Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 721

721. Rembruary’s Past (1)

“Our little prince can’t do anything by himself!”

The nanny shouted, hurrying to pull Rembruary into her arms.

“He can’t eat by himself, wash himself, or dress himself! How can you send such a prince to the temple alone? It’s absurd, Your Majesty!”

Rembruary felt something dripping onto his shoulder. It seemed the nanny was crying.

Rembruary, held in the nanny’s arms like a small doll, thought blankly, ‘Am I really that helpless?’

Rembruary could wash himself. He could eat by himself. It was just that he never needed to do it himself.

And there was a big difference between not being able to do something and choosing not to do it.

When the nanny cried so much that his collar became damp, Rembruary patted her back and said,

“Don’t cry, Nanny. I can wash myself, so it’s okay.”

The nanny dismissed Rembruary’s words, covered his shoulders protectively with both hands, and said,

“No, Your Highness can’t do anything by himself.”

“Nanny, if you say that, what will become of your son?”

Rembruary tried to show off his knowledge to the nanny. However, the Empress quickly reached out and wiped around Rembruary’s mouth as if to stop him from saying more, saying,

“Our Rembruary grew up cherished, so there are few things he needs to do for himself.”

“That’s right!”

“But other children are the same anyway. Everyone at the temple will be Rembruary’s age. They’ll all be scared and unfamiliar. Our prince will be fine.”

The Empress crouched down to meet Rembruary’s eyes, put her arms around his shoulders, and asked,

“Right?”

Rembruary nodded. The Empress smiled brightly, hugged Rembruary lightly, and then let him go.

The nanny watched the scene, wiped her eyes with a handkerchief, and asked,

“Will our little prince have to stay there, Your Majesty? Forever?”

“We don’t know what will happen. But it’s better to stay in the temple until the false rumors disappear.”

“I’m uneasy about leaving the prince. Won’t the rumors disappear if we just leave him alone?”

“I wish it were that simple, but…”

The Empress gazed at the young Rembruary with sad eyes, and when she saw that the child’s expression was calmer than the two adults, she smiled faintly.

“I believe this is the right path for you, my dear.”

The nanny, looking like she couldn’t bear it, finally excused herself and said,

“I’ll have the maids make lots of cake that our little prince likes, Your Majesty.”

As the door closed, Rembruary raised his arm, which had been lowered in a dignified manner, and hugged the Empress’s neck.

The Empress patted the child’s small back and asked,

“Are you scared?”

“I’m fine because I do well wherever I go. But I’m worried about you, Mother.”

The child looked confident, but the Empress was filled with worry. She gently pushed the child away, looked him straight in the eye, and urged,

“Rembruary, let’s make a promise.”

“If it’s just one.”

“When you go to the temple, try to talk and act like the other children.”

The Empress’s request was too bewildering for the child’s mind to fully grasp.

Rembruary knew he was intelligent, and he knew that others liked his intelligence, which made him value it even more.

“Why?”

“Just for about three years.”

“Why?”

However, the Empress couldn’t explain it honestly to Rembruary.

How could she tell this young child, ‘It’s because you’ve been misunderstood to be involved with the Demon King’?

The Empress, the Emperor, and those who had been watching Rembruary knew that he had been bright since he was young.

But those who had heard about Rembruary through rumors might find it suspicious if the young prince acted too smart.

“Can you promise?”

***

The servants began packing Rembruary’s luggage.

Rembruary watched his everyday items being placed in a sturdy suitcase, then was led by the nanny to the garden.

“You shouldn’t be in the way, so wander around and play here.”

The nanny handed Rembruary a sweet treat made of honey and dried fruit.

Rembruary ate the snack and looked around, then walked to the maze garden.

The beautiful garden had been somewhat neglected since the kidnapping, creating a slightly desolate atmosphere. However, the gardeners seemed to be continuing to maintain it, as there wasn’t a single branch sticking out crookedly.

Rembruary stood in front of it and heard the sound of footsteps behind him. He turned his head and saw his two closest friends running towards him.

One of the friends, who arrived first, approached Rembruary and asked, sobbing,

“Is it true? Are you really going to the temple and not coming back?”

The story had spread so much that even these children knew. Rembruary thought, with a maturity beyond his years.

“Yes, I’m going to the temple now.”

Still, when he answered firmly, the other child approached Rembruary and said relatively calmly,

“I’ll miss you. I’ll be sad when you leave. I’ll keep writing letters even when you’re there. And I’ll come to see you if I can.”

The two children, who had been playing together since they were very young, seemed genuinely sad.

Rembruary looked at the two children alternately and remembered his mother’s request: that he should act like the other children.

But Rembruary thought that he hadn’t gone to the temple yet, so his mother’s request didn’t apply yet, and he asked honestly,

“When I leave, will you be sad or happy?”

The child who had run up crying first flinched and asked,

“What are you talking about…?”

The calm friend was also silent, curious about Rembruary’s next words. Rembruary broke off a piece of the hardened honey treat and smiled faintly.

“You saw me being kidnapped, but you didn’t say anything. Were you scared?”

“!”

“You’ll be happy when I go to the temple, won’t you? Won’t you be able to put that incident behind you then?”

Rembruary’s two friends turned pale and looked at each other.

***

That evening, one of the friends who had been confronted by Rembruary clung to his father and told him the truth.

“Father, Rembruary is still blaming me for just watching when he was being taken. What should I do?”

The child’s calm demeanor was nowhere to be seen in front of his father. The child’s father, Duke Ladderun, a minister [a high-ranking government official], lowered the newspaper he was holding and asked,

“The prince?”

“Yes, Rembruary knows I was watching when he was being taken, and I kept my mouth shut even after he was taken. Could he be angry about that?”

As his worries soared, the child, who had been calm in front of Rembruary, rubbed his eyes wildly with his sleeve. The Duke looked at the crying child and scolded lightly.

“Stop! I told you not to cry anywhere!”

The stern cry silenced the child. The child looked at his father with wide eyes.

The Duke asked calmly,

“Who did you say knows about this?”

“Me, Rembruary, and Yurishi…”

“Then that’s enough. Don’t worry about Rembruary anymore.”

“How can I do that?”

“Our imperial family was lucky. All three children are outstanding. Rembruary’s older brother and sister are both smart and talented.

What are the chances that the youngest prince, who has outstanding older siblings, will leave the secular world and gain power in the imperial family? The two above don’t have scandals like Rembruary.”

The father rang the bell, called a maid, had her bring a warm towel, wiped the child’s face himself, and urged,

“So don’t cry about things like this.”

“I’m anxious and scared.”

“Right now, everyone is making a fuss because he’s going to the temple. Just wait a few years after he goes to the temple.

Rembruary will just become a slightly noble priest. Everyone will stop caring about him, and that prince will live his whole life in the temple without making a sound.”

“What if Rembruary tells the truth in a letter to Their Majesties?”

“The Emperor and Empress also want to bury the fact that the prince may be related to the Demon King.”

But the child couldn’t calm down easily. The Duke looked at the scene with displeasure.

Still, even if the child wasn’t as smart as Rembruary, he was his child, so there was nothing he could do. The Duke finally rubbed his forehead and asked,

“Is Yurishi in the same situation as you?”

The child’s expression turned strange at those words. The Duke realized that the child had something unsaid.

“Why? Is Yurishi’s situation worse?”

“Yurishi might be scarier.”

“Why is that?”

“I just kept my mouth shut, but Yurishi might have done something more. I saw the dog talking to a stranger on the day of the incident.”

“!”

The Duke was lost in thought for a moment, then called the maid in charge of the child and instructed,

“Take Jeremy, wash him, and put him to bed.”

As the maid took the child away, the Duke put on his coat and went outside.

The place the Duke went to was the home of Yurishi, one of Rembruary’s two friends.

Marquise Luciche, Yurishi’s mother, greeted the Duke with a knowing smile.

“What brings you here so late at night?”

It was an implication that she knew why the Duke had come.

The Duke was convinced that Rembruary had said something harsh to the two children today, seeing that the Marquise was acting like this.

“Let’s talk for a moment.”

The Duke followed Marquise Luciche into the drawing room. As soon as the maid brought tea, the Duke asked Marquise Luciche,

“What are you planning to do about the prince? I’m sure you’ve heard the story that our children saw the prince being kidnapped but kept their mouths shut.”

“…”

“Wouldn’t it be better to send the prince to a temple far away?”

Marquise Luciche didn’t reveal her true feelings easily and just drank her tea. The Duke was also getting impatient and didn’t want to be the first to show his hand.

The two acted more leisurely than anyone else. About 15 minutes passed like that. Finally, Marquise Luciche slowly opened her mouth.

“There’s no need for that.”

“But if the prince opens his mouth unnecessarily…”

“Who would believe him? The words of that young child.”

“Children grow up quickly.”

“But if we step in and send Rembruary far away, it will look even more suspicious.”

“We can’t just stand still.”

“How about this?”

“?”

***

At that time, Rembruary didn’t want to be alone in the room, which had become lonelier than usual because he had packed his things, so he picked up his pillow and walked to the window. He was going to look at the moon.

But before he could see the moon, he noticed a silver-haired person sitting on the roof looking this way.