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Sera brought a box over and gave it to Ferre.
“Please open it.”
And when he pulled the ribbon from the beautifully adorned gift box, a small carriage model was inside.
“It’s the same as the palace’s carriages!”
Ferre’s eyes twinkled. It was a smaller version of the carriage that was used exclusively by the imperial family of the Adelio Empire. It was a unique toy model that recreated even the golden handles of the real deal.
Ferre would have been satisfied enough if it was a regular toy carriage, but he was a little weaker for Sera’s gift.
“Your Highness, there’s a button you can press at the underside of the carriage over here.”
“Button?”
Sera held Ferre’s hand that was holding the carriage and let it towards the underside. It was supposed to be smooth, but there, Ferre felt a round button that he didn’t know about.
“Please press it and set it down on the table here.”
Ferre pressed the button a little and carefully placed the toy carriage on the table. With the sound of clink, clank after the button was pressed, the carriage moved forward—it disassembled and reassembled into a new shape.
“Waaaaaaaaah! What’s this!”
Ferre exclaimed as his purple eyes twinkled with wonder.
After a moment, the clinking of the machine stopped, and the carriage had completely changed into a different form.
“It looks like the sword Hyung always has!”
It was a replica of Helios’ longsword. Of course, the toy carriage was small, so the ‘sword’ looked more like a toy dagger due to its size.
“If Your Highness presses the purple jewel again, it will return to being a carriage.”
Ferre was solely focused on Sera’s gift, entirely beside himself in excitement because of the extraordinary toy he had never seen before. He didn’t even hear what Sera had said just now.
‘I knew he’d like it. It took a really long time to have it made.’
The inspiration for this gift was from a movie that Sera watched in her previous life, where cars transformed into robots.
She placed her order at the same place where she had the stickers made before, and since then after they’d also seen the amazing toy, they’d been trying to convince Sera to consider selling the toy idea.
She flatly refused the offer, saying that she wanted to give this toy as a special gift for someone. But really, the amount they offered her was astronomical.
Just in time, Rosé’s hair was finished again and she rushed to Sera’s side. RosĂ© and Ferre were on both sides of her, holding one each of her hands. In Ferre’s other hand was Sera’s gift to him in the form of a toy dagger.
“Sir Knight will be here to pick up Your Highnesses soon.”
Speak of the devil, Jean appeared as soon as Sera said this. Jean also applauded loudly when he saw the splendidly dressed Rosé and Ferre.
“Wow! Your Highnesses are definitely the main characters today.”
“Really?”
“Really, really?”
“Of course. Many of Your Highnesses’ peers came, so all that’s left now is to enjoy today’s party. His Majesty is also waiting outside.”
Jean reached out to the twins. RosĂ© and Ferre held Jean’s hands and looked back at Sera with smiles on their faces.
‘I thought they’d be like children on their first day of school, not wanting to say goodbye to their mother at the school gate
’
Seeing how their expectations for the birthday party were great, the twins looked more excited than nervous about parting from Sera.
“See you later, Sera! You have to come and be pretty, too!”
And so, the door to Rosé’s room closed.
Sera sat down on the sofa inside the room as if flinging her own body there. Almost lying down, she stretched as much as she could and looked like a leek in a well-fermented kimchi.
‘Did I overdo it while preparing for the party?’
The reason why she couldn’t rest was because she was called here and there every single day she was in the imperial palace. And even on the only day that she didn’t come to the palace, she was preparing RosĂ© and Ferre’s gifts, so her internal battery really had become drained.
“Excuse me, Lady Popo.”
The maid who was styling Rosé’s hair just a while ago carefully called out to Sera, who belatedly realized that she wasn’t alone in here. She hurriedly stood up, but then she sat down right away.
“Yes! Is it time for me to leave now?”
Sera sat up on the seat, looking over to the two other maids further back. Sera had a reserved seat near the back of the garden where she would be able to see Rosé and Ferre clearly from a distance.
“No, it’s not that. His Majesty and Their Highnesses asked me to deliver this to you, Milady.”
“Huh? What is it?”
Sera received the sky blue box with a puzzled look. Inside the box, there was a lavender-colored dress in translucent wrapping paper.
When she carefully took it out and looked at its full length, it was a dress that seemed to be perfectly fitted according to her measurements. It wasn’t as colorful as Rosé’s dress, but it was a garment that obviously had been made with a lot of care and detail, such as the serene embroidery inscribed in its seams.
‘But for me to receive this
’
Perhaps knowing the questions popping up in Sera’s mind, the maid explained.
“It is His Majesty and Their Highnesses’ will. They mentioned that Lady Sera is invited to the party as a guest, not as the tutor of Their Highnesses.”
“Oh
 But can I still be in such a place where high-ranking aristocrats are attending? With the children and the couples? But of course, this is also part of my work for the day
”
“On the day that Lady Popo didn’t come to the palace, Their Highnesses and His Majesty were rushing to prepare this surprise gift for you. If the Lady doesn’t feel comfortable with it, it’s alright. But wouldn’t their Highnesses be delighted if you attend the party for even a moment, Lady Popo?”
While Sera was still somewhat flustered, the maid urged her to go behind the partition so she could change. With practiced ease, the maids took off Sera’s clothes. Of course, her skills were a testament to being a maid of RosĂ©, who would whine very much.
Sera reluctantly stood still, but she blushed in embarrassment because it was the first time since she was a child that someone else was helping her change clothes.
“Milady, how can you be so slender? I don’t know how you possibly pushed that wagon while Their Highnesses were in it.”
The maid tightened Sera’s waist tightly from behind as she said this. Every time Sera breathed in, the corset was pulled even tighter.
And finally, when Sera stood in front of the mirror after having changed her clothes, she could see that the twins and Helios, who prepared this gift, had excellent eyes. The lavender dress with calm flower patterns matched her image perfectly.
“I didn’t know because Milady always wears simple dresses when you come to the palace, but this dress looks really good on you. And may I add, it was His Majesty who decided on the color.”
Sera’s face became a little hot. It wasn’t just because of the maid’s praise.
Helios.
She knew that he didn’t give her this dress with personal feelings attached to it, but she couldn’t help but be thrilled for no reason as she imagined the scene of him choosing her dress along with the twins.
‘It almost feels like asking me to misunderstand.’