As the sounds from the garden faded, Viserys wasn't concerned about the conversation following his "interview" of Jorah Mormont, the "Great Bear."
Yes.
In Viserys's opinion, it was an interview, arranged specifically for the Beggar King to assess Jorah Mormont.
When the Beggar King had nothing, when the exiled king had a grasp of the Seven Kingdoms' situation yet lacked practical references, when the exiled monarch yearned for his homeland but had no way to act, how could a knight, also persecuted by the Usurper, forced to leave his homeland, wandering in foreign lands, with a deep understanding of the Seven Kingdoms' reality, speaking with sincerity, with a solemn demeanor, with martial prowess, and still showing a sense of knightly honor, not be noticed by the Beggar King?
Even Daenerys was curious about this mercenary who claimed he was no longer a "knight," and logically assumed Viserys would do something.
In fact, Viserys was already thinking about how to find an excuse to reasonably explain why he didn't need to recruit, or secretly enlist, such a subordinate, a man who almost had no reason to refuse.
Jorah's words revealed that he was about to complete an employment mission for the Tyroshi envoy, and Illyrio's flattering attitude towards Viserys was so direct.
The fat governor would definitely take action next.
But after a covert clash with Illyrio over the "Handmaiden" issue, Viserys understood how desperately Illyrio wanted to plant people around him.
From Illyrio's perspective, Viserys had no reason to refuse. Even if Viserys himself was unwilling to appear, Illyrio would enthusiastically take on the task, solving problems for the king and being prepared for any eventuality.
This was a conspiracy in the open. If it weren't for the fact that the transmigrator knew the information from the original novel, if it weren't for the foresight to look at things with a problem-finding gaze, everything would have happened naturally.
This presented Viserys with a problem. Simply using excuses to refuse could certainly keep spies out, but would this make Illyrio realize Viserys's actual attitude towards him, exposing his true thoughts, and thus prematurely triggering a clear confrontation between them?
Weighing the disadvantages.
Viserys was very clear that he currently had no advantages at all.
Viserys's only advantage was that Illyrio was still willing to be soft, rather than hard, allowing him to mediate.
Viserys gradually clarified his thoughts in his mind. He had already obtained the Dragonbone resources he wanted, and the false array he had set up was sufficient. He didn't need to disrupt the current ambiguous relationship between them. Occasionally going along with the fat governor's thinking, letting their schemes succeed, and then thinking about whether there was a way to go with the flow, using their own plans against them, was the way he should respond at the moment.
Viserys wasn't adept at the scheming and plotting. His mind could only come up with this relatively optimal solution.
In the end, it all came down to a lack of confidence.
If Viserys had been confident enough, if he'd been in a position of advantage, he could have directly revealed Jorah's identity, making his suspicions of the man clear. But doing so now would be too aggressive, like alerting the enemy and potentially pushing Illyrio to the other side.
While Viserys was racking his brains, trying to come up with a plan, Daenerys was also trying to guess what her brother was thinking. But she knew too little; everything Viserys had been doing and saying only added to her confusion.
The handmaiden's broom had swept from inside the room to near the doorway, and she was about to go change the mop to wipe the floor.
"Wait," Viserys called out, stopping the handmaiden. He gestured to her as if she were a servant, "You, come here."
The handmaiden walked forward respectfully, "Honored guest?"
Viserys stood by the table and asked her in a condescending tone, "I remember your name is Annie, right?"
"Yes," the Handmaiden replied humbly, "Your Grace."
Viserys, without a hint of restraint, asked directly, "I want to know, are you Illyrio's slave, or a contracted worker?"
"...A slave." The Handmaiden maintained her respectful expression, her tone calm. "My master is merciful, he allows me to not wear a collar."
"Good." Viserys smiled with satisfaction. He sat down and beckoned her closer. "Come here, closer, let me have a look."
The Handmaiden lowered her head and obeyed. She was now the only one standing in the room. She could easily see Viserys sitting opposite her. She saw his gaze sweep over her body from head to toe, without any respect, examining her as if she were a piece of merchandise.
She heard him appraising her: "Not bad. Decent face, good figure, and diligent."
She heard him ordering her.
"Kneel."
She squatted down.
"Look up."
She looked up.
"Open your mouth."
She opened her mouth.
Viserys's hand grasped her jaw, his scrutinizing gaze examining inside her mouth, beginning to inspect her teeth and tongue.
She heard the final assessment from the other person.
"Not bad."
The two people in the conversation seemed unconcerned, but Daenerys, because of the suddenness of events, Viserys's actions were completely beyond her expectations. She couldn't help but swallow. She quickly recognized that Viserys was using the method of observing health when the nobles bought slaves to treat the handmaidens—they had seen it when they were wandering in Lys and Volantis. At that time, she occasionally feared such a fate one day.
Daenerys's mood fluctuated wildly as Viserys was ordering the handmaiden around.
Then, at some point, she felt she should react as if everything was normal.
Thinking this, Daenerys casually picked up the water glass on the table and took a sip.
Only after the water entered her mouth did she realize it was wine, not lemonade.
She suppressed the urge to gasp, swallowing the wine, then cradled the cup in her hands, moving them slightly as if playing with it.
No one noticed Daenerys's small movements.
Viserys retracted his hand, and the Handmaiden struggled to maintain her composure, humbly asking, "Honored guest?"
"That's enough, get up. No need to wipe the floor," Viserys said, then naturally began to order her around, "Go over there and move the box here."
The Handmaiden respectfully nodded, bent down, and went to lift the Dragonbone box in the corner of Viserys's room to the side of the tea table.
Viserys opened the chest without a word and began laying out the Dragonbone pieces on the table.
As promised, there were five raw materials – small, jet-black fragments of untreated bone, clearly weathered by the wind. There were also five pieces crafted into luxury items, adorned with jewels, agate, or gold and silver. Five more were crafted into weapons; the largest was a single-curved Dragonbone short bow, and the rest were four sharply honed arrowheads. Finally, there were purely decorative items: a relatively intact section of spine, a Dragonbone skull depicting half a face, and three complete finger bones with their claws still attached.
Illyrio was certainly generous.
A smile spread across Viserys's face, visible to the naked eye. Even Daenerys was captivated by the dazzling array of Dragonbone artifacts.
"Esteemed guest," the Handmaiden, who had been standing to the side, couldn't help but ask, "I..."
Viserys didn't intend to let her speak.
"Annie, be quiet." He called the Handmaiden by her name for the first time. "From now on, when I'm speaking or doing things with my sister, you will stand there quietly and serve without my command. Also, you will call me Master from now on. I will speak with Illyrio later; you are now my Handmaiden."
". "
The handmaiden and Daenerys both wore expressions of surprise.
Viserys ignored the handmaiden. He turned to Daenerys and said in Valyrian, "The fat Magister intends to give me a handmaiden. This one is reliable, and I feel more at ease having her around."
Before Daenerys could respond, Viserys asked the handmaiden in the Common Tongue, "Do you understand what I'm saying?"
The handmaiden, still seemingly reeling from the information she'd just received, answered vaguely, "I do not understand, my... ah, Master."
Daenerys hesitated for a moment, but finally couldn't help but speak in Valyrian, "But..."
"No buts," Viserys cut her off. "We are the only True Dragon Descendants in the world. Being cautious is always the right choice."
Daenerys understood his meaning and didn't try to argue. But her doubts grew deeper.
Viserys saw that Daenerys wasn't asking any more questions, and he didn't know if she truly understood or if it was just her usual silence.
Speaking of which, although Viserys looked like he knew what he was doing when he knocked over the wine glass in front of the door and used the silver goblet as a mirror to observe the hallway, he wasn't sure if he had seen any useful information. The handmaiden hadn't appeared from a crack in the wall, the ceiling, or some corner as he had expected. Instead, she had quietly emerged from the empty guest room across from Daenerys.
Viserys couldn't imagine how the room across the hall could be used to spy on the other side.
The only thing Viserys could confirm was that this handmaiden was likely the one spying on them. She was empty-handed when she came out, moving lightly and cautiously. When she walked towards Viserys's room, she paused very obviously. She was very perceptive and had noticed that Viserys's door wasn't closed; her first reaction gave her away.
Fortunately, Viserys had already picked up the half-tipped wine glass before she noticed.
Viserys had always been unwilling to take risks with such probing, because encountering a perceptive person could be a hidden danger. Just now, if he had been a few seconds slower in picking up the wine glass, the other party would definitely have noticed his actions.
Fortunately, he was steady enough and had never underestimated the other party's perceptiveness. Viserys's probing had already begun, and once an action started, it couldn't stop there. This was Viserys's way of doing things. So, keeping the handmaiden by his side was his second plan. Since it had changed from suspicion to certainty that the handmaiden was spying on them, keeping her by his side was like putting the hidden eyes in the open. He could observe Illyrio's reaction, and use this relationship to his advantage, ordering her to leave in certain situations.
Perhaps, in this way, he could temporarily block the surveillance when necessary.
The worst-case scenario was that more than one pair of eyes were watching Viserys and Daenerys.
But would they be?
Viserys didn't think so, at least not today.
As a rule, the more people involved in a secret, the more likely it was to be exposed. Viserys believed that Illyrio understood this principle as well.
.....
Completed eng PDF of this fan-fic on my Patreon shop if you want to support and own the full fan-fic in one go. Just grab the PDF and binge the entire story from start to finish!
Guys, I've uploaded some NEW High Quality english translated fanfic on my Patreon shop! Feel free to check it out—if you're interested, you can grab a copy and support me there.
Here are a few titles of recently uploaded fanfics:
" Game of Thrones: I've Loaded the Witcher System "
" Game of Thrones: I Became the Crown Prince for a Day "
" Game of Thrones: Viserys the Three-Headed Dragon "
" Game of Thrones: Holy Flame King "
" Game of Thrones: King of the North " many more are available for you,
Your support means a lot—thanks in advance, legends!
Patreon.com/AniFic
(End of Chapter)