Augustin opened the door to my study with a grin on his face.

"I've written to Elias and Olive about your engagement, Eugene! They are sad they can't be there in person but have written that they give you and Miss Shuyan their blessings!"

The door widened a bit and Valentin appeared. Standing there, side by side, they did indeed look like mirror images of one another.

"Their penmanship is good, and their grammar and vocabulary are flawless. Sending them to school was a good idea after all," he commented.

"You're doing fine yourself, Valentin," I said. Valentin smiled.

"It's thanks to the tutor."

"But listen to this," Augustin said, "recently I've discovered that Valentin is exchanging letters with a certain someone!"

"Augustin!" Valentin shouted. His twin laughed.

"Don't worry, don't worry, I've never peeked at your letters." Valentin glared at him and then gave a hefty sigh. "Anyways, shall I read you the letters, Eugene?"

"Yes, please do."

Augustin pulled out a creamy sheet of paper and began to read from it.

"Dear Mother and brothers,

it is unfortunate I cannot be there now. I'm sure it is festive there with the return of Miss Shuyan and Eugene's engagement. Spring is also a wonderful season for marriage. It's a pity my school ends in a month, or I would've liked to see the wedding. My only consolation is that Olive is here with me.

As always, both of us are doing very good. Olive has recently been learning the violin. His teacher says he is good at it, and I listened to his practice once, too. I also think he is good for his age. For Christmas this year, a violin would make for a good present.

Olive has several friends and plays with them when he is free, so you don't have to worry. I have friends too, so there is no need to worry about me either.
As for grades, I got good marks in both Literature and Arithmetic, but for History and French I'm not doing as well. I will study harder and report to you how my grades are again next time.

Sincerely, Elias Beardsley."

Augustin looked up at me. "How's that?"

"Sounds like everything is going fine," Valentin said, smiling to himself.

"Yes, he's grown up to be a fine man."

"Next is Olive." Augustin pulled out another letter.

"Dear family,

I heard about the news. I am very glad to hear Eugene will be getting married and I hope Eugene will be happy. If you can, take a photograph of it and send it to Elias and I.

I am doing very good in school. I have started to learn the violin. Music is a wonderful thing. I will play "Ode to Joy" by Beethoven to you one day.

Elias is also doing good in school. He teaches me some subjects, but not French. He is bad at that, but he has recently made some friends to teach him. I'm glad for that, so I will try and be less dependent on him.

When summer comes, can we have another tea party and may I invite some friends over? I made some wonderful friends and I want to thank them.
Keep writing letters. I send my love to you.

Olive Beardsley."

Augustin laughed. "They both wrote about each other! Isn't that wonderful!"

"And they both cared that the other had friends. I'm glad," I mused.

"A photograph is a good idea, indeed," Valentin noted. "We have to hire a photographer for the day. We have to thank Olive for that."

"The idea of a tea party is good, too," I added. They nodded, in tune.

"But more importantly, Eugene," Augustin began, "have you started thinking of your wedding?"

"Doesn't the woman plan them?"

Valentin sighed and Augustin looked at me with pity. Only at times like this did the twin seem to agree and were in perfect unison.

"Some might, but Miss Shuyan will probably leave it to you," Valentin said.

"Is that true?"

"Anyways, do you spend time with her? Besides when you play with your pets, this whole week you've been in your study," Augustin scolded. Touché.

"I talk to her," I argued. "But Miss Shuyan seems bothered when I am with her and Beth and her friends tease her about it."

"Then how will you two deal with it when you are married and stay in the same room?"

"Oh, you're right."

"You just realized?"

I tapped at my chin, drowning out Augustin's voice.

I hadn't been showing much affection to Shuyan recently because five years had passed and so much had changed. Our love was no longer "love" but something real and attainable, something that would one day become "marriage", and it was overwhelming to think about.

However, I had to face it.

"...and 'Miss Shuyan'? Didn't you use to call her Shuyan? Why do I feel like you've been distancing yourself—"

"You're right!" I shot up from my desk, then staggered a bit, my leg acting up from the sudden movement. "Augustin, thank you for bringing that to my attention!"

He looked at me with a frown.

"You're welcome. Why do you look so happy?"

"Because I'll look for her right now and have a talk with her!"

"She left," Valentin finally spoke. Augustin and I turned to him.

"What?"

"She left," Valentin repeated monotonously. "The girls left this morning to go shopping. They said something about reliving memories." Augustin snapped his fingers.

"Talking of memories, maybe we should do that again!"

"That? What do you mean?" He smiled, a bit sadly.

"That December when we held the Christmas Ball me, Valentin, the girls, and Tobias went shopping in a department store."

"Tobias."

As soon as the word left my lips I regretted it.

I had tried hard to not to not think of him, but he was still there in my mind, as I listened to Elias and Olive's letters, as I watched the twin's smiling faces, and as we sat at the dining table. It always felt like we were missing something.

"You're right. Department store," I quickly said, hoping they didn't notice my pause. "I'd like to go to one. Let's schedule a date."

"Yes, we'll leave you as for now," Valentin said and opened the door, pulling Augustin outside after him. When the door closed he spoke.

"You fool—why'd you say that?"

"I'm sorry, it slipped my mouth!"

"Never-mind anymore."

The twins could see right through me. I needed to touch up on my acting skills.

After I was sure they left, I left my study, too, and walked to the room next to mine.

It had been years, but I'd ordered them to not change a single thing about the room, other than cleaning it every month.

I opened the door to Tobias's room.

I had told them to strip Silas's room of everything, knowing he would never return—not to a house I ruled, but I kept Tobias's the same. I didn't know if he would return.

Would he?

I closed the door behind me and traced my fingers on the empty mantle. He was always like that: he never kept personal possessions nor decorations. I looked up at the paintings in his room. They were of mansions or boring landscapes. He never cared much for them, though. Even the trophies he displayed. He was probably never truly happy when he received them.

I walked over to the small table at the middle of the room, where his favorite chess set sat. It was made out of yellow and black marble, the edge out of sturdy lacquered wood.

On the top sat four rows, two ivory, two black, facing each other. I picked up a pawn. It was Tobias's favorite chesspiece. He always said that without the pawns, nothing happened. I smiled to myself.

Now that I think of it, Tobias did always think of himself as a pawn. He was always working for Silas or I, never once vying to be king himself. But that was the thing about him—he was kind. So terribly kind, and yet he only thought of others as being kind. He never realized it himself.

That night at dinner I brought up the idea.

"The department store? How nostalgic," Shuyan whispered. I wondered if she thought of Tobias too.

"I loved it," Beth said, smiling. "It was the first time I went to such a crowded place. Mother never let me."

"It was for your own safety," Lady Rachel Mondeschein said. "But if you want to go to the department store with Lord Eugene and Miss Shuyan, I suggest you finish your German lessons soon and stop running away from your governess." Ever since Lady Rachel's arrival some days ago to meet up with Shuyan, she had stayed here.

"What?" Beth cried. "But Augustine doesn't have to take German lessons and Valentin doesn't even take lessons anymore, much less read!"

"I've debuted in society," Augustine laughed, "you'll have to try much harder until you can compare us."

"Yes, we are your older brothers, you know," Valentin said, a wry smile on his lips. Beth sighed.

"I understand."

The next day, we set out for our departure, the ladies dressed up, Augustin in a brown suit while Valentin wore all black, like Tobias used to, and I was decked out in a blue waistcoat and black coat.

Department stores were huge, even bigger than those I saw in photographs. When they saw my evident shock at seeing it, they laughed.

"It was the same for us," Augustin said. "The place is so wonderful and cheerful, you should've seen it during Christmas season."

"It was like a celebration in of itself," Beth added.

"I can't imagine," I whispered. Before long, each of us went to see what we were interested in. Shuyan and the ladies went to look at the hair and beauty products, as well as accessories, while Augustin went to the bookstores and Valentin immersed himself in a store where paintings hung.

"Does that interest you?" I asked. He peered over at me in surprise, then smiled sadly.

"Yes. They are beautiful, aren't they? One wouldn't believe it was painted by an ordinary person. And look, they aren't even famous. They are sold at only twenty pounds." He was right. For such a big canvas and detailed painting, it was sold at an insanely low price. Any small portrait taken from our mansion would be auctioned off for a few hundred.

I looked at the paintings. They were indeed marvelous. I was new to painting but not to art, as my real father, Daniel Beardsley, was an art curator. I could see how each of the paintings had their own style. Some seemed to be of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, and others modest, homely paintings of landscapes or people.

Then I remembered.

It was a long time ago, when Tobias and I were looking at the antiques our Father brought out. He dusted them and displayed them to us, and smiling, asked us to guess which antique was worth more than the other.

"Wouldn't Eugene know better because his dad is an art appraiser?" Tobias asked.

"Don't worry, Tobias," Father replied. "It's not a competition. It's a game."

He held a candelabra in his hands and then moved it where the fireplace's light was, and the gold seemed to glow in his hands.

"This is a gold candelabra from Italy."

Tobias and I sat on the carpet and inspected the treasure resting against Father's knees carefully. Then he picked up a round bowl that was small enough to fit in his hand. It was a light shade of brown with an orange goldfish on the side

"Is that from the East?" I asked.

"Yes. It's a tea bowl from a land called Japan. The fish here is a koi fish. You like animals, don't you, Eugene?" I nodded eagerly. "Come closer."

I went closer and so did Tobias, although warily.

"May we touch it?" I asked. Father chuckled.

"Sure, go ahead. It's not real, though. It's a forgery I brought from an acquaintance."

"What?" Tobias said. "Then isn't it obvious the candelabra is worth more?" Father had on his amused expression.

"Why do you think that?"

"You just said it's made of gold, not to mention it is imported from Italy. The tea bowl may be from an exotic country, but you said it was a forgery."

"But Tobias, my child, the maker of this forgery has died."

"I do not understand what you mean." Father handed the bowl to Tobias, who, with wrinkled brows, even at such an age, inspected it carefully.

"It looks old, and it's uneven at parts, as if it is made to be old on purpose. The paint isn't perfect as parts and splotched, and even the lacquer is peeling off," he remarked after he rolled it around his hands a few times. "I wouldn't be able to tell if you hadn't told me, Father."

"Exactly." Father leaned in, as though sharing a secret between us. "At times, a forgery is worth more than the real thing itself, because it's made so well. With art, one must always think unconventionally..."

I looked back at the paintings.

I wondered why it was that I had forgotten.

It was a few years later, two years before I fell from Mars, and I was sketching. Tobias came up behind me.

"Tobias!"

He had smiled happily without anything holding him back.

"Did you come here for something?" I asked. "Want to play chess, or cards?" He shook his head.

"No, keep on drawing, Eugene. I'll watch." He peered over at my sketchbook. There was a rough charcoal image of a boy sitting on chair, hand hanging midair over a table.

"It's bad, I know." I laughed softly. "I should stop wasting my time."

"Why?" Tobias asked. "I think it's wonderful."

"No," I said, lower this time, shaking my head. "Art doesn't suit me. I don't know why I even draw. Maybe it's because I miss my Father and Mother sometimes. And I don't remember them anymore, besides that they both loved art."

"Did someone say something to you?"

I looked up in surprise at him, and his cool, relaxed face seemed to read through me.

"It was Silas, wasn't it?"

I put the sketchpad down and nodded.

"I wonder why he hates me so."

"Because he hates it most," Tobias said softly, "being a Beardsley." I turned around to look at him again.

"He does?" I asked, incredulous. He nodded.

"Before you came, Silas ran away once. He left to play with the sons of the townspeople, which Father didn't allow. Later on when Father found him he punished him severely." Silas playing with townspeople? I couldn't imagine.

"And then?"

"Ever since then—"

"Tobias? Tobias, where are you?"

Tobias stopped and raised his head. Although it was faint, we could tell it was Silas.

"Silas? I'm here." The door to the drawing room creaked open and Silas stood there, peering at us. He was in his riding breeches, and his black boots.

"I'm going riding, join me." He glanced at the drawing pad in my lap and I crossed my arms over it quickly. He narrowed his eyes. "Oh, Eugene."

"Good afternoon, Silas."

"Good afternoon. You don't want to ride, do you?"

"No, thank you. I'll be fine."

"Suit yourself." He turned and left.

"Anyways, Eugene," Tobias whispered. "Art suits you. It's sensitive and beautiful, like you. Don't listen to Silas, and do what makes you happy." He smiled.

"Thank you."

"Tobias?" Silas called again from outside the doorway, now sounding more impatient.

"Yes." Tobias stood up, gave me an apologetic look, which I waved off, then quickly ran off after Silas. I looked outside the window, where the two figures ran, and then I leaned back into the couch and picked up my charcoal again. Then I slowly began to draw a boy on a horse.

I had wondered when it all begin, and now I realized. It was neither my Father nor Mother who made me love it, but my uncle and Tobias.

I looked up at the paintings before me, and then decided.

"Excuse me, sir," I said to the shop owner, "May I buy these?"

"Oh, of course. Which one, sir?"

"This, this, this, and this. And this." The store owner and Valentin watched me with their jaws slack.

"Eugene!" Valentin exclaimed, "What do you mean by all this? I didn't mean for you to pity them!"

"I know," I assured him. "I'm not pitying them. I'm supporting them." I turned to the shop owner. "When the artists return, can you send them a message that Lord Eugene Beardsley is looking to commission artists?"

He gasped at me.

"You certainly don't mean that you're—you're Lord Eugene Beardsley?"

"I am." I smiled. "Please send the paintings and the bill to me at my estate. Thank you."

The trip at the department store went well. Augustin, as expected, got books, and the girls various items. That night, after dinner, I invited Shuyan to my room. I opened the window and let the spring air blow in. She leaned on the windowsill, a serene smile on her face.

"Today was such a wonderful day," she said. "Thank you for planning it, Eugene."

"Not at all, Miss—" I stopped myself, "Shuyan, I mean." She laughed softly.

"I like that better, after all. It was strange being called Miss and Susanne by everyone." She turned to me, moonlight streaming in and her face and eyes shining. "Eugene?"

I took a step to her and placed a hand on the windowsill too.

"Today I remembered a lot about Tobias, back when we were younger," I said.

"How funny, I suddenly remembered Master Tobias today, too." She turned around to the window.

I wrapped my arms around her and rested my head against her shoulders, hoping she wouldn't see my crying face.

However, she felt it anyways.

She held my hand.

"He was the one who was always there for me, when Silas hated me, when my parents died. I never thought about it, but now that I do, I—I wish I had never caused him the pain he didn't deserve."

"I'm sure Master Tobias is doing good, even if it's without us." Her voice cracked, and I could sense she was guilty, too. We were the ones that had made him leave the house. By simply staying here, he would never return.

"Do you think," I whispered, "do you think he will forgive me?"

"You two are truly alike," she said. "Both seek forgiveness, but there was never anything to forgive each other from in the first place. You know he wouldn't hold anything against you—he loves you." She squeezed my hand.

Loves me?

I smiled.

"May I invite him to the wedding, Shuyan?"

"Of course."

"Would he see me again?"

"Of course."

"And would we go back to being brothers, and talk, and—and—"

She turned around, and kissed my cheek, wet with tears.

"Of course, Eugene."

And although it was nothing but an empty hope, an empty dream, my heart felt much better with the thought that one day, he might be by my side again as we appraised what art there was, remembering Father's words.