They Say an Age Gap Like This Doesn’t Even Need Matching - Chapter 37

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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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“So today’s practice ends here.”
He withdrew his hand from me and descended from the bed.
“Once I’ve grown more accustomed to you. If you still wish it then, we’ll continue.”
With those words, he disappeared into the bathroom.
I sat dazed on the bed, turning over what he’d said.
Was Elhart truly more serious about this than I’d imagined?
Despite how little time we’d known each other.
I gazed at the closed bathroom door.
Surely he was in there alone, tempering his desire.
‘For now… it’s best to leave him be.’
That would be the kindest thing for him at this moment.
After a brief hesitation, I lay down not in my sleeping bag, but in the space he’d prepared.
On the bed, beside Elhart.
‘It may be a pretense, but we’ll live as husband and wife from now on.’
I needed to grow accustomed to this as well.
Married couples shared a bed regardless of circumstance, after all.
As I lay with my eyes closed, he returned.
In his hands were a steaming basin and a towel.
“Ser, wait a moment.”
“Hmm? Why?”
“I thought washing would be troublesome for you.”
That was true.
I was too languid to move.
Reading my state perfectly, he carefully lifted my limp form and settled me upon his lap.
Then he meticulously wiped my body with the warm, damp towel.
“It seems marks will remain until tomorrow….”
At his murmur, the Crown Prince suddenly came to mind—the one who’d touched my neck.
“It’s fine.”
To uncover his true identity, I needed bait.
It appeared the key to most effectively shaking the Crown Prince’s composure lay with me.
“Make new ones every day. Somewhere visible, where they won’t fade.”
“Every day…?”
“Yes. We’ll be practicing every day anyway, won’t we?”
His hands stilled for a moment.
“You’re saying we’ll do it again?”
“Of course.”
I met his gaze directly.
“Why? Do you dislike it?”
“…There’s no way.”
Once practice was no longer necessary, we could stop then.
At least, not yet.
Until he’d finished cleaning my body, his expression had been no different from usual, but a single glance from me sent his face flushing crimson.
‘Shouldn’t it normally be the opposite? I truly have no standard to measure by.’
In any case, my body became spotless without lifting a finger, and I felt incredibly pleased.
Or perhaps… I’d simply grown fond of his tender, gentle touch.
Even after I lay in bed, he continued to care for me meticulously—arranging my hair, adjusting the blankets.
This was my first time being tended to by someone in such a way.
It was novel and somehow… enjoyable.
As I gazed at him lying beside me, he gently swept his palm across my eyelids.
“Now then.”
Without resistance, I closed my eyes.
Even so, his presence remained vivid and his touch never ceased.
I was ignorant of so many things, beginning with my own feelings toward him, but one thing seemed certain to crystallize.
I could never love any man unless he possessed Elhart’s attentiveness and tenderness.
‘His face and voice too.’
My standards had become entirely defined by Elhart.
This was troublesome.
There could be no other man like him anywhere in the world.
So I hoped that from now on, he would continue to blush at the slightest touch and eye contact.
That way, I could keep using practice as an excuse.
***
“Has a reply come from Raern?”
Early in the morning, I burst into the kitchen, where a delicious aroma wafted through the air.
“Good morning, Commander.”
Kei, dressed meticulously in a pristine chef’s coat, apron, and hygiene cap, looked like a seasoned cook.
Though if something went wrong, the kitchen knife he held could instantly transform into the most formidable weapon.
“He’s been pestering me since dawn, no less. I was about to bring it to your room, but I’ve held back until now.”
As Kei opened the kitchen cabinet, a bird no larger than a palm flew toward me from within.
-Commander, hello.
It was a message-delivery spell from Raern Brin, the highest-ranking mage of the Expedition Team.
-I heard you borrowed my family name. So from now on, I should introduce you as my younger sibling, correct?
Until I’d been disguised as a maid, I’d simply intended to borrow his name without much thought, but circumstances had changed.
To cross into Bardia and pose as husband and wife with Elhart, I needed a noble status.
I’d asked permission to continue posing as a member of House of Brin, and he’d readily agreed.
It was good that he’d consented so readily, but now I felt slightly anxious.
Playing the role of Raern’s younger sibling… seemed like it would be quite exhausting.
-I’m currently in Eastern Bardia, at my family’s domain. It seems I’ll need some time to handle certain matters.
Handle certain matters—I hoped nothing had gone wrong with House of Brin.
I could only pray it was nothing serious.
-Kei’s already explained things to you. If my suspicion is correct, there should be a device supplying life force to the Crown Prince’s body somewhere within the Imperial Palace. Search for it first.
A device that supplies life force to the body.
Raern Brin seemed to have reached a similar conclusion as me.
He must have judged that the Crown Prince’s body wasn’t his true form.
Whether he stole it or created it.
-Even if you find it, never attempt to destroy it. The moment you connect with the device, there’s a possibility you could become its prey.
So there’s no way to end this simply.
For now, I should set my first objective as just finding evidence and confirming the Crown Prince’s true identity.
-And, Commander.
Raern Brin’s voice grew serious.
-As Ser Brin’s brother, I have to say I’m against this fake marriage.
Ugh….
-But if you’re going to do it anyway, I need to get a good look at that man first.
…I shouldn’t have borrowed Raern Brin’s name.
The bird that had finished delivering the message dispersed like mana and vanished.
I narrowed my eyes and looked at Kei.
“What exactly did you write in that letter?”
“Of course I sent only the truth, but….”
Kei wasn’t the type to fabricate things.
But he seemed to regard Elhart with an unusually critical eye, so I couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
“Why is everyone so interested in my man?”
“Oh… You use such expressions?”
…Why, what’s wrong with that? He’s mine right now anyway.
Though I don’t know what will happen after we achieve our goal.
“So, what happened with the Prince?”
“Well… I mean, it’s just….”
This morning.
I woke from a deep sleep without even knowing when I’d fallen asleep, and I was in Elhart’s arms again.
I don’t know if I rolled into him or if he pulled me in.
Judging by how I was positioned right in the middle, it might have been both.
As I became aware of the body heat against my back and the large hand wrapped around my lower abdomen, the acts we’d done together came flooding back one by one.
My body burned hot just from the thought.
I screamed internally countless times, wondering how I’d done such things in my right mind.
Unable to endure it any longer, I quietly slipped away and came down to the kitchen.
“Commander…?”
“What is it?”
“Your face suddenly turned red.”
“….”
This is bad.
Before I could even evaluate Elhart’s training progress, it seemed a bigger problem had emerged on my end.
“I need to… keep practicing.”
“It seems there hasn’t been any significant progress, then.”
I had no intention whatsoever of telling Kei about what had transpired between us last night.
Unless a critical problem arose, there was no need to mention it.
That was when it happened.
“Ser…!”
The moment I turned at the sound of the voice behind me, I was suddenly pulled into an embrace.
“Ugh…!”
To be honest, it was practically like a beast pouncing on me.
If it hadn’t been Manarang, whom I knew well, I might have struck back.
“You shouldn’t be leaving your room so carelessly. What if someone sees?”
At my reproach, Elhart muttered softly.
“You suddenly disappeared…”

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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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