They Say an Age Gap Like This Doesn’t Even Need Matching - Chapter 24

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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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‘No, don’t just look at his face—take a good look at that perfectly sculpted body.’
Any swordsman worth his salt would drool with envy over a physique like that.
Of course, his face is shockingly handsome too.
“But why is the room like this?”
Kei whispered in my ear.
“Like what?”
“It looks like expensive items were just carelessly scattered around everywhere.”
“….”
I had nothing to say in my defense.
“The room owner’s taste is…?”
“…I did that.”
“Ah, I see.”
I had no business having any eye for such things.
‘If Kei is saying it like this, Elhart must have noticed long ago.’
So why hadn’t he said anything until now?
I gave Kei’s shin a light kick and turned around, only to freeze.
Elhart was staring at Kei and me with darkened eyes.
“…So you’re close acquaintances, it seems.”
“Ah, well….”
I hadn’t done anything wrong, so why did my chest feel tight?
“I’m also from Bardia, Your Highness. I’ve had several opportunities to work alongside this maid here.”
Kei smoothly explained our relationship.
True to form for an intelligence agent.
He was skilled at weaving lies into the truth.
“I see.”
Elhart, who answered in a low voice, finally withdrew his gaze.
Kei walked into the room, looking around clumsily as if sightseeing.
He was probably checking the interior layout and potential hiding spots.
Elhart and Kei sat across from each other with the table between them.
“You’ll have some tea, right?”
As I asked while heading to get the teapot, both Elhart and Kei suddenly stood up and answered.
“I’ll do it, Ser.”
“Let me handle that, please…come here.”
“…?”
Why was the atmosphere like this?
The way they were eyeing each other was distinctly suspicious.
“Surely not, Your Highness….”
Kei spoke with trembling lips.
“Have you been drinking the tea this maid prepared all this time?”
Elhart slowly nodded his head.
“Ser enjoys brewing tea.”
What’s with that solemn expression?
“I see. Is it perhaps your preference to have something bitter or astringent? Or… not?”
I answered in Elhart’s stead to Kei’s absurd question.
“What are you talking about? Who enjoys something like that?”
“Well, I suppose you’re right.”
Kei approached with long strides, wrinkling the bridge of his nose, and pushed my back.
“Please sit. I’ll handle it.”
“…?”
Fine, whatever.
As I returned to the table, Elhart gently grasped my hand.
“Sit here.”
I pulled up a chair beside him and sat down as he guided me.
I could feel a gaze from behind, as if someone were stealing glances.
“Is your fever gone?”
Elhart placed his hand on my forehead.
“You weren’t feeling well, and you disappeared all day. I was worried.”
I had felt fine just moments ago, but the instant his hand touched me, my face flushed with heat.
“If you’re not busy, I think it would be best to rest early today.”
Though I had deliberately avoided him since morning, seeing his face now made my mood lift.
My lips threatened to soften at the tender concern in his gaze.
“Yes, I will.”
Clang.
The sound of a teacup striking something hard echoed out.
These were high-grade magical artifacts and teacups brought from the Crown Prince’s Palace—surely he hadn’t broken one?
Just as I turned to look, Elhart grasped my hand again.
“Ser….”
I couldn’t ignore him as he sought my gaze with those eyes.
‘Why is he acting like this all of a sudden…?’
Had his attitude toward me changed because of what happened last night?
Or could it be… jealousy over Kei?
‘No way. That can’t be it.’
Anyone could see that Kei was… just Kei.
“Please, try it.”
Kei set the tray on the table and placed a teacup in front of each of us.
I was startled the moment I took a sip of the tea.
“It’s not bitter at all?”
Kei let out a long sigh before answering.
“Of course not. How much quality tea were you wasting?”
So there was a proper method to brewing tea.
I had assumed all the trendy teas these days were astringent.
It was a moment that made me embarrassed about boasting that I was a capable maid.
“I’ll show you how to brew it properly later.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
Elhart cut off Kei’s suggestion.
“I can teach her myself.”
“You know how?”
Elhart nodded at my question.
“You can brew it deliciously to this extent?”
“Of course.”
“Then you’ve just been drinking bitter and astringent tea all this time?”
“That….”
Elhart’s words seemed to catch in his throat as he parted his lips slightly, then spoke while lowering his gaze.
“Because you brewed it with such care….”
….
I stared blankly at him, my ears flushed crimson.
I hadn’t intended to think this way about a fully grown adult man.
It was an expression that especially didn’t suit Elhart, with his imposing physique and sharp features.
‘Wow… he’s really cute.’
Only after hearing a small cough did I remember Kei’s presence, which I had forgotten.
“If you don’t mind, may I ask the Crown Prince a few questions?”
“Feel free to ask whatever you’re curious about.”
“What are your views on marriage?”
At Kei’s completely unexpected question, Elhart’s eyes wavered.
“What about plans for children…?”
With a determined expression, Kei unleashed a barrage of questions.
“Even if you become the most powerful person, do you have confidence that you’ll cherish and love only one woman….”
At this point, it would be foolish not to notice.
“Kei?”
I smiled faintly and looked at Kei.
“Isn’t it about time to prepare dinner?”
Kei immediately understood that one more word meant we’d both be done for.
“Ah, yes, of course.”
I’d send him out for now and give him a piece of my mind when Elhart wasn’t around.
“My apologies, Crown Prince.”
“Wait, hold on.”
Just as Kei jumped up from his seat to flee, Elhart called him back.
“You need to hear my answer first.”
“Elhart…?”
Startled, I turned my head toward Elhart and saw him smiling with a slight grimace.
“I already have someone I must take responsibility for.”
What…?
“Whether I become the supreme ruler or rot away trapped in this room, that will never change.”
I stared at him blankly.
Surely he wasn’t talking about me…?
Of course, we had spent the night in the same bed.
I had felt last night that he desired me enough to consider marriage.
But there’s a difference between harboring such feelings in silence and declaring them aloud.
I didn’t need to take on a lifetime of responsibility for something so trivial.
“So my values or plans don’t matter. Her will shall become my will.”
His lashes trembled delicately above those golden eyes.
Without even the composure to hide his anxiety, Elhart laid bare his true feelings.
Only after finishing did he slowly turn his body toward me.
“….”
My breath caught reflexively under his gaze.
This was no longer something I could dismiss as a misunderstanding.
I could not doubt his sincerity.
And that was the problem.
Even my excuse to flee had vanished.
“Elhart, I…”
The moment I opened my mouth,
“Pardon the intrusion.”
Kei seized my wrist and pulled me to my feet.
Elhart made no move to stop me as I was led from the room, confusion written across my face.
He simply watched, his eyes holding emotions that threatened to overflow.
***
“No matter how many times I look at the maps of this era, they never cease to fascinate me.”
Inside the moving carriage, the Pope—who had reclaimed his position after three hundred years—murmured while studying the expansive map spread before him.
“Ha ha… Indeed, Your Holiness?”
The Pope’s gaze, which had been fixed on the map, slowly turned to the side.
“What’s so amusing that you’re laughing?”
“I-I beg your pardon….”
The Cardinal, who had been laughing so freely moments before, hastily descended from his seat, fell to his knees, and pressed his forehead against the carriage floor.
“B-but Your Holiness… why do you suddenly wish to visit Cradian?”
The question he had been unable to ask until now finally escaped his lips, driven by courage born from the fact that the Imperial Palace of the Cradion Empire was nearly within sight.
He truly needed to know the reason now.
“How dull are those who serve the Goddess.”
The Pope clicked his tongue in reproach toward the Cardinal and gazed out the window.
“Since Her spear has descended upon this land, it is only fitting that I go to meet her, is it not?”
As he spoke, the Pope wore a gentle smile for the first time since his return to the Church.

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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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