Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 457

◈ 457. I’m Good at That. Deceiving People

But with someone so intimidating glaring at you, it’s not like you can just say, ‘Rembrary, that person seems strange.’

Duran’s pea-sized heart definitely couldn’t handle that situation.

However, keeping quiet while thinking something was off didn’t sit well with Duran, so he chewed on his lip anxiously.

What to do? Should I say something later? But what if he suddenly joins us like he did with the Grand Prince, pretending to be a colleague? Will I even get a chance to speak?

“Ah.”

Just then, Rembrary, who had been looking at his companion with a pleased expression, suddenly asked him something as if he had remembered something.

“Why did you just give me the money and leave a few days ago?”

“Money?”

“Yeah. You should have at least shown your face since you were nearby.”

Rembrary took out a sack and showed him gold coins wrapped in a handkerchief.

The Emperor wasn’t interested in the gold coins at all, but he was very interested in the handkerchief.

He quickly examined the handkerchief, assessing its texture and shape. Some information about ‘another Shin Jo-woon’ quickly came to him.

Judging by the very high-quality material, this ‘other Shin Jo-woon’ is quite well-off.

There’s a strange inscription on the handkerchief; since you wouldn’t give a handkerchief exchanged with a lover to a friend, this inscription must be his name. In other words, the notation ‘Shin Jo-woon.’

The Emperor’s lips twitched slightly as he felt intrigued. Indeed. There really is another person with the same name.

However, unlike the composed Emperor, the shadows were even more anxious.

Even a slight slip of the tongue could reveal that he’s a fake. They couldn’t guess what answer the Emperor would give here.

They glanced sideways at the Emperor, feeling uneasy.

Contrary to the shadows’ worries, the Emperor made a quick decision this time as well.

‘If he just left even though we’re close, there must be a reason. And if he gave money, it’s not because he dislikes me and is avoiding me. There must have been circumstances that would cause trouble for the other person if we met. If the situation was so bad that he couldn’t even show his face even though he was nearby… he must have been chased by someone.’

Once he finished his assessment, the Emperor said with a lonely smile.

“I was being chased by strange people. I couldn’t let you get involved.”

“So, the disciples of Yoomena were chasing you after all.”

As Rembrary frowned and muttered, the shadows inwardly admired him.

As expected, His Majesty is good at deceiving people! It’s not like they haven’t seen it before, but it’s still amazing every time.

“Alright. Enough about me. Rembrary, how have you been lately? I haven’t had a chance to ask about your recent activities.”

“I joined a troupe.”

“A troupe?”

“Hwachinqin, which aims to be the Imperial Troupe. Duran here is a musician there.”

Rembrary nudged Duran’s back, and Duran bowed awkwardly.

“The Imperial Troupe?”

The Emperor narrowed his eyes.

“Yeah. But they say they’re not hiring this year, so Captain Nangil’s expression isn’t good these days.”

The shadows exchanged glances again.

The Emperor smiled subtly.

“I know why they’re not holding the competition.”

“You know?”

Rembrary asked in surprise at the unexpected words.

“Why is that?”

However, the Emperor didn’t explain.

“It’s a bit difficult to say here. I’ll explain it if we go together.”

“Ah, would you like to come to the inn where I’m staying?”

“No. To the palace.”

Duran, who had been anxiously rubbing his palms while listening to the ordinary conversation, felt like his heart was about to jump out of his mouth the moment Rembrary’s ‘Anchovy’ mentioned the palace.

Duran looked at ‘Anchovy’ with wide eyes. The palace? He said the palace? He’s asking me to go to the palace with him? Does that person live in the palace?

On the other hand, Rembrary, even though the story of the palace came out, was wearing his usual gentle expression and asking questions like, “Why the palace?”

“I’ll explain when we get there.”
Duran, who was blankly looking back and forth between Rembrary and Anchovy, shook his head quickly and reflexively the moment Rembrary said, “Then Duran-”

He wanted to be in the Imperial Troupe, not follow a scary person calling himself Anchovy to the palace.

Fortunately, Rembrary also realized something from Duran’s reaction and corrected himself, saying, “Ah.”

“That’s right. We should bring the other members too.”

“!”

“Anchovy. Let’s take the Hwachinqin members too.”
The self-proclaimed Anchovy glanced down at Duran sideways, and Duran instinctively put his hands together and lowered his gaze. *I didn’t say anything, Mr. Anchovy.*

Did that have an effect? As he fixed his head and gaze on the floor and stayed still, he heard the self-proclaimed Anchovy’s worried voice from above.

“If the goal is the Imperial Troupe, that wouldn’t be good.”

“Why?”

“There will be allegations of unfair preferential treatment.”

“But they said there won’t be a competition this year anyway.”

“I’ll explain when we get there, so meet up with the others later.”
Duran glanced up and desperately interjected when Rembrary said, “Then at least Duran-”

“Re, Rembrary!”

“Yeah?”

“I’ll, I’ll tell the members about this. I’ll go and tell the members. We’ll keep staying at that inn, so you go. You must have a lot to talk about with your, your colleague.”

* * *

“Duran is a good friend, but he’s too conscious of what others think.”

“Is that a flaw?”

“No. It reminds me of Jongwoo, and I miss him. Ah, do you remember Jongwoo?”

“I don’t remember at all.”

“Well, you weren’t that close to Jongwoo.”

The shadows glanced at the unknown person walking and chatting beside the Emperor.

They couldn’t understand why the Emperor was suddenly taking that person to the Imperial Palace.

The person wearing the lion mask appeared first, and the Emperor seemed to like his mysterious ability, so he kept him by his side.

That person has an exceptionally handsome face, but since he’s in a troupe, he doesn’t seem to have any abilities like the lion mask.

Well. Actually, if you start thinking like this, it’s strange from the start that the Emperor is deceiving people and catering to those kinds of people…….

Regardless of what the shadows thought of him, Rembrary was busy talking to Shin Jo-woon’s face, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time.

It was also strange and funny that Shin Jo-woon’s face was acting a bit dull since he had no memories.

Besides, if he spoke well at times like this, he might be able to revise a few unpleasant memories.

“More than that, Anchovy. Don’t you remember that we decided to change my nickname?”

“A nickname? Did that happen?”

“We decided that from now on, you would call me the dignified Rembrary!”

“I don’t remember at all.”

“We decided to. You may not remember, but we did. So, let’s use the changed nickname from now on.”

“Isn’t it too long?”

“The brilliant Rembrary is also good!”

“Well. It doesn’t roll off the tongue. It sounds like a lie.”

“!”

Having arrived at the Imperial Palace, the Emperor entered through the gate he always used and took Rembrary to a room attached to his palace.

The court ladies and eunuchs flinched for a moment when the Emperor, who had gone out incognito, brought someone they had never seen before, but they closed their mouths and acted as if they hadn’t seen anything.

“This place will do.”

The Emperor designated a room for Rembrary to stay in, directly opposite the room used by the lion mask.

“It’s small.”

Rembrary looked inside and wasn’t very pleased, but since he wasn’t going to live here for the rest of his life, he decided to let it go for now.

Still, after somehow finding the most comfortable chair and sitting down, the memory-lost Anchovy went and sat across from him.

The memory-lost Anchovy gestured for the people chasing after him to leave, and the guards who had been following him closely went out.

Once only the two of them were left in the room, Rembrary sat more comfortably and asked.

“Tell me. What explanation is so long that you even sent Duran away?”

“Actually……”

“Actually?”

“For some reason, when I came here, everyone knew me as the Emperor.”

“The Emperor?”

“Yeah. It seems the Emperor here looks a lot like me.”

“Really?”

“So, I’m living by matching my memories appropriately.”

Rembrary clicked his tongue.

“It must be unfamiliar.”

The memory-lost Anchovy touched his forehead and nodded seriously, then lowered his hand again and continued.

“Anyway, so I know. The reason the competition isn’t being held this time is probably because of the Grand Empress Dowager.”

“The Grand Empress Dowager?”

“She’s not feeling well. It’s difficult to dance and sing right in front of someone who’s sick.”

“That’s true.”

“Yeah. But it’s good that you came. If you heal the Grand Empress Dowager, it will be held, right?”

“Is that so? Then will they hold the competition again?”

“Yeah.”
The memory-lost Anchovy finished speaking and observed Rembrary’s reaction.

He had judged that it didn’t seem to take much effort to heal someone since he easily got rid of headaches, so he said this, but he couldn’t be sure if it was true.

Fortunately, Rembrary replied in a tone that suggested it was no problem.

“Then let’s do that.”

“Can you heal her?”

“It seems like you’ve lost half your memories and lost my greatness.”

Rembrary smiled contentedly and patted the Emperor’s back roughly.

“Remember. I’ve always been great.”

The Emperor flinched and glanced back at his back, but Rembrary was already getting up.

“Then let’s go right away. Where is the Grand Empress Dowager?”

Then the Emperor quickly grabbed him as he was about to leave.

“Wait a moment.”

When Rembrary turned around, the Anchovy impersonator smiled and informed him.

“The fact that I’m a fake Emperor is a secret only we know, so you have to treat me like an Emperor in front of people. Got it?”

“I already spoke comfortably in front of the guards. Is that okay?”

“Those people are fine.”

“I understand. I will. I’m good at that. Deceiving people.”

The corners of the real con artist’s mouth curled up as he looked at the fake con artist.

* * *

“By the way, Ancho…… Your Majesty. Can’t we just put Hwachinqin in the Imperial Troupe?”

“We can put them in, but they won’t like it.”

“Why?”

“The Imperial Troupe is a position that receives everyone’s recognition. If we just pick them, they’ll only be ridiculed in that field.”

“I see.”

While they were talking, the two arrived in front of the Grand Empress Dowager’s palace.

When the Emperor appeared with someone they had never seen before, the palace people of the Grand Empress Dowager’s palace glanced at them, wondering ‘who is that,’ but no one asked who he was.

Since the place where the sick Grand Empress Dowager stayed was always the same, the Emperor immediately took Rembrary to where the Grand Empress Dowager was.

At that moment, a monk invited from Shaolin Temple was praying for the Grand Empress Dowager in a pleasant voice.

Seeing that, Rembrary whispered slightly to the Emperor.

“Being like this reminds me of the time Your Majesty didn’t recognize me. Do you remember?”

“Well. I don’t remember that part.”

The Grand Empress Dowager, who had been closing her eyes at the whispering sound, recognized the Emperor and smiled.

Soon, she looked at Rembrary and made a ‘who is this?’ expression, but she didn’t want to disturb Elder Soonmu, who was praying, so she didn’t say anything.

As the Grand Empress Dowager closed her eyes again, Rembrary smiled and whispered again.

“Well, how could you remember something that doesn’t exist.”

“!”

The Emperor was looking at the back of Elder Soonmu’s head, startled, and looked to the side.

Rembrary fixed his gaze forward and smiled gently.

“Didn’t I tell you? I’m good at that. Deceiving people.”