Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 125

< 125. Three Kings (4) >

On the way back to the pavilion.

Sangseon couldn’t help but say to Rembrary,

“It sounded like a curse, Your Highness.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The Ten Eunuchs. Suddenly bringing up the Ten Eunuchs like that.”

“The Ten Eunuchs were bad guys. It might sound like a curse to others, but didn’t they seize tremendous power as eunuchs? Hearing about them will motivate the eunuchs and ignite their ambition.”

“No, that’s not it…”

Sangseon was about to say more when Rembrary tilted his head and suddenly stopped.

“What’s wrong, Your Highness?”

Sangseon stopped as well and asked.

Rembrary stood still, narrowing his eyes, looking back and forth.

At that sight, Sangseon’s heart pounded.

In fact… to make the kings visit different consorts after their initial meeting, the three Sangseons deliberately twisted the paths along the way. The paths were also made deliberately similar to make them difficult to distinguish.

But Rembrary was looking around as if he had noticed something, making Sangseon feel uneasy.

“Your Highness? What’s wrong?”

Still, Sangseon hoped that he didn’t really know anything, remembering that Woo Yeon-woo was famous for his naivety, and asked. But Rembrary pointed out calmly and accurately.

“You have a bad sense of direction. We took the wrong path.”

‘I didn’t think he was a smart celebrity, but he has a good sense of direction,’ Sangseon thought inwardly, but insisted anyway.

“No, I think this is the right way.”

“Your thought is your thought, but it’s the wrong thought.”

Still, Sangseon insisted on going the way he had chosen, so Rembrary had no choice but to follow.

Not because he was giving in to the other’s stubbornness, but because seeing him being so stubborn, he realized that the production team had planned something from the start.

And so, they arrived at a pavilion that looked exactly like the one they had left.

The pavilion had lanterns hanging all over the roof, creating a quaint atmosphere, and a table laden with food, and a consort in beautiful clothes drinking alone with her sleeves rolled up…

‘A man?’

Rembrary stopped as he was about to climb the pavilion stairs.

It was definitely a woman before they left. But when he returned, the consort drinking alone was a man. Seeing that the color of the clothes had changed, it didn’t seem like the same person as the three kings.

As Rembrary stared intently, the consort who was drinking alone was startled and stood up.

The consort participant also didn’t know that the king they were dealing with would change in the middle, so they were also very surprised.

But the consort participant, remembering the setting that ‘people can’t distinguish the three kings,’ quickly said with a quick wit.

“You went out for a while on urgent business. Why are you so late? I’ve been waiting for a long time.”

Rembrary asked awkwardly.

“Where did Sukbin [Royal concubine of the first rank] go, and you’re waiting?”

“I am Hee-bin [Royal concubine of the first rank], Your Highness.”

“Where did Sukbin go?”

“How dare you look for another consort in front of me?”

‘They told me to go to the eunuchs with good words for someone who eats well, and then guided me down a strange path. They were aiming for this.’

Rembrary looked down at the table with a sullen expression. He wondered if the food had changed as well as the person.

It had changed. But the amount of food had actually increased.

Then it didn’t matter. Rembrary became generous at the sight of the increased food and willingly sat opposite Hee-bin and picked up his chopsticks.

To his delight, the food that he had devoured with Sukbin because it was so delicious was still there.

“This is the most delicious. Why weren’t you eating this?”

Rembrary said happily and quickly began to eat the food.

How long had he been doing that? Hee-bin, who hadn’t touched the food, suddenly called out in a deep voice.

“Hey, Your Highness.”

‘Hey, Your Highness?’

“Are you just eating in front of your partner? Don’t you look at each other, exchange glances, compliment each other, and exchange pleasantries?”

But the tone was a bit sarcastic.

Rembrary stared at him with the chopsticks in his mouth, and Hee-bin had a mischievous smile on his face.

It was a completely different attitude from the one he had shown in front of Shin Jo-woon, but Rembrary had no way of knowing.

Rembrary just thought, ‘That person is working hard at the consort role,’ and praised him casually as he saw him.

“The tiger on Hee-bin’s neck looks very brave.”

He just wanted to eat quickly.

But Hee-bin didn’t let it go easily.

“That’s not a compliment for me. It’s a compliment for the tiger.”

“Hee-bin looks like he could knock down that tiger in one go.”

Rembrary finished the compliment and was about to eat again, but Hee-bin kept looking at him with such obvious dissatisfaction that he finally sighed, put down his chopsticks, and asked.

“What do you want me to say?”

Then Hee-bin clasped his hands together, put his face on them, and smiled as he demanded.

“On such a romantic night, spending time alone with a beautiful consort like me, please say something a little racy and explicit.”

Rembrary suddenly felt like he was going to get indigestion from the pressure.

But in fact, Hee-bin was acting like this on purpose. It was all because he had a bet with his friends.

He and his friends often made fun of Woo Yeon-woo over drinks, and when he appeared on this entertainment show involving ordinary participants, they thought it was a fun opportunity.

So they all applied together, and they promised to shut Woo Yeon-woo up with an argument, whoever got accepted.

That’s why Hee-bin was deliberately pushing Rembrary without crossing the line.

Of course, the Hee-bin participant also didn’t know that he would get the consort role in the random job selection…

Anyway, Hee-bin had a triumphant expression on his face as Rembrary stared blankly at him.

Even though he talks nonsense, he’s still a celebrity. Because he has a public image, it’s probably difficult for him to speak easily. Hee-bin was confident of his victory.

And in reality, Rembrary was quite embarrassed. Hee-bin may not have known and aimed for it, but in reality, Rembrary was most vulnerable to these kinds of lines.

He had no interest in biological reproduction and shouldn’t have any interest, so he was awkward with words like racy and explicit.

But now he was playing the role of a king, not a high priest. Backing down here was not like a king. At least that’s what Rembrary thought.

In the end, Rembrary hesitated and gave him an explicit answer.

“To become another man’s concubine as a man, your fate is also strange.”

However, this statement, which was the most explicit Rembrary could come up with, was only explicit and not racy.

But even as he said this, Rembrary was worried that he had said something that wasn’t like a high priest. He also felt that it was too biased, so he added slyly.

“I made a mistake. If you wanted to be here, it’s not a strange fate. You are… a pioneer of fate.”

Rembrary even gave him a thumbs up, and Hee-bin, who had been gaping blankly, hurriedly waved his hand.

“Absolutely not. I have a girlfriend.”

“Then how can I tease someone who didn’t want to come here?”

Hee-bin was cornered by Rembrary’s words.

If he admitted here that he ‘wanted to become a man’s concubine,’ Rembrary would be embarrassed and flustered, but his friends would make fun of him even more later.

Since he came here because he had a bet with his friends in the first place, he couldn’t help but be conscious of his friends’ reactions.

In the end, as Hee-bin hesitated, Rembrary smiled warmly and placed the food he liked the least in front of Hee-bin.

“You eat this. This is delicious.”

Then, Rembrary suddenly remembered the palace maid with the overturned face who was wandering around the palace and looked around.

There were many lanterns on the roof of the pavilion, so the inside and the surroundings were bright, but the other side was dark. There were no electric lights connected by wires in the set, so the night road was also very dark.

Hee-bin would have to go back to the concubine’s quarters through that darkness later…

“Hee-bin.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“On the way back, if someone asks you for directions, just run forward.”

“Yes?”

Hee-bin, who had been a little sulky because he had lost the argument, looked at Rembrary in bewilderment.

‘Ghosts are weak but dangerous because they can possess you. That palace maid was like a ghost…’

Rembrary looked up at the empty air with a serious face and added.

“Don’t answer and don’t look back.”

* * *

Meanwhile, at that time.

Shin Jo-woon, who finished his meal the fastest, had returned to his residence first.

He wasn’t as gluttonous as Rembrary in the first place, and he wasn’t greedy for screen time because he wasn’t a celebrity.

He accepted this entertainment show simply because he thought it would be a fun experience for the three of them.

But instead of having a fun experience, he quickly became bored because he couldn’t even see Jang Tae-ri and Woo Yeon-woo. For this reason, he returned to his residence as soon as he finished his meal.

Sangseon was dissatisfied with Shin Jo-woon’s dry attitude, but he could only suppress his dissatisfaction because he couldn’t control even these parts one by one.

“Since His Highness is sleeping, leave only the on-duty eunuchs today and leave.”

In this way, Shin Jo-woon’s residence became quiet and peaceful a little earlier than the other residences.

But Sangseon didn’t know that Shin Jo-woon was pretending to be asleep and spending time under the blanket.

He also didn’t know that he had indirectly grasped the location of Rembrary and Jang Tae-ri through the eunuch yesterday.

After lying down for a long time, Shin Jo-woon deliberately made a noise rummaging through the blanket as the sounds outside gradually subsided.

After doing that a few times.

As soon as he made a slightly louder noise and confirmed that there was no reaction from outside, Shin Jo-woon threw off the blanket, came out, slid open the window, and slipped out.

He said that cameras were hidden here and there, so this scene might be exposed later, but he didn’t care.

If it became a problem, the PD [Production Director] would edit it out on his own. If it was okay to broadcast it, the PD would add some seasoning and broadcast it.

Shin Jo-woon, who had safely escaped the residence, began to walk to the nearest residence to find Rembrary and Jang Tae-ri.

He didn’t know who was staying in that residence, but he was going to meet both of them anyway.

But how long had he been walking?

Someone called him in a small voice from behind.

“Your Highness? Your Highness?”

The voice was small, frail, and weak. It also sounded frightened.

Was it a participant who had lost their way? Or a staff member? Shin Jo-woon stopped and turned his head.

A palace maid covering her face was standing there blankly.

“Did you call me?”

When Shin Jo-woon asked, the palace maid hurriedly nodded and asked.

“Your Highness. Where did everyone go? I don’t know where everyone went.”

‘Is she also a participant?’ Shin Jo-woon thought calmly and pointed to the palace maids’ residences that he had seen in passing.

“You can go over there.”

Shin Jo-woon was about to turn around and walk away after speaking.

The palace maid, who had been covering her face, followed Shin Jo-woon in the blink of an eye, lowered her hand, and grabbed Shin Jo-woon’s arm.

“Your Highness. Please take me with you. I might die again if I go alone. Please take me with you.”

Shin Jo-woon frowned and turned his head, looking at the palace maid’s face.

< 125. Three Kings (4) > End