They Say an Age Gap Like This Doesn’t Even Need Matching - Chapter 30

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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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“…Iserna Airbain. I welcome your return after three hundred years.”
Elhart, who had been staring at me intently for quite some time, finally opened his mouth.
His voice carried a somewhat restrained quality.
“For your immeasurable sacrifices and efforts, I, as a member of House Bardia, offer my deepest respect and gratitude.”
He placed a hand over his heart and bowed with utmost formality.
It was the most profound gesture of deference a royal could offer to a subject.
“….”
My throat felt strangely tight.
Only now.
Did it truly sink in that I had returned.
I thought I had accepted it, yet a hollow sense of loss arrived belatedly, knocking against my chest.
‘Had I been hoping for something?’
There was a scene I often imagined while wandering through the Land of Demons.
It was not some grand victory parade or lavish banquet.
I simply recalled the one person who would greet me first.
The praise I wished to hear was not from anyone else—it was from Mikhail.
I wanted to boast shamelessly to him.
I had planned to stay awake for nights on end, recounting our adventures until he begged me to finally get some sleep.
How difficult it had been, how much we had suffered, and yet how brilliantly we had succeeded.
To Mikhail, who would surely be waiting for me.
To him, who would become my home even without family.
‘I’m back, Mikhail.’
The greeting I had prepared scattered into nothing.
I had returned to keep my promise, yet no one remained who remembered it.
“Commander.”
Suddenly, warmth settled upon my back.
Only then did I realize I had forgotten to breathe.
I exhaled the breath I had been holding and placed my hand over my heart in return.
“We must hold a proper victory celebration. And the rewards must be generous.”
As the commander of the Expedition Team, I made my demands with confidence.
“Only after Bardia has reclaimed all that was lost, and you have reclaimed your rightful place, will we enjoy days upon days of lavish festivities before we disband.”
“Yes. I will prepare with all my might.”
Unwavering resolve and determination gleamed in his eyes.
“You promised, Elhart.”
“I swear it by the name and honor of House Bardia, and by my very life.”
There was no need to stake his life….
Yet I was grateful to have another promise to keep.
‘It is not yet over.’
The Expedition Team’s journey would continue for some time.
It is not yet time to cease our steps.
So reflecting on the past I’ve left behind will have to wait for another time.
“Then, shall we discuss the specific methods now?”
It was time to hear what Elhart was thinking by coming here and whether he had a separate plan in place.
***
Crown Prince Auriel remained alone in the garden.
The noisy Cardinal and Count Bellow had been dismissed long ago.
“…Ser Brin.”
Standing where I had faced her, I closed my eyes, and those water-blue eyes that had gazed upon me came to mind.
My own reflection, perfectly mirrored within that beautiful hue.
We were close enough to feel each other’s breath.
It seemed as though I was about to touch her for the first time.
Absently tracing my lips, I let out a hollow laugh.
“Iserna Airbain.”
I spoke that indelible name softly.
A woman as free as the wind could never be held in one’s grasp.
Even after three hundred years had passed.
Why did it have to be her?
Once I denied it, once I raged against it.
But now I understood completely.
That I fell for her because it was her.
That I could endure this long, endless time because it was her.
“I won’t hide anymore.”
As people gradually gathered at her side, Iserna would be revealed to the world.
It was power far too great to conceal.
“But what I want is you alone.”
Setting up a similar woman as a substitute hadn’t even provided brief amusement. It only deepened the thirst.
“Everything else is merely a nuisance.”
I rewound time, flowing so unbearably slowly, just a little, and whispered to Iserna standing in that place.
“If you don’t wish to be lost, kiss me, Iserna.”
Those with much to protect were always the easiest to defeat.
“If you wish to protect it, surrender to my embrace.”
If you do only that, I will leave it be, even if it grates like a thorn in my eye.
Whether it be Bardia or the hostage prince.
Only her, alone.
If she becomes mine.
Shhh.
The sensation of hair tickling between my fingers was so vivid.
When I opened my eyes, Iserna was already gone from that place.
Auriel looked at his own palm for a moment, then turned away.
Leaving the garden, he headed toward his private quarters.
His perceptive servants had already brought the Crown Princess to that place.
I passed by the kneeling Crown Princess and settled onto the bed.
“Bellonia.”
Strangely, I felt no particular surge of anger.
Her behavior was so transparently obvious that it only seemed pathetic and contemptible.
“Brother….”
“Yes, I am your brother.”
Just as the Crown Princess’s face began to brighten, the Crown Prince spoke with a slight wince at his eyes.
“But I think I need to draw up a new contract.”
“That, that kind of….”
The Crown Princess’s eyes wavered with anxiety.
“I need a sister, but it’s troublesome when you keep overstepping your bounds.”
Right now, I needed to play the role of family.
This greedy woman kept ruining things—what was I to do about her?
“I’ve given men so generously. What more could she possibly need?”
The Emperor had handed over every man the Crown Princess desired—royalty and nobility alike—as her slaves.
Even though he could clearly see what miserable fate awaited them.
Yet she still wasn’t satisfied.
For someone who had gazed upon only one woman for such a long, endless time, this greed was utterly incomprehensible.
“No, brother…! That woman truly seems suspicious….”
“Another lie.”
Auriel spoke coldly.
The Crown Princess’s shoulders flinched.
“How much longer must I tolerate you?”
The Crown Prince spoke with an expressionless face, not even managing his habitual smile.
“Useless, bringing nothing but disappointment.”
“This time it’s really true. I have a premonition that woman will surely harm you, brother.”
The Crown Princess crawled forward on her knees and clung to his feet, pleading.
“Just once… just once, please believe me.”
“Perhaps. That may well be true.”
At the Crown Prince’s response, the Crown Princess’s eyes widened.
I had already sacrificed much because of Iserna.
The throne and the kingdom, of course, and countless disciples who followed me as well.
Likely, I would give her whatever she desired in the future too.
Among those things, there would surely be acts no different from carving away my own flesh.
“Even so.”
My fingertips touched the Crown Princess’s chin.
“She is mine.”
I could never forgive anyone who dared to obstruct this sublime sacrifice and love.
My ice-cold hand slowly slid down and grasped her slender neck.
Fear welled up in the Crown Princess’s eyes.
“Oh, Brother….”
“I won’t kill you. You’re the Emperor’s daughter, and he cares for you dearly.”
The Crown Prince pronounced his sentence in a voice devoid of all emotion.
“You will reflect upon your mistakes in the Tower of Repentance.”
“…!”
“I’m also confiscating all your servants. Your foolishness ends here.”
The Crown Princess shed tears, her face drained of all color.
They were tears of fear and despair, not sorrow.
“Remember this—if you harbor such vain thoughts again, no one will be able to protect you.”
Only when the Crown Princess managed a stiff nod did the Crown Prince release his hand from her throat.
The Crown Prince’s servants approached silently and lifted her by both arms.
The Crown Princess left his quarters without meaningless resistance.
As the door closed and the Crown Prince stood alone, he clicked his tongue softly.
To Iserna’s eyes, the Crown Princess would appear to be confined to the tower for mere days of reflection.
‘She’ll be disappointed.’
Given her nature—one that demands repayment in kind—she might attempt separate revenge.
She couldn’t even fathom what the Tower of Repentance truly was.
‘I’ll need to lift her spirits somehow.’
It didn’t matter if she sought revenge against the Crown Princess, but it would be troublesome if she became disappointed in him as well.
‘What gift should I give her?’
For the first time in ages lost in pleasant deliberation, the Crown Prince left his quarters, his servants trailing quietly behind him.

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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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