Town was just as I remembered, despite the chaos in the palace. There were people bustling around, haggling prices, weighing vegetables in their hand, sniffing fruits, and inspecting all sorts of good. Musicians sit at corners playing their instruments and holding out their caps, and children ran around the market laughing while their parents shopped.

"Wow," Otto breathed, captivated at the scene. "Is this Taraxac?"

"Yes," I replied, "the kingdom you are prince of."

"But it's so different from the castle!" His eyes traveled around and his head turned in awe. "They are laughing and so loud, and the music—the people!"

I nodded.

"The world isn't limited to the castle. It's much bigger than that. This is the middle class town where I come from. I grew up like this." His eyes widened.

"You mean you live here?"

"Yes, but not exactly. I don't live here but I come here often."

"Does everyone live like you?"

"No. Remember the twenty contestants for the Dandelion System? They come from four classes, the Noble Class, the Upper Class, the Middle Class, and the Lower Class. It's a form of division based on one's status and lifestyle."

"I see. Is it a good system?" I hesitated.

"It is."

"Mother and Father were good rulers. So are Mother and Father good people?"

There was something sad in his voice. Something I didn't know how to reply to.

"They—" I thought of how to respond, "they are good rulers, but they aren't good parents. I don't know how to explain it."

"Then what about Oda?"

"She's a good sister."

"Then Oscar? Is he a good brother?"

I thought of Oda telling me how Oscar used to bully Otto. How scared Otto was of him. How he always refused to acknowledge him, even now.

"I can't answer for you, Otto."

"Then Karina, can I ask you of something?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Can I meet your sister?" I thought of Catalina this morning, then smiled.

"Sure. But let's get something to eat first." He grinned.

"Sure!"

We walked around and Otto tried almost everything, from dried meat on sticks to roasted potato skins with paprika, as well as a bit of ale. Then we scrolled around eating fresh fruits while viewing the merchants' stalls. They had colorful rugs woven overseas, pearls like the ones Oda always wore, handmade masks, and lots of trinkets he had never seen before.

"I've never had so much fun," he said, his usually pale cheeks flushed and eyes bright. "If only they were here too."

"They?" I asked.

"Yeah, Oda and Os—" he stopped. "Oda. If only she could be here too."

I pretended I didn't hear the second name he mentioned. How did Oscar feel, hearing that? Was he also seeing and hearing everything from inside of Otto?

After we reached the core of the apple and all that remained were peach pits and empty sticks, we returned to the carriage and asked the driver to bring us to my house. During the ride I showed Otto the places I grew up in.

"That is the meadow where my sister and I used to play in. That is the seamstress we go to. This street has a lot of bakers. That's our favorite bakery. My sister used to teach here, at this small schoolhouse, before she became blind. She plays the harp and sings now, and children come to our house." I thought of all the good times before I was chosen by Oda. Those carefree days I didn't have to wear beautiful gowns and sit in a dining room eating with other girls like dolls. Then I remembered it was all done. I continued to speak.

"I think my sister is at home today, because I was supposed to come home. I'm sure you two will get along."

When I turned to look at Otto, he was looking at me with an expression I had never seen before.

"Is my face strange?" I asked, embarrassed.

"No," he said. "It's beautiful how you smile when you talk about your sister. She's like what Oda is to me."

"You're right. You are absolutely right."

I turned away and felt myself become sick.

It wasn't true.

His love for Oda was different from her love for him, and my love for Catalina.

When me and Oda agreed to the plan and trade to save each our siblings, we both did it out of a possessive, obsessive, and unhealthy love. It was something our siblings would never have wanted. Neither Catalina nor Otto would have been happy to know the pain and danger we put ourselves through for them.

If they could choose, they would rather have us be happy than anything.

This whole time, we never knew. Or did we, but ignore it anyway?

The carriage stopped. Otto got off and held out his hand. He had became bolder, less dependent. I smiled and took it. Once on the ground, I showed him my neighborhood.

"That," I said, pointing to my house, "is the house I was born and raised in."

It was small, but pretty, with stone on the roof and wooden beams. It was not much different from the other houses but I would never forget it. All the memories came back and I suddenly thought of my sister.

We walked towards it and I opened the door. It was bright inside from the sunlight pouring through the windows. Otto peeked in from behind me.

"Catalina!" I shouted. "I'm here, Catalina!" She immediately ran out of a room, her hands gliding against the wall to keep her stable.

There was her familiar figure in a green dress, brown hair like mine pulled back and covered with a cloth. Her eyes were downcast like always, lids half closed. At the sound of my voice she turned to me, her beautiful but unusable eyes crying forth rivers.

"Karlina," she cried, taking small steps towards me. "Is that you?"

"It's me." I walked towards her and held her hands, and she started to sob loudly.

"Oh, Karlina! I was so afraid when I heard of the deaths! I couldn't sleep, I couldn't stop thinking that you might've been killed!"

"I'm so sorry, Catalina." I hugged her tightly and she buried her face on my shoulder.

"I would have hated myself if you were killed! I would have hated myself for sending you off to the Dandelion System! It's a terrible place. It's a cursed place." Her hands in mine were trembling. "I'm so glad you came back."

"I'm glad too," I said, and began to cry too.

The long night had passed and the long journey has ended too.

I was were I belonged again. At home, with my sister.

But something didn't sit right with me. I couldn't leave the palace at it is now, with Princess Oda trying to calm the public, the servants leaving, the King's advisers trying to take control, Aideen still begging to see the Queen, and Otto, finally set free but lost and alone in that place.

Was this really where I belonged?

"Lets go inside," Catalina said, gently pulling me towards our house. "Mother and father are waiting inside. They were worried too."

"I have a guest." I turned to Otto, who stood there. "Come in."

"Oh, Karlina, you surprise me again and again. Don't tell me it's another member of the royal family." I chuckled.

"It is." Catalina shook her head in disbelief at my words. "Introduce yourself, Otto."

"I'm Prince Otto of the royal family," he said, beaming. "Its a pleasure to meet you."

"Oh, same for me. Thank you for always being with Karlina—and I'm sorry for all that you've been through. The news of your imprisonment has traveled through the kingdom. How are you two here right now?"

"It's fine," I assured her. "The castle is chaotic right now."

"Oh, then let's go in. It's very small, so I hope you don't mind, Prince Otto."

"No," he said, a bit awkwardly.

We were in the biggest room we had which served as a guest room. There were a few chairs and a table. I guided Catalina to one and she sat down, and then so did us.

"It's so nostalgic," I said softly.

"Yes, I'm so glad you'll be returning," she said.

I swallowed. "There's something serious I want to talk to you all about." Her eyes seemed weary, and I knew she knew what I wanted to say. "I don't want to return back home yet—I want to stay in the palace."

"What?"

"I'm going back." She halted, eyes widening.

"I don't understand."

"I made a lot of friends in the palace, and a lot of them aren't able to leave like I am able to. I have to be there to support them—Prince Otto, Princess Oda, Aideen, and Oscar."

Catalina was quiet before she asked.

"Who is Aideen and Oscar?"

"Aideen was my lady in waiting when I was a contestant, and a good friend of mine," I said. "And Oscar is—"

I found myself unable to answer. How could I tell her about the other personality in Otto, about the dead boy no one knows that I'm in love with?

"My brother," Otto answered for me. I looked at him in surprise. He stared right ahead. He was neither afraid nor sad. He raised his head. "My younger twin brother."

"Twin brother?" Catalina repeated. "But wasn't there only one prince?"

"He's erased from history. He also lives inside me."

"Inside you?"

"Sometimes he comes out, but usually when I'm asleep, so he doesn't have to meet me." Catalina nodded slowly, but I didn't know whether she understand or not.

"But why doesn't he want to meet you?"

"I don't know. I think he's scared."

"Of you?" Otto fell silent at her question.

"No," he finally answered. "I think it's me. I'm scared of him."

"But why?"

Theres was a heavy tension in the air.

"Catalina, that's enough—" I started, but he cut me off.

"I always ignored him, ignored him when he was calling out to me, ignored him even it was the two of us alone. I didn't want to talk to him. I think he knew, so he stopped. Then he didn't appear for a long long time. He didn't appear until Karina came."

At the mention of my name I stiffened.

"After he met Karina he came out more frequently. I could feel him reaching out so I would let him take my place. I knew—I knew he wanted to see her."

"Did Oscar like Karlina?" Catalina asked him.

I couldn't talk. I was holding back my tears.

"Yes, he does. I don't talk to him, but I could feel his emotions. It used to be only anger and sadness, but after every meeting her, he would be happy. We still don't talk—but I don't know, sometimes I think of him, and I feel lonely and strange inside. Almost like—"

Otto was suddenly looking at the floor, his head down and his voice low.

"Like what?" Catalina asks, her voice soft, her tone gentle, coaxing the words out of him.

"Almost like I miss him."

Otto turned around to me, and his eyes are filled with tears.

"I miss him. This whole time I missed him. I didn't want him to die, I didn't want him to leave me!"

He wiped at his face furiously, still bawling.

"It's not true that I'm afraid of Oscar! When we were children, he protected me from mother and father when they scolded me. He played with me. He understood me. He told me we could rule the kingdom together and not fight for the throne. He was a wonderful brother. I loved him," he told me. It was almost like he was pleading for something. Like something he forgot had finally returned to him, and he was never going to let it go.

"But," he whispered, "then he was locked up and he died, and then no one acknowledged him anymore. He had no where left to be but inside me, so I shared my body, my memories, my all with him!"

"Yes," Catalina whispered. "I would never want to lose Karlina, and I know you don't want to lose your brother either." I reached out over the table and held her hand.

"I will return, but for now, I need to go back there. I'm sorry." She sucked in her breath and tried to stop crying. "Tell mother and father I'm well, and tell them I love them. And I love you, Catalina."

Her grip on my hand tightened.

"Go then. Go to where you belong." I squeezed her hand one last time before pulling away.

Something between us had changed, too. I no longer had to hide behind her and always be by her side. I trusted her, and she trusted me.

I stood up from my seat and Otto followed.

Catalina and Karlina, Otto and Oscar, we were all siblings who loved each other more than any other.