Just want to add info about mods of operations
Yes, AES is a 128-bit (16-byte) block cipher with multiple possible key length (128, 192, 256), but the cause of this text padding limitation (and error msg) is ECB mode of operation. ECB is the simplest of the encryption modes. I don't know your goals, so will just skip the part that it doesn't provide serious message confidentiality.
CBC and CTR are more common and usually appropriate to use and in CTR mode you don't need 128-bit message length.
There is also ciphertext stealing (CTS) method for ECB and CBC modes.
Method of using a block cipher mode of operation that allows for
processing of messages that are not evenly divisible into blocks
without resulting in any expansion of the ciphertext, at the cost of
slightly increased complexity
But Ciphertext stealing for ECB mode requires the plaintext to be longer than one 128-bit block.