The City Watch barracks instantly turned into a slaughterhouse.
Ser Lynn's words, "Kill without mercy," were not a threat, but an order.
The elite Northern Guards, like wolves unleashed from their cages, pounced into the flock of gold cloaks, accustomed to lax discipline.
"Are you trying to rebel?!"
A fat, big-eared centurion drew his sword, roaring with a feigned fierceness.
His only response was a simple, unadorned strike from a Guard.
Warm blood splattered onto the terrified faces of the surrounding gold cloaks.
Resistance?
In front of these Northern men who had crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood from inside and outside the Wall?
These officers, who had risen through flattery and oppressing commoners, couldn't even organize a decent resistance now.
Blood was more convincing than words.
When a dozen officers' bodies lay scattered across the square, the remaining gold cloaks wisely dropped their weapons and knelt on the ground.
Ned Stark stood in a pool of blood, his hand instinctively gripping his sword hilt.
He loathed such bloodshed.
Yet, he had to admit, it was the most effective and quickest method.
He looked at Ser Lynn's calm profile.
The young man handled all of this with a chilling familiarity.
He admitted to himself that he lacked such decisiveness.
"Drag all the bodies away and dispose of them with quicklime."
"Notify all gold cloaks to gather in the square in fifteen minutes."
"Anyone late will be treated as a rebel."
Ser Lynn turned around and looked at Ned.
"Lord Hand, it's your turn to address them now."
...Maegor's Holdfast.
The strongest fortress in the Seven Kingdoms was now a luxurious prison.
"Clang—!"
An exquisite crystal goblet from Lys was violently smashed to the ground, shattering into pieces.
"Useless! A bunch of useless people!"
Cersei Lannister's chest heaved violently.
Her beautiful face was slightly contorted with extreme rage.
She couldn't understand it!
Ned Stark!
That fool whose head was full of honor and Northern ice!
How dared he?
How dared he act against the City Watch without the Small Council's approval or her consent?
This didn't fit his usual muddled demeanor!
That dog she kept at Mud Gate, Janos Slynt, was taken down so easily?
Six thousand gold cloaks, the largest armed force in King's Landing, changed masters overnight?
Cersei felt dizzy.
"Lynn..."
After a long while, Cersei squeezed the name from between her teeth.
She suddenly realized that all of this seemed to be linked to the man named Lynn.
Jaime's humiliating defeat at the tourney, followed by that fool Petyr losing everything... everything pointed to this crow from the Wall.
Originally, Ned Stark was a brainless Direwolf, no threat at all.
But now it was different; not only had this wolf become unfamiliar, but it was also accompanied by a venomous viper!
No!
She couldn't just sit back and do nothing!
"Someone!"
Cersei anxiously called out towards the door.
A Kingsguard member entered in response, kneeling on one knee.
"Go, summon that man named Lynn to me."
"I want to see him in person."
...When Ser Lynn entered Maegor's Holdfast, he could clearly feel the oppressive atmosphere in the air.
The Kingsguard members lining the corridors looked at him with hostility.
Their brother, Jaime Lannister, had suffered an unprecedented defeat at the hands of this man.
Ser Lynn paid no attention to this.
He simply waved his hand, and a large number of gold cloaks surrounded the area, isolating the Kingsguard.
Many ants can kill an elephant.
The Kingsguard, seeing the gold cloaks outnumbering them several times over, also backed down, watching from a distance with resentment.
Ser Lynn pushed open the heavy oak door and entered Cersei's chambers.
The room was incredibly luxurious, filled with the scent of expensive spices.
Cersei had changed into a black gown, her golden hair casually draped over her shoulders.
She wasn't sitting in a chair but stood by the window with her back to Ser Lynn, gazing at King's Landing in the distance.
Her posture was elegant.
"Ser Lynn."
"I heard you slaughtered the dog I raised?"
Ser Lynn walked to the table and poured himself a cup of Arbor gold mead.
"Your Majesty, I think you've misunderstood."
"Janos Slynt was the King's gold cloak, not your pet."
"He was corrupt, embezzled funds, and tarnished the King's honor."
"The Hand and I were merely cleaning house for His Majesty."
He heavily emphasized the words "King" and "Hand."
"Cleaning house?"
Cersei slowly turned around.
Rage surged in her blue eyes.
"What right does a crow from the North like you have to dictate things in King's Landing?"
"What benefits did Stark give you? To make you so devotedly serve him?"
She approached Ser Lynn step by step, haughtily raising her chin, attempting to overwhelm him with her presence.
"What I can give you is far more than that Northern bumpkin."
"Gold, land, women... whatever you want, I can give you."
"As long as you become my person."
Ser Lynn looked at her and suddenly smiled.
"Your Majesty, you don't seem to understand the current situation."
He put down his wine glass and also took a step forward.
The distance between them instantly closed to just an arm's length.
He was a head taller than Cersei, looking down at her, his dark eyes unfathomable.
"Now, you should be begging me, not the other way around."
"You!"
Cersei's face instantly turned incredibly ugly.
"Me?"
Ser Lynn's lips curved into an intriguing smile.
"I am just a knight about to set sail to hunt down Targaryen remnants for the King."
"And you?"
His voice was extremely low, like a devil's whisper.
"Suspected by the King, branded as a venomous woman who assassinated her own husband and son, confined here."
"Your father is far away in Casterly Rock, your brother Jaime has become the laughingstock of the entire Seven Kingdoms, and your partner Littlefinger has become a pauper."
Every word from Ser Lynn pierced Cersei's heart.
"Now, what leverage do you have to negotiate with me?"
Cersei's body trembled uncontrollably.
Not from fear, but from the extreme rage of being humiliated.
"You dare speak to me like that?"
"Why wouldn't I dare?" Ser Lynn retorted.
He leaned in closer, his warm breath almost touching Cersei's face.
"After all, I know far more than you can imagine."
"For example... some rather unique... family ties within House Lannister."
Ser Lynn said the words "family ties" with deep meaning.
Boom!
Cersei's mind instantly went blank.
Her beautiful blue eyes widened abruptly, and all color drained from her face in an instant.
He... he knows?
This is impossible!
This secret, besides her and Jaime, no third person could possibly know!
Seeing her utterly terrified expression, Ser Lynn knew his goal had been achieved.
Against a woman as proud as Cersei, no scheme or trick could compare to a truth that struck her soul.
"You..."
Cersei didn't know how to threaten Ser Lynn.
Her biggest claw had just been removed by Ser Lynn.
"Your Majesty."
Ser Lynn slowly straightened up, re-establishing the distance, his expression returning to calm.
"My target, for now, is only the Targaryens."
"I have no interest in participating in King's Landing's game of thrones."
"I advise you to stay quiet while I'm away."
Ser Lynn gave her a deep look.
"After all, no matter how fierce a lion is, it must first protect its cubs, mustn't it?"
"Especially... those cubs whose bloodline isn't entirely pure."
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