The next morning found Gladstone, Lucas, and Lena heading back to the tailor's shop bright and early.
"Didn't the guy say noon?" Lucas asked. "It's barely even 10 o'clock!"
"I don't think I've ever seen Gladstone awake this early before," Lena mused.
"With my luck, our new duds should be ready as soon as we get there!" Gladstone said.
Lucas groaned. "There you go with your luck again."
By this point, they'd arrived at the shop. Gladstone pushed open the door, and the little bell up on top tinkled. They walked in, and Ludwig came out from the back.
"Gladstone, my boy! I'm glad you're here!" he said. "I've just put the finishing touches on your suits!"
"Excellent!" Gladstone said, giving Lucas a smug smile.
Lucas rolled his eyes.
Ludwig brought out the clothes and laid them on the counter.
"Gladstone, this one is yours," he said, handing it over.
Gladstone took it with a nod of thanks and then brought it behind the screen to try on.
"And this one belongs to the little girl," Ludwig continued, handing Lena her suit of deep purple.
"And this one belongs to the little prince."
Lucas looked up, startled. Ludwig had a twinkle in his eye. He winked. "I know a member of the royal family when I see one."
Lucas could feel his face grow warm as he scooped up his suit and waited by the screen that Gladstone was using, as there were only two in the shop. The fabric in his hands was soft and and fine. It felt strong enough to last, with proper care, but not at all like the stiff and sturdy work clothes Lucas had worn back in Scotland. He'd never worn such nice clothes before.
Or…had he?
Before Lucas could think too hard about the clothing he'd worn in the past, Gladstone stepped out from behind the screen. He looked even more dapper than usual, which, if Lucas was being honest, was saying something.
Lucas stepped behind the screen. He looked around for a spot to put his suit and finally settled on draping it over the top of the screen.
As Lucas put on the suit, he could hear Gladstone and this Ludwig fellow discuss the intricacies of just how well his own suit fit. Then Lena must have come out, for the conversation turned to how lovely she looked and the minor adjustments that still needed to be made.
Lucas buttoned up the crisp white shirt. His fingers seemed to know exactly what to do, almost as if he had done this countless times before. Or maybe it was because he had spent a lot of time over the years working the muscles in his fingers, picking unsuspecting pockets and sewing neat patches on his ragged clothes. He pulled on his suit jacket and smoothed it down. Then he grabbed the necktie and slung it around his neck.
Lucas held the two ends in his hands. He felt like he could almost…if he closed his eyes…maybe he could tie it himself?
A sick feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. He wasn't quite sure exactly where it came from. He'd never had any reason to tie a necktie before, on himself or on anyone else. By all accounts, he shouldn't have the slightest idea how. Lucas dropped the two ends of the tie and stepped out from behind the screen.
Conversation between Ludwig, Gladstone, and Lena had already slowed. Ludwig was down on one knee doing something with Lena's pant leg.
Gladstone whistled. "You clean up good, Green Bean," he said.
"I guess you might actually be royalty after all," Lena said.
"Don't move!" Ludwig admonished. He finished whatever he was doing and used a tiny pair of scissors to cut a thread. "There!" He stood up and turned to Lucas. "My, my, these two are right. Let me just take a moment to check you over."
Lena stepped off the platform and Lucas took her place. He held the two ends of his tie up again.
"I don't know how to tie this," he said.
"Oh, I've got that," Gladstone said.
Ludwig pulled and tugged and adjust Lucas' suit while Gladstone tied the tie.
"Can you teach me how to tie a tie later?" Lucas asked Gladstone.
"Sorry, no can do. I tie ties by luck."
Lucas threw up his hands. "You tie ties by what now?"
"You see, no matter what I do to the tie, it ends up in a perfect knot."
"Well, then, can you teach me to do that?" Lucas asked.
"Do what?" Gladstone asked.
"Do things by luck."
"Uh, no."
"There!" said the tailor. He gestured to the full-length mirror standing over by the wall. "Why don't you take a look?"
Lucas walked over to the mirror—and froze. He did not see himself looking back at him.
He saw a prince.
"Well?" Ludwig asked. "Do you like it?"
"Y-yeah," Lucas croaked.
"Excellent!" Ludwig turned towards Gladstone and Lena. "You three look fit for a Money Bin! Now why don't you take those off so I can box them up for you."
Lucas set the box containing his new suit on his bed.
"I guess we're ready," Gladstone said.
Lucas' blood ran cold. "Ready?"
"To meet with Beakley. Tomorrow should be as good a day as any, and there's no sense in wasting any more time than we have to."
"Oh." Nearly in a daze, Lucas shrugged off his raggedy old coat and laid it down next to his suit box.
"You won't be needing that anymore," Gladstone said, grabbing hold of the coat.
"Don't touch that!" Lucas snapped, snatching it from him.
"Yeesh! Don't bite!" Gladstone said, holding up his hands as if in surrender. "I didn't realize it was so important to you!"
In all fairness, Lucas hadn't, either. He wasn't sure what had come over him. Maybe there was something to the jacket after all. He'd always assumed that it was given to him at the hospital, all those years ago, but maybe…if he really was Prince Louie, could it have come from the Money Bin? He looked down at the rough, tattered sleeve.
Nah.
It did have the coin in the pocket, though. Maybe that was it.
Lucas slipped his fingers into that pocket and couldn't help the wave of relief that washed over him when he felt the coin deep down in the corner. He took it out and sat down on the floor, holding it up to the light. It was unlike any coin he'd ever seen. One side had a big "10" on it with the word "cents" underneath, much smaller. The other site had a lady duck's face in profile, wearing some sort of a headband, or maybe even a hat (Lucas could never quite tell which). Lucas was pretty sure she was supposed to be some sort of goddess, but the goddess of what, he couldn't say.
From the other side of the room, Gladstone yawned. Lucas quickly palmed the coin and slipped it back into his jacket pocket.
"Welp, I guess we'd better turn in. We've gotta be up bright and early tomorrow morning," Gladstone said.
Lucas went pale.
"So soon?" he asked.
"Yep! There's no use in wasting any more time," Gladstone said cheerfully, getting reading for bed.
Lucas took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "A-are you sure I'm ready?" he squeaked.
"Couldn't be any more ready if you had all of your memories intact."
"But—isn't there something else I need to learn about? Like, uh…how to swim in a sea of coins? That's something Scrooge does, right?"
"Only Uncle Scrooge. He was the only one who knew how to do that."
"Louie knew," Lena said. She was hanging her new suit in the closet.
Gladstone looked confused. "Did he?"
"Yeah. He liked to say it meant he was the king's true heir." Lena carefully straightened the suit on the hanger. "Heir to his fortune, of course. He never wanted to be king."
Gladstone hummed thoughtfully. "Either way, we don't have a Money Bin to practice with," Gladstone climbed into bed. "Of course, you can't exactly practice with an empty Bin."
"Are you sure they took everything?" Lucas asked.
"Who?"
"You know. Revolutionaries, looters."
"Trust me, kiddo. That Bin was picked clean within the year. There was nothing left."
"Nobody took the plates," Lucas said defensively.
"The plates?" Gladstone thought for a moment. "I guess they were dusty enough by the time everyone had picked through the rest of it that no one noticed them. They're not worth all that much, anyway. No, Scrooge saw the writing on the wall early enough that he shipped a good-sized chunk of his money here before the Revolution."
"Wait a second. He shipped his money here but not us?" Lucas said.
"Uncle Scrooge thought it was important not to show fear," Gladstone explained. His voice grew quiet. "I also…don't think he knew how bad it was going to get."
Suddenly, Lucas wasn't sure anymore that he wanted to join Scrooge McDuck's family.
He opened his beak to say so, but Gladstone spoke first.
"You'll do fine, Green Bean. You've got nothing to worry about." He pulled his blanket up to his chin and rolled over. Lucas knew from experience that that meant Gladstone was already as good as asleep.
"Yeah, don't worry," Lena said from her own bed, her voice hushed (not that there was much of a chance of waking Gladstone, the way he slept). "You know almost as much about your family as I do."
"I do?" Lucas asked. It sure didn't feel like it.
"Yeah," Lena said. "And I'm sure, if you really are Prince Louie," she yawned, "King Scrooge'll be able to see that, no matter what mistakes you make."
Lucas nodded, turning her words over in his mind. He switched off the light and climbed, starring at the ceiling for a good, long while before he fell asleep.