Is it my idea or did the protagonist get younger? Like I remember him looking older with a...

he grew it out to look more manly but then the king was so young looking that it made him self conscious so he shaved.

It seems they are going back and forth in time. In the last side story, they were 40 and Leisa was about to get married as he became an adult (my interpretation is that he was 19). In this new one, it's said he's 15. Besides, Sayan's hair was longer in the previous one.