They Say an Age Gap Like This Doesn’t Even Need Matching - Chapter 13

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Elhart was anxious about whether he’d prepared properly, worried that these people might have given him shabby clothes, so I wanted to leave quickly.
At some point, my impatience must have shown on my face, because the Crown Prince smiled wryly and spoke.
“Are you in such a hurry? He’ll be busy preparing too, after all.”
“I should have been there to help him.”
“I sent my personal Steward, so there’s no need to worry. He’s no less skilled than I am.”
How would you know what my skills are like?
As my eyes narrowed sharply, the Crown Prince tilted his head curiously.
“Have you ever picked out men’s clothing before?”
Of course not…
“Have you ever trimmed a man’s hair?”
Naturally, I haven’t. Though I have lopped off heads before.
“Do you know the Prince’s measurements?”
This is troublesome.
Now that I think about it, I don’t know anything at all.
“Let’s spend a bit more time here and head over when the banquet begins. I’ll have the Separate Palace informed of the same.”
Hmm, not ideal. I was starting to grow tired of looking at jewels anyway.
“Or would you like to explore the Crown Prince’s Palace a bit more? You only saw the first floor earlier, right?”
Ah, that’s actually quite tempting.
But if I agree too eagerly, it’ll raise suspicion.
“You must be busy, Your Highness. I couldn’t possibly impose.”
“It’s an excuse for me to rest too.”
…It doesn’t seem like he’d let me refuse anyway.
He’s asking for my opinion while clearly intending to do as he pleases.
It works out well for me at the moment, but that one really does seem to have a poor temperament.
I nodded reluctantly and followed the Crown Prince.
‘I should thoroughly search this place while I’m at it.’
And see if there are other items worth taking.
I’d love to get a box of tea to share with Elhart.
If I’m being greedy, a couple of bottles of fine liquor and some plush slippers would be nice too.
***
“I’ve brought your meal.”
Elhart glanced at the Steward setting down a heavy basket on the table and asked.
“Where is my Maid?”
“She’s been taken by the Crown Prince.”
“What? Why?!”
Elhart cried out in surprise.
“Ah, you startled me. Why are you shouting?”
Rick, Elhart’s direct intelligence agent who had been embedded in the Cradian Palace for years, grumbled as he spoke.
“He took her to help her prepare for the banquet.”
“Why didn’t you say that from the start instead of saying she was taken? Wait, why is the Crown Prince personally handling this?”
“Who knows. Maybe he’s completely smitten with her.”
Rick replied offhandedly and opened the basket’s lid.
“Whew, no wonder it was so heavy. How many servings is this anyway?”
However, Elhart paid no attention to the food and paced the room restlessly.
Rick, watching him with his eyes, let out a deep sigh and spoke.
“Your Highness, are you truly worried about that mysterious Maid right now? I’m uneasy about why the Empire invited us to this banquet in the first place.”
“I’ll handle my own affairs. But she…”
Elhart stopped and exhaled a long sigh, muttering weakly.
“She doesn’t understand the common sense of this era.”
After a moment of silence, Rick lowered his voice and asked.
“Your Highness, are you truly certain that the Maid is ‘that person’?”
“Yes.”
Elhart answered without hesitation, firmly.
“But that Maid really…”
Rick paused for a moment, searching for the right words.
“She looks about the same age as my youngest sibling.”
“Perhaps the assumption at the time was correct.”
“The one about how time flows differently inside the Black Rift?”
Elhart nodded.
“Yes.”
“Is there any possibility that Your Highness was mistaken?”
At Rick’s words, Elhart recalled that night.
“…I wish that were the case.”
That night when she fell directly into his arms.
The terrible pull stripped away his reason, and he crossed the line, abandoning his usual caution.
‘I thought it was fate.’
He never imagined he would become the subject of that irresponsible and absurd talk of love at first sight.
The silver hair cascading into his embrace gleamed like a snowy field catching sunlight, and her azure eyes were enchanting, as if holding stars within them.
Her beauty, which even radiated sanctity, momentarily robbed him of words.
He was afraid of losing her.
A sudden surge of desperation made me recklessly make a promise and reach out to grasp her hand.
Whether the Emperor had sent her or it was someone else’s scheme, there was no way to escape it.
The moment my lips touched those soft lips, it felt as though my very soul was being stolen away.
‘Not knowing that I am someone she should never covet.’
I realized something was amiss when I witnessed ancient magic manifesting naturally from her hands.
In this era, there was no Mage who wielded magic in the same manner as she did.
‘And yet she claimed she wasn’t a Mage.’
That she could only manage basic life magic.
And there was something else.
“Look at this.”
Iserna retrieved a pendant from his pocket and handed it to Rick.
“Ah, isn’t that the one you always carried with you?”
“Yes. I took it from the Royal Palace’s treasure vault when I distinguished myself in my first expedition.”
The vault contained everything from the founding king’s weapons to countless treasures, yet Iserna had chosen only this useless pendant.
Drawn to it as though enchanted, it contained a portrait of a beautiful woman.
“Huh? Uh, uh…?”
Rick’s eyes widened as he opened the pendant to examine its contents.
“Isn’t that the Maid?”
“You see the resemblance too?”
“It’s not just a resemblance—it’s the same person, isn’t it?”
For reasons unknown, Kailyb, the second king of Bardia, had removed the portrait of Iserna Airwain that remained in the Royal Palace.
Moreover, he had personally intervened in the records, ensuring all descriptions of her appearance were deleted.
Due to the shocking nature of Kailyb’s actions, that matter was not considered particularly important.
It was merely regarded as one of the tyrant’s eccentricities.
Now, three hundred years later, no clues about the Expedition Team leader remained.
Perhaps this pendant that Iserna possessed was the only one.
“Could it… possibly be another king’s pendant? Perhaps a portrait of a concubine was secretly painted inside?”
Faced with a reality too difficult to believe, Rick asked this, and Iserna shook his head with a bitter smile.
“There’s a message on the back of the portrait left by the founding king for her.”
He too had harbored the same suspicion and opened the pendant to verify.
“Oh, could I also see…?”
Before Rick could touch the portrait, Iserna snatched the pendant away.
“Don’t even think about it.”
By instinct, I knew this was the founding king’s secret that no one should ever glimpse.
Rick, staring at his empty hand with a disappointed expression, sidled up to Iserna and asked.
“If the Maid really is ‘that person,’ wouldn’t that be an enormous advantage?”
Iserna, having tucked the pendant deep into his pocket, answered curtly.
“What advantage?”
“Well, the return of the hero who ended the Dark Age. With such a force, wouldn’t it be enough to strike at Cradian’s weakness?”
“Yes, there will be no shortage of people thinking like you.”
Elhart sighed and settled into the chair before the table.
Just days ago, he had struggled to consume even a single bowl of thin gruel, yet now an abundance of appetizing dishes lay spread before him.
“Everything feels uncertain to me.”
Whether Iserna Airwain returned alone or with the entire Expedition Team, they deserved appropriate compensation.
But what was the current state of Bardia?
Far from preparing to welcome heroes, the very fate of the nation hung in peril.
“We have no choice but to accelerate the plan.”
“…Are you serious?”
“We cannot allow traitors to receive the Expedition Team.”
Those despicable wretches would employ every underhanded tactic to wield that formidable military strength for their own gain.
Of course, the Ser he had experienced was someone who would never be manipulated by anyone.
‘I no longer wish to show her such a pathetic side of myself.’
That was the crux of the matter.
“For that reason, I have a question for you. Rick, you have an older sister, don’t you?”
“Yes, but why do you ask?”
“Is there any way for a man to appear favorable to someone roughly three hundred years his senior?”
Seeing Rick’s expression of shock, Elhart buried his face in his palm.
Yes, the real problem was….
He had already fallen for someone to whom he was not even permitted to harbor feelings.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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