"Yesterday something happened," I finally admitted.

Oda raised her chin and observed me like a predator did to a prey. There was something about her aura that told me it was a much more serious matter than I could've imagined.

"What happened?"

I debated whether I should tell her or not, but my curiosity overruled my reasoning.

"I was at the tower," I said, watching her for signs of anger, which even if she felt, she didn't show. "At first Otto was normal, but then suddenly he changed. He grabbed onto me and he kissed me."

"He kissed you." Her voice was nonchalant. Much calmer than I imagined.

"Yes."

"And?"

"That was it, but his attitude was different. He spoke as though he was en entirely different person." My voice fell low as I whispered what I truly wanted to say. "It was scary. And it was—it was sad."

Like the sayings of a person trapped inside. Trapped somewhere no one could hear him. Where no one could help him.

I turned up to look at Oda.

"Tell me, Oda, tell me the truth."

She leaned against the door, the wide beige skirts sweeping the floor. She averted her gaze.

"Then you've met Oscar."

Oscar?

"Oscar?" I repeated, the name strange on my tongue. And then the image of the other Otto appeared in mind mind. Angry, sneering, and nearly sad.

"There is another soul inside Otto's body," Oda said.

"It's a lie?" I whispered, feeling the urge to faint again. "That he is—well—possessed by a demon?"

One moment everything was fine, and the next I realized the world is a lie.

"How could we tell the public that Otto, the crown prince, has two souls?" Oda replied. "There's no cure for that. Being possessed by a demon, however, has a chance."

She was right. I couldn't say anything.

"When did it start?" I asked instead.

"It's due to something that happened when he was small," she whispered, a faraway look in her eyes.

"That's a long time ago. I thought it was recent."

"They lie about everything," she said without any feeling. "When we were small, Otto had a twin."

I stared at her blankly before my mind processed what she said.

"That can't possibly be true, there's no record at all." All my life, I've only heard that there is one prince and two princesses. Yet again, Taraxac had always been mysterious, and from what I learned, everyone in the Royal Family had a public name and a real name.

"Twins were a bad omen in royal families. Especially as the firstborn male sons. Since only one would be the future ruler, no one outside the palace knew that there were two of them.

"But there's also no painting of another child in the Royal Hall."

"They don't do royal paintings of the children until they are of ten years old," she explained, waving a hand dismissively, obviously irritated by my countless points. I remembered what Oriana said yesterday.

"A twin? What happened to him?" I inquired cautiously.

"His name was Oscar. They were twins, but he didn't have albinism, he had dark brown hair. He was unsympathetic, selfish, and cruel." She paused, waiting for the last word to sink in.

"Otto was always bullied. Even I, as the younger one, had to tell him to fight back—but he never did. He would always cry alone, bruised and scared. Then there was the day Oscar got a disease." Oda's white eyelashes fluttered, and she shook her head slowly.

"He was six, and there were two main paintings done. Once he was diagnosed, all the paintings were hidden. I think we knew there wasn't any hope for him. When he died, all paintings of him were burned. Father didn't like Oscar, that's why he had to erase such memories. Mother didn't like it but couldn't go against him. Otto suffered the most, he always claimed Oscar was still there, saying bad things and hurting him, endlessly." My eyes widened at her words.

"Oscar is the—"

"Yes." Oda bared her teeth and held her arms, almost like she was shivering. "He's the other soul, stealing Otto's body. Mother and Father won't believe it's Oscar, but I can't ignore the things he says. The awful, terrible, things."

It wasn't Otto, or the monster, or the other soul. It was Oscar. A person.

"How can they erase him just like that? Why didn't anyone else say anything? The guards, the maids, surely there were some rumors—" I protested, the story too absurd to believe. Twelve years without anyone knowing there were two princes? A royal death without a commotion and memories of him destroyed?

Oda brought her long fingers up to smooth down her already neat hair before responding nonchalantly. "No one liked him. It was better that way."

I had so many things I wanted to ask, so many things didn't make sense, but I couldn't bring myself to say anything. I waited—hoped, that she would tell me that no, he is only unstable, but curable. She didn't.

The door opened, and we both jumped. Aideen walked in as both Oda and I let out our tense breaths.

"Is something wrong?" Aideen asked. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," I managed to choke out. She frowned, but nodded anyways.

"I'm leaving," Oda told us and turned on her heels again. I watched her without calling her back this time. After she left, Aideen closed the door softly.

"I'll make your bed—you shouldn't exhaust yourself."

She started straightening the linen sheets, her back facing me. Her hands skillfully fold the fabric in silence, and I feel a strange sense of pity for her. She was young, and yet so limited, from being unable to ask for a dress to not being able to talk back to me when I lie. She was nothing more than the Royal family's slave, bound to them the moment she was brought into the castle as an infant.

Like Otto, as well as Oscar.

"Aideen?"

"Yes?"

"You knew about Oscar, didn't you?" She paused for a moment.

"Oda told you? You must be special, she has never told anyone about him." She successfully avoided my question, but her voice didn't hold a hint of surprise.

"Is Otto really being possessed by Oscar, or is he acting that way from guilt?"

I traced my image in the mirror with my finger. I couldn't imagine having to look at my face and see the face of my own dead brother. Even now, simply looking at my face and being reminded of Catalina, who was blind, was too much for me to bear. Why, I had always wondered, did she have to be blind? Why did I have eyes that could see, and not her?

Maybe Otto felt that way too. Maybe he had made Oscar. Created him. Two souls in a body—it hardly sounded real.

"No one can know, Karina," Aileen answered. "That's the reason why the King and the Queen locked Otto up. They are scared that he can act so much like Oscar."

"Did they like Oscar?"

"The bad child? Of course not. They only cared for their eldest son, Otto."

"Otto was the older one?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yes. He always had the throne in his hands. An obedient, willing to learn, and kind-hearted child. Maybe Oscar was so cruel to him because he had everything, and he had nothing." I felt cold all over, thinking of what happened yesterday.

"I see."

Aideen gave my bed one last brush with her hands and curtsied before leaving my room.

Alone, I tried to recall our meeting last night.

"You are just like the others, aren't you...Don't call me Otto!"

My chest grew heavy with the realization of the deeper meanings in what he said, as well as who said it. It wasn't Otto, but Oscar.

Oscar, the forgotten child. Oscar, the child who had to bully his older brother to feel important. Oscar, who lived and died without anyone out of the palace's knowledge. Oscar, who was always lumped with Otto, yet never equal to him.

I blew out the lantern after changing into my nightgown. I slipped into my bed, feeling the darkness, once again, envelope me.

Night always seemed like a different world. At night, it is hard to keep track of time because everything is dark. At night, there's a queer silence, and nothing is there to comfort you. At night, you only feel the pain.