Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 446

◈ 446. Pretending It Was a Mistake

“Wouldn’t the Emperor be more useful?”

Rembrary’s firm answer made the Grand Duke furrow his brow in shock.

“The Emperor… more useful than I am?”

“His power reaches further, doesn’t it?”

“That’s… true, but…”

The Grand Duke, clearly taken aback, couldn’t find the right words. Yeon Seung-kyung, the head manager, glared at Rembrary for no reason.

He wished Rembrary would beat around the bush a little. Of course, he knew this idea was far-fetched.

Rembrary looked at the Grand Duke, who seemed to have developed dark circles five centimeters deeper despite a good night’s sleep, and added with a touch of sympathy, “Still, I’ll drop by from time to time.”

“…….”

The Grand Duke, destined to suffer from insomnia until Rembrary dropped by again, clamped his mouth shut.

He looked so dejected that he even put down the snack bowl he had picked up.

Watching his pitiful state, Rembrary paused to consider.

If the Grand Duke had been suffering from a physical disease, Rembrary’s divine power would have healed him when he put him to sleep.

Then he would sleep soundly from then on.

However, if his insomnia wasn’t due to a physical ailment, the Grand Duke would likely be unable to sleep again.

In this case, what Rembrary was curious about was ‘why the Grand Duke couldn’t sleep in the first place.’

It could be a mental issue, but if it were, he could take medication or something to help him sleep.

Since that wasn’t working, he was resorting to finding singers to sing him to sleep.

After a moment of thought, Rembrary generously offered, “Let’s see for another day. You might be able to sleep tonight.”

“What if I still can’t sleep without your song tonight?”

“Tell me when your insomnia started.”

* * *

Although he said that, Rembrary actually thought the Grand Duke would sleep soundly from that day on.

He had healed his entire body with divine power, after all.

However, that night, the Grand Duke called for Rembrary again.

“Do it again. The lullaby.”

“You can’t sleep?”

“If I could sleep well for days after listening to it just once, I wouldn’t have asked you to be my exclusive singer.”

Rembrary sang the lullaby and lightly tapped his shoulder again, using the opportunity to infuse divine power.

This time, while infusing the divine power, he also checked more thoroughly for any abnormalities in his body.

But there was still nothing wrong with his body.

‘Strange. Is it a curse then? There are such curses in the world I used to live in. Could there be one here too? …No, that’s still strange. Even if it were such a curse, my divine power should be able to break it.’

Eventually, the next day, Rembrary asked the Grand Duke directly.

“When did your insomnia start?”

“What?”

“You weren’t born with it, were you? To build that physique during your growth period.”

The Grand Duke, while wondering if he could kidnap Duran and threaten Rembrary to stay here, answered nonchalantly, “My martial arts level stopped at a certain point. I couldn’t advance from 11-star to 12-star [In this world, martial arts prowess is ranked by ‘stars,’ with 12-star being the highest]. I went into seclusion in a cave to break through… and came out with insomnia.”

‘Is it really a curse?’ Rembrary raised his eyebrows at the mention of the cave.

In his original world, there were many who set traps in places like dungeons.

“What kind of cave was it? A cave you were visiting for the first time?”

“No. It was a cave used by my family for generations.”

The Grand Duke answered as if wondering why he was asking such things, then tilted his head and added, “Ah. I think I touched something inside.”

“What did you touch?”

“I don’t know. My elbow touched it, and it fell to the ‘bottom’.”

That ‘bottom’ must be too deep to descend.

Rembrary nodded, interpreting the Grand Duke’s words appropriately.

The Grand Duke stared at him blankly before suggesting again, “Are you really not considering becoming my exclusive singer?”

“I can’t do that, but that cave where you had problems… I’ll go and check it out for you. Maybe I can eliminate the root cause of your insomnia.”

“What?”

The Grand Duke looked dumbfounded at Rembrary’s suggestion. Soon, that expression turned into a strong sneer.

“Do you think we haven’t explored the inside? But there were no results. And you, who aren’t even a martial artist, are going to investigate such a place?”

Yeon Seung-kyung also seemed to think Rembrary’s words were a stretch. His expression was blank, but his eyes were directed towards the ceiling.

Looking back and forth between the two, Rembrary commanded with dignity, “I will cure your insomnia, so tell me the location of the cave. If I cure your insomnia, you must offer me five meals a day of this red snack, shouting ‘I love Redrin, I respect Rembrary’.”

The Grand Duke scoffed as if it were ridiculous.

“What if you can’t cure it? Will you become my exclusive singer?”

“I’ll give you Duran.”

Duran, who had been eating quietly, looked at Rembrary with eyes that seemed about to pop out.

“W-Why me?”

“I don’t need that.”

Fortunately, but also annoyingly, the Grand Duke rejected Duran.

Rembrary thought for a moment before reluctantly promising, “Alright.”

“Rem, Rembrary. Don’t make such promises-!”

Duran, worried, grabbed his shoulder, but Rembrary confidently puffed out his chest and stretched his neck.

“Trust me, Jongwoo.”

“Who’s Jongwoo…….”

* * *

After the Grand Duke allowed him to enter the cave, Rembrary went back to his room to prepare.

Meanwhile, the Grand Duke instructed one of his guards.

“You will follow the blonde singer and enter the cave with him.”

“Yes, Grand Duke.”

“And when you get the chance, break the blonde singer’s legs.”

The guard, who had expected the Grand Duke to assign him to guide or protect Rembrary, was surprised by the ruthless order and asked back, “What kind of mistake should I make to break his legs…”

“Do I have to tell you everything one by one?”

“It would be nice if you could tell me…”

The guard quickly changed his words after noticing the Grand Duke’s expression.

“I will take care of it myself.”

Yeon Seung-kyung, the head manager, asked the Grand Duke worriedly after the guard left.

“If you break his legs, will that singer stay by your side?”

“Breaking his legs won’t make him stay. But he’ll stay to heal his legs.”

The Grand Duke smiled coldly, picked up the snack that Rembrary liked to eat, and instructed, “Tell them to make a lot of this. So he can eat it while he’s being treated.”

* * *

Rembrary, unaware of the Grand Duke’s scheme, finished his preparations and was led to the cave where the Grand Duke’s insomnia had begun.

“Is it okay if I don’t go with you?”

Duran came to the cave entrance to ask, with a face that said he absolutely wouldn’t go with him.

Rembrary wanted to show him a mirror but decided that it wasn’t like a benevolent high priest to embarrass others, so he comforted him by saying it was okay.

“You’d only be a hindrance if you came along. Don’t worry about it.”

“!”

‘He won’t feel guilty if I say it like this, right?’

Rembrary, with his deep consideration, patted Duran’s shoulder gently and entered the cave.

But as he walked, he noticed that the Grand Duke’s subordinate, who had guided him here, was still following him.

“Why are you following me?”

When he asked, the Grand Duke’s subordinate hurriedly replied, “Guiding. Guiding.”

Rembrary looked at the straight path inside the cave, then at the Grand Duke’s subordinate. He’s going to guide me through here?

But the Grand Duke’s subordinate didn’t seem to want to explain further and immediately walked ahead, so Rembrary followed him, thinking there wouldn’t be any problems.

* * *

“It looks fine…….”

The inside of the cave was cleaner and more intact than it looked from the outside.

Like it had been used for generations, it didn’t seem completely abandoned, yet it maintained the feeling of a natural cave.

A faint breeze blew from the inside, and the sound of water dripping somewhere could be heard.

The sound of footsteps echoed throughout the cave.

Behind him, the Grand Duke’s guard was following, thinking, ‘How should I accidentally break his legs?’, but Rembrary had no way of knowing what he was thinking.

Then, upon discovering a wide-open passage, Rembrary, who had been moving forward without hesitation, stopped for the first time, stood in front of the passage, looked down, and asked, “Was this pit here originally too?”

The guard, who had changed positions and was now following from behind, approached, examined it, and shook his head.

“No. It seems like something that wasn’t there before.”

“Is that so.”

“The Grand Duke said he knocked something with his elbow and it fell to the ‘bottom’ and he couldn’t pick it up. Isn’t this that pit?”

“I guess so.”

Rembrary checked the bottomless pit and muttered.

The guard watched him and swallowed hard, thinking.

The Grand Duke told me to break that singer’s legs as if it were an accident.

If I push him into this pit… wouldn’t his legs break?

Since the Grand Duke gave up investigating and just returned, it probably would.

The problem was that not only his legs but also his neck could break.

He didn’t know how deep the pit was.

The Grand Duke wanted to break his legs so he could keep him by his side and make him sing, not kill him, so the guard hesitated.

At that moment. Surprisingly, Rembrary jumped into the passage.

‘Huh?’

Before he could even say anything, in an instant.

The guard noticed the change just as Rembrary’s head disappeared into the pit and ran to the pit in surprise.

“Hey! Are you okay?!”

The guard grabbed the edge of the pit with both hands and shouted towards the dark underground.

“Are you alive?”

The guard shouted, sweating coldly.

If the singer he had barely found died so futilely, the Grand Duke would surely be angry with him.

After suffering from insomnia, the Grand Duke became more sensitive on the days he couldn’t sleep and more generous on the days he slept well, but the Grand Duke before the insomnia was basically a scary man.

He didn’t exaggerate non-existent faults to scold or vent his anger, but he acted very scary when someone messed up.

“Damn it. Hey! Hey! Are you alive? If you’re hurt, at least scream!”

The guard shouted at the pit as if he were ranting.

“Damn it!”

There was no answer.

Eventually, the guard turned around to ask for help.

“I’m here.”

But as soon as he turned around, a calm voice, no different from usual, was heard from inside the pit.

The guard jumped and ran to the pit, sticking his head in.

“Hey! Are you okay?!”

“Yes. I’m fine.”

“Are you hurt?”

“Not at all.”

The guard was relieved. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be a very deep pit.

Then… the guard swallowed hard. I guess I have to go down there too.

Sighing, the guard still asked, just in case.

“Hey, do you think I can jump down there?”

The answer came immediately.

“You can.”

As soon as he heard that, the guard jumped down-.

‘There’s no end!’

He was panicked by the dizzying height.

He didn’t know what was going on, but even as he fell, he couldn’t feel the end.

Then, the moment he felt a flat floor rapidly approaching his eyes. The guard’s memory was cut off.

And when he regained consciousness, Rembrary had his hand on his forehead.

When he opened his eyes, Rembrary removed his hand.

The guard abruptly raised his upper body and shouted in genuine anger.

“You said I could jump! What kind of height is this to jump from?!”

“I was going to tell you ‘You can jump, but it’s deep’.”

“You should have told me it was deep first!”

“Still, it’s a relief you’re not hurt, isn’t it?”

In fact, he had healed him from being on the verge of death with all his bones broken, but Rembrary decided not to tell him that after seeing the guard’s already tearful expression.

“W-What is this blood?!”

There was a lot of blood on his clothes, but it would be okay.

“I don’t know. Didn’t you get it on yourself while falling?”

“What?”

Rembrary thought he had brought the noisy guard for nothing, put his hands behind his back, and moved in one direction among the five paths.

The guard looked at the blood on his clothes, which was splattered everywhere, hurriedly got up, chased after Rembrary, and asked.

“Do you know the direction? Is it okay to go this way?”

“Is this your house or mine?”

“Then why are you going so fast?! This is my first time here too!”

“Don’t follow me if you’re scared.”

He deliberately left Duran behind because he was noisy. This guy is noisy too.

Rembrary clicked his tongue inwardly and continued walking.