Viserys's controlled experiment was very simple, lacking repeated verification, but he considered it sufficient.
Viserys was like a medieval alchemist, only needing to obtain reproducible results from simple experimental phenomena and put them into practice; the actual principles and logic could be set aside.
Viserys's simple experimental conclusion was: to obtain the Dragon Soul on the Dragon Bone, Daenerys's blood was an indispensable medium.
At noon, Viserys conducted a test without coming into contact with Daenerys's blood. The result was that Daenerys had a nightmare during her nap, while nothing happened to him. After coming into contact with Daenerys's blood, he had a similar dream again at night, dreaming that he had swallowed a small wisp of purple smoke, and then briefly perceived the Magic Power ocean within his body again, squeezing out a second drop of water.
At this point, he obtained his second Dragon Scale, his second portion of Magic Power!
The acquisition of the second portion of Magic Power meant that he had indeed found a reproducible method for collecting the Dragon Soul: let items containing the Dragon Soul come into contact with Daenerys, then use Daenerys's blood as a medium, and achieve the goal of collecting the Dragon Soul in his dreams.
Viserys was not sure if this was the only way to collect the Dragon Soul, but it was the only method he had at the moment.
He wasn't in a hurry to test the power of his Breath Weapon in the bathroom. After so many days, he already knew that using up his Magic Power every day wouldn't make his "Magic Pool" bigger. After experimenting with the Breath Weapon, he knew that even doubling this tiny amount of Magic Power would only make the Breath Weapon go from a regular lighter to a slightly stronger one.
This trick-like flame Breath Weapon, supported by this little bit of Magic Power, could only burn through silk and fine cloth. It wasn't enough to handle tougher materials like leather, or things like steak and pork chops, let alone armor.
Viserys estimated that he would need at least four or five portions of Dragon Scale Magic Power to make his condensed Breath Weapon last for 2 to 3 seconds, just to pierce leather and seriously injure a human body. To harm a knight in armor would require even more. If someone stood still and let him burn them, of course, it could cause burns, but in a fight, creating an opening to aim his mouth and only cause minor injuries was basically useless—it would be better to just use a dagger.
Speaking of which, this second portion of Magic Power made Viserys realize a problem. The King of Guryoke was a Dragon King with three magic attributes: Fire, Frost, and Lightning. But the two portions of scale Magic Power he'd obtained were both Fire attribute. Viserys wasn't sure if this was related to the Dragon Soul he had consumed, or if he just hadn't obtained enough Magic Power and was unlucky enough not to get Frost and Lightning Magic Power from the Magic Power ocean.
These were all things that remained to be tested in the future before a conclusion could be made.
Viserys sorted through the chaotic thoughts in his mind.
[With the Dragon Bone matter settled, Illyrio's covert surveillance became the primary issue.]
All signs indicated that Illyrio's surveillance of Viserys and Daenerys was a done deal, but after all these days, Viserys still hadn't been able to figure out his location. He had a rough guess, but hadn't found any evidence to verify it.
He had observed the doors of the two rooms and the corridor outside with sufficient care, and these two locations could likely be ruled out.
Considering his impression of the castle courtyard, coupled with the maids and the butler always lingering in the hallways, he suspected a very likely method of surveillance – the Wall Rats.
Viserys speculated that somewhere within the walls of his and Daenerys's rooms, there might be a hidden compartment, and the observing rats were watching their every move from there. But Viserys found no evidence. He had examined the paintings, the oil lamp bases, and the glass decorations on the walls of his own room when the maids and butler were visible, and even secretly measured the thickness of the walls, observing possible hidden entrances, but he couldn't find any potential locations.
Therefore, the next move would likely have to be made while considering the possibility of surveillance.
[Illyrio's probe.]
Illyrio was obviously pushing hard this time, with aggressive probes coming one after another. Viserys had to be extremely careful in dealing with them.
"Fight fire with fire" was something anyone could say, but Viserys had to prepare enough rhetoric and planning, throwing out some deceptive baits, and he had to make the worst possible plans.
If it came to the point of tearing off the mask and needing to show his true skills, he couldn't be idle. His trump card must be kept, left for Illyrio. Based on his contact and the impressions from the original novel, the only thing this old fox could use to threaten him might be his life.
[Daenerys.]
Thinking of this girl gave Viserys a bit of a headache. She was incredibly important to him now.
But if it really came to a certain point…
Viserys tried not to think about the worst-case scenario. Human nature was the thing most vulnerable to testing. If possible, he should avoid easily using extreme situations that would make his conscience uneasy to test himself.
Thinking of this, Viserys thought that she might be running a fever at the moment.
Last time, he had guessed that Daenerys's abnormal state the next day was because he had devoured the Dragon Soul. Now, perhaps she was also in this situation. Viserys really wanted to go and verify his guess, to observe up close this abnormality on Daenerys from start to finish. But he had already established the habit of not getting up before noon in these twenty-odd days. This was his effort to deal with Illyrio. Weighing the pros and cons, he couldn't let it go to waste.
The riddle was solved faster than Illyrio had imagined.
Only a day after Viserys's riddle was revealed, Illyrio knew the answer that seemed to be correct.
"Merciful Mother, descend your protection upon your sons, stop the stray arrows, withstand the swords, and let them see a beautiful tomorrow. Gentle Mother, help your daughters avoid suffering, quell their anger, tame their madness, and teach them to be tolerant of each other."
This prayer came from the Seven-Pointed Star Bible, Gospel of the Mother, chapter nineteen, verse eight, the fourteenth subsection, and was incorporated into the Song of the Mother, a prayer praising the Mother in the Seven-Gods faith. The Mother was one of the seven different forms of a single deity in the Seven-Gods faith. The followers of the Seven believed that their God was unique, but he had seven states, just as the sept was a building, but it had seven high walls.
In many cases, in the septs, the monks would recite this passage to bless the newlywed couple during weddings, between the altars of the Father and the Mother. In fact, this prayer was heard by many in the Seven Kingdoms, but usually, people would treat it as a familiar hymn. Only those who had read the Seven-Pointed Star Bible and were familiar with its contents and stories could accurately state that it came from a certain chapter and verse of the Gospel of the Mother.
The numerical riddle of nineteen, eight, and fourteen was indeed rigorous, but Illyrio and Varys had no shortage of capable people, especially since they were already familiar with the business of espionage. Soon, Viserys's riddle was locked onto the scripture, and it was determined that only the Book of the Mother in the Seven-Pointed Star Bible satisfied the conditions.
From a literal point of view, this was Viserys reporting safety to someone. The prayer was related to weddings, and Illyrio couldn't help but think about what secret information was hidden within.
Illyrio also thoroughly examined the Dragon Bone pendant, but couldn't see any clues—he suspected that this was Viserys's way of one-way communication, with the price and the Dragon Bone both displayed openly, as if publicized to the public.
This further corroborated that Viserys had secret connections with a certain force in the Seven Kingdoms.
The finger pointed directly at Dorne.
Illyrio became increasingly convinced of his guess. After he had Viserys's pendant sold in the shop, he dispatched many more people to keep an eye on the flow of customers, especially those from Westeros, particularly those from Dorne. Pentos was, after all, Illyrio's territory, and he absolutely could not allow any changes that would affect his long-term plans to happen under his nose without him knowing anything.
Compared to these potential threats that might affect their planning, the increasingly close relationship between Viserys and his sister was just a trivial matter. The situation had developed to the point where Daenerys was no longer so important to Illyrio. She was no longer a princess who could be exchanged for tens of thousands of Dothraki warriors, but just the sister of the beggar king, deeply cared for by him.
But Illyrio seriously doubted whether the Beggar King truly had the deep affection for his sister that he showed.
Varys would privately call King Robert a fool, yet he still walked on eggshells in front of King Robert. Illyrio finally understood this a little now.
Varys was right; dealing with a king was a difficult task.
Even the Beggar King was much harder to deal with than he'd imagined.
"Master, everything you asked for is ready. When shall we send it?"
In front of Illyrio, his Unsullied eunuch guard reported the matter.
Illyrio looked up. The gift boxes containing the Dragon Bone had already been packed. Along with the gift boxes was a young girl with golden hair and blue eyes, a graceful figure, a hot body, and a lovely appearance.
"Now."
I know some of you are probably wondering when Illyrio is going to kick the bucket. Let me give you a little spoiler: when I first started writing, I planned Illyrio's ending to be similar to Maester Cressen's from the original A Song of Ice and Fire.
If you happen to know who Maester Cressen is and what happened to him, then you know what to expect. I'll do my best to write the story I want to tell.
....
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