm and gentle. 

“Hello, Atlas. I am your new older brother, Sirius. It is a pleasure to finally meet you. A pleasure to meet you as well, Sir Walter.” 

The two replied at the same time, “It’s nice to meet you too, big brother!” “Woof!”

In this world, it wasn’t normal to call your older siblings by their names, especially in nobility. It was only allowed in private between close siblings. As for addressing younger siblings, it was okay in the house to call their siblings by their name, but not appropriate in public spaces. 

There were a lot of rules for the nobility… He hoped he could remember them all.

“Since we have greeted each other, let’s sit down and enjoy some tea.” Duke Alnhart motioned everyone to the sofas. “I would like to hear about you, Atlas, and your time in the Great Dragon Forest. Also, I would like a report from you, Cyrus.” 

“Of course (Yes), Dad,” Cyrus and Atlas said at the same time. 

They may have to bring the conversation to lunch because of how long it was going to be.