Chapter 389: Myrcella, the Little Strategist
Master and apprentice continued their playful bickering as they walked, eventually finding Myrcella, who had just returned from visiting her brother.
The young princess remained as well-behaved and tactful as ever. Upon seeing Egger, she immediately expressed her gratitude—and it was sincere. Although she had received Egger's promise before, she hadn't expected the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch to keep the plight of a fallen princess so close to his heart. Despite being burdened with official duties and traveling as far as King's Landing, he hadn't forgotten to arrange everything in advance: after he set off for Eastwatch to sail south half a month ago, someone had promptly followed his instructions and found kittens for her brother Tommen—healthy, beautiful ones that were already weaned and easy to care for.
While the Starks treated her well, the feeling of incidental care was quite different from the feeling of being respected and kept in mind.
After discussing the room adjustments to have the two girls stay together, their casual chat on the way back turned toward the dilemma Egger was currently facing.
"Publicly defying orders and deserting must be punished severely, otherwise, it will be difficult for you to govern the Gift in the future, my Lord," the little princess offered seriously. "But if the methods are too cruel, it could easily provoke a backlash. I've read many similar stories in history: a king executes a rebellious or disrespectful noble, and while the noble's family and heirs show outward submission at the time, they harbor secret grudges. They constantly undermine the king from the shadows or join conspiracies, eventually standing against him again during the next period of unrest. You are essentially the King of the Gift right now, my Lord; in handling such matters, you must be exceptionally careful with your methods."
"The 'king' comparison is a bit inappropriate, but indeed, that is exactly my concern." Egger nodded in agreement, then pointedly glanced at Arya. The meaning was clear: Look at how other children behave; don't just think about playing all day.
The Stark girl was instantly annoyed by the look and immediately offered her own opinion: "Just kill the son too, then break up the tribe and distribute the people among other clans. Solve the problem at the root—haven't you used that trick before?"
Myrcella shook her head. "Cutting the weeds and pulling the roots sounds satisfying and is indeed the safest way... but Lord Egger is dealing with his own subjects now, not enemies; they cannot be treated the same. The Lord Commander established schools for education and management rather than simply keeping the children sent by these New Gift families under house arrest. He certainly didn't just intend for them to be hostages; he hoped to influence their thoughts and win their loyalty. In his actions now, he must consider more than just that one child's thoughts; he must consider how every move affects his image in the eyes of these children and all the residents of the Gift. Having 'a classmate executed for his father's mistake' would give all those Free Folk children the impression that the Lord Commander is cruel and heartless. If you had taken a hardline stance from the beginning, it might be fine, but your 'pro-Wildling' reputation is already deeply rooted. If your words and style become inconsistent, you won't just gain a reputation for being fickle and emotionally unstable; you'll also invite the contempt and ridicule of the opposition within the Night's Watch who were against accepting the Wildlings in the first place. A result that pleases neither side is far worse than simply following the law and killing only the leader."
Arya only understood the gist of it, but she could sense that Myrcella's words were well-reasoned and organized. Feeling outdone in front of her master, she became even more defiant: "Then tell us, what should my master do right now?"
"Well..." Myrcella's doll-like, porcelain face took on an expression of serious thought, radiating an unexpected cuteness. After a moment, she had an idea: "Isn't my Lord the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch? He has a ready-made solution right there; why not use it?"
Prompted by this, Arya immediately caught on and shouted out as if trying to win a race to answer: "Ah! Make that leader take the black! Send him to the most dangerous front lines at the Gorge!"
"Exactly. If he dies in battle against the White Walkers, everyone is satisfied. As long as he is given his honors fairly, no one can hold a grudge against Lord Egger for a soldier dying on the battlefield... and even if he remains safe, staying with the Night's Watch means he poses no threat to my Lord."
Heh!
Egger raised an eyebrow. He had thought of this idea as well, but what he hadn't expected was for a twelve-year-old girl to take less than a minute to come up with the exact same plan he had reached after deep deliberation. That was one thing, but what truly surprised him was that Myrcella could see the purpose behind his schools, analyze the pros and cons of different approaches so articulately, and most impressively—despite having the answer, she deliberately prompted Arya to let her answer first, avoiding stealing the spotlight and making the other girl look foolish... thus preventing any friction in the 'sisters' relationship.
The not-at-all-stupid Arya looked utterly outclassed by comparison. This level of operation could not be described as mere cleverness.
For the first time, Egger didn't look at Myrcella with the eyes of a child, but studied her with genuine interest.
Unlike what the little princess thought, his previous politeness and friendliness were more a result of basic modern manners and keeping his word than specifically keeping her in mind. But until this moment, he only truly began to respect this former princess who possessed both beauty and talent, as well as courage and wisdom.
But Myrcella wasn't finished with her ideas.
"Also, my Lord, you can still follow your original plan: let the child decide the punishment for his father first and see his attitude. If he begs you to spare his father's life, you can then act as if you are being persuaded into a 'compromise,' agreeing to let his father take the black to avoid death. You execute your plan, but you gain a favor and a show of loyalty for free. Isn't that killing two birds with one stone?"
"That... you're really something."
Where he was previously just interested, Egger now almost didn't know how to praise her.
In the world Egger came from, this kind of maneuver had a formal name: statecraft. As a vast discipline and art, its contents were even more complex and all-encompassing than The Prince. It sounded simple in theory, but applying it skillfully to real life was another matter entirely. How was a young girl like Myrcella so practiced in such things? Was she just having an exceptionally brilliant day, or were her IQ, EQ, and knowledge base naturally this high and rich, only lacking the opportunity to be displayed in the original story?
Egger currently had a surplus of steady, high-execution, and loyal subordinates; what he lacked was a strategist—someone well-versed in lore, intimately familiar with Westeros, and capable of advising him and providing alternative perspectives to prevent oversight. After crossing into this world, Egger had long mastered the art of playing the subordinate to manipulate those above him in status and power. But now, he had fewer opportunities to use that skill, and he had very little experience in the reversed role of ruling from above.
This was an entirely new field. If Myrcella's level of wisdom in this area was truly this high... she was exactly the kind of assistant he was missing!
Egger sighed. Even if Myrcella's performance today wasn't a fluke, she was still a girl, and the child of Cersei and Jaime—just as he had no right to comment on Arya's marriage arrangements, as Catelyn Tully's nominal ward and actual hostage, Egger had no standing or reason to take her for himself.
A pity.
In the days that followed, Egger did as promised and took Arya with him all over Queenscrown—not that he was carving out specific time just to play with her, but because he needed to regain a handle on the state of his territory after being away. A mountain of final war preparations also required his personal supervision. Since he had to run around anyway, bringing one more person along wasted little time while curing the Stark girl's boredom and making her feel noticed and valued.
It couldn't be helped; a truthful comment she had accidentally made earlier had left Egger feeling a bit uneasy: he had originally taken her as an apprentice with the intent of using her as a quick channel for information. While it is a fact that the human world is built on transactions and mutual utility, one still has to mask it with things like affection and loyalty to make things warmer and more acceptable. As Arya grew older and more sensible, she was no longer as easy to fool as she was when she was small. Egger didn't dare to simply brush her aside anymore. If she ever felt used and discarded, the damage a turned friend could do was far greater than that of an enemy.
Unlike in the past, he now also took Myrcella along whenever possible. This little princess had shown extraordinary intelligence; though he didn't know what use it would serve yet, there was no harm in building her favor.
Egger first inspected the crowded residential areas of the outer town and the tent city outside the walls, using his personal presence to combat the rumors that he had fled for fear of the White Walkers. Specifically, he visited and observed the giants who had been temporarily settled in the wilderness outside the walls.
The giants' home was actually not far from Queenscrown, but considering their slow movement and sluggish nature, Egger had included them in the first wave of refugees—those who were to head for Queenscrown as soon as the Medium-Level Alert was issued. Even so, the travel speed of these lazy big guys exceeded his worst expectations: for a journey of less than a hundred miles, they had actually taken ten days to arrive. They almost hadn't made it by the time the false alarm happened, nearly driving the guides leading them to death from anxiety.
Considering the giants' massive size and strength, and the potential for destruction if a conflict occurred within the crowded walls, Yam had settled them in the wilderness away from the gates. These big fellows drew immense interest from Arya, but no matter how much the girl begged, Egger refused her wish to get close enough to pet a giant.
Then came the preparation of the heavy weaponry in the industrial zone: with a hint from Egger, Qyburn took barely half a day to find the correct purification method for salt-contaminated saltpeter. Under the headquarters' direct command, the entire industrial zone shifted focus. Aside from the iron-smelting department—which continued producing and repairing conventional weapons—and Tobho Mott's foundry, which was kept open to reforge Dark Sister, the rest of the weapon research and experimentation was halted. All vacated space, equipment, and personnel were diverted to the purification of saltpeter and the assembly of dragonglass bombs.
Although Dragonstone was occupied and blockaded by Daenerys, causing the Night's Watch to temporarily lose its source of obsidian and sulfur, fortunately, their previous stockpiles were sufficient. The bombs were being produced at a rate of dozens per day. However... as ultimate trump cards, these weapons were already mature models that had undergone countless live explosion tests and improvements at secret testing grounds. Egger merely let Arya and Myrcella have a look; he wasn't about to light one off just to make them happy.
In sharp contrast to the spherical bombs being produced were the piles of tube-shaped copper objects of various sizes and thicknesses stacked by the extinguished copper-smelting furnaces. The cannon-casting department, after a difficult struggle, had successfully overcome casting hurdles to produce cannon-shaped copper vessels. These copper tubes were only a step away from becoming actual artillery—requiring further material refinement and control over precision and power. But clearly, at this most critical juncture, Egger could not use precious gunpowder for testing projectile weapons. Unless the Night King waited on the other side of the Gorge for another six months, the deployment of cannons would likely have to wait until after this great war was over.
The Gorge and the Bay of Seals continued to send daily requests for reinforcements, while the preparation of the heavy weapons proceeded as planned—without error, but without surprises. Amidst this atmosphere of fervent war preparation, the forging of Lightbringer silently stepped onto the right track.
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