"I am going to check on the boys," I told Arles as we walked out of the courtroom. He cocked an eyebrow at me.

I knew he was going to object to it but before he could say anything, one of the ministers claimed his attention and soon they got busy with some important discussion.

I took this moment to escape. I have been working all day and it had drained all my energy. I needed some fresh air. I needed to escape so badly.

It was late in the afternoon and I was supposed to stay till the evening but I couldn't. I was sure that I did not want to go into the courtroom again before tomorrow.

The workload was always too much at the court. It required us to work long stretches of hours. I was starting to hate them.

The work kept me so busy that I was left with a small amount of time to spend with my boys. I wanted to be a memorable part of their childhood but I doubted that it wouldn't be possible with all the work.

I entered our wing before heading straight to our pups' nursery. I have been looking forward to this part of the day.

"Your majesty," Cynthia, the old witch bowed as soon as I entered the room. I offered her a genuine smile.

Cynthia looked after my boys while I and Arles were at court. She took great care of them and to some extent, also acted like a grandmotherly figure to them. I loved to have her around the boys. She managed them quite well.

She adored the boys and the boys loved her back. They too loved to spend time with her.

"Did my boys trouble you, Cynthia?" I asked as I looked around the room to find them. She laughed before answering, "No, they did not. We had quite some fun today. They are both asleep," She said as she pointed at the crib.

I nodded before nearing the crib and looking into it. I found my boys, Ares and Regulus peacefully sleeping. Innocense and tranquility decorated their beautiful faces. I instantly felt my heart melt.

"Thank you for looking after them, Cynthia. I really appreciate the work you do," I told her and she bowed again.

"Your majesty, it's my pleasure." She whispered with a huge smile on her lips before leaving me alone with my boys. I sighed as I settled on the chair beside the crib and looked down at my boys sleeping.

Ares was three years old. Regulus was two years old. Both looked like the little versions of Arles. They did not inherit much from me except my fire element. Though right then, they were too young to use it.

Even though they looked quite similar due to taking most of their father's features, they had very different and defined personalities already.

Ares was the most notorious and active from the beginning, even in my womb. He was the one who kept Cynthia busy for the most part.

On the other hand, Regulus was quite the opposite. He was calm most of the time and hardly did anything notorious like his big brother. But his immense curiosity made up for the lack of the notorious nature that he didn't take after his brother.

I couldn't help but smile at them while I ran my hand through their curly black hair. They were so precious to me. They were the best thing that happened to me and Arles. They helped me and Arles to develop our relationship very much.

We were still working on our relationship and steadily developing our kingdom. After accepting witches in the kingdom, responsibilities and work doubled.

Zaeris was slowly progressing after the upliftment of the infertility curse. The witches had found a way to bring back the fertility of our soil and they were working hard on it continuously.

On the other hand, Arles and I worked on our small family. There were times when we still fought and sorted to our old ways but it was comparatively less now.

I was still learning a lot of things in Zaeris and sometimes it would get too much for me. Today was something like that. I was feeling completely burned out.

An idea instantly crossed my mind.

Arles wouldn't be free from work until late in the evening. Until then I could take a break and go somewhere refreshing.

I told Cynthia to look after the boys before I left the nursery. I found an old top and a pair of jeans with some mortal money. I took off my gown and wore my old mortal clothes.

I snuck my way to the restricted place in the palace before using some traveling sand to transport back to the mortal land, where I originally belonged.

I sighed in relief when I was able to see the city light peeking from the trees. I was in the woods near a mortal city. With a huge smile on my face, I stepped out and started to wander the place.

I did this quite often. Arles hadn't found out about this. I couldn't possibly think of what he'd do if he ever found out about this but the taste of freedom was too sweet to not take such a big risk.

The weight seemed to be lifted from my shoulders temporarily as I walked through the city roads crowded with mortals.

I received some curious looks from people but I kept walking without giving them a second look. I wandered the streets, sometimes stopping to look at some shops before continuing to walk.

I bought myself some ice cream before I continued to look around. I kinda missed Arles when I saw some couples.

I'd have loved it if he were with me now but he was busy with work. I tried my best to bother him less. Also, he hated coming to the mortal land. I think he last came down here before we had the boys.

I found a beautiful shop. It had some beautiful dresses on display. Without thinking much I stepped inside the shop. After years, I felt excited about something as mundane as shopping.

Back in Zaeris, everything was already there even before I could ask for it. I was grateful for that but at the same time, I missed going out and picking out my own dresses and things.

A smile climbed on my lips as I ran my fingers through the dresses. They were simple yet beautiful. They were very different than what I wore back in Zaeris. They were lighter and comparatively plain-looking.

I picked out a red dress and decided to try it.

I was dumbstruck when I saw myself in the mirror with the dress on. It hugged my curves perfectly. It had a V neck and an open back. The dress ended just a few inches above my knees. When I let my long hair down, I looked beautiful.

I looked ready to go to a party.

I wondered how Arles would react if he ever saw me in the dress. I picked out matching shoes and jewelry before paying for them and leaving the shop.

I felt thrilled when I spotted a bar. It seemed like they were having happy hours. I bit my lip when I got another idea.

In a few moments, I found myself stepping inside the bar, dressed in my new clothes. I received several flirtatious looks from men which went deliberately ignored by me. Loud music drowned all the noise while colorful lights flashed on the dancefloor. It was where most of the crowd was.

I ignored it and headed straight to the place where the drinks were served.

"May I buy you a drink?" A guy asked when I took a seat at the counter. I looked at him. He was good looking for mortals but nowhere close to Arles.

He seemed to be interested in me right away. Vesta instantly felt disgusted and lowkey, so do I but I did not show it on the surface for the sake of not coming off as rude and also to not spoil my chances of having a free drink.

"Sure," I answered with a genuine smile. He threw a flirtatious smile at me before ordering the drinks.

"What's your name, beautiful?" He asked after ordering the drinks. I didn't miss how he was leaning close to me suddenly.

Lust swam in his eyes while he checked me out. It made me cringe internally but I decided to play cool.

When the bartender set the drinks in front of us, I took at it and took a sip from it. Not before throwing him a flirtatious look. I didn't miss how he froze to look at my lips before the lust in his eyes intensified.

"Nefret," A familiar voice growled behind me. I froze in my place. I saw a look of terror climb on the mortal's face as he looked past me.

My heart thrashed in my chest as I slowly looked over my shoulder. It was Arles.

Shit!