Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 486

486. Careful with Alcohol

Unlike usual, I woke up with a throbbing headache.

The Emperor blinked, then touched his head and called for the Head Eunuch.

“Hye-gam.”

It wasn’t just the throbbing head that was different from usual. His voice was also more hoarse than before.

As he pressed his temples, wondering why his body was in such a state, the Head Eunuch appeared, lifting the curtains and bowing deeply.

“Did you have a cough, Your Majesty?”

As the Emperor raised his upper body, the Head Eunuch quickly reached out to support him, subtly adding,

“You were too drunk yesterday, so I didn’t wake you on purpose, Your Majesty.”

“I was drunk?”

“Yes. It seems Physician Rem was stronger than expected.”

“No wonder. My condition isn’t good.”

“Shall I call the royal physician?”

If he called the royal physician, he would have to drink bitter medicine or endure painful acupuncture.

Taking medicine and getting acupuncture were bearable, but if he had to receive treatment, he preferred Rembrary, who could eliminate all pain with a single touch.

Moreover, didn’t Rembrary’s treatment make his body feel as refreshed as if it were filled with fresh air?

“Bring Rembrary.”

The Emperor touched his parched throat, closed his eyes, and leaned his head against the bed.

“…….”

However, even after receiving the order, the Head Eunuch didn’t leave.

Normally, he would have briskly run off, saying, “Yes!”

As the Emperor narrowed his eyes, he saw the Head Eunuch looking around with a bewildered expression.

He definitely looked like something was wrong.

“Hye-gam.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Speak. Don’t roll your eyes.”

Even after receiving the imperial command, the Head Eunuch hesitated. Unexpectedly, a voice came from beyond the door, “Your Majesty. The Grand Empress Dowager has arrived.”

The Emperor opened his closed eyes.

“Mother Empress?”

The Emperor’s day started early in the morning, and the Grand Empress Dowager was well aware of this fact.

Knowing that he had a lot to do in the morning, she usually didn’t seek him out so early.

Looking out the window, it wasn’t exactly early morning, but still.

“Something’s different.”

The Emperor alternated his gaze between the Head Eunuch, who was watching him carefully, and the direction from which his mother had come, before briefly granting permission.

“Let her in.”

It would be more comfortable to hear about any issues from the Head Eunuch, but he couldn’t leave his mother standing outside the door.

The Emperor spoke in a cold voice and then gave the Head Eunuch a stern look.

‘No, what did I do…’ The Head Eunuch felt wronged by the accusing gaze but quickly moved to stand against the wall.

As the Head Eunuch became one with the wall, the Emperor raised his heavy body.

“Have you come, Mother Empress?”

“I apologize for visiting when you must be busy.”

“Not at all.”

As he got up to greet her, the Grand Empress Dowager sat on a chair near the bed.

Unlike usual, her smooth forehead was slightly furrowed.

Seeing this, the Emperor could no longer hold back his curiosity and asked.

“Hye-gam is strange, and Mother Empress is strange. What on earth is going on?”

After gazing at his composed appearance for a moment, the Grand Empress Dowager opened her mouth with a worried tone.

“Your Majesty. It is said that too many sailors can send a ship up a mountain [too many people giving advice can ruin a plan], so I have tried not to interfere in Your Majesty’s affairs.”

“I am aware.”

“But this concerns the affairs of my benefactor, so I cannot help but step forward out of human decency.”

“Benefactor?”

“Physician Rembrary, I mean.”

“I do not understand what you mean.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to think about it one more time?”

The Emperor raised his eyebrows as if he didn’t understand what she wanted him to think about.

His face showed that he didn’t understand what the Grand Empress Dowager was saying at all.

Then, the Emperor rubbed his forehead as if he were in trouble and asked.

“Mother, to be honest, I was drunk, so I don’t remember what happened yesterday. I don’t quite understand what you’re saying. What did I say to Rembrary?”

The Grand Empress Dowager’s expression became subtle.

“You don’t remember?”

“No.”

Seeing the Emperor’s calm expression, the Grand Empress Dowager sighed briefly, glanced at the Head Eunuch, then turned her gaze back to her son and said.

“You ordered Physician Rem to be imprisoned.”

* * *

Rushing to the prison, the Emperor found Rembrary’s group gathered in front of the prison.

Except for Shin Jo-woon, who had his face covered with a veil, everyone’s expression was very bad.

In particular, Hwa-saja seemed especially frustrated, as if he could go into the prison and bring Rembrary out right away.

Every time he twitched, Shin Jo-woon and Sa Gam-jae took turns grabbing his arm, apparently trying to calm him down and urging the group not to act rashly.

However, as the Emperor approached, everyone’s patience seemed to wear thin, and even Shin Jo-woon and Sa Gam-jae’s eyes became disrespectful.

The Emperor, stopping the soldiers from reacting with a wave of his hand, passed through the prison gate without even looking at them.

“Did His Majesty just ignore us?”

Hwa-saja’s muttering could be heard, but there was no point in talking now, as it would only make each other feel worse.

The Emperor quickly descended the stairs.

Each time he passed, the guards stopped what they were doing and hurriedly bowed.

The prisoners tried to hide their faces against the walls as the Emperor appeared in the prison himself.

“Where is Physician Rem?”

“Here, this way.”

The Emperor, who had quickly found Rembrary, groaned as soon as he saw inside the prison.

Rembrary was sitting on a particularly noticeable fluffy bed inside the prison, with an expression as if he had six chestnuts in his mouth [looking very uncomfortable and displeased].

* * *

Everyone in the group was taken aback by Rembrary’s sudden imprisonment, but the most bewildered person in this situation was, of course, Rembrary himself.

“Why were you locked up?”

As Rembrary came out of the prison, Hwa-saja seemed relieved for a moment, but then his curiosity grew, and he chased after him, asking.

All the group members who had been waiting outside the prison followed Rembrary.

Among them was the Emperor, who was not part of the group, but Rembrary didn’t bother to look back at him.

From behind, some people muttered in surprise, ‘How dare he!’, but from Rembrary’s point of view, the Emperor was the most rude.

Suddenly imprisoning someone.

“Rembrary?”

Hwa-saja urged Rembrary again.

“I don’t know.”

Rembrary answered honestly.

“You don’t know?”

Sa Gam-jae, who had been quietly following, also joined in, wondering why he had suddenly been imprisoned.

Even Ardor, while huffing and puffing, was also listening intently, so everyone seemed curious about the circumstances that led Rembrary to be imprisoned in the middle of the night.

Moreover, he had been locked up at night and came out in the morning, so it was even more understandable.

Rembrary said again.

“I really don’t know. I was drinking… and when I woke up, I was there.”

Rembrary, having gained enlightenment from his own words, glanced at Shin Jo-woon.

Shin Jo-woon, with only his eyes visible due to the veil, was also looking at Rembrary. He was probably thinking the same thing.

That Rembrary’s imprisonment was related to the Demon King.

‘Did the Demon King come out and say something strange?’

* * *

He didn’t want to see the Emperor right now, but the Demon King had appeared and disappeared.

If he had been imprisoned because of that, Rembrary had to talk to the Emperor.

The Demon King must have provoked the Emperor in some way.

Arriving at his residence, Rembrary slowly washed up, changed his clothes, and went outside.

In the courtyard, the Emperor was standing with a troubled expression, talking to the Head Eunuch.

Then, seeing Rembrary, the Emperor strode forward.

He thought he had a big argument with the Demon King to the point of being imprisoned. He looked somewhat apologetic.

“Let’s talk.”

Rembrary suppressed the urge to shout ‘How dare you!’ and took the Emperor into his room.

He intended to close the door and ask the Emperor what he had said to be imprisoned.

“What on earth did I say yesterday that made you imprison me?”

“Actually, I came to ask you that.”

However, the answer he received was beyond Rembrary’s expectations. He came to ask the same thing?

As Rembrary looked at him suspiciously, the Emperor gave a troubled smile.

“I don’t remember because of the alcohol.”

“From where?”

“From when you started showing symptoms of narcolepsy?”

At the Emperor’s words, Rembrary lamented inwardly.

Not remembering from when he started showing symptoms of narcolepsy meant that his memory was cut off at the same point as Rembrary’s.

“You’re not helpful at all. I’ll have to cancel calling you a giant anchovy.”

“Already?”

“Yes. You’re not helpful, and you imprisoned me. What is an anchovy? It’s just crumbs.”

The Emperor frowned, looking distressed.

He had even taken him to the night market to appease Rembrary, so he must be feeling troubled himself.

However, even if it was a memory that had been erased, Rembrary had still spent a day, or rather, about six hours, in prison.

Whether the Emperor remembered or not, he didn’t feel good.

He couldn’t use divine power to interrogate the Emperor and the Demon King’s conversation.

He couldn’t use ‘The Honest Bet’ [a magical ability] to find out the truth from someone who didn’t remember.

‘The Honest Bet’ didn’t reveal information that the person didn’t know.

Moreover, if the person believed false information to be true, he could be tricked in reverse, so it was difficult to use in this situation.

“This is quite…”

Seeing the Emperor muttering in embarrassment, Rembrary sighed and said soothingly.

“Try to think about it carefully.”

* * *

The Emperor sent a series of large feasts as if to apologize for what he had done yesterday.

The palace staff, who had been briefly shaken by the imprisonment of the Emperor’s favored physician, stopped talking about the matter and regarded it as a short and light incident, as the Emperor continued to send food to appease the physician.

What could they do when the Emperor himself openly said that he didn’t remember because of alcohol?

However, Rembrary was so concerned about what the Demon King fragment and the Emperor had discussed that he couldn’t shake the thought even the next day.

The Demon King fragment had instructed Gasora to investigate the god before Lumena.

Did he think the Emperor would be more helpful than Gasora? Did the Emperor accept the offer?

Even if he didn’t remember, if he accepted the offer, wouldn’t that mean a deal had been made between the Demon King and the Emperor?

But what does the deal have to do with the prison? Did he go to prison because he refused the deal?

If so, then the Emperor and the Demon King fragment haven’t joined hands yet, right?

In the end, after pondering carefully, Rembrary decided to explain the situation to the Emperor as gently as possible and ask him not to join hands or engage in deep conversation if he ever changed into someone else.

To this end, Rembrary visited the Emperor around evening and informed him about the existence of the Demon King fragment in a roundabout way.

“Actually, there’s another personality inside me. Not a generous and benevolent personality like the current me, but a petty and wicked one. We came here to find a way to eliminate that personality.”

“Personality? Shin Jo-woon said it was narcolepsy.”

“It doesn’t matter what you call it. Just know that it’s a bad personality.”

“Hmm.”

“I think that you imprisoning me is related to that guy. But since you don’t remember, I’m just saying this in case. You must never join hands with that guy. Do you understand?”

As the Emperor smiled and promised that he would, Rembrary returned, relieved.

It was unpleasant to describe the Demon King fragment as his own personality, but saying it was the Demon King fragment would cause even more commotion.

Still, he should keep watching, just in case.

In any case, if the Demon King fragment was targeting the Emperor, it meant there was something the Demon King fragment could use.

Rembrary shook his head.

* * *

Watching that scene through the window, the Emperor smiled and muttered.

“So that’s why you came this way.”

The Head Eunuch, bringing tea, heard the story and was puzzled, but he couldn’t dare to ask the Emperor about the meaning of his words.

Silently and respectfully, the Head Eunuch placed the teacup in front of the Emperor’s table.

As he was about to step back, the Emperor, who had picked up the teacup to smell its aroma, shook his head, put the cup down, and instructed.

“Not this. Bring Wan-jeong tea.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The Head Eunuch bowed and took the teacup back outside.

Then, a thought suddenly occurred to him, and he paused and looked back.

‘Wan-jeong tea was what His Majesty requested on the night he drank with Physician Rem?’

It was a newly introduced tea leaf in the palace, and the Emperor had requested that tea before going to bed after returning to his residence heavily drunk, saying that it had a calming effect.

The Emperor had asked what kind of tea it was, and the Head Eunuch had told him the name, ‘Wan-jeong tea.’

The Emperor didn’t know about Wan-jeong tea. But he remembers the name of the tea?

‘His Majesty said he doesn’t remember the night he was drunk…?’