By the time dinner arrived, Illyrio's guests had departed.
At the particularly lavish dinner table, the fat governor apologized to Viserys: "Your Grace, please allow me to apologize for today's rudeness. I assure you, such things will not happen again."
"You're being too serious, Illyrio," Viserys gave him a way out. "It's just a small matter. This is your courtyard, and such things are commonplace. I understand. But since you insist on apologizing, then I accept your apology, and I hope it can put your mind at ease." He then praised, "There aren't many loyal supporters like you, Illyrio."
Illyrio took it seriously: "Thank you for your understanding, Your Grace."
"Right, didn't you say you were going to give me a handmaid?" Viserys started a new topic. "I think that maid Annie is quite good, let it be her."
"Annie?" Illyrio thought for a moment, as if he had just connected the name with the person. "If Your Grace wants her to serve by your side, then it is her, this is her good fortune."
Just as Annie had thought, her matter was just a trivial thing, and even her master was happy about it.
Illyrio quickly moved on to the next topic: "Your Grace, among the accompanying guards of the Tyroshi envoy today, there was a knight from the Seven Kingdoms. It is said that he committed some crimes and came to Essos as a mercenary. I chatted with him a bit about the Seven Kingdoms and found that he knows a lot about the Seven Kingdoms, more insightful than ordinary sailors and merchants. I was wondering, does such a person need to be recruited to work for Your Grace?"
"The nobles of the Seven Kingdoms who fall from grace in Westeros all seem to end up here," Viserys said, not reacting as the portly governor expected. "The Blackfyres did, and so did I. I imagine that knight is the same." Viserys didn't want to simply respond to Illyrio's probing. He wanted to stir things up a little and make the other man react. "In fact, I overheard some of your conversation in the garden today, you know, the room is right above it. So, Illyrio, leaving the knight aside for the moment, I heard you talking about the Tyroshi shipping lanes to Dorne?"
Illyrio replied with a beaming, friendly smile, "Yes, Your Grace. To be frank, the Tyroshi, taking advantage of their geographical location, have always controlled the shipping lanes to Dorne. Now that they've gotten into a dispute with Lys and Myr, it gives those of us watching from the sidelines an opportunity to maneuver."
"Excellent, excellent." Viserys had other thoughts in mind but didn't voice them directly. Instead, he said, "That's good, Illyrio, it's beneficial to our cause. It's right to send your business to Westeros, not just Dorne, but the Stormlands, the Reach, the Vale, the North, even Lannisport are all good trade routes. It's good to find more opportunities to do business there."
"I think so too, Your Grace," Illyrio replied. "I believe that after a while, I can offer you the freshest Dorne lemons in Pentos."
"I look forward to that day." After Viserys said this, he didn't mention Dorne again and steered the conversation back to the knight, Jorah Mormont. "Speaking of that knight, Illyrio, I think you should be clear about what we're going to do. The knight is worth recruiting, but it's too early. Here's what you should do. Wait for him to complete his current commission, and then hire him and find him some work. In the process, you should see what kind of character he has. If he's truly a man of talent, I will recruit him myself in the future. If not, just find an excuse to dismiss him."
"Your Grace's consideration is still so thoughtful." Although it hadn't met expectations, it was better than the worst-case scenario. Illyrio flattered Viserys, then asked, "In Your Grace's opinion, what should I arrange for him to do to test his character?"
"…" Viserys seemed to be stumped. After pondering for a long time, he replied, "You can handle it yourself."
Illyrio said worriedly, "Your Grace, he's a noble from Westeros. I know very little about the customs and noble etiquette of the Seven Kingdoms. I'm afraid I might ruin your plans."
This was also a test. After some thought, Illyrio suspected that Viserys was the type of nobleman who seemed to know what the right thing to do was. He had the theoretical knowledge to satisfy his boastful nature and knew the general direction of things, but when it came to specific matters, he didn't know what to do.
For example, the current task was to arrange personnel and test character. Viserys knew that he should arrange things to test character, but he didn't seem to have any idea how to do it. Therefore, he pushed the specific matters to Illyrio—in these matters unrelated to core secrets, he seemed to trust Illyrio.
In short, Illyrio thought that this beggar king had a bit of the aura of a superior, was thick-skinned enough, and could put on a show, but he lacked practical experience. It made sense, really. The beggar king never had the chance to actually handle these things.
"You can handle it," Viserys replied to the fat governor. "You will be my Master of Coin in the future, and dealing with the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms is inevitable."
"Since you say so, then I will certainly handle this matter well." Illyrio agreed and then added a question, "When the time is right, should I let him know who is really employing him?"
"No, at that time, if he is truly worth recruiting," Viserys put on an air of authority, "I will recruit him personally."
"Yes, your Majesty."
It was more or less what Annie had expected. Her report was most interesting to her master when the beggar king reacted during their eavesdropping on the garden conversation, but she could provide little information, so her master was uninterested and told her to talk about something else.
She then recounted the beggar king and his sister's words from today. They had been learning and practicing in front of her, spending the entire afternoon practicing the archer's stance. Her master wasn't particularly concerned, simply acknowledging the information.
Compared to the matters that were no different from their expectations, her master was more concerned about how the beggar king had chosen her and pondered for a long time after she finished describing the situation.
"Work by his side, don't be eager to show off, just be a normal maidservant," her master cautioned her. "He's not someone who easily trusts others. You just need to be diligent and obey his orders."
"Yes," she replied.
"He shouldn't do anything to you in the short term, but don't try to seduce him either. He seems to have some strange prejudices about women. Don't use the same tactics on him that you would with young nobles who have never seen a woman," her master advised her. "Also, if he torments you privately..."
"I know what to do, master," she responded.
"Good. I've prepared a new set of clothes for you. Put them on and go to the king," her master gave her a bag of gifts, and finally said to her, "Don't forget who you are."
"Yes, master."
.....
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(End of Chapter)