They Say an Age Gap Like This Doesn’t Even Need Matching - Chapter 9

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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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Why me?
Doubting my own ears, I turned to look at Elhart, and his expression had hardened into something rigid and unyielding.
Unbelievable as it was, it seemed to be true that I’d been invited to the Cradian Palace banquet.
“You needn’t worry about formal attire. We have something prepared.”
Did the Cradian Palace keep spare dresses on hand for such occasions?
Well, if that’s the case.
“But why the sudden banquet?”
“Isn’t it to promote goodwill between our two nations?”
“If that’s the goal, shouldn’t you remove these chains first?”
“That is….”
“Why not at least petition for it? Your master has never caused a disturbance in the palace, has he?”
“…I shall convey your words to the appropriate parties.”
They wouldn’t make me attend the banquet while wearing these restraints.
If that’s so, then it only makes sense to free me while I’m confined here alone like this.
“Then I’ll send someone tomorrow morning.”
The Steward, who’d been watching me speak my piece while Elhart remained silent, looked slightly exasperated before quickly leaving the room.
By the time the Steward’s presence had vanished from the corridor, Elhart spoke with determination.
“Say you’re ill.”
“Huh?”
“Tell them you’re burning with fever and can’t attend the banquet. They won’t have a choice then.”
I stared at him blankly.
“Why wouldn’t I go?”
It was an opportunity to directly observe high-ranking officials from an enemy nation—there was no reason to throw that away.
Besides…
“I could eat plenty of delicious banquet food.”
Elhart looked at me with alarm.
“It could be dangerous. It’s clearly a trap.”
“It’s fine. I’ll just have to overcome it.”
There’s a limit to how many excuses I can make anyway.
Since time is short, it’s better to face it head-on quickly.
“At least I have a day to prepare.”
“One day is too rushed. Just this once, won’t you listen to me? If something happens to you, I…!”
It was somehow pitiful to see a man unmoved by brutal violence now wracked with anxiety.
“I’ll be careful. Elhart, don’t you trust me?”
But I couldn’t afford to miss this opportunity.
As I leaned in close to persuade him, he let out a reluctant sound before finally nodding.
“…But you absolutely cannot leave my side.”
“I’ll try.”
I’ll stay by Elhart’s side as much as circumstances allow, though there’s no telling how things might unfold.
“So teach me an intensive crash course.”
Tonight, I planned to sneak into the Central Palace and gather intelligence on Cradian’s internal affairs.
To do that, I would need some preparation beforehand.
I needed to understand what basic knowledge was essential, and identify the key figures who drove the relationship between Cradian and Bardia.
“Before that, could you answer me one thing?”
Elhart asked me with a stern expression.
“What are you doing this for, and for whom?”
It wasn’t a question I could answer easily.
Those days when I founded Bardia with grand ambitions were right behind me.
Someday, even heroes die and cities and nations fall into ruin, vanishing without a trace.
Nothing could last forever.
And yet, I might be nothing more than a phantom of the past, desperately wanting to restore that brilliance from those days.
“…For the dead.”
I couldn’t visit their graves empty-handed, those who had waited for the Expedition Team to return.
I needed to have something to say, something that would let me declare with confidence that I had done well.
“And also, for myself.”
I would do everything within my power and then retire with a clear conscience.
“Does that answer your question?”
“….”
Elhart, who had been staring intently at me, suddenly softened the corners of his mouth into a smile.
“Why are you smiling like that?”
When I asked, raising my eyebrows, he slowly blinked.
“Hm?”
“Just now, you smiled so beautifully.”
I poked the corner of his mouth with my finger.
Now he didn’t blink.
Even as I touched his cheek without permission, he simply gazed at me.
Then suddenly, he threw a question that caught me off guard.
“Am I beautiful to you?”
“What, like you’re hearing this for the first time?”
Slightly flustered, I responded as if it were nothing, but no reply came back.
“….”
“So it is… the first time you’ve heard it….”
With a face like that, why on earth would it be?
‘Wait, why am I even worrying about this right now?’
I quietly withdrew my hand from his face.
I became anxious—did I look like a philanderer in Elhart’s eyes?
“Um, well, let’s get back to the main topic. We don’t have much time….”
As I awkwardly changed the subject, he nodded.
“Right.”
And then he smiled beautifully once more, just like before.
“I’m not particularly eloquent, but I’ll do my best to explain.”
He could have asked so much more, harbored countless suspicions, yet a single question seemed sufficient—I wondered if he’d truly been cornered to such a degree.
I hoped he wasn’t in such dire straits that trusting a suspicious being who’d fallen from nowhere was his only option.
“I’m not sure where to begin.”
Elhart lowered his gaze, carefully choosing his words before speaking after a moment.
“Perhaps it would be best to start with the great massacre orchestrated by the Grand Mage Kailyb, who ascended the throne following the Founding King.”
“…What?”
“The nation was nearly torn in half at that time.”
Who did what exactly?
***
The story I heard from Elhart afterward made my mind extraordinarily complicated.
‘I never imagined Kailyb would do such a thing.’
Kailyb, who became Bardia’s second king, purged the Founding Noble Families and several nobles and knights who had served the previous generation on charges of treason.
The nation, having lost its pillars, was greatly shaken, and in that chaos, Kailyb himself disappeared seven years later.
When the Grand Mage Kailyb, who was also the Tower Master, vanished without a trace, the mages who followed him scattered across the continent, which led to the decline of magic itself.
‘I thought he was a decent fellow.’
As Kailyb’s face came to mind—the one who passionately explained magical theory regardless of whether I was listening—my heart grew heavier.
Bardia, which I had hoped would remain steadfast forever, faced a great crisis within mere decades and could not escape being tossed about by the emerging nations.
Yet despite this, it endured for the long span of three hundred years, though now it truly stood at an impasse.
Cradian, founded during Bardia’s period of chaos, suddenly proclaimed itself an empire under the current Emperor and waged wars of conquest.
‘Particularly, the Crown Prince actively pushed for the occupation of Bardia, didn’t he?’
The portrait of Founding King Mikhail still remained in Bardia’s Royal Palace.
For this reason, the people of Bardia who saw the Crown Prince stirred with speculation that he might be Mikhail’s reincarnation.
Their appearances were remarkably similar, after all.
‘How convenient.’
It seemed too coincidental to dismiss as mere chance.
‘That I returned precisely in an era when such a person exists.’
I couldn’t explain it clearly, but it didn’t seem like there was no connection at all.
‘In times like these, I should investigate those closest to the key figures.’
That’s why I infiltrated the third floor of the Central Palace the moment night fell.
It was there that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs existed—the Crown Prince’s right hand and left hand.
‘If the work of isolating Bardia was conducted first, then the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would be the vanguard.’
Using the layout and security system I’d identified during the day, slipping inside was relatively smooth.
However, if there was a variable…
“This is Count Bellow’s Office.”
Elhart, who had tried to dissuade me from going out at night, ended up following me after all.
After living so long with those who followed without question once I decided and announced something, I seemed to have lost the ability to persuade anyone.
No matter how I thought about it, moving alone would be more efficient, yet somehow I’d brought along a prince whose build was as massive as a mountain.
‘It’s not that he hasn’t been helpful….’
Moving together, I’d come to realize that Elhart’s physique truly transcended the limits of humanity.
I realized that tasks I’d thought were only possible through magic could be solved so easily through him.
While penetrating the security network protecting the Central Palace and reaching the third floor, there was no need to use magic or any other power.
The only aspect that seemed untrained was perhaps the delicate control of strength.
‘I’m curious about his background—how he came to possess such a body.’
I quickly stepped forward before he could smash the door handle.
“I’ll open this.”
Elhart looked back and forth between my face and his hand, then nodded.
His downturned eyes seemed somewhat… dejected.
‘It must be my imagination. Surely not.’

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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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