They Say an Age Gap Like This Doesn’t Even Need Matching - Chapter 52

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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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When I reached the Imperial Palace, the Steward led me not to the Study, but to the Bedchamber.
Knowing what spectacle awaited me, a sigh escaped unbidden.
Upon reaching the Bedchamber’s entrance, I gestured to the Steward, and moments later, a voice echoed from within.
“Let him in.”
The Crown Prince walked through the open door.
The Emperor’s Bedchamber was thick with hazy smoke.
It was from burning incense that, in minute quantities, amplified pleasure and induced hallucinations.
Despite repeated warnings that its synthetic poison base made it dangerously addictive, this scene repeated itself every time.
Women lay tangled upon the Emperor’s bed, sleeping as though dead.
Once they had been queens or princesses of kingdoms, or women of equally noble birth.
Now they had fallen to slavery, living as playthings for the Emperor.
Like father, like son—their depravities were remarkably similar.
Having indulged sufficiently, the Emperor reclined leisurely on a sofa, smoking tobacco.
“You’ve come.”
The Emperor’s low, heavy voice was directed at me.
Our gazes met through the murky air.
The Crown Prince walked in unhurriedly and sat on the sofa opposite the Emperor.
“What is this matter?”
The Emperor’s eyebrow twitched slightly.
My tone clearly displeased him.
The current Emperor of Cradia possessed no exceptional talent in anything whatsoever.
He seemed to have completely forgotten who had brought him such vast territories and glory beyond his merit.
“The conquest campaign is stalling.”
The Emperor spoke.
“It seems there have been no results of late.”
I offered no response.
It was utterly absurd.
More than half the continent already belonged to Cradia.
The remaining small kingdoms and tribes had nearly all sworn submission.
Yet he spoke of lacking results.
I could not fathom what else might displease him or provoke his ire.
Perhaps he needed a new Crown Princess from a conquered nation to add to his slaves.
“You haven’t forgotten the contract we made, have you?”
The Emperor furrowed his brow as he spoke.
“What I demanded of you.”
I fell silent for a moment, turning his words over in my mind.
Then I let out a soft laugh.
“Ah.”
My voice was unhurried.
“That matter.”
The Emperor narrowed his eyes and glared at him.
“This is no time for jokes.”
“I’m not joking.”
The Crown Prince slowly leaned forward.
“War, you see, is something that requires time.”
His pupils darkened gradually.
“That’s simply how these things work.”
“Are you mocking me right now?”
At the Emperor’s irritated outburst, the Crown Prince’s lips curved into a gentle smile.
“How could I?”
After a brief silence, the Crown Prince spoke again.
“Your Majesty.”
His voice remained soft, yet carried an icy edge.
“It would be wise for you to regain your composure.”
“What?”
The Emperor’s eyes flashed with fury.
The Crown Prince smiled lightly, as though indifferent to it.
“Surely you understand what happens when a contract is broken.”
The air in the Study froze in an instant.
The Crown Prince met the Emperor’s piercing gaze head-on.
“So please, don’t be so impatient.”
The Crown Prince spoke further, his eyes devoid of warmth as he regarded the Emperor.
“What was promised will surely come to pass.”
His pupils gleamed with darkness.
“Every last bit of it, without exception.”
“…You expect me to simply believe that?”
“If you don’t believe, what will you do?”
The Emperor ground his teeth involuntarily.
“You speak as though only I stand to lose if this contract breaks.”
At words that bordered on a threat, the Crown Prince burst into laughter.
….
After laughing for quite some time before the Emperor’s rigid expression, the Crown Prince finally wiped his eyes and spoke.
“I wonder. What do you think will happen?”
How dare an incompetent wretch who can accomplish nothing on his own attempt such a threat.
When the Crown Prince’s laughter ceased, his expression became frighteningly cold.
“If you’re curious, why don’t you try?”
“You insolent wretch…!”
“Just because I play the role of a son doesn’t mean you should treat me as your actual child, Your Majesty.”
Insolent wretch, he says.
Does he not know who I am?
A mere commoner who should have felt honored merely sitting across from me kept overstepping her bounds.
“Exercise restraint and wait. Do you understand?”
At the Crown Prince’s coldly delivered words, the Emperor trembled with rage yet could say nothing.
“Then, I shall take my leave. Unlike you, I am a busy person, so do not summon me for trivial matters henceforth.”
Rising from his seat, the Crown Prince left the Emperor alone in the room thick with pale smoke.
“Foolish old man.”
Irritation flickered across the Crown Prince’s face as he exited the Imperial Palace.
The conversation with the Emperor had been enough to sour his mood.
Complaints about the conquest campaign stalling, accusations that he wasn’t honoring their contracts properly.
The Crown Prince’s lips twisted bitterly.
What right did he have to speak such words when all he did was roll about with women?
It was I who brought more than half the continent to its knees, I who elevated the name of Cradia to such heights.
After grinding his teeth for a moment, he slowly exhaled and composed himself.
That old Emperor would not last much longer anyway.
Intoxicated by power gained so late in life, he didn’t even realize his worthless existence was slipping away with each passing moment.
What truly mattered now was not some greedy old fool like that.
Iserna.
I needed to see her.
By now, she was likely organizing matters with the Expedition Team.
The Crown Prince smiled at the thought of her.
The displeasure that had consumed him moments ago vanished as if it had never been.
I was desperate to reveal my true identity to her soon, to tell her how many long years I had waited for her.
Just imagining what expression she would wear made me laugh.
It was at that very moment I was about to move forward.
“Your Highness!”
An urgent voice called from behind.
The Crown Prince’s brow furrowed deeply.
Why were there so many interruptions today?
Turning slowly, I found a Steward standing before me, breathless from running.
“A grave matter, Your Highness! The Crown Princess has been severely injured at the hands of a slave and is urgently searching for you.”
“Now?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The Crown Prince’s eyes turned cold.
He gazed down at the Steward without speaking.
The Steward could not bear that gaze and lowered his head.
The Crown Prince clicked his tongue sharply.
“The Tower of Repentance.”
Today, truly troublesome matters kept piling up.
Yet I could not ignore this.
The Crown Princess was the Emperor of Cradia’s only daughter and the most watched figure in the imperial court after myself.
Moreover, since it was he who had sent the Crown Princess to the Tower of Repentance, he could not simply abandon her now that an accident had occurred.
‘It would be better to appear unharmed until I apologize to Iserna.’
The Crown Prince paused in thought, then turned his body.
“Let’s go.”
The Tower of Repentance stood in the most remote and desolate corner of the Imperial Palace.
A place where criminals were confined and made to await judgment in the name of God.
As he stepped into the tower’s interior, a damp chill immediately clung to his skin.
The Crown Prince ascended the stairs without a word.
Then he approached one of the doors lined along the circular corridor.
As he drew closer, the sound of wailing from within grew louder.
“Your Highness…! Let me see Your Highness!”
The Crown Prince’s eyes narrowed.
The Steward carefully opened the door.
The moment the door opened, the Crown Princess came into view.
A deep gash sliced diagonally across the face of the Crown Princess, who sat collapsed on the floor weeping.
Blood still dripped steadily from the wound, as though it had not received proper treatment.
The face that had once been called among the most beautiful in the continent was grotesquely disfigured.

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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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