"Alexa, if you're going to hide, at least hide somewhere that giant dress of yours won't peek out of," Leo sighed as I giggled.
"But nothing is big enough to hide it!" Alexa complained, puffing her cheeks adorably.
"Then wear a smaller dress," Suggested Rei.
"I can't! Mother won't let me," she sulked as she came and hugged my waist.
"Snow, they're bullying me again," she cried.
"Alexa is right, we should just change the game if her dress is too big," I smiled as they all groaned, including her brother Elliot.
"We've changed the game 5 times in a row!" Ren complained.
"As much as I would love to take your side, sister, it is quite troubling. I want to play!" Dean pouted.
"Not my problem!" Alexa huffed.
"Maybe we should take a break..." Sierra sighed.
"We've had enough breaks," Leonard sighed.
I was torn. It was a lot easier when it was just the six of us. Sierra, me, Leo, Ren, Rei, and Dean. I had no problem with Elliot but Alexa was demanding more and more of my attention.
"... You guys go play. I'll sit and chat with Alexa," I smiled.
The boys didn't want to abandon Snow but they were tired from resting.
"Alright... Don't be too long, sister. I came here for you after all," Dean mumbled.
I smiled as I took Alexa to sit.
"Alexa... What are you doing?" I asked curiously.
"I'm having tea with you of course!" she said cheerfully.
"We both know that's not what I'm talking about, Alexa," I said with a glance.
She stopped sipping her tea and looked away uncomfortably.
"I just... You're my best friend... But... Why is it that you like spending more time with them than... Me?" she asked.
As the second villainess, Alexa was bound to be obsessive. But she's not unredeemable.
She's lonely. It's not that there aren't girls her age in Fantasia, it's because none of them are like her.
Alexa was raised by parents who supported her loud, outspoken, confident, and bubbly demeanor.
But, she didn't get along with other little ladies, in fact, they thought Alexa was weird because Alexa was different. Just because she liked different things.
The little ladies loved to gossip, talk about future husbands, how to throw good parties, and hated getting their dresses dirty.
But Alexa loved being loud, playing in the rain, getting dirty, and found gossip boring.
But she was desperate to fit in. Make friends, so she became more shy, filtered, and didn't voice out her thoughts in fear that she'll be thought of as different.
The twins found it entertaining to keep her around. But in the end, they ended up quite close to her. That's how she became lightly obsessed with the twins.
But now it was me she liked.
"Alexa, do you not see them as your friends? They try hard to get along with you. But you reject them so fervently. Why? Is it because you don't like them?" I asked.
"I-I--,"
"Or is it because you're afraid? That they don't think the same as you. That they won't accept you," I continued.
"But... They're boys. They're not the same as us..." she said gripping the handle of her teacup.
That's what the little ladies said as well. She wanted to treat her brother as her equal, like she had been taught.
But if she were to say something to disagree with her brother, they would gossip about her. How she was disrespectful, unruly, and brazen. She was also frustrated from people telling her she hasn't an opinion against her prodigy brother.
Elliott was oblivious to everything so Alexa had all her emotions bottled up in her and it does nothing but grow. It feeds her obsession.
"Alexa, you don't need to be afraid. No one will judge you here for being yourself," I said normally, as if we were just discussing the weather.
"... Really?" she asked, hopeful.
"I like you for you, Alexa, so why not them," I smiled, nodding to my friends.
"Alright... I'll try it," she said grabbing my hand.
We went over to the boys and they were sparring as Sierra observed Dean and Renèe while they played chess again.
"Who wants to play tag!" I said as everyone gathered around.
"Um, just a moment," Elliott said, pulling Alexa to the side for a bit
"Hey, Alexa, could you go find someone to get me some water? I'm pretty thirsty," he smiled.
I glanced at Alexa. She wanted to play but was afraid to disagree with her brother.
"N-No," she stuttered.
"Oh?" her brother asked.
"It's not far, you can get it," Alexa said nicely.
Elliott was slightly shocked but laughed, "Alright, I guess you want more time to play. I'll get it, you and the others start playing," he smiled as Alexa sighed in relief.
She looked at all the other kids who seemed to not really care.
"I told you," I smiled as she smiled back.
"Then let's start!" she shouted as we all obliged by scattering.
"Reinel! How in the world do you keep bumping into me?!" Dean screamed, trying to recover from bumping into Reinel.
"It wasn't on purpose-- eek!" Reinel screamed, avoiding Alexa's hand by a hair.
"I swear, those two are the easiest to catch," Leo rolled his eyes.
"And how do they run into each other every single time? I'd expect that from me and my brother but this is weird," chuckled Ren.
"Like magnets," Sierra laughed.
"I have to agree-- AH!" I screamed in panic as Alexa suddenly came in and almost tagged me.
"Leo, help me!" I screeched and pushed him in front of me.
"Why me?!" he screamed back in alarm.
"I'll save you, Princess!" Sierra exclaimed, dragging me away with a laugh.
"Got you, brother!" Alexa laughed as her brother also laughed.
"Alright, better run now, pipsqueaks," Elliott growled as we went running like headless chickens.
After that, Alexa became more outspoken and never feared to tell us what was on her mind. This was better.
-------------------
"Happy birthday, Princess," Duchess Karina smiled.
"My, the Princess grows up so fast," Duchess Bellatrix exclaimed as all the other ladies nodded in agreement.
"It's also nice to see you, lady Bellatrix, it's the first time I've seen you, you're just as beautiful as Rei and Ren described," Snow laughed.
"Well of course, my handsome boys look exactly like their mother, wouldn't you expect an extremely beautiful woman to be their mother?" Lady Bellatrix laughed as Duchess Karina lightly hit her with her fan.
"Still so brazen I see, Bella," Karina huffed.
"Ohoho, I've heard that you've been talking about the Princess's 'future'," Bellatrix giggled as all the ladies stood up straight.
'Here we go again...' Snow thought to herself.
"Well... Knowing you, you must cheer on Renèe right?" Duchess Karina said slyly as a few noble ladies nodded in agreement.
"No, no, no! Reinel definitely is a better match," Countess Thalia fumed.
"Ladies, ladies, no need to fight. What if she had both?" Bellatrix suggested excitedly.
Everyone was stunned. Even the Princess blinked a few times in disbelief.
"B-Both?" Baroness Gail asked, turning red with embarrassment.
"Two? As in... Two husbands?" Countess Amelia asked in shock.
"Haha... That's.... That's a thought..." Snow laughed awkwardly.
"It could work," Duchess Karina whispered to the other ladies.
"B-But what about--," Countess Thalia was interrupted.
"I think the boys can learn how to share the pretty princess," Bellatrix whispered in.
All the ladies thought about such a scandalous relationship with a princess and twin brothers.
"Oh my..." Duchess Karina gasped, fanning herself vigorously.
"Bellatrix! What do you think you're doing!? Putting such thoughts into people's heads!" Lilian scolded, obviously eavesdropping.
Snow chose to ignore the scene and didn't hear what they were discussing.
"Ooooh, you thought about it too. Didn't you?" Bellatrix smiled.
Lilian thought about it for a second. "W-Well..."
Snow was shocked to see a cupcake thrown at Bellatrix before she doged it gracefully.
"You really should watch what you say around Snow," Victor growled.
"Ohohoho, you know me, Victor, I just can't help having a little fun," Bellatrix smiled before throwing a cupcake at Lennon.
Snow barely stifled a laugh as it hit him square in the face while he was talking to other people.
"Who the--," Lennon exclaimed and saw Bellatrix laughing and patting Victor's back like he just did the funniest thing.
"Seriously, Victor? Did you think I'd let this slide?" Lennon glared, picking up the Apricot pie and running at him.
"It wasn't me! Also this suit is white! White!" Victor screamed.
"Food fight!" A grown noble shouted, picking up food from the table and throwing it around as others joined in.
"Um..." Snow watched the scene, extremely confused.
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°and cut!°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°