"I thought you'd shed that weak and indecisive nature over the years... but it seems you were only hiding it," Aegon said with regret, looki
"I thought you'd shed that weak and indecisive nature over the years... but it seems you were only hiding it," Aegon said with regret, looking down at Aenys.
Aenys stared at his father, his pupils dilating.
Hearing such a judgment from Aegon, he tried to rise and confront him—but the searing pain in his back held him down.
Aegon sighed and reached out a hand to help him up. Aenys hesitated for a moment before finally taking his father's outstretched hand.
Aegon looked him in the eye and said gravely, "Foolish boy, I'm only thirty. I still have half a century to reshape this world.
The communication problem you mentioned? Just a matter of time and order.
If the New Citadel can build a machine that writes thousands of words in a single go, why shouldn't it invent one that can send messages across great distances?
Garth's sparrows can already relay information remotely in real time.
There's one stationed with your grandfather in the Federal Council right now. If you want to say hello to Grandfather Aerion, you can have Garth arrange it.
Garth will survive to see the day long-distance communication becomes a reality."
Aenys still couldn't believe it.
"That's an entire sea between us!
How can anything transmit messages over such a distance? That's impossible—unless you're an all-powerful god!"
Aegon frowned, a trace of frustration flashing in his eyes as he snapped, "Why can't you wrap your head around this?
You've heard of lightning, haven't you? Electricity?
With electricity, you can send telegraphs!
Laying undersea cables across the Stepstones would be simple. Then the two continents could communicate in real time!"
As he spoke, Aegon jabbed a finger firmly at the ground for emphasis.
Aenys looked at him warily and said, "Of course I know what lightning is. But using it for communication? Don't try to fool me with stories that wouldn't even trick a seven-year-old.
Father... you really have gone mad."
"Gods!" Aegon groaned, pressing a hand to his forehead in exasperation.
He wanted to prove he was right—but the generator being developed in the New Citadel hadn't succeeded yet. Everything he said now sounded like wild prophecy, hard for Aenys to believe.
Watching his father in such a frazzled and unstable state, Aenys couldn't help but feel pity.
He thought, Father must be ill... I shouldn't have provoked him like that. As his son, it's my duty to care for him.
"Father, I believe you," Aenys said softly. "Please don't be upset—I really do believe you."
Aegon lowered his hand and looked at him.
"Truly?"
"Truly. Lightning can be used for communication. In fact, it could even replace candles. Look—your thoughts and mine are the same, Father. Please, don't be angry," Aenys said quickly.
Aegon froze, thinking, How does he know electricity can be used for lighting? Wait... this brat's just trying to placate me like I'm a madman. Outrageous!
The veins on Aegon's forehead pulsed. He bent down, searching for the whip he'd flung aside, intending to give his insolent son another beating.
Seeing this, Aenys recoiled in fear, inching toward the great hall's doors.
Aegon grabbed the whip, but when he saw the terror on Aenys's face, his anger turned to frustration. With a grunt, he tossed the whip aside again and sat heavily on the steps, sulking in silence.
Just then, a commotion erupted outside. Queen Rhaenys was arguing fiercely with the guards, demanding to be let in.
Aenys had agreed to follow Aegon's informant back to the Red Keep for a reason—he had sent word to his mother in advance, seeking her support.
Aegon frowned at Aenys, thinking, So the boy had the sense to call for reinforcements. Maybe he's not completely hopeless after all.
He waved a hand, signaling the guards to let Rhaenys through.
Rhaenys rushed in. When she saw the welts on her son's back, she gasped in horror.
"Seven hells—what happened to you?! Who did this?!"
"Mother, I'm fine," Aenys said with a forced smile. "I just... hit something by accident."
Rhaenys instantly realized the truth—those wounds had Aegon written all over them. She stepped forward, ready to make a scene, but Aenys reached out to stop her.
"Mother, please... let Father calm down. He's angry right now," Aenys said quietly.
Rhaenys, clearly displeased, muttered, "No matter what you did, he shouldn't be taking it out on you."
Before long, Visenya and Maegor arrived, having heard the commotion.
Visenya took one look at her husband sulking on the steps and the whip marks on Aenys's back, and immediately pieced together what had happened.
She approached Aegon, picked up the whip he'd discarded, and said gently, "If Aenys has done wrong, punish him however you see fit—but there's no need to raise your hand or sit here brooding."
Aegon shot her a look: And now you've come to stir the pot too.
Maegor rushed to Aenys's side, supporting him as he asked with concern, "Brother, are you hurt? Was it an assassin?"
He then turned to Aegon and roared, "Father, where's the assassin who did this to my brother? I'll kill him myself!"
Aegon arched a brow and glared at Maegor, feeling like his sons would be the death of him. Even if they didn't kill him outright, they were surely shaving years off his life.
Aegon finally understood the weight of the saying, "Every family has its own problems."
He turned to Aenys and said, "All of us in the royal family are here. Aenys, since you are so stubbornly convinced that I am mad, tell them everything that happened and let your mother and aunt be the judge.
Let's see whether I'm the one who's lost his mind—or if you're simply being too obstinate."
Aenys nodded and began recounting to his mother and aunt the events of that day, along with his thoughts and concerns.
"You foolish child! You conspired with those lords behind your father's back to stop his conquest plans? Oh, heavens!" Rhaenys clutched her chest in alarm, clearly distressed. She looked ready to slap her son—yet when her eyes fell on the whip marks across his back, her anger melted into sorrow, and she slowly lowered her hand.
Aenys hadn't expected his mother to scold him rather than support him. He quickly tried to explain.
"Mother, can you really say Father is entirely without fault? There's hardly any meaning in conquering Essos.
It's not worth stirring the people into a frenzy with a so-called holy war.
If we launch a war of this scale, countless families will be destroyed. So many lives will be lost..."
Rhaenys was no fool. She could see the truth in her son's words.
But she also understood a greater truth—if Aenys wanted to be named heir, he could not afford to alienate his father.
If he turned against Aegon now, even if he outperformed Maegor in the campaign against Essos, he would never gain the title of heir.
Aenys saw the hesitation in her silence and understood. He lowered his head in quiet frustration.
Just then, Maegor spoke up.
"Brother, have you never considered... maybe Father isn't lying to you?"
Aenys looked up at him.
Maegor stepped forward and stood between Aenys and Aegon. He addressed his brother directly.
"Big Brother, just think for a moment. If there really were a machine that could send messages across thousands of miles—what would the world look like then?"
This time, Aenys paused. He began to follow the train of thought, eyes distant, expression pensive.
Standing tall in the center of the hall, Maegor raised his voice and continued.
"If all the lands under House Targaryen could receive the king's commands instantly... then even ruling the entire world wouldn't be a problem.
The kingdom would never fracture.
The king would become the ruler of the world.
And House Targaryen would become the master of all realms.
But for that to happen, the royal family must have the strength to command the world.
Right now, we have only five dragons. That's not nearly enough.
We must unify all the manpower, armies, and resources of the Crownlands. Maybe then it could be done.
And maybe that's why Father asked you to use the holy war—to drain out the nobles who aren't loyal to us. To ensure that only those faithful remain."
Visenya stood watching her son speak, her eyes shining with admiration.
She hadn't expected Aegon's lessons to have such a profound effect. Maegor, not yet seven years old, was already showing clear signs of leadership.
Maegor stepped closer to Aenys. Though only six, he wasn't much shorter than his twelve-year-old brother.
He looked at Aenys seriously and said, "Father has worked miracles. Why can't you trust him just this once?
He's never failed. He's never lied.
You mocked his dream of a great conquest as nothing but a joke... but if this so-called treasure of letters really exists—would it still be a joke?
Maybe the ignorant lords scoff at his vision. But we're his sons.
Why don't we do everything we can to make that dream a reality?"
The members of the Targaryen royal family listened quietly as Maegor finished. His voice was still childlike, but his words were far from childish.
In that moment, a thought stirred in the hearts of nearly everyone present—
Maegor should be the next king of the Targaryens.
His regal presence was already blazing forth.
Aenys stared straight into his brother's eyes. Those violet pupils were nothing like his own—there was no weakness, no hesitation, no doubt or suspicion—only unwavering determination!
Feeling a pang of guilt, he looked away. Under the watchful eyes of everyone in the hall, Aenys slowly approached Aegon, step by step.
He knelt before him with genuine submission.
"Father, I'm sorry. I was wrong."
He bowed so low that Aegon couldn't see his face, but the floor beneath him was soon damp with falling tears.
Aegon was moved. He helped Aenys to his feet and embraced him gently.
"You don't need to apologize to me. I was too harsh—toward you, and toward the world itself.
I've been too impatient.
But you've shown me something: the world doesn't need to become exactly what I envision. It's enough to let things take their natural course."
Maegor smiled when he heard his elder brother call their father differently than before.
Once Aenys had calmed down, Aegon resumed discussions with him about the holy war of the Faith of the Seven.
This time, Aegon had moderated his previously aggressive strategy. He no longer planned for the holy war to launch a simultaneous conquest of all nine Free Cities.
Instead, he scaled down the campaign to target only three Free Cities on the continent of Essos: Volantis, Myr, and Lys, which were under the jurisdiction of the Federal Council.
At the time, the chairman of the Federal Council, Aerion, was in a precarious position due to united opposition from the representatives of all nine Free Cities. Many of his policies were being blocked.
Given this, Aegon decided that the holy war would focus on fully conquering these three Free Cities and expelling the garrisons of the remaining six.
He and Aenys agreed that once these three cities were taken, the war would pause until the emergence of the "thousand-mile communication device" Aegon had envisioned. Only then would they resume their campaign against the other six Free Cities in Essos.
The title of heir to the Targaryen throne would be granted to whichever prince succeeded in capturing two of the three cities first.
Aenys was quite pleased with this adjustment. At least the war would be limited to just three city-states, and wouldn't engulf the entire world. This way, he could also fulfill the promises he had made to his followers under the New Covenant of the Seven Gods.
Visenya was also satisfied with the plan.
With the conflict confined to just three cities, the disparity in strength between Maegor and Aenys would narrow considerably.
In fact, in battles focused on a few city-states, Maegor might have the advantage. The other King-tier Dragons were already mature, and Visenya's personally trained vassal army was far stronger and more elite than the Holy Crusaders.
This dispute became a turning point for the Targaryen royal family. The tensions between father and sons, and between the brothers themselves, were eased.
Maegor had played a key role in this reconciliation.
Aegon grew increasingly fond of his youngest son, even entertaining the notion of skipping the battle for succession entirely and naming Maegor heir directly. After all, who could resist a doting youngest child?
...
As time passed, the reduced scale of the war led Aenys to dismiss many of the weaker Holy Crusaders. He understood that a headcount-based approach wouldn't work when targeting just one or two cities. It was now essential to streamline the force and train elite soldiers.
Most of the dismissed troops were formerly serfs from their local territories. Rather than returning home, Aegon allowed them to remain in the Crownlands to work and settle down—adding to the region's population.
King Aegon became more of a hands-off ruler, delegating all state affairs to his sister Visenya while he focused solely on researching generators.
In fact, Aegon had initiated the electric power project as far back as the founding of the New Citadel.
But the world lacked even the most basic understanding of electronics. Despite pouring in massive resources and over a decade of effort, success continued to elude him.
He had already managed to develop raw materials like magnets and insulating casings, but the assembled motors still couldn't produce electricity. All he could do was expand his team of research Maesters and keep trying.
He discovered that the physical laws of this world differed subtly from those of his past life. The uncertainty of whether the generator could ever be made weighed on his mind.
Even while working on this project, Aegon stayed close to his family. Though he had curbed his habit of womanizing, he still indulged occasionally.
During his years of revelry in the pleasure district of King's Landing, he fathered over a dozen bastard children. None were brought back to the Red Keep; he left them to be raised elsewhere.
His escapades were no secret among the realm's great lords. Aegon maintained several noble mistresses in the Highgarden palace, some of whom had borne him children.
Unfortunately, Visenya and Rhaenys hadn't conceived again after giving birth to Aenys and Maegor.
Since Aegon had no legitimate daughters, his sons had no sisters to marry and would need to find other suitable wives.
Naturally, the princes of House Targaryen couldn't marry Aegon's bastard daughters—such a move would provoke backlash from the Targaryen vassals. Still, Aegon was actively seeking a suitable wife for Maegor.
Although Maegor's fertility had been halved due to his innate condition, and his offspring's vitality was also reduced by 50%, it didn't mean he was infertile.
Aegon had taken several noblewomen in Highgarden with the blood of the semi-divine Green Hand, and two of them had proven to be especially fertile. If Maegor's wife couldn't bear children, Aegon planned to set up two matchmaking gatherings for him.
...
By the end of Year 18 of the Conquest Calendar, time had quietly moved on.
Year 19 marked the start of Aegon's originally planned campaign to conquer the three Free Cities of Essos. But before launching the war against western Essos, Aegon had to handle another major affair.
His eldest son Aenys had turned fifteen and reached marrying age.
Many lords and nobles of the Targaryen dynasty sent their daughters to the Red Keep, hoping Prince Aenys would choose one of them as his bride.
At the time, Aenys enjoyed great popularity, and many believed he would become the next heir to the throne.
Among the many young noblewomen, Aenys chose a girl from House Velaryon, a direct vassal family of House Targaryen.
Her father was the late Earl Aethan Velaryon, once the "Lord of the Tides." Her name was Alyssa, and she was fifteen—just like the prince. With her silver hair and purple eyes, she too bore the features of Valyria, for House Velaryon also hailed from that ancient lineage.
Aegon's own mother was from House Velaryon, making this a marriage between cousins.
Aegon held a grand wedding for his eldest son in King's Landing. Alyssa was charming, clever, and kind. Both Aegon and Rhaenys, as Aenys's parents, were fond of her and approved wholeheartedly.
After the wedding, the noble maidens who had vied to become the heir's bride didn't return to their homes.
Rumors spread that King Aegon had instead sent them to the palace in Highgarden for resettlement.
...
[Upto 20 chapters ahead for now]
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