"The Queen!"
A thick wooden door in the Throne Room was pushed open,
and Cersei Lannister appeared, wearing her Queen's crown and an off-the-shoulder red dress,
as she slowly walked into the hall.
Following Cersei was her loyal guard, Jaime Lannister.
The Small Council members were surprised and rose, bowing with hands over their chests towards Cersei.
Jon Arryn looked at Queen Cersei, who had a haughty expression, his gaze complex.
Cersei stood still, looking towards Prime Minister Jon, who was still seated, and their gazes met.
Prime Minister Jon sighed inwardly; before the truth was revealed, Cersei was still the Queen representing the Royal Family.
Jon's trembling hand gripped the armrest, and he rose from the chair representing the King's Hand, nodding in greeting to Cersei.
Queen Cersei lifted her smooth chin, a small curve appearing on her lips.
Cersei glanced around, looking at the empty head seat, then at Prime Minister Jon, who was seated right next to it.
Cersei stepped forward to a position directly facing the King's chair and said, "Good day, members of the Small Council. I'll sit here. Ser Jaime, please bring me a chair."
Jaime, completely unconcerned by the occasional glances from others, placed a wooden chair behind Cersei with a smirk.
Barristan glanced at Jaime, who was clad in silver armor and white robes, then closed his eyes, as if out of sight, out of mind.
Barristan strongly disapproved of Jaime Lannister's choice; as a Kingsguard, Jaime had broken his oath and killed the king he was supposed to protect. His white robes should have been black.
Furthermore, Barristan looked down on the already clearly "fallen" Jaime.
Only after Queen Cersei was seated did everyone else sit back down.
Renly curled his lips and said, "Your Highness Cersei, why the sudden visit today? You are a rare guest. The last time you appeared here… I can't even remember, it seems like several years ago."
Cersei disliked Renly, who strongly resembled Robert, and she also found the innuendo in Renly's words annoying.
Cersei snorted coldly, her beautiful eyes looking at Renly, and she curled her lips: "Duke Renly, if your sincerity were genuine enough, I would attend every Small Council meeting, for your sake, and for the Seven Kingdoms."
Renly laughed, then said no more.
Excluding Queen Cersei, who represented the Lannister, from the Small Council was a political understanding among them. He didn't want to give anyone even a hint of an opportunity to criticize.
After Renly's laughter faded, the atmosphere in the hall became very quiet, with everyone present harboring different thoughts.
The atmosphere at the long table grew increasingly heavy. Petyr's eyes flickered, looking at the grim-faced Prime Minister Jon.
Sensing Petyr's gaze, Prime Minister Jon subtly nodded.
Petyr's gaze shifted towards Queen Cersei, and he broke the silence: "Respected Queen, forgive my presumption, but what are your commands? Petyr is at your service at all times…"
Before Petyr could finish his words, he keenly felt the Queen's disdain from Cersei.
Queen Cersei had no desire to bother with Petyr, who was merely a mouthpiece.
Petyr showed a hint of helplessness, shrugged, and stopped speaking.
Would Petyr secretly resent Cersei's disregard? The answer was no!
Including Petyr, everyone in the Red Keep had long been accustomed to Cersei's imperious manner.
It had become second nature; if Cersei were gentle, Petyr would actually suspect that some conspiracy was hidden within.
After a while longer, Prime Minister Jon slowly spoke, "Queen Cersei, please speak directly."
Although Queen Cersei showed a faint, satisfied smile, she made no secret of her dislike for Jon: "Duke Jon, I see your health is indeed very problematic. I will arrange for a handmaiden to light a candle for you in the Sept and pray for your swift recovery."
Prime Minister Jon frowned.
Queen Cersei's appearance was too coincidental, which made him suspect whether there had been a leak in his secret investigation.
As this suspicion arose in his mind, Prime Minister Jon immediately dismissed it.
If it had been exposed, given Cersei's personality, she wouldn't be sitting calmly opposite him and still have the leisure to mock him.
...…
Prime Minister Jon's gaze was somewhat sharp: "Queen Cersei, please speak directly. The Small Council still needs to continue discussing kingdom affairs."
As Prime Minister Jon finished speaking, before Cersei could react, Maester Pycelle suddenly spoke.
"Your Highness, the King's Hand never speaks falsely. Before your arrival, we were discussing the sealing off of King's Landing, and we still have many issues to discuss."
Petyr's eyes trembled slightly; he felt that the cunning old fox had finally shown his tail.
On the surface, the somewhat "senile" Grand Maester Pycelle seemed to be actively speaking up for Prime Minister Jon, which was also consistent with Pycelle's usual flattery of the Prime Minister.
However, this also depended on the context. Even the exact same thing, if placed in a different context, could have completely different effects.
For example, with Queen Cersei present, Pycelle's words actually amounted to undermining Prime Minister Jon's proposal to seal the city.
Prime Minister Jon's proposal to seal the city, though it had gained the support of most Small Council members, still lacked one final procedural step from the Small Council.
That was the vote; only proposals that had gone through the Small Council's voting process were legitimate.
Just one step away, it was interrupted by Queen Cersei.
Now, Pycelle "unintentionally" brought this matter up in front of Queen Cersei, and what was originally a foregone conclusion now had an unexpected variable.
...…
...…
While the important figures in the Throne Room were clashing, Greene was in the midst of the surging Narrow Sea.
Reik Snow shouted, "Lord Greene, we're being targeted by pirates, but don't worry, the wind is in our favor, and we'll shake them off before dark!"
Greene looked at the three black dots in the distance and shouted, "Reik, you are now the commander of the Klaeb fleet!"
Greene walked a few steps, grabbing a rope, and pointed in the direction of the pirate ships, shouting, "Get closer!"
You're the boss!
Reik was also spurred to battle, wiping the seawater from his face, and shouted, "First Mate, prepare to turn, hard to port! Hold tight to the ropes!"
The first mate on the ship immediately shouted back, "Aye, Captain! Hard to port!"
The ship gradually tilted, and Reik observed the waves, ordering, "Straighten the course!"
"Aye! Straighten the course!"
The sailors on the ship loudly shouted, desperately pulling tight the ropes connected to the sails, controlling the direction of the sails.
The bow of the ship cut through layers of waves, and the Klaeb longship trailed a large expanse of white foam.
Greene's ears were filled with the sound of rushing water. He took a specially made longbow from Matier Baker: "Martial, stay close to me!"
Martial, covered in quivers, loudly replied, "Lord Greene, rest assured!"
The people on the pirate ships also noticed their "prey" adjusting its course and actively approaching them.
They had three ships, and the other side only had two ships; the advantage was theirs!
The pirate captain leaned on the railing, roaring arrogantly, "Who do they think they are? I am the king of this sea! Get the ships closer!"
When both sides could clearly see each other, the sea also calmed down slightly.
"Lower the sails! Prepare for boarding combat!"
"Lower the sails! Prepare for boarding combat!"
At roughly the same time, the captains on both sides issued the same command!
...…
On the other ship, Mondon put on his iron bucket helmet: "Anguy, the waves are still very strong, don't go too far forward, be careful not to fall."
Anguy observed his surroundings with sharp eyes, nodding: "Mondon, I've pretty much adapted to the ship's rocking, mainly it's too cramped on the ship, you're the one who needs to be careful."
Mondon pulled down his face mask, chuckled, and said in a dull voice, "Have you decided who you're going to marry?"
Anguy was indeed popular with the spear-wives in Klaeb Territory, especially after he couldn't help but defeat a few spear-wives he considered too strong.
Anguy, who was outwardly quite popular, actually had unspoken difficulties.
Anguy wanted to change the subject and suddenly said, "Mondon, why do I feel… you've been avoiding Lord Greene lately? Aren't you usually the one who likes to follow the lord the most?"
Mondon wanted to scratch his head, but his fingers touched the cold helmet, so he withdrew his hand.
Mondon looked at Anguy with a blank stare and said, "Anguy, I didn't notice that, you might be mistaken."
Saying that, Mondon turned his gaze to the approaching pirate ship in the distance, raised his round shield, and said, "I'm going to the front."
The ship was still rocking violently, but Mondon's steps were very steady.
Anguy looked at Mondon's broad back with a puzzled expression, then withdrew his gaze.
There was still some time before boarding combat, so Anguy carefully checked his bow and arrows again.
...…
...…
Red Keep, Throne Room.
A mocking arc appeared on Queen Cersei's lips, and her tone was cold: "Jon Arryn, not only is your health problematic, but have you also become senile?"
Cersei's words seemed to freeze the entire Throne Room.
Facing the various gazes focused on her, Cersei proudly lifted her chin and snorted coldly.
Prime Minister Jon couldn't help but clench his fist, his tone carrying a warning: "Queen Lannister, this is the Small Council, not your private chambers!"
After speaking, Prime Minister Jon's throat tickled, and he couldn't help but cough.
Petyr hurriedly rose and walked over, but Prime Minister Jon waved him away.
Queen Cersei, who had been greatly angered by Jon's mention of "private chambers," was now instantly pleased to see Prime Minister Jon in such an unusually disheveled state.
After finally stopping his coughing, Prime Minister Jon, leaning weakly against the back of his chair, looked like a helpless and frail old man.
Would Cersei sympathize with the weak Prime Minister Jon?
Cersei never sympathized with the weak; she would only gloat and kick them when they were down. Not helping them was her showing great mercy.
Queen Cersei looked at Prime Minister Jon and slowly said, "Is Duke Jon interested in my bedchamber? When did this start? King's Hand, you rarely make me curious."
"You!"
Duke Jon's chest heaved more intensely: "Queen Cersei, do not casually defile my honor!"
Queen Cersei said coldly, "Only a coward would make such a big fuss sealing King's Landing for their own safety. Next time you visit, I'll send you a dress."
Facing some suspicious glances around him, Prime Minister Jon felt like he was about to spit blood from anger… How could Duke Tywin, the Old Lion, have such a daughter!
Cersei naturally didn't know that Prime Minister Jon was outwardly using the pretext of investigating secret passages, but his true purpose was to control the situation by sealing King's Landing in advance once the issue of the royal bloodline was revealed.
Cersei thought that Old Jon was terrified by the discovery of the secret passages, which was why he was making such a big fuss.
According to Cersei's conjecture, Prime Minister Jon's actions were those of a coward.
The words that angered Prime Minister Jon the most were not Cersei's offer to send him a dress, though that remark certainly didn't help his temper.
It was mainly Cersei's ambiguous wording; Prime Minister Jon felt he had truly witnessed Cersei's depravity, and this was the Queen he himself had chosen for King Robert.
Everyone knew there were no secrets in the Red Keep; didn't she care about her own reputation?
Cersei, of course, cared about her reputation!
It's just that Queen Cersei's chief steward, Greene Kleber, set a bad precedent… In Cersei's view, whoever dared to slander her, she would simply send Greene to make their heads roll. She rather missed that feeling.
I, Cersei Lannister, never know what fear is!
...…
The clash between the Prime Minister and the Queen left the other ministers unable to intervene, except for the King's younger brother—Renly.
Renly really wanted to help Prime Minister Jon, but he couldn't find a suitable opportunity.
On one hand, House Baratheon was naturally close to Prime Minister Jon; on the other hand, Renly had once planned to pull Cersei Lannister from her position as Queen and make Margaery Tyrell the new Queen, which would strike a blow against Lannister power while gaining the support of the Golden Rose Family for him.
Unfortunately, the plan had just begun… Jaime was madly scattering gold dragons everywhere, investigating and probing like crazy, forcing him to temporarily halt his actions and very cautiously divert the clues towards the Riverlands.
Conspiracy is, after all, dark. Everyone uses it, but no one likes it. If it is accidentally exposed, it will tarnish the honor of House Baratheon.
Facing Jaime's wild punches, Renly had to back off for the sake of the bigger picture.
Renly and his trusted advisors had planned for a long time, and the plan had only just begun to show some results, but it ended like child's play.
In the heavy atmosphere, Renly suddenly burst into laughter. His laughter carried a bold and unrestrained quality, very much like King Robert.
Renly eased the atmosphere in his own way: "Your Highness Cersei, you might not understand Duke Jon very well. He never understood humor, and King Robert never liked that about him!"
As Renly's words fell, laughter erupted among the others.
Cersei snorted lightly and said nothing more, not because Renly's words had any effect.
Renly's words mentioning King Robert contained an implicit warning; he was reminding Queen Cersei of the special and deep affection between King Robert and Prime Minister Jon, telling her not to push too hard.
The proud Cersei did not detect the deeper meaning in Renly's words; she merely felt nauseous looking at Renly's face, which closely resembled a young Robert.
Cersei hated everything and everyone associated with King Robert!
Misunderstandings can sometimes be beautiful… At this moment, Renly suddenly felt that although Cersei was a bit willful, she still knew how to advance and retreat at critical moments. If she hadn't been born into the Lannister, she would have been a qualified Queen.
Renly's smile was carefree as he continued, "Your Highness Cersei, your sudden attendance at the Small Council must mean something important! Shall we discuss your matter first?"
After speaking, Renly looked at Prime Minister Jon.
Renly was still too young… Jon sighed inwardly and said nothing, merely nodding slightly.
Cersei looked at the smiling Renly and couldn't help but roll her eyes slightly.
"Prime Minister Jon, I hear that due to your health, Petyr has been acting as Prime Minister on your behalf (information heard from Greene). Are you planning to train Petyr to be the successor to the King's Hand?"
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