They Say an Age Gap Like This Doesn’t Even Need Matching - Chapter 55

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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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Mikhail.
Mikhail…
The Crown Prince was momentarily flustered by the fact that Iserna had mistaken him for Mikhail.
Yet in the next instant, he felt an odd exhilaration.
Originally, he had intended to honestly reveal that he was Kailyb.
If he tried to deceive her and got caught, she would surely trust him even less in the future.
He had spent considerable effort imitating Mikhail’s words and mannerisms, but he held no certainty that it would be flawless.
Iserna, who appeared to be so close to Mikhail, might notice something different about him.
Even though he had believed from the start that he could never deceive her, he had imitated Mikhail’s conduct because it represented the most ideal image that everyone admired.
Now he faced two choices.
One was to deny Iserna’s words and reveal that he was Kailyb.
The other was to leave her misunderstanding as is and live as Mikhail.
Each had its merits and drawbacks.
If he revealed himself as Kailyb, he could build a genuine relationship with her as his true self.
Iserna would call him by his name, “Kailyb,” and as their relationship deepened, he could take great joy in the fact that she had chosen him.
The drawback was that she might feel revulsion at the fact that I had stolen Mikhail’s body.
Of course, I had prepared an appropriate lie.
That our bodies had merely been exchanged during an experiment.
We had conducted numerous experiments while searching for the Expedition Team’s whereabouts and finding a way to reopen the Black Rift, and this was the consequence of those efforts.
I planned to use the excuse that our bodies had already been switched since the time Mikhail abdicated to Kailyb.
That way, I could also evade responsibility for the execution of the Founding Nobles that had thrown Bardia into chaos.
But if Iserna doubted my lies.
If she became certain that both trapping Mikhail and stealing his body, as well as executing the Founding Nobles, were my own doing, and grew angry and contemptuous of me.
Then my long-held desire to be chosen by her might come to nothing.
I would be forced to keep her by my side in the worst possible way.
‘The drawback is indeed fatal.’
Unfortunately, it was.
Then what if I lived as Mikhail, as she mistakenly believed?
Kailyb would merely be the victim, and I would bear no responsibility for the other incidents I had committed.
Moreover, since Mikhail and Iserna were closer to each other than anyone, there would be no resistance to advancing our relationship to that of lovers.
It troubled me that Elhart’s relationship with her was not ordinary, but her affection would quickly turn toward Mikhail, who had been a close friend since long ago, rather than toward Elhart, whom she had only recently met.
At a very rapid pace, perhaps even today itself, I might be able to have her.
As this thought reached me, desire suddenly flared up like a flame.
‘The advantages are far too clear.’
The only drawback was that I could not use my abilities as a Grand Mage before her.
‘That much hardly matters.’
The moment Iserna became my ally, even if I lost my magical abilities and became an ordinary person, there would be nothing to fear.
For her alone would be worth more military strength than an entire nation in this age.
And if I gained the full strength of the Expedition Team that followed Iserna as well.
Nothing in this world could ever harm me.
‘Good, then.’
The calculation was complete.
Kailyb had decided to become Mikhail.
Mikhail, who had received everyone’s recognition and affection.
To don this beautiful and powerful body and live that effortlessly simple life.
There was no time for further deliberation.
The longer I delayed my answer, the more suspicion Iserna would harbor.
Thus, in less than a minute, Kailyb had made his decision.
Unaware that this hasty change of heart was the very trap Iserna had dug.
***
His lips, which had seemed to pause for a moment, slowly curved upward.
“As expected.”
He laughed softly.
Joy that could not be suppressed even if he tried bloomed openly across his face.
“I knew you would understand.”
The Crown Prince’s eyes gleamed brilliantly.
Somewhat… like a madman.
“Ser Brin.”
He spoke, gazing at me.
Like someone who had finally heard an answer long awaited.
“Even after centuries pass, only you recognize me.”
I said nothing.
I simply watched him quietly.
The Crown Prince slowly leaned his body forward.
His eyes held a light close to rapture.
“I have waited for you for a very long time.”
His voice was slightly higher and faster than usual.
A sign of his excitement.
“I believed that if I waited and waited, you would surely return to me one day.”
He paused briefly, as if catching his breath.
I stared at that face brimming with nothing but deception, and he soon opened his mouth again.
“Much has happened during your absence.”
The Crown Prince’s gaze drifted to a distant place before returning to me.
“Yet here we are, meeting again like this.”
A gentle smile spread across his lips.
“Ser Brin.”
He asked quietly.
“Are you glad to see me?”
I slowly drew up the corners of my mouth.
“Well.”
I rested my chin on my hand and regarded him with a measured gaze.
“It’s good to see you.”
I tilted my head slightly.
“It’s been a while, Mikhail.”
The moment those words left my lips.
The Crown Prince’s eyes gleamed with even greater brightness.
And in that instant, I knew with absolute certainty.
This man had not understood a single word of what I had just said.
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
‘As expected.’
I had thought he might at least hesitate or show confusion, but this man was reacting far more simply than I had anticipated.
Or rather, not simple, but—
‘He’s convinced.’
Convinced that with my acknowledgment, he could now live as Mikhail.
That he could inherit all the memories and emotional exchanges I had once shared with Mikhail, making them entirely his own.
I lifted the teacup and took a slow sip.
The lukewarm tea traced down my throat.
Throughout it all, the Crown Prince’s gaze never wavered from me.
Truly, it was relentlessly intense.
“Ser.”
He spoke again.
“I never expected you to recognize me so quickly. Though I always believed you would eventually.”
I set down the teacup.
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
The Crown Prince nodded with perfect naturalness.
“You have always been perceptive, after all.”
‘Perceptive, yes.’
I murmured to myself.
‘But this time, I deliberately misspoke.’
Of course, I had no intention of explaining that fact to him.
I leaned forward as I had done when sharing intimate conversations with Mikhail alone.
“But tell me.”
“Yes?”
I fixed him with an unwavering stare.
“You were reported missing, weren’t you? I’m curious how you’ve survived all this time… but more than that, where were you and what were you doing before appearing now?”
The Crown Prince’s eyes wavered slightly.
It was an exceedingly subtle shift, but I did not miss it.
‘Yes.’
This question was the most important of all.
Why had he suddenly appeared after hundreds of years of hiding?
And of all times.
‘Why now, when I’ve returned.’
The Crown Prince seemed to fall into thought for a moment.
But soon his smile returned.
“The explanation might take a while.”
“I don’t mind.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“I have plenty of time anyway.”
The Crown Prince stared at me intently before letting out a low chuckle.
“I see.”
His gaze moved slowly across my face, as if tracing its contours.
“You truly haven’t changed one bit.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
He spoke quietly.
“Still willful, still sharp-eyed, still….”
He trailed off.
I raised an eyebrow slightly.
“Still what?”
The Crown Prince, as if carefully choosing his words, spoke in an even lower voice.
“Driving people mad.”
I’d heard that from many people before, but I never expected Kailyb to think the same of me.
I’d always wondered whether it was meant as a compliment or an insult.
“Is that a compliment?”
“Of course.”
He nodded sincerely.
“But something’s strange.”
“What is it?”
I spoke deliberately, as if unbothered.
“My return scroll was keyed to Mikhail’s coordinates, yet it landed on someone else entirely. I wonder why.”

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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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