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Chapter 133
Translator: Yonnee
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“Sera, you were sooo pwetty.”
“Yeah. You were so so so spawkly.”
“I wanna see you and Hyung dance agwain.”
“Me too. I weally wish Oppa and Sera can like each owther like Mama and Papa.”
The sleepy children mumbled with their words slightly garbled as they hugged Sera.
The twins’ mumbling were so adorable that Sera couldn’t help but chuckle.
They had been going to bed at around eight o’clock recently, and right now, it was long past their bedtime. Sera quickly tucked them in.
The two smelled softly like babies and the scent of rose soap, but still, they stretched their arms out and kept snuggling by her side as though they didn’t want to let her go.
“Seeraaa, I’m sweepy.”
“Of course. It’s already way past your bedtime.”
“What time is it?”
“Mm
 A little over two o’clock.”
Glancing at the clock on the wall, Sera told the time to the children.
However, a short moment later, four arms and four legs soon popped out of the blanket.
“Uuungh.”
“It’s hot.”
“You can’t, Your Highnesses. It’ll be cold at dawn. And you’ll say that you have a stomachache the next morning because you slept with your bellies out.”
Sera firmly returned the twins’ limbs back into the thin blanket.
It looked like they were too tired, and so the children no longer rebelled further and quickly slipped into dreamland.
Sera turned off the lights and left the door slightly ajar so that there was still some light inside. After doing so, Sera hurried out of the palace.
As she recalled what the chief handmaid said to her while the twins were washing up, her steps grew even more hurried.
“Lady Popo, there might not be a carriage to take you back today. The carriages might be in use by others because of the ball. You’ll have to go quickly before they’re all gone.”
And soon, those words came true.
“I apologize, Lady Popo. We’re all out of carriages for the palace’s guests today. We didn’t know that you were going to stay this late today
”
The knight explained to Sera with a troubled expression.
Sera let out a long sigh after she heard the knight add further that they would have left one or prepared for this in advance in another way if they had been told.
Her house was far from the palace. It was a distance that she wouldn’t be able to reach without riding a carriage.
As she was at a loss on how to get home, her feet started hurting again because she walked for a long time while wearing high heels.
The pain got to the extent that she couldn’t even stand up properly.
“I can lend Your Ladyship a horse if that’s alright with you.”
She was grateful for the offer, but Sera shook her head. Not only was she unable to ride a horse, but her poofy dress and uncomfortable shoes also weren’t suitable for horseback riding.
The knight belatedly took notice of Sera’s clothes and chuckled embarrassedly to himself, perhaps thinking that he brought up something that he shouldn’t have.
“How long will it take for the next carriage to return?”
“Perhaps three hours.”
“Three hours?”
Sera’s tongue nearly clicked at the thought of waiting for that long a time. By then, the sun would have already risen.
But she had no choice but to wait. Sera nodded helplessly.
She thought that it’s her fault for not even thinking about how she would be going home, so there’s no one she could complain to.
“I’ll be back by then.”
Leaving behind the knight who was staring at her pitifully, Sera carefully walked back as her feet ached.
‘Where should I go?’
Sera continued to walk aimlessly like a lost child. There were many places one could go to in this vast palace, but the places she could reach were limited.
She didn’t like the idea of going back to the banquet hall. She knew that the young lords would continue to ask her for a dance, and she was also feeling conscious about how she refused them every time.
‘Should I go back to the Star Palace?’
However, without thinking deeply about it, she knew that she shouldn’t return to the Star Palace. Considering the time she left earlier, everyone there was likely to be quietly asleep already.
‘As expected, I can’t return to the Star Palace.’
In the end, there seemed to be no place she could stay and relax, so Sera just decided to sit on a bench in front of the fountain she saw earlier while she was on the balcony.
Just standing still made her feel the pain on the balls of her feet, but she soon headed for the garden.
* * *
“Prince Aushuvel! Why can’t it be me?!”
With the grand fountain just around the corner, absurdly enough, Sera hid behind a large tree.
It’s said that a ball was a place for dating, so she saw more than one couple making such scenes while she was on her way here.
Sera thought that it should be them who’s hiding, but when she heard a familiar voice, she already hid herself before she knew it.
“Your Highness! The last time you came to the Empire, you said that I will be your next partner. But who did you come with today?!”
“I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“Do you mean that, Prince Aushuvel?”
“Of course. Please don’t cry and raise your head, Milady. I can’t see your pretty face.”
As the young lady’s sobbing settled down after a while, Sera furtively snuck a look from the side of the tree.
She did it because she thought that they had already left, only to find a shocking sight that made her eyes grow wide.
What she saw was the young lady in Aushuvel’s embrace, and they were creating such a risquĂ© scene with the accompanying sound of chu, chu.
‘How could you do something like that in a place like this!’
The embarrassing scene made her feel embarrassed in turn. It was even more difficult to look at because one of the people there happened to be someone she knew.
‘I need to leave. Pronto.’
She tried to stop listening to the continuous sounds as she decided to hurry up and go somewhere else, and so Sera took a step back.
Then, her sharp heel got stuck on a tree root.
Her feet had already been in a bad condition before this, but the moment she tripped on a root, she lost her strength in an instant as she sprained her ankle.
She couldn’t stop her fall and so she collapsed to the ground in an instant. The sound of a thud that her dress couldn’t prevent tore through the silence in the air.
She quickly covered her lips and held her breath, but it was too late. The woman’s shrill voice broke through.
“Someone’s over there?!”
“It seems so. Please go back first. I’ll deal with this.”
‘I’m doomed.’