The nights in King's Landing were a hotbed of desire.
For the first time, Ser Lynn's establishments had a unique flavor.
A silk merchant who frequented the place year-round seemed distracted tonight.
The girl beneath him was working hard, but his nose kept twitching involuntarily.
Gone was the usual pungent smell of sweat mixed with cheap perfume.
Instead, there was a clean, fresh scent of soap he had never smelled before.
The scent wasn't strong, but it was like an invisible cat's paw, scratching at his heart.
After they were done, he inexplicably gave her an extra silver stag.
"What incense… did you use today?"
The girl paused, then showed a triumphant smile.
She picked up a small, yellowish-white object from the wooden basin by the bed.
"It's a divine item bestowed by Lord Lynn, called soap."
"Divine item?"
The merchant scoffed.
But when he took the soap and smelled its unique scent, his eyes changed.
He saw that the girl's previously rough arms now had an unusual smoothness.
An inexplicable urge surged within him.
"Is this thing for sale?"
...Inside the study, Lynn closed the ledger.
The clamor of King's Landing outside the window gradually faded from his ears.
His mental focus was sharper than ever before.
The trial by combat was postponed indefinitely; Robert seemed to have found a way out, but Lynn sensed something unusual.
His Majesty the King's physical condition was far worse than he let on.
It wasn't merely excessive indulgence.
His abnormally flushed face, cloudy eyes, and fluctuating moods—sometimes explosive, sometimes despondent—all resembled symptoms of chronic poisoning.
It was time to see the full scope of this game.
Greensight!
Lynn closed his eyes.
This time, he didn't set any specific anchor points, merely letting his consciousness envelop the direction of the Red Keep.
Enveloping the corpulent figure currently sprawled drunkenly on the Iron Throne.
Buzz—
His consciousness was instantly drawn away!
The entire world transformed into a net of countless threads before his eyes.
He saw Robert.
A frantic rewind!
The scenes rapidly rewound.
He saw a royal sommelier, as he filled Robert's goblet, a fleeting glimmer in his fingernail.
He saw the sommelier return to his room, and from a seemingly blank wall, he took down a tiny bottle almost integrated with the wall.
He saw how that bottle passed through the hands of one seemingly unrelated person after another, from a cargo ship at the docks all the way to the Red Keep.
Finally, Lynn's vision pierced through the raging waves of the Narrow Sea!
Arriving at a gray island shrouded in thick fog.
Braavos.
A black and white temple stood silently in the center of the island.
Inside the temple, there were no idols, only a massive pool and a Wall of Faces on the walls, holding countless human faces.
The Temple of the Many-Faced God!
Or rather, the headquarters of the Faceless Men!
A person dressed in black and white robes, whose true face was obscured, was handing a small bottle to another man whose face was also unclear.
And at their feet lay a heavy money chest.
The money chest was filled with gleaming dragon coins.
No, those weren't gold dragons.
Lynn saw the unique square mark on the coins.
Those were coins minted by the Iron Bank of Braavos!
His mental power followed the trajectory of the money chest, rewinding once more!
This time, the scene directly pierced through the entire continent of Westeros!
Finally, it settled on a castle stained golden-red by the setting sun.
Casterly Rock!
In the study deep within the castle.
A tall, stern-faced old man with sparse blonde hair was throwing a promissory note from the Iron Bank into the flames of the fireplace.
Tywin Lannister!
Lynn's eyes snapped open.
What a Tywin!
What a Lannister!
This old fox, he never expected Cersei to survive the trial by combat!
He spared no expense, spending a fortune that could bankrupt a ducal family, borrowing from the Iron Bank just to buy Robert's life!
This poison, named 'The Strangler,' was colorless and odorless.
Once it entered the bloodstream, it would slowly destroy the body's functions, creating the illusion of a natural death from decay.
Even Grand Maester Pycelle would never detect any problems!
Once Robert "passed away," Joffrey would naturally ascend the Iron Throne, and Tywin, as His Majesty the King's maternal grandfather, would become the Regent of the Seven Kingdoms, virtually indistinguishable from the true ruler!
At that time, his astronomical debt to the Iron Bank would not be difficult to repay using the taxes of the entire Seven Kingdoms.
A perfect closed loop.
A game played with extreme ruthlessness!
If Lynn hadn't had his cheat, he truly wouldn't have discovered the scheme.
After all, the Faceless Men were renowned throughout the world, and their assassination methods were impossible to guard against.
However… Lynn's lips slowly curved into a smile.
This trump card, capable of deciding the fate of the Seven Kingdoms, has been seen by me.
Old Lion, you play your game very well.
From his Greensight, he learned that Robert would "pass away peacefully" two years later.
This also meant that Lynn had two years to develop.
This time was truly abundant… The next day, a piece of news sent the men of King's Landing into an uproar.
All of Ser Lynn's establishments collectively raised their prices.
And it was double!
This was simply highway robbery!
Countless drunks in taverns cursed loudly.
They swore they would never step foot in those dens of iniquity again.
However, by evening, the entrances to Ser Lynn's establishments were still bustling with carriages, even more lively than before.
"Have you heard? The girls at The Mermaid on Silk Street are all like completely different people!"
"More than just The Mermaid! I went to The Rose Garden in Eel Alley yesterday, my Seven Gods, the girls there are cleaner than my own wife!"
A jeweler who had just come out was full of lingering delight.
"That scent, tsk tsk, it's not perfume, it's an indescribable clean smell that just gets to you! I went three times in one day!"
Habit is the most terrifying thing in the world.
Once men grew accustomed to that clean sensation and fresh scent, they could no longer tolerate the filth and stench of other places.
The more fiercely they cursed, the more readily they paid.
Meanwhile, Lynn began his second phase of the plan in the backyard of his mansion.
He instructed Robb, his steward, to package the exquisitely crafted soaps in the most luxurious brocade boxes.
Each bar of soap had its own beautiful story, personally penned by Sansa.
For example, for the pink rose soap, the parchment included in the brocade box read:
[Highgarden Love: Legend has it that in the homeland of the Knight of the Roses, maidens would bathe with the first dew of dawn mixed with rose petals. Their skin would become as smooth as silk, and they would emit a fragrance that captivated all knights.]
"Can… can this really sell?"
Sansa looked at the flowery stories she had written, her cheeks flushed, feeling a strange sense of shame.
"Your Highness."
Lynn looked at Myrcella, who had completely fallen in love with bathing.
"Tomorrow, you will take Sansa and Arya to the Red Keep to play with the noble ladies you are close to."
"Remember, you must let them smell the scent on you."
"When they ask about it."
Lynn suddenly smiled.
"You will give them this brocade box as a gift."
...Night fell once more.
Lynn was sitting in his study, looking at the astonishing accounts presented by Robb, his steward.
In just one day, the daily profit had nearly tripled.
Just then, a faint voice came from the doorway.
"Ser Lynn, you truly are a born businessman; it's a pity you don't pursue business."
Varys.
The ubiquitous The Spider had appeared there at some unknown point.
He still maintained his harmless demeanor, with his hands tucked into his sleeves and a gentle smile on his face.
"You have stirred the desires of all King's Landing."
Lynn closed the ledger without changing his expression.
"Lord Varys, you didn't come here late at night to discuss business with me, did you?"
Varys's smile deepened.
He slowly walked in front of Lynn and lowered his voice.
But there was a hint of gravity in his tone.
"I can observe that His Majesty the King's health is declining day by day."
"If I'm not mistaken, his goblet seems to hide something more intoxicating than fine wine."
Varys's bottomless eyes fixed intently on Lynn.
"My lovely little birds have flown to every corner of the Red Keep."
"Yet they cannot smell a trace of that thing."
He paused, his tone becoming meaningful.
"Ser Lynn, you always seem to discover things that we cannot."
"Can you tell me what you have seen?"
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