Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 771

◈ 771. Rembrary in the Spotlight

The purple-haired child hid behind the Lumena’s highest-ranking priest upon making eye contact with Rembrary.

However, the Lumena’s highest-ranking priest grabbed the child’s arm, forcing them to come forward again.

As Rembrary waved, the child hesitated before waving back.

“Who is that?”

Wider approached, noticing the interaction, and asked.

“That child is… is…”

All Rembrary knew about the purple-haired child was that they ‘couldn’t write’ and ‘cried easily.’ But these weren’t exactly strengths.

Rembrary, being a generous prince who could overlook others’ weaknesses, deliberately shared only objective information about the child.

“That child is from Lumena.”

“Ah.”

With that simple answer, Wider immediately lost interest in the purple-haired child.

Wider was only interested in the young high-ranking priest coming from the Lumena Temple.

He never imagined that the child who became a high-ranking priest at ten and was now eleven was this purple-haired child.

* * *

The ten children from the Redrin Temple, who had just arrived, followed the caretaker to their rooms where they would stay for three months.

“You will be staying here. This entire floor of the hallway is prepared for the priests to stay together.”

The caretaker walked down the hallway, opening all ten doors to the rooms the children would use.

“These three central rooms facing each other are for the highest-ranking priest, the secretary priest, and Heather.”

Rembrary was satisfied that each person could have their own room.

The rooms were small, but it was still better than sharing with others.

‘Redrin, can we spend these three months here quietly and peacefully? You keep forgetting the rules of card games, so I’ll teach you properly this time,’ Rembrary thought to himself.

After everyone had taken their rooms, Rembrary quickly entered his room and closed the door.

‘But Redrin, how do we receive special training? All priests do is pray diligently, sing, and read the scriptures. I don’t know what more we can train. Do you know, Redrin?’

Rembrary waited for a response, but none came.

‘I guess you don’t know either, Redrin. It’s okay. We’ll find out later. But today, I’m definitely going to rest. Heather told me to rest well today too.’

Rembrary postponed unpacking, quickly washed up, and got into bed.

He planned to sleep without waking up until tomorrow morning.

However, this grand plan was disrupted by an unexpected visitor.

* * *

“Rembrary? Rembrary.”

Rembrary opened his eyes to find Heather standing next to the bed.

Without answering, Rembrary looked at the clock on the wall.

“Haha. Sorry for waking you. But it seems like we need to get up.”

“Why?”

“We have a guest. It seems like we all need to go out together.”

“Is the guest Redrin?”

At the polite but sulky question, Heather ruffled the child’s hair.

“No. A princess who lives nearby.”

Rembrary thought Heather was joking, as there was no way a princess would come here.

However, upon going outside the mansion, a large carriage with the royal crest was parked in the garden. More than that, guards were standing around the carriage.

“If it’s a nearby country, is it Moruju? Is this within the borders of Moruju?”

Ridal, who had come to his side unnoticed, asked in a small voice.

“Probably.”

“Does Moruju have a princess?”

“They have like three princesses.”

“Who came?”

While the children whispered, Rembrary stared intently at the carriage.

However, the carriage door was closed, so he couldn’t see who was inside.

Instead, a woman who looked like a noble was talking to the two highest-ranking priests near the carriage.

“Rembrary. Why did the princess come here?”

Ridal asked Rembrary quietly again. The children from the Florandia Temple all stared at Rembrary.

“I don’t know.”

Rembrary answered honestly. He wasn’t the Libulen princess, and there was no way Rembrary, who lived in the temple, would know the schedule of a princess from another country.

The children began to look at the carriage again. They seemed to have forgotten their fatigue at the news of the princess’s arrival.

However, Rembrary saw his sister every day when he was at home. There was nothing particularly amazing about a princess from another country.

As he was thinking this, the carriage door finally opened slowly.

The children, not knowing what to expect, stared intently at the carriage with anticipation. Everyone’s eyes sparkled with curiosity, forgetting their fatigue.

The staff, having heard about the princess who had suddenly visited the central mansion, gathered outside the mansion in anticipation.

However, the moment the ‘princess’ emerged from the carriage, the staff relaxed.

The princess was a young child who seemed to be the same age as the apprentice priests. It was clear that she hadn’t come for official business.

On the other hand, the apprentice priests were even more flustered when they saw that the princess was their age.

“Rembrary. You should stay in the back.”

Wider subtly pulled Rembrary back.

“Why?”

Wider couldn’t think of a good reason and mumbled.

“It’s just… you know.”

There was no real reason. Wider just wanted to remove Rembrary from the front row when a princess of the same age appeared.

Rembrary didn’t see the need to be in the front row, so he didn’t ask further.

However, despite Rembrary going to the back, his name was soon heard clearly over the heads of the people.

“Where’s Rembrary? Rembrary, Rembrary, Rembrary!”

The gathered children scattered to both sides. Rembrary, who was yawning in the back row, closed his mouth.

A girl in a cloak ran quickly through the children and jumped up and down excitedly when she saw Rembrary.

“Rembrary! Long time no see!”

Heather, who was nearby, was flustered and asked Rembrary.

“Do you know her?”

The princess, who was about Rembrary’s age, smiled brightly and shouted instead.

“Of course!”

The apprentice priests of the Florandia Temple knew that Rembrary was a prince.

However, the children from the Lumena Temple and the five children from the other Redrin Temple did not know that Rembrary was a prince.

In this situation, the children’s eyes widened and they stared at Rembrary when the suddenly appeared princess called Rembrary’s name affectionately and said they knew each other.

Rembrary explained calmly.

“I’ve seen her a few times at royal gatherings in the past.”

“!”

The children and staff were even more surprised and opened their mouths wide.

“Royalty?”

“Royal gathering?”

Wider felt upset and went to the back row.

The princess smiled and patted Rembrary’s back again.

“Rembrary, are you happy I came? I deliberately came here after hearing you were here!”

Rembrary thought, ‘Were we that close?’ He had seen her face a few times when they gathered together, but that was all.

However, Rembrary didn’t want to embarrass an old acquaintance, so he omitted this question and asked.

“Why?”

“My father and mother are trying to betroth me to that nasty prince. I was annoyed, so I came here because I heard you were here.”

The mouths of the onlookers opened even wider. Especially the mouths of the staff.

Many of the staff here were from Moruju. Of course, they knew their country’s princesses well.

The Moruju staff were very surprised that their princess was so openly talking about private matters like royal betrothals to an apprentice priest.

The princess, regardless of who was watching, hooked her arm around Rembrary’s and grumbled.

“You know him too. That eagle-like prince who lives in the western continent. The one with black hair and scary eyes. He doesn’t even answer when you talk to him. Remember? He’s three years older than you.”

“…….”

Rembrary didn’t remember at all. The only reason he remembered the princess was because she talked incessantly.

“Don’t you remember? The one who got a flick on the forehead for telling you to watch your tongue.”

The princess then entered the drawing room with Rembrary, and the two drank cocoa together.

The princess soon returned to her carriage, and the brief incident ended in less than two hours.

However, the incident made everyone, including the children, staff, and people from the Lumena Temple, aware of who Rembrary was.

* * *

“It seems like Rembrary’s enemies haven’t all been caught. I’m troubled that things have turned out this way.”

After putting the children to bed, Heather confided in the highest-ranking priest about the monster blood incident and worried.

“Also, I’m worried that someone might have bad intentions after learning that Rembrary is a prince. After the Rapsus kidnapping, we thoroughly checked the identities of the remaining people and the new recruits, but you never know where a loophole might appear.”

“It’s understandable to worry.”

The Redrin’s highest-ranking priest fully understood Heather’s concerns.

The Redrin Temple had recently experienced a series of incidents, and there had always been betrayal from within.

“We need to strengthen security.”

The secretary priest chimed in from the side.

“We’ve strengthened the defenses here even more since the incident, so it should be fine. We’ve even planted the amulets used in the Lumena Great Temple and the Redrin Great Temple all over the place here. Neither black magicians nor monsters can enter easily.”

Heather forced herself to calm down and nodded.

“That’s a relief then.”

* * *

The children rested well the next day and began joint classes the day after.

Rembrary moved to a large room on the first floor with the other children.

There, desks and chairs were lined up in rows for the class.

The Lumena Temple children had all arrived and were gathered on the west side.

Seeing this, the Redrin Temple children all went to sit on the east side without even discussing it.

Rembrary sat in the back row, planning to sleep if he got sleepy.

He was waiting for the teacher in charge of the education to arrive. After 10 minutes, no one had come, and the children’s concentration scattered.

The children were quiet and dignified at first, but gradually relaxed and looked around.

The one who received the most attention was Rembrary.

This was because of the incident two days ago when the princess of this country came to visit Rembrary and talked to him intimately.

The Lumena Temple children didn’t really like Rapsus, who had become a high-ranking priest at a young age.

The children thought that Rapsus, who only spent time with the highest-ranking priest, was ignoring them.

In this situation, a member of the royal family who belonged to another temple and didn’t directly compete with them was enough to monopolize the children’s interest.

“Hey, are you a prince too then?”

Eventually, a brave Lumena Temple child approached Rembrary and spoke to him, and the other children flocked to Rembrary’s side.

“What country are you from?”

“Why did you come to the temple when you’re a prince?”

“Are you Rembrary? I think I’ve heard about you before. You’re the Libulen prince, right?”

“Are you going to continue living as a priest even though you’re a prince?”

As the Lumena Temple children surrounded Rembrary and bombarded him with questions, the Redrin Temple children who were watching felt bad.

They weren’t close, but Rembrary was a colleague from the same temple as them. They didn’t like that the children from another temple were acting friendly.

After a while, the Redrin Temple children also flocked to Rembrary and surrounded him, as if in retaliation.

“Rembrary is from our temple. Don’t talk to him like you’re close.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? That’s funny.”

“You guys play with your own temple members. Right, Rembrary?”

“What are you? Our Lumena and your Redrin are close even though they’re different gods. Why are you drawing the line as you please?”

Rembrary stared with wide eyes as the children surrounded him and fought.