"Yes, milord," Master Buzz replied nervously.
He rummaged through his pockets three times before finally pulling out three gold dragons, with the help of his granddaughter Esther. His fingers trembled slightly as he carefully laid the coins before Lord Tywin.
Tywin's piercing gaze made both Buzz and Esther tense up completely.
The room was utterly silent, broken only by the sounds of anxious swallowing and heavy breathing.
These were unofficial counterfeit coins, the first of their kind ever seen in the Westerlands.
The mastermind behind them? Ser Gregor Clegane.
The three gold dragons each bore a different year and design.
The first was freshly minted, with King Robert Baratheon's likeness engraved on the front. Tywin glanced at Maester Harry, who promptly produced an official coin of the same design and placed it next to the counterfeit.
No matter how one looked at it, the counterfeit was, strangely enough, more refined than the real thing. The king's image and the coin's sheen were both slightly superior. The quality was unmistakably better.
Turning both coins over revealed the three-headed dragon on their reverse side. The counterfeit had deeper, crisper engravings and a more aesthetically pleasing finish.
Its golden hue shimmered with a faint reddish tint, enhancing its appearance. Tywin, a connoisseur of coinage, couldn't discern how that subtle reddish gleam had been achieved, an effect even superior to the royal mint's standard.
"You crafted the mold yourself, Master Buzz?" Tywin asked, clearly impressed.
"Yes, with some help from Master Tobho," Buzz replied, his voice tight with unease. It felt like an invisible iron slab was pressing down on his chest.
That was why Tobho was here too, he'd helped in the making of the counterfeit coins. So had Buzz's granddaughter Esther, which explained her presence. Lady Jeyne Westerling, their mistress, was also present. Only Alik, the noodle-maker, was left in the kitchen, unaware of the secret.
For a commoner, minting unauthorized coinage meant death. For a noble, it meant loss of title and confiscation of property.
But old Buzz hadn't done this willingly, he'd been coerced by the Mountain. His granddaughter had even been forced to marry the deranged Ser Polliver.
Despite the gravity of the crime, it was Gregor who ordered Buzz to report everything to Lord Tywin, an act of insane boldness.
At first, Buzz had been paralyzed by fear. This should have been a dark, unspoken crime. But Gregor, unafraid of death, had insisted that Buzz, Esther, and Tobho report the whole thing.
Terrified as he was, the old man drew strength from the presence of Lady Jeyne. He had to stay upright, for her.
These were games played by the high lords. Buzz knew he could never hope to understand them. He was simply the meat on the butcher's block.
He took a deep breath, trying to calm the storm in his heart.
Staring at the counterfeit coin that looked more real than the real one, Tywin's steely gaze finally softened, just a little.
"How did you create this silvery gleam?" Tywin asked, scanning the room.
"A bit of copper was mixed in…" Buzz said carefully. He glanced nervously at Lady Jeyne and swallowed the rest of the sentence, under Ser Gregor's instructions.
Adding a small amount of copper not only reduced production costs, it enhanced the visual appeal. The coin looked better than the official one. More real than real.
And no one could tell it was fake, neither by eye nor with the primitive technology of this era. It was, in a sense, a piece of black-market alchemy.
"This was Ser Gregor's idea?" Tywin asked, his eyes turning to his foster daughter.
"Yes, Father," Jeyne answered.
It wasn't just his idea, Gregor had also taught them how to mix in the copper.
Tywin's expression remained unreadable.
To the simple Master Buzz, Tywin appeared outwardly stern but inwardly ruthless. Compared to him, even the Mountain seemed less terrifying.
Tywin picked up the second coin. It bore the face of his old friend, the Mad King Aerys II Targaryen, the last ruler of the Targaryen dynasty. Sixteen years ago, Tywin had personally helped send that dynasty into the abyss.
Maester Harry placed an official coin from the same period beside it. Tywin, with all his experience in coinage, couldn't tell the difference between the two.
In fact, both were real. One minted by the royal treasury, the other by Gregor Clegane's private forge.
Both were solid gold. The same casting methods. The only difference was the hands that made them.
"There's no copper in this one?"
"...There is, my lord…" Buzz replied, his nerves slowly settling.
"Oh?" Tywin studied the two coins again. So, even with added copper, it was possible to hide the faint reddish hue. That showed real skill. After all, Buzz had worked his whole life in the coin foundries outside King's Landing.
The third coin bore a date over two centuries old. It was styled after a gold dragon from the brutal reign of Maegor the Cruel. Its surface was aged, worn, dulled, even blackened in parts.
This was the result of artificial aging.
Tywin knew this coin had just been minted. He kept his expression neutral, but the aging technique truly impressed him.
Of course, that technique had also been taught to Buzz by Gregor, but the old man wisely kept that part to himself.
Over time, daily handling and exposure dulls even the purest gold. That's because gold in this era was never truly pure. Impurities, like silver and copper, would react with human sweat and airborne dust, forming dark chemical compounds. Only 100% pure gold gets shinier with use.
The Targaryens' coins from two hundred years ago were even more impure than today's.
These three gold dragons, each with a different design and age, could circulate freely in the market without raising a single suspicion. Tywin was certain of that.
"Maester," Tywin said, "reward Master Buzz with two gold dragons."
"Yes, my lord."
The old man finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Now that the molds had been made and production was possible, Tywin could've simply killed him to cover it up. But he hadn't.
Tywin kept the three counterfeit coins and waved for Buzz, Esther, and Tobho to leave.
Then he turned his gaze to Jeyne. The way he looked at her was like a tiger watching an oblivious lamb peacefully nibbling grass.
"Jeyne, you weren't supposed to know about this."
She sighed softly. "...Father… I'm already married to Gregor."
The room fell silent for a moment.
"I know nothing about Gregor forging coins. Understand? And neither must Lord Gawen."
"Yes, Father."
"Tell Gregor to let Lord Auren oversee the noodle business. He can just take his share. As for minting gold dragons, focus on the new coinage."
"Yes, Father."
⚔────────
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