They Say an Age Gap Like This Doesn’t Even Need Matching - Chapter 15

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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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I was inwardly flustered, but I couldn’t let it show before the Crown Prince.
“Indeed, you’re right.”
I replied calmly, and when I turned my head slightly, I caught sight of the Crown Prince watching us.
His expression remained unchanged, but his eyes told a different story.
‘Perhaps I was a bit… excessive.’
It seemed I’d genuinely provoked his anger.
The cold gaze that swept sharply across Elhart made that clear.
“Won’t you regret this?”
An ominous premonition washed over me—the danger level of this trap had just doubled.
“I’m far too inadequate to serve the Crown Prince.”
I tried to ease the tension, even slightly.
“I’m merely grateful for your favor.”
As I spoke those words and offered a respectful bow, the Crown Prince clicked his tongue softly.
“I see. I suppose I was too hasty. You must have been overwhelmed just adjusting to life here.”
He stepped closer to me and extended his hand.
“If you change your mind anytime, come find me. The offer will remain valid whenever you wish.”
He brushed a few strands of hair that had fallen across my cheek behind my ear, then passed by us.
I was infinitely grateful the dress had long sleeves.
Otherwise, the Crown Prince would have witnessed the goosebumps rising on my forearms.
“Doesn’t he seem like a real libertine?”
When I whispered this and looked up at Elhart, I was startled.
His face had frozen into something terrifyingly cold.
It was an expression I’d never seen from him before.
My heart constricted, and I gently shook his arm.
“Elhart.”
Only then did he relax his expression and look down at me.
“Are you alright?”
“That’s what I should be asking you.”
He examined my face carefully as he spoke.
“That man touched you so casually—did something happen?”
“Not at all. Wasn’t he just trying to provoke you on purpose?”
“No.”
He shook his head firmly.
“Auriel has no need to provoke me.”
His expression was dark as he held my gaze.
“To him, I’m a helpless existence who could be ordered to take my own life at a moment’s notice.”
And he seemed somewhat… anxious.
“So everything that man said and did was directed at you, Ser.”
Hmm….
Is that so?
Looking at the situation objectively, Elhart’s words weren’t wrong.
It was only natural that a deposed prince from a minor nation, offered as a hostage to the Crown Prince of an empire that held continental hegemony, would be beneath his notice.
I turned over Auriel’s words and actions in my mind, keeping Elhart’s perspective in mind.
‘Does he really have any interest in me?’
But no matter how much I thought about it, the Crown Prince seemed suspicious.
It didn’t feel like genuine goodwill at all.
“Today especially, you need to be careful. You understand what I mean, right?”
“Yeah, of course.”
Before I could enjoy the banquet, I had to keep in mind the synthetic poison known as the “Love Elixir.”
“Elhart, just in case—don’t eat or drink anything anyone offers you. Got it?”
“…Alright.”
Elhart looked at me with an expression suggesting he had much to say, but as more people began to gather around us, he chose to keep silent.
Soon enough, the doors to the Banquet Hall opened and people began to file in.
According to Elhart’s explanation that those with lower ceremonial rank arrived early to wait in Cradian noble society, I found myself thinking of my Expedition Team companions.
‘If it were them, they’d throw etiquette to the wind and storm in early to ravage the food tables.’
Those who arrived late would find nothing left to eat.
Just imagining that scene made me want to laugh.
I felt Elhart’s gaze land on my cheek, and only then did I suppress a small cough and compose my expression.
Shortly after, it was our turn to enter the Banquet Hall.
Despite being a hostage, I was still royalty, yet my ceremonial rank was placed just below the lower nobility.
Even if it was better not to draw attention, I couldn’t help but find the Empire’s pettiness irritating.
Though Elhart didn’t seem bothered by it at all.
The enormous banquet hall was already filled with a considerable number of people.
‘Cradian really does have an enormous nobility.’
Compared to Bardia three hundred years ago, the scale was incomparable, and I felt slightly overwhelmed.
‘I think I’m seeing a lifetime’s worth of nobles all in one night.’
They, too, regarded Elhart and me with obvious curiosity.
We were spectacles for each other.
“It seems the guests from the Separate Palace were invited to the banquet as well.”
“Who is the young lady beside him?”
“I’m not sure. I think I saw her speaking with the Crown Prince earlier.”
“She appears to be from the Nobility of Bardia.”
At first, it was merely curiosity.
Both Elhart’s and my appearance became topics of conversation.
But as high-ranking nobles began arriving one by one, the atmosphere gradually shifted.
“That dress the woman is wearing….”
“Could it be….”
The glances directed at me as they whispered in hushed voices felt ominous.
Elhart, noticing this as well, furrowed his brow.
“…It seems that dress held some significance.”
“Yeah, that’s what it seemed like.”
“You chose it knowing that?”
“The greater the conflict, the more I can gain from it.”
If nothing happened, that would be nothing but a waste of time.
Especially in a situation like this where I needed to gather as much information as possible, I had to hope that even trivial incidents would occur.
Only then could I understand the Crown Prince’s true intentions as he played the libertine using Mikhail’s face.
‘Whether he’s genuinely interested in me, or if it’s malice masquerading as goodwill.’
“The food here is all delicious. The champagne too.”
“…Don’t drink too much.”
“It’s fine. This much is practically water.”
Thanks to the Cradian nobility keeping their distance while observing, I monopolized the beverage and food tables until a herald’s cry announcing the Emperor’s arrival echoed through the Banquet Hall.
‘So that’s the man who started the conquest war.’
I quietly observed the Emperor and the imperial family members following behind him.
The Emperor’s face, gleaming with greed, bore no particular resemblance to the Crown Prince.
‘The dream of continental unification.’
The dream of someone I knew saved countless lives.
[Ser, we won’t fail. If I die without achieving it, you’ll realize my dream in my stead.]
Yet another’s dream also claimed the lives of countless others.
“Today I am pleased to share joyous news of victory with you all. At last, the northern barbarians have sworn their submission, and this day surely calls for a toast.”
How many lives were trampled beneath a single gesture of that greedy Emperor’s finger.
If Mikhail and I had been born in this same era, could we have understood that man’s dream and his joy?
We risked our lives driving back demons and beasts. We purified lands tainted by magic and built walls where people could live safely.
My Bardia was a fortress of unyielding stone.
A foundation of hope built upon the ruins of despair.
Yet now it faced absorption as merely one of that foul man’s conquered territories, destined to vanish.
“Elhart.”
While letting the Emperor’s lengthy discourse—praising the nobles’ efforts and listing his own achievements—wash over me, I asked my prince a question.
“Do you harbor dreams of continental unification too?”
“What do you think?”
“I’d prefer you didn’t. Such ambitions are unnecessary.”
As I spoke, Elhart, who had been gazing down pensively, turned his gaze back toward the dais where the Emperor stood and said:
“Walls do not move.”
I felt reassured by those words and nodded quietly.
Those accustomed to defensive battles possessed a special quality of spirit.
When Mikhail stood at the vanguard, those behind him forgot their fear.
Those who followed Elhart must have felt the same.
They fought without fear.
To protect their homeland, to preserve their cherished families and the foundations of their lives.
‘Yet there was still a traitor among them. That alone is remarkable.’
Perhaps losing all fear was also problematic.
I’ve forgotten who I have to thank for still being alive and breathing.
If it were me, I would never make an enemy of a man like that, not even if it meant death.

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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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