The Crownlands, King's Landing, Throne Room
In the Throne Room today, an unusual silence enveloped the entire space. Due to it being an ad-hoc meeting, a long table had been placed in the center of the Throne Room for the proceedings.
This place had always been a site of noise and activity, but today, it was exceptionally quiet.
In such an atmosphere, even , who was usually arrogant and sharp-tongued, had to restrain his ever-talking mouth and remain silent.
However, although his voice was quiet, Joffrey's eyes revealed his inner anger and dissatisfaction.
His eyes were filled with malice, and the object of his hatred was, unexpectedly, his own grandfather, who was also his current Hand of the King, .
"A true king's majesty and greatness should be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, rather than needing the king himself to constantly proclaim his glory in their ears."
Joffrey repeated this sentence in his mind, and every time he did, his chest felt as if it had been viciously stabbed.
In Joffrey's view, everyone in the Seven Kingdoms should submit to him, and those unwilling to submit should die.
Though he didn't know how to make them die, he simply wished they would all perish.
Normally, no matter how much Joffrey clamored, Tywin's expression remained consistent, never showing any extra emotion.
But at this moment, he looked coldly at his grandson, the King sitting upon the throne.
In Tywin's heart, his impatience and disappointment with this incompetent king were steadily growing.
Tywin had always believed that Joffrey, possessing such excellent bloodlines, should have displayed a more outstanding temperament and capability.
But why, after this fellow ascended the throne, did every single thing he did seem as ridiculous and foolish as a court jester's antics?
Thinking of something, Tywin couldn't help but turn his head to glance at his somewhat trembling daughter, , his heart filled with a sense of weariness.
"Leading such a team is truly difficult!"
Tywin sighed inwardly.
To escape those troubling thoughts, Tywin turned his gaze toward the tall, bald eunuch, , the Spider.
"Lord Varys!"
Tywin spoke up.
"Please give us a detailed account of the current situation in the Vale!"
As Tywin's voice fell, the many nobles and officials present turned their gazes toward Varys.
"Lord Varys!?"
But today's Varys was different from usual; his normally kind face was now clouded with gloom and confusion.
"Lord Varys..."
After hearing his name called several times, Varys seemed to snap back to reality, hurriedly standing up and bowing to the group in apology.
"Forgive me, Your Majesty! Forgive me, Lord Tywin, I was momentarily distracted."
In his deliberately lowered voice, there seemed to be an undercurrent of some other emotion he couldn't quite hide, though most of those present assumed it was simply Varys's concern over the situation.
"Ahem... the Little Birds remaining in the Vale have sent back information!"
Having explained his lapse, Varys quickly stepped back into his role.
"I have some very unfortunate news to share: our Vale has changed hands. The nobles of the Vale have all sworn fealty to that Bastard of the North, and furthermore..."
"Furthermore what!?"
Joffrey, who had been keeping his mouth shut, couldn't help but blurt out this question upon hearing news of Jon.
"I was just agonizing over this very issue; I have received two reports. One says that the Bastard of the North was still at the a week ago!"
"Is there a problem with that?"
The current Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, , asked with some confusion.
"The problem is that the report I received yesterday says the Bastard of the North appeared in Myr and defeated the Golden Company that was attempting to attack the city."
Varys's voice carried a slight tremor as he delivered this piece of intelligence.
Evidently, he also doubted the truth of this report, but there was one thing he hadn't mentioned: they had indeed received news of Aegon Blackfyre's capture and the destruction of the .
The reason Varys had been distracted was that he had completely failed to anticipate things developing to this stage. He had been watching Jon, this terrifying variable, ever since he conquered the Kingdom of the Three Daughters.
The reason Varys had released Aegon Blackfyre some time ago was to have him seize the Kingdom of the Three Daughters in one fell swoop while Jon was absent.
Under Varys's manipulation, had already begun to take action; as long as enough profit was offered, Braavos could join them, allowing his "blood replacement" plan to be successfully executed.
"This... this is impossible. Does he really know magic? To be able to fly across to Essos in an instant?"
Before Joffrey could speak, Cersei Lannister screamed out directly.
To this day, Cersei still feared what had happened during the trial of . That terrifying scene where a monster nearly swallowed them in one bite haunted her like a nightmare, making her even more convinced of the existence of magic and the supernatural.
If magic truly existed in this world, then those three prophecies regarding her were also very likely to come true. She no longer knew what to do, living every day in tension and dread.
"Did he turn into that terrifying monster again and fly over there?"
After a long silence, Joffrey suddenly asked this question.
"Everyone needn't worry about that. According to the intelligence we've gathered, that strange magic seems to have a time limit. Reports from witnesses on the south bank of indicate that the dragon from last time disappeared into the forests of the south bank after flying in the sky for a while."
Varys had naturally investigated Jon, his number one enemy, very thoroughly. It was precisely because he was certain Jon couldn't fly directly to Myr that he had formulated his specific plan.
So there was only one possibility: this terrifying fellow had another method they didn't know about, a method that allowed someone to leave Westeros and reach another continent without anyone noticing.
"Then could he directly send an army into the ?"
Although she was terrified of Jon's methods, after a moment of panic, Cersei regained her composure and asked this question.
"As you all know, I come from the continent of Essos. I can tell you with full responsibility that the use of any kind of magic comes with a price!"
Hearing Cersei's words, Varys also seemed to think of something. In his view, Jon might have some ability, but that ability likely carried some even more terrifying cost.
"If he truly had such an ability, he would likely have already done the things we can guess," Tywin, who had been listening intently, suddenly spoke up.
"Lord Tywin, do you have any way to counter this fellow?"
, who had been acting like a non-entity until now, suddenly asked this question.
House Lannister and House Tyrell were now closely linked. Since Mace Tyrell's mother had always thought highly of Tywin's strategies, the anxious Lord of Highgarden asked this directly.
As it happened, Tywin had a different idea regarding the problem of the Vale. So, upon hearing Mace Tyrell's question, Tywin spoke directly:
"Since the Vale is now beyond retrieval, we can only treat it as an enemy."
After saying this, Tywin felt some regret over the death of . That useful fellow had always created miracles for him, but this time, upon reaching the Vale, no miracle occurred.
"Map!"
After he said this to a nearby valet, the man quickly brought a map of the Vale and its surrounding areas.
With the valet's help, the parchment map was soon spread out on the long table.
"The High Road is the only land route out of the Vale. As long as the Valemen control the , no one can attack the Vale by land."
Tywin's words caused everyone at the table to nod. Then, he spoke once more.
"So our problem is also very simple: as long as we control this narrow High Road, these fellows can only attack us from or across the ."
"But our enemy seems to have many armies, and I heard they even have dragons!"
Mace Tyrell also had his own intelligence network. Being anxious, he blurted out this information ahead of time.
"To deal with that fellow, we have also found a corresponding power. Now, it is time to introduce our magical consultants to everyone!"
"Magical consultants!?"
While everyone was filled with surprise, Tywin directly ordered the valet to open the doors of the Throne Room.
As the doors opened, two figures wearing cloaks appeared before everyone's eyes.
"Hehehe, honored lords and Your Majesty, greetings. My name is Ganev, and I am a Wraith Wizard!"
This was a pale, thin old man with a pointed chin. Paired with his cloak, he looked like a vampire.
"My name is Naegor, and I am a Blood Mage. I am quite interested in those of the Dragon King's house. I can solve the problem Lord Tywin is facing!"
This was a man with green hair that slightly obscured the right side of his face. The eye on that side seemed to have suffered some injury, looking extremely hideous and terrifying.
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