Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 124

< 124. Three Kings (3) >

At the same time.

Shin Jo-woon and Rembrary also drew their cards, contemplating the meaningful smiles of the merchant ship staff.

‘Did I pick something wrong?’

‘Is there someone among the staff who received strange instructions?’

But that wasn’t the case. The reason the merchant ship staff smiled in unison wasn’t because they were told to smile in the script, nor was it because there was a concubine planted as a trap.

It was simply amusing to imagine.

The concubines the three men picked would gather for dinner at similar places and times. Afterward, the three merchant ship members were instructed to make the kings move their seats at least once, no matter what.

How flustered would the king be if the concubine changed after he briefly stepped out?

How flustered would the concubine be if the king who went out briefly returned as someone else?

The merchant ship staff were enjoying just imagining this, so they kept smiling.

* * *

And finally, it was dinner time. Rembrary went to the gazebo prepared for dinner with the concubine.

Several dim lanterns hung above the gazebo, decorating it with a quaint atmosphere.

Inside the gazebo was a low table, and in front of it, a woman dressed as a concubine was repeatedly and lightly touching her hair. The old-fashioned hairstyle seemed awkward to her.

However, the woman, who was awkwardly touching her hair, belatedly discovered Rembrary and jumped up, shouting in a fluster,

“Wow, Woo Yeon-woo!”

Then, she quickly corrected herself upon noticing the court ladies and eunuchs around Rembrary.

“Yeon-woo, Yeon-woo, Yeon! It’s a coincidence that we met like this, Your Majesty!”

As soon as she spoke, the woman was filled with self-loathing. She repeated ‘coincidence, coincidence, coincidence’ to pretend it wasn’t a mistake, but it was even more embarrassing after saying it. She should have just admitted her mistake and not added anything. The thought of her family and friends teasing her after watching the broadcast already made her miserable.

Looking at the woman, Rembrary recalled the card he had drawn and asked,

“Royal Noble Consort Hui?”

Unexpectedly, the concubine looked flustered and asked back,

“Pardon? I’m Royal Noble Consort Suk?”

Rembrary was also flustered and asked again,

“Not Royal Noble Consort Hui?”

“I’m Royal Noble Consort Suk?”

As Royal Noble Consort Suk was flustered, Rembrary asked awkwardly,

“Where did Royal Noble Consort Hui go?”

Royal Noble Consort Suk replied, “I don’t know.” Then, she retorted with a sudden burst of anger,

“No, but what’s with calling me for dinner and then looking for another concubine?”

Rembrary was bewildered and muttered,

“I picked Royal Noble Consort Hui.”

“Then, do you think I tied up Royal Noble Consort Hui and came here?”

“Ah, did you tie her up and come?”

“No, I didn’t!”

Rembrary still couldn’t figure out what was going on, but he assumed it was the staff’s doing and said with a smile,

“Let’s eat first.”

The person had changed, but the food, which was laid out to the point of breaking the table, was better than expected.

That was enough. He came to eat anyway, didn’t he?

“Aren’t you going to eat with Royal Noble Consort Hui?”

“It’s okay to eat with Royal Noble Consort Suk.”

At that moment.

The Royal Noble Consort Hui that Rembrary was looking for was with Shin Jo-woon.

However, Shin Jo-woon’s feelings about seeing Royal Noble Consort Hui were more complicated than Rembrary’s feelings about seeing Royal Noble Consort Suk.

Royal Noble Consort Hui was a burly man with broad shoulders and a large build.

He had taken off the cumbersome wig and was sitting comfortably, and no matter how you looked at it, his muscles were those of a man who worked out.

The tiger tattoo that was slightly revealed between the coat strings strongly caught the eye.

He grinned when their eyes met, a smile that suggested he would rush over and throw a punch if the king looked for another concubine.

Shin Jo-woon was taken aback but cautiously called out, “Royal Consort Gong?”

The man replied calmly in a voice full of strength.

“I am Royal Noble Consort Hui, Your Majesty.”

Then, he jumped up and held out his hand for a handshake.

Shin Jo-woon reluctantly shook his hand, but as soon as he heard that the concubine had been switched, he realized that the staff had played a prank in the middle.

“Are all the other concubines men too?”

When Shin Jo-woon asked outright, Royal Noble Consort Hui shook his head.

“No, they are not.”

At the same time.

Jang Tae-ri was also just as bewildered.

He had picked Royal Noble Consort Suk, but Royal Consort Gong had suddenly appeared to her.

Jang Tae-ri thought, ‘Did the room change?’

But in the midst of this, Royal Consort Gong put her hands together and jumped for joy.

“Your Majesty, I’m a fan of yours!”

Royal Consort Gong, who shouted excitedly, was soon confused, saying, “Huh? Do people not use the word ‘fan’ these days?” and hurriedly added a setting.

“Your Majesty, I lived abroad!”

Although she wasn’t the concubine he had picked, Jang Tae-ri burst out laughing because her appearance was cute.

Well, either the staff’s movements got mixed up, or they did this on purpose. Jang Tae-ri roughly understood and sat facing Royal Consort Gong.

Meanwhile.

Rembrary was focused on eating as quickly as possible, thinking that his food might be taken away in the middle.

Rembrary didn’t really care that the person had changed in the first place. He was just worried that the food would change.

Having experienced several variety shows, Rembrary had a prejudice that variety show staff were stingy with the food of the performers.

There was no way they would let him eat all this food without doing something, so he had to eat it all as quickly as possible.

How long had he been doing that?

As expected. Just as Rembrary was eating well, the merchant ship member called him, saying there was somewhere he needed to go for a moment.

“I knew it. There’s no way they would just watch me eat in peace.”

Rembrary sighed and went outside.

* * *

“Where are we going?”

“Ah, we are going to the place where the eunuchs live, Your Majesty.”

“Why are we going to the eunuchs in the middle of dinner?”

The merchant ship member had nothing to say to Rembrary’s question and smiled awkwardly.

‘You have nothing to say, right? Because the purpose isn’t to meet the eunuchs, but just to get me out of that room.’

Rembrary thought to himself and obediently followed the merchant ship member.

Even if he refused to follow here, only he would appear stubborn on the broadcast. He wouldn’t follow someone without a reason in reality, but here, it was better to do as they said.

But as he was walking, he saw a court lady in the distance looking around. She looked like she had lost her way.

In fact, the court lady kept muttering, “Where did everyone go? Where did everyone go?”

‘A regular participant must have lost her way.’

Why don’t they give her a map and let her in? Rembrary clicked his tongue inwardly and approached the court lady.

He didn’t know the way either, but since there was a human navigator next to him, he could help the court lady enough.

However, Rembrary, who had taken a few steps, stopped right there.

‘It’s not a person.’

She looked fine from a distance, but upon closer inspection, the court lady’s face had its upper and lower positions reversed. Her mouth was in the position of her eyes, and her eyes were in the position of her mouth, and the eyes in the position of her mouth were constantly looking left and right.

“Your Majesty. What’s wrong?”

The merchant ship member asked from the side.

“What do you see over there?”

Rembrary subtly pointed to where the court lady was and asked back in a small voice, and the merchant ship member replied in bewilderment.

“I don’t see anything, but…”

Rembrary clicked his tongue and instructed.

“Do not let anyone wander around this area at night. That is my order.”

The merchant ship member found Rembrary’s words strange. He felt a little eerie for no reason.

Come to think of it, he had forgotten because Rembrary’s image was so strongly that of a crazy person, but Rembrary hadn’t become a hot topic with some eerie remarks?

The merchant ship member took Rembrary’s words to heart and clearly remembered the location of this area.

Afterward, the merchant ship member guided him again, and Rembrary passed by the wandering court lady.

The place they arrived at was where regular participants dressed in the same eunuch uniforms were living, really following the schedules of the old eunuchs. Of course, the actual intensity of the work wasn’t the same.

The reason why was so popular with people in the first place was because it allowed them to experience an era far removed from reality as if they had become people of that time.