They Say an Age Gap Like This Doesn’t Even Need Matching – Chapter 38

Author: isuzuuy

“So, that means we’ll stop today’s practice here.”

He withdrew his hand from me and stepped down from the bed.

“Once I’ve gotten a little more accustomed to you. If you still want to then, we’ll continue.”

With that, he went into the bathroom.

I sat blankly on the bed, thinking about what he had said.

Was Elhardt… much more serious about me than I had thought?

Even though we hadn’t known each other for very long.

I stared at the closed bathroom door.

He was probably calming his desire by himself there.

For now… I should leave him alone.

At least for the moment, that was probably the right thing to do for him.

After hesitating briefly, I lay down in the place he had prepared for me rather than in my sleeping bag.

On the bed, beside Elhardt.

Even if it’s only a disguise, we’ll be living as husband and wife from now on.

I had to get used to this, too.

They said married couples shared a bed no matter what happened.

As I lay there with my eyes closed, he returned.

He was carrying a steaming basin and a towel.

“Ser, wait a moment.”

“Hm? Why?”

“You probably won’t feel like washing up.”

That was true.

I was feeling so languid that I didn’t want to move at all.

As if he had seen right through me, he carefully picked up my limp body and sat me on his lap.

Then he thoroughly wiped me down with a warm, damp towel.

“The marks will probably still be visible tomorrow….”

His mutter suddenly reminded me of the Crown Prince touching my neck.

“It’s fine.”

If I wanted to uncover his true identity, I needed bait.

And judging by what I had seen, the key to shaking the Crown Prince’s composure most effectively seemed to be me.

“Make new ones every day. Somewhere visible, where they won’t disappear.”

“Every day…?”

“Yeah. We’re going to practice every day anyway, aren’t we?”

His hand stopped for a moment.

“You’re saying you want to do it again?”

“Of course.”

I looked straight into his eyes.

“Why? Don’t you want to?”

“…Of course I do.”

Once we no longer needed to practice, perhaps we could stop.

But at least for now, we weren’t there yet.

His complexion had been no different from usual while he was washing me, yet it had turned bright red from just one look from me.

Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around? I really have no idea what the standard is anymore.

In any case, it felt wonderful to be completely clean without having to lift a finger.

Or perhaps… I simply liked his gentle, tender touch.

Even after I lay down on the bed, he took meticulous care of me, arranging my hair and straightening the blankets.

It was the first time I had ever been cared for by someone like this.

It was strange and, in a way… fun.

When I looked at him lying beside me, he gently brushed his palm over my eyelids.

“All right, now.”

I closed my eyes without resisting.

Even then, his presence remained vivid, and his touch never stopped.

There were countless things I didn’t understand, starting with my feelings for him, but one thing was becoming clear.

If a man wasn’t as thoughtful and gentle as Elhardt, I would never be able to love him.

His face and voice, too.

My standards had all become Elhardt.

This was a serious problem.

There probably wasn’t another man like him anywhere in the world.

So I hoped he would keep blushing over light touches and exchanging glances for a long time to come.

That way, I could keep using “practice” as an excuse for a long time.

***

“Did Raern send a reply?”

Early the next morning, I burst into the kitchen, where a delicious aroma was wafting through the air.

“Good morning, Captain.”

Dressed meticulously in a pristine white chef’s uniform, apron, and hairnet, Kay looked like an experienced chef.

Though if things went wrong, the kitchen knife he was holding could instantly become the most formidable weapon in the room.

“I’ve been getting pestered by him since dawn. I was going to bring it to you in your room, but I held out until now.”

Kay opened a kitchen cabinet, and a tiny bird no bigger than my palm fluttered out toward me.

—Good morning, Captain.

It was a message-delivery spell from Raern Brynn, the expedition’s highest-ranking mage.

—I heard you borrowed my family name. So from now on, should I introduce you as my younger sister?

When I disguised myself as a maid, I had only intended to borrow his surname without giving it much thought, but circumstances had changed.

If I was going to cross into Bardia and pretend to be married to Elhardt, I needed a noble identity.

Since I was already borrowing his name, I had asked whether I could simply pretend to be a member of the Brynn family from now on.

It was nice that he readily agreed, but now I was starting to feel a little uneasy.

Being Raern’s younger sister… sounded rather exhausting.

—I’m currently in eastern Bardia, at my family’s territory. I have some matters to take care of, so it may take me a while.

Matters to take care of?

Surely nothing had happened to the Brynn family.

I hoped it wasn’t anything serious.

—Kay explained everything to me. If your guess is correct, there should be a device inside the Imperial Palace that supplies life force to the Crown Prince’s body. Find that first.

A device that supplied life force to his body.

It seemed Raern had reached a similar conclusion to mine.

He must have determined that the Crown Prince’s body wasn’t his original body.

Whether it had been stolen or created.

—Even if you find it, do not attempt to destroy it. The moment you become connected to the device, there’s a chance you could become its source of nourishment instead.

So there really was no way to make this simple.

For now, our first goal should be limited to finding evidence and confirming the Crown Prince’s true identity.

—And, Captain.

Raern’s voice grew serious.

—As Ser Brynn’s older brother, I have one thing to say. I’m against the fake marriage.

Urgh….

—But if you’re going to do it anyway, I’ll have to take a look at that man first.

…I shouldn’t have borrowed Raern Brynn’s family name.

The bird disappeared as its mana scattered into the air, its message delivered.

I narrowed my eyes and looked at Kay.

“What exactly did you write in your letter?”

“Obviously, I told him the truth as it was….”

Kay wasn’t the kind of person to make things up.

Still, when it came to Elhardt, he seemed to be especially strict in his judgment, so I couldn’t feel completely reassured.

“Why is everyone so interested in my man?”

“Oh… So you know how to use expressions like that, too?”

…What? What was wrong with it?

He was mine for now, at least.

Who knew what would happen after we accomplished our goal?

“So, what happened to His Highness the Prince?”

“Hmm… Well, just….”

This morning.

After falling into a deep sleep without even realizing when I had drifted off, I woke up once again in Elhardt’s arms.

I didn’t know whether I had rolled into his arms or he had pulled me closer.

Judging by how we were positioned somewhere in between, perhaps it had been both.

As I became aware of the warmth against my back and the large hand wrapped around my lower abdomen, everything I had done with him came back to me one after another.

My body heated up just thinking about it.

I had screamed internally several times, wondering how I had managed to do those things while completely sober.

Eventually, I couldn’t take it anymore, so I quietly slipped out and came down to the kitchen.

“Captain…?”

“What is it?”

“Your face suddenly turned red.”

“……”

This was bad.

Before even considering whether Elhardt’s practice had been successful, it seemed I had developed an even bigger problem of my own.

“I just need to… keep practicing.”

“Seems like there hasn’t been any remarkable progress.”

There was absolutely no way I intended to tell Kay about what had happened between Elhardt and me last night.