They Say an Age Gap Like This Doesn’t Even Need Matching - Chapter 18

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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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The Crown Prince only hesitated for a moment before reaching out to cup my cheek.
“My name is Auriel Herza Kradion. If Ser wishes it, I could place the entire world in your hands.”
Seized by instinctive alarm, I tried to restrain the Crown Prince’s movements using my power, only to realize something deeply troubling.
‘I cannot use my power. The demons won’t respond.’
This was extraordinarily abnormal.
It meant that demons at least equal to—or surpassing—those who had submitted to me were lurking in the shadows of this man.
Or perhaps the Crown Prince himself was a demon.
‘My mana too… has stopped moving.’
As if terrified, it remains completely still.
Which meant I had no choice but to rely on my own abilities.
‘…But then I can’t hide anymore.’
Given the conspicuous nature of my power, my identity would be exposed immediately.
‘Even so, wouldn’t it be better to deal with this man decisively right now?’
“You’re contemplating something.”
The Crown Prince, who had drawn near without my noticing, spoke while meeting my eyes at close range.
“I have no choice. You don’t seem like the type to simply let this pass.”
My reflection appeared in those azure eyes that reminded me of Mikhail.
My body stiffened at the distance between us, so close our breaths mingled.
An unbearable displeasure crept up within me.
“Ser, the truth is….”
It was when the Crown Prince opened his mouth.
The Rest Room door burst open with violent force.
“Ser!”
What…? That really does look like it broke.
The man rushing toward me, leaving the door panel to crash to the floor—
“Elhart?”
How did he know to come here?
Elhart closed the distance in an instant, snatching me away and pulling back from the sofa.
Then he cried out sharply.
“What are you doing to my maid?”
I cannot believe all of this unfolded in a single breath.
Only then did the door panel crash to the ground with a thud, while the Crown Prince remained in his leaning posture, blinking his eyes several times.
“Ah….”
The Crown Prince rose from the sofa, staring at his empty hand with a deflated sound.
“I didn’t expect to be interrupted to this extent.”
Oh, he’s irritated.
The man who wouldn’t blink an eye no matter how disrespectfully I behaved in the Crown Prince’s Palace now had his lips twisted in a peculiar way.
“Without understanding anything, you keep….”
“Ser, wear this.”
Elhart removed his jacket and wrapped it snugly around my upper body.
This fellow’s frame is so massive that I can no longer see the Crown Prince behind him.
‘Did he deliberately block my view?’
The Crown Prince let out an exasperated laugh, then spoke in a leisurely tone.
“Elhart, are you aware of your position? Do you understand where you are and by what right you stand here?”
I lifted my head to look at Elhart.
I no longer cared about the Crown Prince’s true identity.
What occupied my thoughts now was Elhart’s expression—his mood.
“Yes, I’m well aware.”
Elhart turned with me sheltered behind his back, answering calmly.
“Until now, I have fought for my country. I have never tasted defeat, and no knight of the Empire has ever bested me.”
Well, that was certainly true.
Among those I knew, he possessed the most monstrous physical prowess.
“What would you think if, from this moment forward, I turned my back on the nation that abandoned me and fought solely for myself?”
He spoke with a coldness that belied the way he had silently endured humiliation.
“Does Your Highness the Crown Prince have any means to stop me? Do you have the confidence in your own abilities to force me to my knees and take my head? I’m curious myself.”
“You would abandon Bardia? That’s absurd—”
“If there exists someone worth protecting at any cost.”
Have you ever imagined a fire burning so intensely it turns blue?
“A person can do anything. I never wanted to know that myself.”
And that was precisely why I was here.
I quietly gazed at Elhart’s back, which filled my entire vision.
Those remarkable words he had just spoken were, it seemed…
‘A pretext for having fallen for me.’
It was a rather convincing excuse to escape this moment.
‘The fact that he didn’t need to do this—let’s keep that secret.’
In any case, I had bought myself time to think.
Yes.
The Crown Prince had no choice but to retreat here.
Elhart possessed a physique that was fundamentally incompatible with those who wielded mana.
If the Crown Prince’s talent lay in mana control, he could never defeat Elhart.
‘He’ll pretend to concede and drive me back to the Separate Palace.’
That would be the best he could manage.
“You, for her?”
After muttering this, the Crown Prince fell silent for a long while.
Curious about his thoughts, I tried tilting my body this way and that to see, but each time Elhart shifted to block my view.
Frustrated, I tapped his back, and he extended one arm behind him, offering his hand.
‘Huh? What is this?’
Was he asking me to take it?
When I poked his palm with my index finger, he quickly grasped my hand.
‘Hmm….’
It wasn’t a matter of losing in reflexes.
I simply allowed myself to be caught.
“Let’s handle this differently, Elhart.”
The Crown Prince’s voice, which he opened after a long silence, was as serene as always.
Whether that serenity was feigned or if his feelings had genuinely shifted, I couldn’t discern.
“It seems there’s been a misunderstanding, but I was merely trying to return her dress. Surely you wouldn’t want her undergarments to catch the eyes of others.”
With those words, the Crown Prince approached us and held out the dress.
“Once she’s properly dressed, we’ll return to the Banquet Hall together. That way, today’s small commotion will end quietly without becoming the subject of gossip. And….”
And what else.
“In exchange for keeping watch, I’d like to request a dance with her.”
“…What nonsense is this now.”
I could tell without seeing that Elhart was gritting his teeth as he spoke.
He didn’t even accept the dress the Crown Prince offered. His wariness was palpable.
“Ser, we still have more to discuss.”
The Crown Prince addressed me directly.
“I’d like to give you a chance to answer my question.”
A question—was he referring to the one about my identity?
‘I don’t think I’ll answer properly.’
What were the odds I’d reveal the truth?
As I hesitated without answering, Elhart turned to look at me.
“Ser….”
Long lashes trembled pitifully across the golden eyes gazing down at me.
‘Ugh….’
The tingling in my heart was absolutely not mere emotion.
‘No, this won’t do.’
I hastily reached out and covered Elhart’s eyes with my hand.
“…?”
If I danced with the Crown Prince, Elhart would be left alone.
‘There’s still synthetic poison remaining.’
The trap the Crown Prince had dug troubled me.
His request for a dance was surely aimed at exploiting that opening.
The old me would have seized such an opportunity without hesitation, choosing instead to sink my teeth into my opponent’s throat.
But not this time.
‘I’m not inclined to.’
It bothered me that the one I’d have to push into the trap was this man.
“Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”
“Yes, Ser.”
Elhart’s lashes tickling my palm made me keep wanting to withdraw my hand.
“I’d like to continue our conversation another time.”
“I beg your pardon?”
The Crown Prince’s eyes widened as though he’d heard something entirely unexpected, and he stared at me.
‘…This is hardly a choice befitting me.’
“I’m not feeling well today, Your Highness.”
“Not feeling well, you say?”
“Yes, I think I overate, and my stomach hurts a bit… I also seem to be catching a cold….”
I even coughed deliberately, hacking away.
“Ah….”
The Crown Prince stared at me with his mouth slightly agape, looking utterly stunned.
“A cold… you? You’re…?”
Was it really something to be shocked about? He looked at me as though he knew I was someone who rarely fell ill.
But it was understandable to be flustered when someone who seemed perfectly fine suddenly showed signs of sickness.
Iserna Airwain feigning illness—even I found this version of myself unfamiliar.
But what else could I do? I couldn’t think of any other way.
As I pressed my forehead with one hand and swayed weakly, the Crown Prince flinched.
As if he might reach out toward me at any moment.
‘Did he fall for it?!’
My acting ability seemed quite remarkable.

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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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