They Say an Age Gap Like This Doesn’t Even Need Matching - Chapter 22

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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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“It’s just… a slave I’ve been training lately….”
Bellonia used a slave the Crown Prince also knew of as an excuse.
A prince from the Kingdom of Rempus, now part of the Empire’s territory, whom she’d begged the Emperor to give her as a gift.
“That’s a lie.”
Though it was a plausible excuse, Auriel saw through it.
“Did you think I wouldn’t know?”
If she had truly used it on that slave, would she have claimed it was for his sake?
She would have openly admitted from the start that it was to play with the slave.
“Bellonia.”
At his call, Bellonia lifted her head, her pupils trembling with fear.
“You meant to use it on ‘her,’ didn’t you?”
“…!”
There was no need to explain who ‘she’ was.
Auriel had read the emotion in the princess’s eyes.
“You thought I wouldn’t notice since it failed.”
Bellonia’s shoulders flinched.
“She’s merely a maid from a foreign land. She could even be a spy trying to steal secrets, and yet you seem to keep her close, brother….”
“So.”
Auriel’s eyes narrowed.
“You tried to destroy her with this.”
The princess couldn’t possibly be unaware of the dangers of the synthetic poison, the ‘Love Elixir.’
Several slaves from fallen nations had been ruined and disposed of because of it.
“Surely… surely you haven’t fallen for that woman? You’re not planning to make her the Crown Princess….”
“Never again.”
Auriel cut off the princess’s words.
“Don’t lay a hand on what’s mine.”
It was a cold command, drawing a clear line.
At the same time, a chilling murderous intent pierced through the princess’s skin.
This sharp reaction, as if she’d touched his reverse scale, was something Bellonia was seeing from him for the first time.
Bellonia cried out with tears welling in her eyes.
“I’m… I’m the princess…! The Empire’s only….”
“That’s right.”
Auriel nodded.
“That’s why you’re still alive.”
As if her entire body had frozen, the princess stared at him without even breathing.
“There won’t be a next time.”
The Crown Prince rolled the silver bottle in his hand and tossed it into the quietly burning flames of the fireplace.
“Your maids won’t be coming out starting tomorrow. Now no one knows of today’s events. Only you and I.”
Bellonia lowered her head, realizing he had already known and dealt with everything before coming to find her.
“Don’t covet more than what’s been given to you, Bellonia.”
With that final warning, Auriel turned and left the room.
He disappeared into the darkness of the corridor without once looking back.
“Hah, ugh….”
The Princess, who had collapsed in place, finally released the breath she’d been holding.
In the space where the lingering sweetness of the compound poison hung in the air, she remained motionless for a long time.
***
The moment I opened my eyes, I felt it.
‘Why do I feel so refreshed?’
I’d always thought I slept well, but today felt different—I’d slept deeply without a trace of fatigue.
Had I overslept?
‘I should probably get up now….’
As I tried to lift my lightened body, I finally noticed something.
This wasn’t my familiar bed.
And.
‘Wh-what…?’
I was cradled in someone’s embrace.
The man holding me from behind was remarkably large and warm, his body enveloping mine as he slept.
With each breath he exhaled, a comforting and cozy manarang scent wrapped around me.
‘Right, last night with Elhart….’
As the drowsiness faded, memories of the previous night surfaced.
This refreshed feeling must have been thanks to his elevated body temperature and that pleasant manarang scent.
‘But… hasn’t the scent changed a bit?’
It had always felt cold and crisp like winter forest air, but now something sweet seemed mixed into it.
Such scents rarely changed without a fundamental shift in one’s values and life direction.
‘It couldn’t be because of me….’
No, wait. I shouldn’t shirk responsibility.
My influence was naturally significant.
Feeling oddly conflicted, I tried to lift his arm from my waist and slip free from his embrace.
But then.
“Ser….”
Elhart murmured my name as if caught in a dream, and with the arm I’d barely managed to free, he pulled me tightly back into his hold.
His face buried itself in the nape of my neck.
His lips and nose brushed against my sensitive skin, and his drowsy breath tickled.
‘Ugh….’
My spine stiffened involuntarily.
‘I-it tickles.’
As I twisted and squirmed, I suddenly froze.
Something had made contact.
‘Surely not….’
I gasped and threw myself off the bed as if escaping from a demon’s grasp.
‘That’s not… right?’
Not even a nightmare demon—an ordinary human couldn’t possibly do such a thing.
‘Was I mistaken…?’
Yes, it must have been.
I crept back toward the bed.
I had to confirm this before Elhart woke up.
This was my only chance to avoid an awkward misunderstanding.
But…
“Ser… did you sleep well?”
Elhart greeted me with a drowsy blink, his eyes still heavy with sleep.
Given how clumsily I’d been moving about, it was surprising he hadn’t woken sooner.
“Yeah, thanks to you.”
I hesitantly approached the bed.
“I’ll straighten the blankets for you.”
Though Elhart had awakened, I couldn’t retreat now either.
Desperately clinging to the belief that it had been something else, I grabbed the edge of his blanket and shook it vigorously.
In the flutter of the fabric, I quickly scanned the interior with my eyes.
“…?”
There was nothing but Elhart.
So what I’d felt earlier truly had been part of his body.
“What’s wrong? Are you still feeling unwell?”
As I set down the blanket and stood frozen in shock, Elhart raised his upper body and examined my face carefully.
“Your face is flushed. I should check if you have a fever…”
“No, I—that is… I’m fine now. Really, it’s nothing.”
Without thinking, I dodged his hand as it reached toward my forehead.
This was like an instinctive wariness toward someone wielding a blade.
“I’ll bathe first. I seem to have sweated quite a bit through the night.”
Leaving him frozen in place, I fled toward the bathroom.
‘There’s no reason to be this shocked, is there? Different people have different… attributes.’
No matter how I tried to rationalize it, the shock wouldn’t fade easily.
‘But still, everything has its intended purpose.’
Thinking about what that massive thing was meant for, I couldn’t simply laugh it off.
‘Besides, it’s not like I’m actually going to do anything with him, so why am I panicking alone?’
And yet…
Elhart wants to marry me.
He hadn’t spoken it aloud, but last night’s conversation made it unmistakable.
He must feel desire when looking at me or touching me, and since he can’t show it, he must handle it alone.
‘If that’s the case…’
The image that formed in my mind was obscene beyond measure.
‘Damn it! Why am I imagining that?!’
It was absolutely not the kind of thought I should entertain while bathing on this refreshingly clear morning.
‘This won’t do. I need to focus on my tasks.’
Keeping my body busy was the only way to prevent idle thoughts from taking hold.
I finished washing quickly, changed into my maid’s uniform, and began my day’s work by fetching food from the Central Palace.
I declined Elhart’s invitation to dine together.
If I sat across from him now to eat, I was certain I’d fall into those ridiculous imaginings again.
Fortunately, there were items piled up that had been removed from the Crown Prince’s Palace.
I set my goal for today: arrange all of them before the day ended.
‘…This definitely won’t fit in Elhart’s room as it is.’
After surveying the Crown Prince’s Palace, I felt even more acutely how cramped and inconvenient his bedroom was.
‘Are there any larger rooms in the Separate Palace?’
If I pressured the Steward under the pretext of Elhart having acquired a maid, there was nothing that couldn’t be moved. Perhaps I should try once.
As I was surveying the rooms one by one, I descended into the basement.
“Captain.”
A voice I shouldn’t have heard reached me from above.

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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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