Elias was pulled out of his memories by the sound of a book snapping shut. Startled, he whipped his head around to look at his sister, who was reaching for a second book. Yes, she had really become strange since the carriage accident. Before she wouldn't even give the library a second glance, but now she sat reading next to a tall tower of books. Gone was the sister who threw tantrums if even the slightest thing displeased her—instead, he found a budding intellectual curiosity that reminded him of the Alexandra from his young childhood. He had dearly missed that sister.

"Elias?"

***

"Elias?"

The boy in question jumped a little in his seat before turning to look at her. Alexandra smiled slightly. What could he have been thinking about?

After she had looked into Old Alexandra's memories, she was quite shocked about what she had found. Yes, of course, Alexandra had always known from playing the game and listening to Kana that the character Alexandra was arrogant, haughty, spoiled, and selfish, but she had always believed that the character's attitude was due to anger at Ella for stealing Nicholas. Anyone would be upset if another person came and stole the one they loved. When she lived as Aiko, she always justified the character's behavior as a form of lashing out against the injustice she felt at having her beloved stolen from her. After awakening as Alexandra, she had realized that the character's attitude was a reaction to the loneliness she felt at being ignored in favor of her brother.

Whatever the reason though, her behavior was still inexcusable. No wonder her little brother looked at her with such contempt! Alexandra inwardly grimaced as she recalled Old Alexandra's memories of throwing tantrums when she didn't get exactly what she wanted. And the tea set incident—it was over a tea set, for gods sakes!—that was the most mortifying example. Honestly, that was probably what ended up driving the wedge between her and Elias. Not that she blamed him; she would be disappointed in herself too... oh!

Elias was still looking at her expectantly, waiting for an answer.

She had totally forgotten he was there...oops...

But this was a chance! He was surprised by her "change in personality," but he had also seemed a little pleased. Alexandra would use this opportunity to try and mend their relationship. And she knew just the way to do it.

"Hey Elias, want to have a tea party?"

***

The sky was a brilliant azure shade, nary a cloud in sight. The sweet scent of gardenias permeated the air in the white outdoor gazebo they were in.

Alexandra grinned. It was the perfect weather for a tea party!

"Come Elias, sit down! I asked the maids to bring us all the things we need."

"Er...alright, I suppose."

Scratching the back of his head awkwardly, Elias took a seat at the gazebo's round patio table.

When Alexandra had suggested the tea party, Elias had made another shocked face. She was beginning to wonder if that was the only expression his face knew how to make. It made sense though. Old Alexandra would probably never suggest such a thing. And now for her plan. She reached into the basket the maids had provided and pulled it out.

The Sanari tea set.

It was still unbelievably beautiful, she acknowledged, ignoring yet another expression of shock from her flabbergasted brother. The porcelain shone with a mystical luster, and the colors of painted scenery on the cups were vibrant. She picked out her two favorite cups, one with magnificent green mountains painted on it and one with a vibrant sun setting over the ocean on it, and poured out the tea. Into the basket her hands went again, this time pulling out the little containers of sugar and cream.

"Cream and sugar?"

"...just sugar please," Elias mumbled, still stunned.

Alexandra hid a smile as she poured sugar into both of their cups and handed him the one with the sunset on it.

He took his tea with a muttered thanks.

She then pulled out of the basket a covered plate of rainbow-colored macarons. Given her brother's massive sweet tooth, he would love these.

And she was right. As soon as he saw the sweets, his face lit up for a second before he schooled it back to a carefully neutral expression. So her little brother was still in there somewhere, she just had to lure him out.

The two sipped their tea and nibbled on the macarons in silence. Overhead, the birds chirped as they flew by and the warm afternoon sun shone upon the garden. Before the atmosphere became too stiff, Elias awkwardly cleared his throat.

"Yes, Elias?" Alexandra began fixing him another cup of tea.

"Why did you bring me out here?"

Her hands stilled. Taking a deep breath, she began to speak.

"When I woke up from the accident, I had forgotten even my own name. The doctor said that I would slowly remember everything, and sure enough, I did. But while I was stuck in bed remembering everything about my life, I got to really think about the life I'd led up to this point. Maybe it's the fact that I had to look at my own memories from an outsider's point of view for the first time ever, maybe it's just prolonged introspection, I don't know. But I'm not proud of the things I've done. Throwing tantrums, screaming at people, being possessive and selfish...that's not the person I am, and that's not the kind of person I want to be."

She looked across the table at her brother. He was listening to her intently and she could see hints of the brother she played with when they were children.

She smiled sadly.

"Especially with you. All of my horrible traits were even more amplified when I was near you. And that's not fair to you. I'm sure you already had enough on your plate without having me in your way all of the time. I'm sorry about that. You really didn't deserve to be treated that way."

Alexandra handed him his finished cup of tea.

"Do you remember this tea set?" she wondered, tilting her own empty cup to the side to admire the mountains painted on it. "That argument was especially mortifying. Honestly, from a logical point of view, you should have really taken it. It would have been helpful to the family for you to use it the way you planned. But I wanted it. Why? Simply because you wanted it. I thought that I could take the things you wanted, that it would make me feel better about you having the things I wanted."

Elias began to protest, "But! I didn't—"

"I know you don't think you have anything I would want," she interrupted softly. "But you did. The day you were born, a son of the Sinclair family, Mother and Father began to ignore me and fixate on you. At first it wasn't so bad. Mother and Father still paid more attention to you than to me, but they still paid some attention to me. After all, we were both young and there wasn't much that could be expected of you. But then you started learning how to manage the duchy. And suddenly they were spending every waking moment with you. I know it must have been stifling for you, having so many things expected of you, but for me, that was all I wanted. I was angry that they never paid attention to me anymore, and so I lashed out. At you, at everyone."

She laughed a little bitterly.

"This is what my path looks like," she handed him her painted cup. "See these mountains? They're beautiful and lush, but hard to traverse. I want to be successful on my own, but that's difficult to do if you're a girl in this world. H*ll, I would love to be the future Head of the duchy, but that'll never happen because I'm not a boy."

"This is what I thought your path looked like," she turned his cup in his hand so that he could see the sunset over the water. " Smooth and clear, nothing in your way, something glorious and bright in the distance. This was what I wanted. But I know your path probably doesn't look that way. There's a lot of pressure on the future head. Still, I was unbelievably jealous."

Across the table, Elias began to look guilty.

"No, no, no," she quickly put a stop to that. "It was never your fault. It was mine, and it was our parents'. You were just trying to meet everyone's expectations. And besides, I don't need their attention anymore. I've been thinking about that a lot since the accident too."

Straightening up, Alexandra shot him a soft smile.

"...I've missed my brother though. Forgive me for the past?"

Elias responded with a hesitant "Sure, Alexandra."

She shook her head. "When it's just us, it's Alex to you, buddy," she wagged a teasing finger at him.

He finally smiled. A bright grin that took over his face.

"Sure, Alex."