They Say an Age Gap Like This Doesn’t Even Need Matching - Chapter 42

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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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I paused to take in the scene before me, then turned away.
Elhart was gently tugging at my hand.
His gaze was fixed on me, not on what lay within the room.
He must have thought I would be shocked by what I witnessed.
Seeing the concern in his eyes, I mouthed the words “let’s go” to him.
Our purpose for being here was clear.
To obtain a clue that would reveal the Crown Prince’s true identity.
There was no reason to involve ourselves in what transpired within the Tower of Repentance.
‘And I have no desire to.’
I had glimpsed into the mind of that prince from the Rempus Kingdom and witnessed the hell he endured at the Crown Princess’s hands.
By my own standards, she should have paid the price long ago.
But the Crown Prince’s intervention prevented me from acting directly.
Still, Elhart was unaware of these circumstances.
He might have misunderstood that I wanted to save the Crown Princess.
Without speaking, I turned my body and began moving.
As we crept silently along the corridor, the crack of a whip echoed from a room behind us once more.
Crack.
Followed by the Crown Princess’s scream.
Seeing Elhart’s expression harden, this time I was the one who took his hand first.
He flinched and looked at me.
Holding his gaze, I shook my head slightly, and his eyes shifted.
He seemed to immediately understand that we should focus on the purpose of our hidden presence here.
Banishing the Crown Princess from my thoughts, we resumed our search.
Unfortunately, we found little of value.
We circled the round corridor once, examining the other rooms, but they all served similar purposes.
Ledgers recording charges and iron chains.
And various torture instruments, including whips, lined the walls.
‘There’s nothing special inside here either.’
It seemed to exist solely to break the spirits of those who defied the Crown Prince.
Through implanted fear, they were conditioned to obey absolutely.
Just as we had witnessed moments ago.
“This isn’t it.”
I clicked my tongue softly and spoke.
Elhart nodded in agreement.
“There doesn’t appear to be any device supplying life force.”
I took one final look at the end of the corridor.
Neither mana nor holy power resonated with anything unusual.
“Let’s go.”
Elhart said.
We climbed the stairs once more.
From below, the Crown Princess’s screams echoed faintly, but I didn’t look back.
‘She won’t die.’
Those overseeing her wouldn’t allow it.
We escaped through the upper window of the Tower the same way as before.
With Elhart present, there was no need to use magic.
When I breathed in the night air from a distance away, I heard the sound of music from the Banquet Hall in the distance.
As if completely unrelated to what was happening here, a lavish banquet was in full swing.
I turned to look at the Tower of Repentance once more.
‘The Tower of Repentance. And the Crown Princess.’
The fact that the Empire’s only Crown Princess could be treated this way must mean the Emperor had tacitly approved it.
I remembered the look in the Crown Princess’s eyes when she gazed at the Crown Prince.
‘It wasn’t the look of someone regarding blood kin.’
The Crown Prince, who had suddenly appeared as the Emperor’s illegitimate son one day, was likely not actually the Emperor’s son.
Some entity had made a contract with the Emperor, presenting a body that bore a striking resemblance to Mikhail.
Perhaps it was something like: in exchange for recognizing him as the Crown Prince, he would fulfill the Emperor’s deepest desire.
However, the Crown Princess had failed to properly play the role of the younger sister the Crown Prince desired.
‘She developed feelings for the Crown Prince.’
Because I was accustomed to Mikhail’s appearance, others’ evaluations aside, he was indeed quite handsome.
Even so, it was still surprising.
That she could develop affection despite treating him so coldly—it was truly remarkable.
‘There must have been some incident between them. At first, he might have even acted as a somewhat affectionate older brother.’
But it wasn’t my concern.
‘In any case, what the Crown Princess desires most right now is….’
Currently, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess are publicly presented as true siblings.
In other words, it’s a relationship that can never be realized.
‘If I play my cards right, she could play a crucial role in exposing the Crown Prince’s true identity.’
But first, I’d need to break the contract that exists between the Crown Princess and the Crown Prince.
“Ser, what are you thinking so hard about?”
“Ah….”
I shrugged and answered.
“I was thinking about the Crown Princess.”
“Don’t sympathize with the Crown Princess. She’s not worth it.”
Elhart spoke urgently.
“You can’t even imagine how many atrocities she’s committed.”
“For example, enslaving and abusing a defeated nation’s prince?”
At my words, Elhart faltered.
“…Yes.”
“Did that woman try to lay her hands on you as well?”
At my question, he nodded with a darkened expression.
“She requested it from the Emperor multiple times.”
So the Crown Prince is the one I actually favor, yet why do I act that way toward other men?
‘Does he want me to be jealous? Or is it simply his preference…?’
I knew of one creature who enjoyed pushing the innocent into the abyss of depravity.
‘There was a reason the Nightmare King became so obsessed with only me among the Expedition Team members.’
A perverted demon who constantly sought opportunities to witness me writhing in shame, moving my own hips of my own accord.
The saying that the innocent fall into corruption most easily held true.
That prince too seemed completely shattered by the fact that he had felt pleasure at the hands of someone he should have despised.
He felt guilt for something that wasn’t his fault and came to hate himself.
‘The inevitable end of a relationship chasing only desire and pleasure.’
“If the Emperor had permitted it, what would you have done?”
“I would have accepted it, having no grounds to refuse.”
Elhart added, looking at me.
“If you hadn’t appeared.”
I stopped walking.
Of course, Bardia wasn’t conquered and Elhart held the status of a hostage rather than a slave, so he wouldn’t have suffered as miserably as that prince.
But even so.
“Should I go back now and kill him?”
Is this what it means for one’s eyes to go mad?
After glimpsing the memories of the defeated nation’s prince, I couldn’t brush it aside lightly.
Had circumstances twisted differently, what might have become of him?
Merely imagining the possibility set my mind ablaze with rage and murderous intent.
All calculations about using the Crown Princess were erased from my thoughts.
“There’s still about five minutes left…”
In that moment, my feet were turning toward where the Crown Princess was without my realizing it.
“Ser.”
At Elhart’s call, I snapped back to awareness and lifted my head.
He was looking at me with wide eyes.
“Ah… well…”
Just as I was about to make some excuse, undisguised joy spread across Elhart’s face.
“…?”
What, what is this?
Why is he smiling so brightly?
“What’s wrong?”
I furrowed my brow and poked his cheek.
Elhart grasped my finger and slowly intertwined his hand with mine.
“I wish you’d been even angrier.”
“…What?”
“It’s proof that you consider me yours.”
His words suddenly left me speechless.
I stared intently at Elhart’s face.
There was not a shred of playfulness in his expression.
He was simply genuinely delighted by the anger I had displayed moments before.
“….”
What have I done.
I poked his face once more with my other hand.
“Don’t misunderstand.”
Elhart’s eyes widened slightly.
“I have never considered you mine.”
How could I possibly think such a thing.
“I’m simply angry at the fact that you dared to do as you pleased with the Prince of Bardia.”
Even as the words left my lips, they sounded like an excuse, and I clicked my tongue inwardly.
“Is that so.”
Elhart interlaced his fingers with my other hand as he spoke.
“Then I must try harder. Since you don’t yet see me that way.”
‘After taking everything of my first time,’ he added softly.

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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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