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“Prince Aushuvel of the Vaughn Kingdom is entering.”
When the attendant’s loud voice rang out, the knights guarding the entrance opened the door. The voices buzzing inside and the bright light from the chandeliers poured out at once.
And apart from that, everyone’s eyes turned to Aushuvel and Sera in unison. They gave way for Aushuvel, as if this was a reenactment of Moses’ miracle of parting the red sea.
The red carpet with gold embroidery was revealed, leading towards the highest part of the banquet hall, at the podium where the emperor was right now.
By far, Aushuvel was the most eye-catching man. While he didn’t have the same atmosphere as the emperor of this nation, he also drew a lot of eyes in.
Except for the color of his hair and eyes, he did still look quite similar to the emperor. It was almost as if they were brothers instead of cousins. If he had a gentler smile and lighter atmosphere, then he would have been exactly like Helios.
“Prince Aushuvel is still as dashing as ever.”
“Blue goes well with the image of the Vaughn Kingdom.”
“If I could only see him and His Majesty standing together, I feel like I’ll have no regrets.”
“By the way, who’s that next to Prince Aushuvel? Did you hear her name?”
“No. It’s the first time I’ve seen her
 Did His Highness bring her from the Vaughn Kingdom?”
“I heard that Prince Aushuvel always has a beautiful partner by his side, and it seems like he has a prominent person with him again.”
“Who could it be? I’m sure there were a lot of young ladies who were looking forward to Prince Aushuvel’s attendance today however. If someone as pretty as her is standing beside him, then it’ll be difficult for them to approach him.”
Sera could also hear the whispering voices of the women who were already so taken by the prince.
While holding the hem of her dress, she gripped it tighter as she thought, ‘Here it is, finally.’
Despite being at the hot seat, Aushuvel was entirely relaxed unlike Sera, who was practically frozen stiff. He also gave a light nod as a greeting to everyone who bowed to him briefly. At the outpour of attention focused on them both, Sera was the only one who felt uncomfortable.
With a casual gait, Aushuvel led Sera forward as they strode towards the emperor’s throne. Then, he smiled and whispered to Sera.
“We’re going to see His Majesty now, but your face is much too pale. Just now, you heard when they called you pretty, right?”
Was it so obvious that she’s nervous? Sera repeatedly told herself that she should calm down, stop breathing so fast, and just enjoy the situation she was in right now. It’s an imperial banquet after all, and who knows when she’d be able to attend one again in the future? She could also teach the kids better social etiquette from this experience.
“I only look pale because there’s too much makeup on me today.”
While trying to think positively, Sera told a useless joke. Fortunately, the chuckle that only she could hear by her side eased up a little bit of her tension.
“Smile. We’re nearing His Majesty.”
Aushuvel whispered to her as he continued to smile himself.
Sera raised her head and straightened her back, trying to maintain a dignified posture to match Aushuvel.
As they came closer to the other end of the carpet, they slowly approached Helios, who was sitting on the throne that was embellished with gold and brilliant gems on the platform.
“Your Majesty, it is I, Aushuvel, Prince of the Vaughn Kingdom. The Adelio Empire’s celebratory banquets are ever magnificent.”
Aushuvel said this with a sly smirk on his lips as he looked around the banquet hall’s interior, which was adorned with flowers everywhere. His lips were raised on one corner at an angle because of one reason—Helios’ eyes were focused on Sera and Sera alone.
“Your Majesty, it is I, Sera Popo, from the Popo Viscounty.”
Sera curtsied deeply towards Helios, and the hall grew noisy for a moment. Several people flocked to spectate, and their curious voices and vigilant gazes were directed at her. Voices here and there whispered about House Popo.
Seeing them react like this wasn’t outside her expectations. Sera decided that it was just natural for them to react in this way. And now that she’s come as Aushuvel’s partner, people were bound to pay even more attention to her.
Slowly raising her body from the deep bow, stood upright once more. She vowed to herself that she wouldn’t be nervous anymore, but it wasn’t going her way. In front of her right now was Helios, who seemed to be somewhat surprised.
‘I knew you’d be taken aback. After all, I suddenly appeared without saying anything about being Prince Aushuvel’s partner.’
Sera put on a smile for Helios, who she hadn’t seen in a long time. Somehow, when she saw him sitting upon the emperor’s throne, she had another realization that he really was from a different world.
Back when she met him three times a week, all alone with him for hours as they just talked, she had forgotten her own position.
“Seraaa.”
After hearing the small, whispering voice, Sera inadvertently raised her eyebrows.
She had been looking at only Helios until now, but then when she looked to the side, she saw the pouting Ferre sitting next to the throne.
Right now, the twins were sitting on ceremonial chairs that were smaller and less flashy than the throne in between them. They kept leaning forward, clearly expressing how glad they were to see Sera.
“Seraaa. Here.”
Ferre called her quietly again. This time, Sera’s face grew pale as she thought about what to do.
Of course, it was natural for a child to act a bit petulantly. If this was still her previous life and there was a ‘scene’ happening with a child, people would have smiled it off and carried on. Even in school, whenever there was a recital or a school arts festival, there was one or two children who would always whine and look for her.
However, the twins had long since been labeled as mischievous troublemakers, yet they had their titles as the prince and princess of the Adelio Empire to uphold.
Since there was an incident before with Elijah, Duke Bethmann’s son, Sera was hoping that they could take this grand banquet as an opportunity to remove that stigma on the twins. This was to make people acknowledge them as a good prince and a good princess.
‘You can’t, not here! Your Highnesses! You promised me that you’ll be a pair of graceful, dignified imperial prince and imperial princess today!”
Sera shook her head slightly towards the twins, trying to send a signal with her eyes that said, ‘You have to sit properly with the right posture!’
Fortunately, Rosé immediately got the message. She leaned back on her seat with her back straight, and she positioned her cute fingers atop her dress on her lap. There was a pleasant sparkle in her eyes, but she restrained herself from acting overly close with Sera.
But on the other hand, Ferre wasn’t able to hear the voice of Sera’s heart that was asking him to sit still. Ferre gradually inched forward even more. His whispering voice while calling Sera’s name also gradually grew louder.
‘We’re in trouble. It looks like His Highness Ferre wants to greet me normally, but
 just one mistake and he’ll fall over any second
’