They Say an Age Gap Like This Doesn’t Even Need Matching - Chapter 60

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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 planned to explain the details to Kei later.
If I knew which method the Crown Princess preferred, Kei could minimize errors in the plan.
It wouldn’t matter if I told everyone here right now… but somehow, it bothered me.
Not anyone else, but Elhart.
I glanced at him sideways.
He had listened quietly throughout my entire explanation of the plan.
‘I’ll already have plenty to handle on my own.’
Wouldn’t he feel anxious? Hurt, even.
I didn’t want to add more worries for him here.
‘How strange.’
No one had ever given me such special consideration before.
‘Haven’t I still not acknowledged Elhart as an equal colleague?’
“Captain.”
Kei’s voice dropped lower than usual.
“Do you know? When you show consideration on your own terms, misunderstandings are hard to resolve once they arise.”
‘Ugh.’
That perceptive fellow had apparently noticed that I’d fallen silent while worrying about Elhart.
Carterus rested his chin on his hand, regarding me with interest.
“Well, it was nothing worth mentioning, so I was just going to skip over it.”
I explained what had happened that day, careful not to look toward Elhart.
“The Crown Princess called me aside separately.”
How she had tried to trap me once I appeared close to the Crown Prince.
What the Imperial Gardens were actually used for.
“So that’s why the Crown Princess was confined to the Tower of Repentance.”
Kei nodded as if understanding at last.
“Right. I suspect the Crown Princess also had a hand in tampering with the Crown Prince’s synthetic poison.”
“…Ser.”
I startled upon looking at Elhart.
“The synthetic poison was in the Crown Princess’s hands, yet you treated it as nothing.”
Because his eyes were half-turned toward the Crown Princess, burning with rage and murderous intent.
“The Crown Princess knows how to destroy a person in the most miserable way. How could you….”
…He looked ready to rush out for revenge that very moment.
I sent Kei a look that said, ‘Hey, do something about this.’
Kei cleared his throat softly and spoke.
“The captain wouldn’t fall for such tricks, Your Highness. Most poisons don’t work on him anyway. Hahaha… he’s remarkably resilient, you might say.”
Perhaps Kei felt it was too much to bring up the demon, so he quickly changed the subject.
“In any case, if the Crown Princess truly has feelings for the Crown Prince, there’s something we can exploit.”
When blinded by love and jealousy, how far would one go?
“The Crown Princess has already crossed the line. Yet you’re just going to let it slide without dealing with it.”
Elhart spoke with a cold expression.
“For now.”
I answered while gazing at him.
“Because she’s useful.”
I gently squeezed Elhart’s hand to reassure him.
“Don’t worry. The Crown Princess will pay the price. But I’m the one who decides where that line is drawn.”
Whatever punishment the Crown Princess faced in the Tower of Repentance was none of my concern.
I had my own methods, after all.
“So.”
Kei spoke again.
“How do you intend to use her?”
“Simple. I’ll show the Crown Princess that there’s a necessary step she must take to get what she wants.”
“A necessary step…?”
“Yes.”
I slowly curved my lips into a smile.
“Proof that the Crown Prince isn’t of imperial blood—that is, proof that they aren’t true siblings.”
Of course, if the Emperor dismissed the Crown Princess’s words and thoroughly protected the Crown Prince, it would be useless.
But what if I had already planted seeds of doubt about the Crown Prince in the Emperor’s mind?
“Hmm… indeed, that’s clever.”
Carterus’s eyes gleamed.
“Once legitimacy is tainted, everyone will scramble for that position. Humans are greedy creatures, after all.”
“That’s very like you, Captain.”
Kei nodded in agreement.
“It’s an excellent strategy.”
“Thanks for the praise.”
Then Elhart’s cautious question was directed at me.
“Won’t it be dangerous?”
“For whom?”
Confused, I asked, and the answer came immediately.
“You.”
For a moment, I was at a loss for words.
Had anyone ever asked me such a question before? It was something I’d never heard in my entire life.
“…It’s fine.”
I met Elhart’s gaze as I spoke.
I couldn’t guarantee absolute safety against Kailyb, but I would succeed regardless.
“This time, it’s my turn to deceive him.”
I would make the one who deceived Mikhail, drove him to Hell, and ultimately caused his death pay the price.
With everything I have.
What stirred my heart now wasn’t some deceiver—it was Elhart.
You, worrying about me when there’s no need to worry.
Me, caring about you who worries about me.
Is it because I haven’t yet acknowledged and trusted you as a comrade, just as you haven’t me?
Or perhaps.
We’ve simply been blind to one another.
***
Eastern Bardia, the Brin family’s domain.
Raern Brin stood by the window, gazing down at the landscape below without moving for a long while.
Wind swept across the desolate fields. Crops that had missed their harvest season swayed weakly, their heads drooping without strength.
“This isn’t farming—it’s abandonment.”
He muttered softly, then withdrew his gaze.
This land had never been like this before.
It had been fertile and stable, and above all, resignation had never shadowed the faces of its people as it did now.
The cause was painfully clear.
“Contemptible wretches.”
Raern clicked his tongue sharply and turned away.
When the Cradion Empire’s conquest war shook Bardia, the nobles each seized power for themselves.
While some, like the Deposed Crown Prince, fought with their lives to protect the kingdom, others joined hands with Cradion for their own gain.
And with each passing day, the balance of power tilted further.
Toward those very traitors.
The result lay bare before Raern’s eyes.
“And this is supposedly the better condition.”
Raern’s eyes narrowed.
Three hundred years ago, an expedition had set forth toward the Black Rift for the continent’s peace.
Their families and descendants had been protected according to the Founding King’s will.
But once the Deposed Crown Prince, the final bulwark, was surrendered as a hostage, they were trampled first in the kingdom.
As though their very existence were an eyesore.
“I may have been a wayward son with little interest in family affairs, but… this level of ruin truly grates on me.”
Of all things, Iserna had chosen ‘Brin’ as his own family name.
He needed to restore it to some semblance of order, yet the castle and domain were on the verge of slipping away entirely.
“I can’t simply sweep it all clean.”
An age when the level of magic had drastically diminished.
How could he begin to address this crisis without revealing the expedition’s existence?
He was irritably running his hand through his unkempt hair, which hadn’t been groomed once since his return, when—
Tap.
A soft sound of impact against the window frame echoed.
Raern’s gaze shifted.
A black-winged bird perched upon the windowsill caught his eye.
“Ah, the answer’s already arrived. That was quick.”
His eyes brightening, he approached and opened the window.
“You’ve done well.”
He unfastened the small cylinder bound to the messenger bird’s leg and set the creature down before a dish containing water and grain.
And immediately, he broke the seal on the letter.
As Raern unfolded the paper and began reading, his expression gradually hardened.
“…Mikhail.”
With sunken eyes, he slowly traced through the letter’s contents once more.
It was no short missive.
Within it lay the sordid secrets of the Cradion Empire and the Imperial House, laid bare in their entirety.
He had heard that Mikhail vanished three hundred years ago, but he never imagined it was to join an expedition that never returned no matter how long he waited.
“Kailyb, that bastard dares….”
Not content with driving Mikhail to his death, he now sought to claim Iserna with a stolen body.
It was repaying the goodwill of Mikhail and Iserna—who had encouraged and supported Kailyb’s magical research—with malice.
“Even beasts know gratitude.”
His hand, about to fold the letter while grinding his teeth, froze.
A single sentence, carelessly glossed over amid the litany of shocking truths, belatedly caught his eye.
Raern himself already knew that Iserna’s return scroll coordinates were set to Mikhail.
But….
“It didn’t fall in some random place—it connected to one specific person. And of all people….”
Raern slowly closed his eyes, then opened them.
“The deposed Crown Prince, Elhart Belken of Bardia.”

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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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