"Ahhh, I missed this," Eli let out a relaxed sigh.

Alexandra grinned up at him from her position sprawled across the grass. 

After polishing off their tea and sweets, Alex and Eli had decided to move their conversation someplace further from the manor servants and their father's keen surveillance. The two siblings walked to the edge of the Sinclair estate, where a large oak tree sat on top of a rolling, grassy hill. As children, it had been one of their favorite spots to go to escape from the pressure of the family, as the adults never wandered this far from the comforts of the manor. 

"Hey Eli?" Alex murmured, staring up at the large leafy canopy above them.

"Yeah?"

"Do you really want to be the Duke?"

A slight frown formed on his lips as he thought about it. He shrugged carelessly and flopped down beside his sister.

"Not really," he gazed up at the tree, "but I've been studying to be the Duke for so long, it feels like I have to become the next Duke or all of it would have been a waste."

Out of the corner of her eye, Alexandra observed Eli's face. He looked serious, and a bit sad. That wasn't like her brash, rude, childish brother at all. She mourned the loss of his innocent childhood, taken away by the duties of being the heir of Sinclair.

He suddenly turned to her and poked his tongue out childishly.

"Besides, Father would kill me if I didn't!"

Alexandra laughed, turning on her side to face her brother. 

"There's my brat kid brother! I was wondering what kind of serious alien had possessed him!"

"Oi!" he shoved her shoulder playfully. She only laughed harder.

All of a sudden, his hand stilled and he furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Hey Alex?"

"Yeah?" His now-serious tone was a bit concerning.

"...what is an alien?"

...

Oops. 

Guess aliens didn't exist in this world. 

Her lips turned up in a wicked smirk.

"Eli, didn't you know? Aliens are monsters that live beyond the sky, in this black cold void where there is no air and everything floats as if you're underwater. They have giant heads and long wiggly tentacles. Sometimes they come down in big iron disks and kidnap humans to take with them to the void. And do you know what they do with those humans?"

He shook his head, eyes as big as saucers.

Alex's grin turned predatory. 

Suddenly, her hands shot forwards to his sides.

"THEY PROBE THEM!" she yelled, mercilessly tickling her brother. 

"AH!" he half-screamed-half-cried in laughter. "I DON'T WANNA BE PROBED!"

...

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" A couple miles away, a maid looked up curiously from her task of sweeping the front steps. She could've sworn she heard a loud high-pitched scream. Maybe it was just her imagination?

She shrugged and returned to her sweeping.

***

Alexandra wiped tears of mirth from her eyes as their giggles subsided. However, one look at her brother's pouting face threatened to send her into hysterics again.

"Hmph!" he flopped on his other side, facing away from her.

She grinned sitting up and beginning to repeatedly poke at the side of his (very squishy) face. 

"Oi!" Eli flew into a sitting position, clutching his rapidly-reddening cheek. 

"Ok, ok, I'll stop!" Alex held her hands up in mock-surrender. She chuckled at the extremely offended look on his face.

"Aw, who's a grumpy Duke?" she cooed saccharinely, ruffling his hair. 

He scowled at her, but she had already mussed up his perfectly gelled hair. 

"Much better," she nodded in satisfaction, returning her hand to her lap. "I prefer this to the stiff Elias Sinclair of the manor house."

His petulant frown grew sadder and he turned to stare forlornly out at the scenery. 

"...A good Duke isn't loud, or reckless, or childish. He always has to be polite and calm and mature and perfect."

Alexandra smiled sadly at him.

"Father said that?"

"Every day of my life."

She huffed out an exasperated breath, slinging an arm around her brother's shoulders and leaning her head on his shoulder.

"He's wrong, you know. Father is, I mean."

Elias turned his frown on her.

"Is he, though?"

Alex grinned reassuringly and squeezed his shoulder. 

"Trust in your wise older sister."

Eli snorted. She rolled her eyes and gently smacked the back of his head.

"Oi!" he shouted, reaching up to rub his sore spot. 

She shrugged, unabashed, and continued speaking.

"A good Duke is someone who has the ability to defend his family, his position, and his people. That's really all there is to it. You learn all these things like Economics and Geography because you need these skills to help the people of your duchy thrive and prosper. You learn Etiquette because you need to keep up your image in social settings. You learn Swordplay because you need to be able to fight anyone who could come after you and your family."

Alex smiled gently at him. 

"But you don't have to be cold and calculating. You don't have to be polite to the point of detachment. You don't have to be extremely mature or wise beyond your years. You don't have to be perfect." 

Elias stared at her, unshed tears in his eyes. She squeezed him tighter.

"For now, pretend. Pretend to be everything Father wants you to be. But when you become the Duke, you be who you want to be. Your "loudness" is confidence, your "recklessness" is initiative, and your "childishness" is just a normal human personality. Just be yourself."

"You are good enough"

Alexandra watched as tears began to silently flow from his eyes. He rubbed at them furiously, cheeks growing ruddy as he stubbornly scrubbed at his face. How long had he waited to hear those words?

I'm sorry to make you wait, brother.

She stared out at the world, watching life pass by as her brother's wounds slowly began to heal.

***

Alex suddenly shrugged, effectively shattering the wholesome atmosphere she had built. 

"And besides, if you ever screw up, I'll be here to beat your a** and help you fix it. Even when you become the Duke, you're still going to be my annoying kid brother," she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Hey!" his tears all but disappeared as his features formed a very familiar face of pure offense. 

And as the breeze picked up, it carried with it the sound of children's laughter.