They Say an Age Gap Like This Doesn’t Even Need Matching - Chapter 16

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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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Should I call it fortunate?
Or should I consider it unexpected?
The Emperor, brimming with greed and vanity, hardly appeared to be the formidable figure I’d imagined.
[Relying solely on intuition is dangerous, Ser. People sometimes commit acts that are entirely out of character, after all.]
Though Mikhail, the only one who knew I could handle Manarang, had warned me as much.
‘Still, compared to the Emperor….’
My gaze shifted to the Crown Prince standing behind the Emperor.
‘The Crown Prince is undoubtedly the far more dangerous one.’
Unlike the Emperor, the Crown Prince remained… difficult to read.
Whether he was virtuous or wicked.
What his fundamental desires truly were.
That was precisely why he inspired such wariness in me.
“Then, I hope you enjoy yourselves to your heart’s content.”
The Emperor raised his glass and returned to his seat on the dais, and the orchestra resumed their interrupted performance.
‘A victory celebration banquet, then.’
I couldn’t fathom whose idea it had been to invite hostages to such an event.
Was it meant to demonstrate that we too would eventually submit like the rest?
As the orchestra transitioned into a dance melody, the Second Prince and his betrothed walked toward the center of the hall.
As they led the way and others gradually joined the dancing, the atmosphere of the Banquet Hall began to heat up, when a Steward quietly approached us.
“Your Highness, His Majesty requests your presence.”
What could this be about?
I glanced toward the dais where the Emperor sat.
The Empress was whispering something to the Emperor, who reclined leisurely upon the throne.
The Crown Prince, seated opposite the Empress with the Emperor between them, gazed at the dancers with a smile on his face.
‘Surely he wouldn’t cause trouble this early in the banquet.’
“I’ll be back.”
Elhart took the champagne glass from my hand and drained it in one gulp before speaking.
“Don’t drink even if you’re thirsty.”
He was underestimating my capacity for alcohol.
I could drain an entire barrel of this champagne and remain perfectly fine.
But when our eyes met, I found myself unable to voice any objection.
“Yeah, understood.”
After watching him leave, the arm that had been wrapped around his firm bicep suddenly felt oddly empty.
The dress seemed a bit too thin as well.
‘I should have worn a shawl.’
I brushed my arm lightly and turned my body.
The moment Elhart vacated his seat, I sensed a hostile presence drawing near.
‘Is that a woman?’
A young lady, barely past twenty, was circling along the wall toward me.
She was not someone from a major house whose name and face I had committed to memory.
However, seeing them standing close to those individuals suggested they likely belonged to the Crown Prince’s faction.
‘Let me see what they’re planning.’
I deliberately turned my back to the woman and pretended to watch the dancers.
‘Is this style of dancing fashionable these days?’
As I observed the people moving with dignified, leisurely grace, I felt a presence drawing steadily closer.
‘A blade?’
Light from the chandelier reflected off something clutched in the woman’s hand.
The distance closed rapidly, and I heard the excited breathing of the woman.
“How dare you… how dare you….”
The woman gritted her teeth and snarled, swinging the object in her hand.
Or rather, at the very moment she tried to swing it, her wrist was caught by me.
With a sharp clang, what fell to the floor was a paper knife no larger than a palm.
‘You couldn’t kill someone with this, could you?’
Not unless she were an intermediate-rank knight or higher who could wield mana with perfect control.
“Let go… let go right now…!”
Despite having her weapon exposed and her wrist seized, the woman showed no panic and reached out with her other hand.
“That’s my sister’s dress, why would you…!”
‘What? A dress? Her sister’s?’
Now that I thought about it, the woman’s gaze had been fixed on my dress all along.
‘Of course….’
In that instant, several clues flashed through my mind.
A dress filling an entire room in the Crown Prince’s Palace. The nervous reactions of the maids.
If this dress belonged to someone, the owner was obvious, wasn’t it?
My suspicion that this was a trap using the late Crown Princess’s dress had proven correct.
‘Then this woman is… the Crown Princess’s sister?’
The circumstances certainly suggested that possibility.
I’d wondered why she wielded such a pathetic paper knife—she’d come not to harm me, but to destroy the dress.
Well, regardless of her purpose, it doesn’t matter.
“Shh, be quiet.”
I pushed the woman against the wall so the others wouldn’t notice what was happening between us.
Since we’d been in a corner to begin with and I’d subdued her so quickly, fortunately no one’s attention was drawn.
“Choose. Do you want to make a scene publicly here with royalty present, or would you prefer to talk quietly, just the two of us?”
The woman, glaring at me sharply with tears welling in her eyes, trembled her lips.
“…Just the two of us.”
“Good. Take me to the West Corridor.”
If I interrogate this woman, I can find out why the Crown Prince gave me this dress in the first place.
I moved swiftly before anyone could notice and interfere.
I took this opportunity to check the West Corridor that the Crown Prince said he’d closed off, leading the woman out of the Banquet Hall.
‘Still no one here.’
It was early in the banquet, so naturally the corridor was completely empty.
‘So they’re planning to close this place off.’
I committed the layout of the area to memory.
Beyond several common lounges that anyone could access, a small door at the end of the corridor led outside.
“Where would we end up if we went through that door?”
“…Why should I tell you that?”
“Because I’m planning to take you out that way.”
“Absolutely not!”
The woman shrieked in alarm.
“If you want to die, go ahead and die alone!”
So going out that way meant death, apparently.
Why was that?
“Is it a restricted area?”
“Yes. It’s called the Imperial Gardens. You’ll die if you enter without permission.”
She must have realized I’d drag her out by force if she didn’t explain properly.
Well, I was actually considering doing exactly that.
“Fine then. We’ll talk in the lounge.”
The woman looked at me as though I were mad, then opened the door closest to the Banquet Hall and stepped inside.
Still refusing to give up, I followed her in and was closing the door when she lunged at me once more.
“Take it off! Remove it now!”
I was honestly taken aback.
‘What’s wrong with young people these days?’
No matter how carefully I examined her, I couldn’t sense even a trace of mana, yet she attacked me without a weapon in a space where no one would protect her?
“If you don’t take it off, I’ll tear it to shreds!”
A light push would send her crashing into the wall helplessly.
“Enough.”
With no desire to clean up a corpse for nothing, I subdued the woman again and threw her onto the sofa.
“If I remove this, I’d have to walk around the Palace in my undergarments. Don’t you think you should explain your reasons first before asking me to endure such humiliation?”
I watched the woman floundering on the sofa, dazed from the impact, with my arms crossed.
There was a reason for her behavior, but she didn’t seem truly malicious, so I was being quite lenient by my standards.
‘Consider yourself lucky. In the old days, this would have been unthinkable.’
Since she tried to undress me, I would have stripped her completely and thrown her outside.
After a moment, the woman finally managed to sit up, and then suddenly burst into tears.
“Sister… Sister…”
She called out desperately while crying.
“…My patience is running thin. Should I just throw you out into that garden?”
Only then did her sobs stop abruptly.
“Good. Now that you’ve calmed down, answer me. The owner of this dress was the deceased Crown Princess, and she was your sister?”
The woman, her eyes red-rimmed, looked at me resentfully and nodded.
“Judging by how many people recognized this dress, it must have held considerable significance?”
The woman nodded again and murmured softly.
“It was the dress from the betrothal ceremony….”
“What…?”
“The dress my sister wore on the day she became betrothed to the Crown Prince!”
Wow, this is rather….
Harsh, isn’t it?

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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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