Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 477

◈ 477. Visited

“Seriously, where did he go?”

The Emperor frowned and looked at the guards he had brought.

“How many guards are there? How could you not notice someone disappearing?”

The guards simply bowed their heads, apologetic.

The Emperor moved, this time wandering through places where many people gathered or where the paths were complicated.

He went back to the last place he had seen Rembrary before they separated, but still couldn’t find him.

“Please don’t worry too much, Your Majesty. Wherever he is, he can find his way back to the palace, so he won’t get lost.”

“It’s not that I’m worried about him getting lost. There’s no point in bringing him if he wanders off on his own.”

But just as the Emperor finished speaking, Rembrary’s voice was heard not far away, asking, “What point?”

Turning around, Rembrary was walking towards them from the brightly lit street, lanterns hanging on either side.

The shadows retreated in relief.

The Emperor was relieved to see Rembrary return unharmed, but also annoyed, and asked:

“Where did you suddenly go? Don’t you know you should tell your companions before leaving?”

“Didn’t Your Majesty leave me behind?”

The response was audacious. The Emperor was taken aback by the suspicious question and retorted:

“If I were going to leave you behind, I wouldn’t have brought you in the first place. Do you think I have so much time to spare?”

“I guess not.”

Rembrary surprisingly agreed right away.

But the way he tilted his head suggested there was something he still doubted.

And that was because Rembrary really thought the Emperor had left him behind.

He seemed to hesitate for a moment while walking. When he looked around, the Emperor and his party were gone.

Wondering what was going on, he looked around, and then he heard the Emperor’s voice from not far away, so he came over.

As the atmosphere between the two became awkward, one of the guards subtly signaled to the Emperor.

It was a sign that they shouldn’t argue here when they had come out to get closer.

The Emperor immediately understood and suppressed his anger for now.

Judging by his reaction, it didn’t seem like Rembrary had deliberately acted on his own.

“Alright. Just try to stick close from now on. So, is there anywhere you want to go? You must have seen some places while wandering around alone, right?”

“I don’t know this place. If it were my land, I would guide you, but this is Your Majesty’s land. You should guide me.”

The Emperor frowned.

If it were just about geography, he also knew every corner of the capital well because he went on secret excursions from time to time. However, he didn’t know the inside of the night market well. He didn’t particularly enjoy mingling with crowds of people.

But the Emperor couldn’t bring himself to say ‘I don’t know either,’ so he signaled to a shadow [a type of imperial guard] to ‘guide him.’

The shadow immediately understood, pointed in a direction behind Rembrary, and quickly lowered his arm.

The Emperor immediately accepted the suggestion and spoke as if it were his own idea.

“Let’s go that way.”

“What’s there if we go there?”

“Many people.”

“Anything else?”

“Many lanterns.”

“What are lanterns?”

“That thing you’re holding in your hand.”

While Rembrary walked along, looking at the flower-patterned lantern hanging from the long stick he was holding.

The Emperor recalled the advice that Loyal Subject 8 had given him.

Loyal Subject 8 had argued that commoners enjoyed seeing royalty appear awkward with commoners’ games and objects.

When asked what the basis was, he hesitated, but insisted that it was definitely the case.

The Emperor frowned. But there was nothing here that he could pretend to be awkward with.

Eating food was just eating it.

Looking at things was just looking at them. Walking was just walking, so what was there to be awkward about?

Then, a slightly different sight finally caught his eye.

People were surrounding a stage, laughing and chatting excitedly among themselves.

When the Emperor gestured to a guard, the guard immediately understood and asked one of the people standing in the back row of the crowd.

“What’s going on here?”

The person frowned, annoyed, but when the guard handed him a coin, he explained it well.

“They’re betting.”

“Betting?”

“You pay a coin, and two people participate as a pair. The old man running this game tells one person a word, and the person who hears the word explains it in five words, and the other person guesses what word they’re talking about. If they guess correctly, they get two coins back, but if they guess wrong, they get nothing.”

The Emperor listened to the explanation from the side and clicked his tongue. He wondered what idle person would be doing such a bet.

Then, the Emperor realized and glanced at Rembrary.

Rembrary was idle and a commoner, so he would definitely like this.

Although it was annoying, the Emperor, who really wanted to make Rembrary his physician, eventually hid his displeasure and asked Rembrary.

“Shall we play together?”

At those words, Rembrary also asked back in a bewildered tone.

“Do you like this kind of thing?”

He seemed surprised that someone like the Emperor would want to play such a trivial game.

Seeing his surprised expression, Loyal Subject 8 was right. Commoners really do like seeing royalty show curiosity in these things.

The Emperor chuckled inwardly but answered appropriately.

“It sounds interesting.”

At that answer, Rembrary hesitated for a moment and then smiled kindly.

“I see. So you like this kind of thing.”

It was the voice he would use to address a three-year-old throwing a tantrum.

The Emperor flinched at this, and he saw Rembrary making a troubled expression.

He didn’t want to do this kind of thing. But since the Emperor was acting like this, he wondered if he should go along with it, and he hesitated.

Feeling displeased by the sight, the Emperor said coldly.

“Never mind. Let’s not do it.”

The next place the two went was to a place that grilled chunks of meat skewered on long wooden sticks and then sold them with sauce.

The Emperor bought them for Rembrary in order to show his awkwardness.

He planned to refuse a couple of times when Rembrary politely offered him some, and then reluctantly eat it.

That’s what commoners liked.

“Eat, Your Majesty.”

“No. I don’t really like that kind of thing.”

But at that answer, Rembrary asked back in a happy voice, “Really?” Then, after offering it to the guards once each, he ate all the meat himself.

The guards wanted to eat it but refused because they were watching the Emperor’s reaction, but Rembrary didn’t care about anyone’s reaction.

He didn’t offer it to the Emperor twice.

It was the same when they went to the lantern that granted wishes.

Others wrote their wishes inside the lantern and hung them on the trees here and there, but Rembrary didn’t show any interest in that either.

“Will you try it?”

At the Emperor’s question, Rembrary flatly refused.

“You can just tell the gods directly. Why bother writing it down and hanging it up?”

The Emperor frowned at Rembrary for a moment, then sighed belatedly.

* * *

The next day.

Loyal Subject 8, who had gone to the Emperor’s office after the morning assembly to report something separately, was curious to know if the Emperor had seen the effects of following his advice.

Even though he had entered, the Emperor didn’t say anything and only looked at the petitions, so his curiosity grew, and he couldn’t help but ask.

“Your Majesty. I heard you went to the night market yesterday. Did you see the effects of the method I told you about?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the Emperor lowered his fingers covering his face by a knuckle.

The hidden eyes were so cold that they made the person watching feel a chill.

It also seemed like he was rebuking him.

There were no effects! Loyal Subject 8 was flustered and hid behind the eunuch.

* * *

Since the Emperor didn’t tell him the details of what happened, Loyal Subject 8 didn’t know anything except that the night market hadn’t worked.

Even when he subtly asked the eunuch, he didn’t get an answer, so Loyal Subject 8 decided to make up for this.

Otherwise, the Emperor’s trust in him might be broken.

After thinking, Loyal Subject 8 decided to first see the blond physician in person, then figure out his personality and find a way to become close to him.

‘I should have done this sooner!’

The night market is a good fit for people who like to play outside, but the night market might be disliked by people who don’t want to go outside.

People have different tastes, and it was his mistake to recommend the night market without thinking.

As soon as his work was done, Loyal Subject 8 went to the place where the blond physician was said to appear frequently.

It was the back garden near the shrine that people didn’t like to go to, but the blond physician occasionally went there alone, unafraid.

Sure enough, the blond physician was under a large tree near the shrine, confirming that the rumors were true.

Loyal Subject 8 was about to call out to the blond physician, but he just stared at him, feeling uneasy.

He wondered what he was doing near the shrine.

It was strange that the blond physician was just standing there blankly, doing nothing.

‘What’s he doing?’

The blond physician seemed to be staring intently at something.

‘What is he looking at?’

He looked in that direction as well, but he couldn’t see anything properly because of the door and the wall.

Loyal Subject 8 stealthily moved to a place where he could see that side.

Then something caught his eye. Something that was hard to believe was reality when seen with his own eyes.

He rubbed his eyes.

‘What is that?’

But it was the same even when he looked again. The scene was still the same.

Someone was standing inside the shrine building where no one should be.

A tall figure wearing strange clothes.

The strange thing was that the person was standing still, but the hair and clothes were fluttering as if a faint wind was blowing around him.

Even though he was alone in the room.

Loyal Subject 8 felt a chill for no reason.

‘How can there be such a bizarre thing?’

As the area around the shrine darkened as if it were night, Loyal Subject 8 could hardly breathe.

But the blond physician was instead taking steps towards that side.

There was no change in his expression, as if he wasn’t afraid at all.

The strange person, who was very tall, had taken a couple of steps out of the room but hadn’t completely come out of the shrine.

Instead, he stayed in an ambiguous position, and the blond physician got closer to the shrine.

However, the blond physician also didn’t go completely inside and stopped in an ambiguous position.

Loyal Subject 8 had already forgotten why he had come here.

He was just feeling his heart pounding at the mysterious sight.

‘What are they doing? Who is that person talking to the physician?’

In the meantime, the two were talking about something, but it was barely audible on this side because they were keeping their voices down.

After a while. As if the conversation was over, the blond side nodded and waved his hand, and the mysterious person smiled and went back into the shrine.

The blond physician went somewhere else. When the two disappeared, the night that had descended around the shrine also disappeared.

Loyal Subject 8 couldn’t do anything even after the blond physician had left and just stood there trembling, then hesitantly walked towards that side.

He couldn’t go completely inside and just looked from the outside, but there was no sign that anyone had come out or gone in.

Loyal Subject 8 was even more startled when he found a large padlock on the outside of the shrine door.

No, then how did that person come out and go in?

Loyal Subject 8 stamped his feet and hurriedly left the place.

Instead of talking about how to become close, he had to tell the Emperor about this.

* * *

“Lumena visited.”