294 AC
Harrenhal
It was a fine day, but the Servants of Harrenhal were all trembling with fear.
Because Lady Helaena of House Hoare had brought back a monster.
In a private room in Harrenhal, the Maester looked at the person on the bed, feeling helpless.
"My Lady, it is our luck to have such a merciful lord as you, but you should not have brought back a dying man; what this poor soul needs is peace."
The Maester had his reasons; the person before him was already a piece of rotten meat.
His body was covered in bruises and lacerations, the opening in his chest was large enough to see internal organs, and his arms and legs were bent at eerie angles, as if he had been thrown off a cliff.
If it weren't for that stubborn heart still beating before the Maester, he would have truly taken the person in front of him for a corpse.
Not to mention the long black tail growing from his tailbone.
That dragon tail, covered in black scales and as thick as a forearm, had truly terrified the people of Harrenhal.
When people saw this lump of meat brought back by Lady Helaena, everyone agreed it was the punishment of the Seven and the curse of Harrenhal manifested.
"Please heal this child," Lady Helaena said, ignoring the gossip.
"My Lady, I must remind you that the Servants are now in a state of panic. I believe that for the sake of the territory's stability, you should quickly dispose of him."
Lady Helaena shook her head, still arguing with the Maester, while Roman had already regained consciousness.
At this moment, his mind was still filled with the image of a Truck crashing into his face.
A strange ceiling, cold, gray, and dirty—that was Roman's first thought, but before he could think more, intense pain and thirst took over his brain.
He wanted to speak but couldn't make a sound, only managed to squeeze out "ho-ho" gasps from his throat.
In that instant, Roman's vision cleared, and he saw an old man in black and white robes and a richly dressed old woman.
"Where am I? Who are they?"
Lady Helaena and the Maester also heard Roman's movement; they turned and saw Roman's pleading eyes.
"The Seven above! He's still conscious!"
The Maester saw Roman, whose heart was exposed, staring with wide eyes as if he had seen a ghost, while Lady Helaena reacted quickly.
"Maester, stop staring and save this child quickly!"
At this time, the Maester also showed his professional quality; he immediately summoned the Servants to treat Roman.
But he had never seen an injury like Roman's before; the Maester hadn't seen such a situation even at The Citadel in Oldtown. In the end, he could only apply some Hemostatic Herbs and tie him up with bandages.
"Good child, this is all I can do. From here on, only the Seven can decide whether you live or die!"
While praying, the Maester fed the "mummy" Roman some herbal porridge.
It was the first time Roman discovered that he had transmigrated with his injuries. He was in pain and exhausted; before he could observe his surroundings carefully, he fell into a deep sleep again.
In his dream, Roman saw himself—not what he looked like before the crash, but like a European.
185 cm tall, with flowing black hair, pale blue eyes, and a face as exquisite as if carved, with sharp features.
But the most eye-catching were the dragon horns, dragon tail, and dragon wings on his body; these non-human features blended perfectly into his frame.
Roman looked at his body in surprise. He wanted to examine it further, but in a daze, he caught sight of the Night King.
And the Night King saw him at that moment too.
!!!
Roman woke up instantly, feeling hot all over and cold in his hands and feet.
"That was the Night King? This is the world of a song of ice and fire?"
Roman could definitely not have misremembered the image of the Night King. If this really was the world of a song of ice and fire...
Roman felt a strong sense of dissonance. "I must be losing my mind, how could it be..."
But the next moment, reality slapped him in the face.
"Lady Helaena, that child has almost recovered. The Seven above! Someone actually survived such a heavy injury; The Citadel will have to add a new record!"
Helaena of House Hoare and the Maester pushed the door open and entered, seeing Roman sitting on the bed as soon as they met.
"The Seven bless you, child, you're awake. How do you feel now?" Lady Helaena asked gently.
"I don't feel like there's a big problem. May I ask who you are?"
Roman asked cautiously in a raspy voice, and the Maester beside the old woman immediately stepped forward:
"This is Lady Helaena of House Hoare, mistress of Harrenhal. You are currently in Harrenhal."
Roman's head buzzed when he heard this, and then he looked around.
This dilapidated environment and retro decorations made his heart sink instantly.
"I've really come to the world of a song of ice and fire?! And it's Harrenhal, this cursed land?"
Roman then chatted with Lady Helaena for a while, expressing his gratitude, and incidentally learned how he came to this world.
It turned out that Lady Helaena couldn't stand the oppressive atmosphere of Harrenhal a while ago, so she went out for a ride to clear her head, and as a result, she encountered a massive explosion.
Amidst pale flames and thunder, Roman lay in the explosion crater. Seeing that he still had a breath left, Lady Helaena felt compassion and brought Roman back.
"Thank you, My Lady. When I return to normal, I will surely repay you!"
Roman replied quickly after hearing this. Lady Helaena wasn't described much in the original work; all that was known was that she was a friend of the Nights Watch and lost her family in her later years, left all alone.
Now it seemed she was a merciful old woman; otherwise, with Roman looking like this, he should have been abandoned long ago.
"No need to rush, child. It's good that you survived. We'll talk about the future later."
At Lady Helaena's urging, Roman lay down again.
Later, in conversation with the Maester, Roman learned more information.
It is now 294 AC, only 4 years away from the War of the Five Kings.
Furthermore, he was in Harrenhal, this cursed land. Ever since Black Heart Harren, the families who held this seat could not escape the fate of being wiped out.
In the original work, Littlefinger didn't even move in after being granted Harrenhal, instead heading to The Eyrie.
"This is troublesome. Even the North would be better than this place."
But Roman did not intend to leave. On one hand, Lady Helaena of House Hoare was his savior, and Roman couldn't let her die miserably in exile after losing Harrenhal as in the original work. Since he had come, he had to do something, at least to reduce the tragedies of the original story.
Secondly, there were still many unanswered questions here.
Roman's body was healing at an eerie speed, and even some terrifying wounds were no longer an issue.
During his dreams in this period, he kept encountering strange phenomena.
He watched his body gradually mutate: first, a dragon tail grew, then dragon horns appeared on his forehead, and finally, dragon wings sprouted from his back as dragon scales began to cover his body.
Every time at the end, Roman could see his dragonized self fighting various enemies: humans, beasts, dragons, the Night King...
There was even a Burning Man with the crest of House Hoare.
Except for some well-known characters from a song of ice and fire, most of their faces were unrecognizable, but Roman could clearly feel that every time he killed an enemy, his body grew stronger.
A month later, Roman could finally climb out of bed. He couldn't wait to check his back.
Sure enough, a black-scaled dragon tail appeared on him. Fortunately, no one recognized it as a dragon tail.
Dragons had been gone from Westeros for over 150 years; people now thought they were just legends. Everyone simply thought the curse of Harrenhal had caused Roman to grow this tail.
It was already a great stroke of luck for Roman to receive Lady Helaena's help. He now had to think about how to change the predestined tragedy of Harrenhal.