"Ignorance is a curse that no one should have, but human beings were naturally born to be foolish and submissive." Aenar Targaryen, God Emperor of the Imperium of Mankind of the Known Universe.
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"Although I don't know dragons, remember to show courage." Varys looked at the boy wearing armor before him and said with a gentle tone. He hesitated for a moment, but still spoke. "If you see that you're not going to make it, don't hesitate to walk away."
"Even among the Targaryens, there are examples of some not getting a dragon." Varys said.
"We can use that in case the claim fails." Illyrio spoke with a much more relaxed tone after hearing Varys' words.
Varys nodded, but still warned firmly. "We have to go in angry, the queen may be calm, but I know she's furious."
"Don't worry, Lord Varys." Aegon spoke with a confident tone. "Daenerys is in love with me, otherwise how could she leave her dragon to me?"
Varys was speechless at Aegon's optimism, but seeing the confident look and self-satisfaction on his face, the eunuch remained silent. He knew that if he dared to say anything against this idea, he would be hated by the young man, which was not what he wanted.
But deep in his heart, Varys wondered if a boy like this could really control Westeros, or even surpass Robert and Aenar.
Although Robert was a terrible king, his prestige as a warrior was unparalleled. Aenar, besides being a brilliant strategist, was extremely cunning and knew how to say exactly what people wanted to hear; he was a more terrible opponent than Robert.
Looking at Aegon's childish face and lean body, Varys only felt his doubts deepen. Although Aegon was intelligent, charismatic and kind, he lacked experience and resolute thinking.
Varys really wanted to know how Aenar had been taught to be so mature at the tender age of fourteen, it was truly incredible for a teenager to create what Aenar created.
"Remembering that, are you sure House Targaryen is involved in blood magic? Him creating Chimeras?" Illyrio asked with a serious, solemn tone.
If there was anything terrible in Ancient Valyria besides dragons, it was chimeras made with blood magic. Man-eating monsters capable of tearing through a person like a piece of bread. Valiria had hundreds of thousands of them and used them when necessary.
"That man following the queen smells of blood magic." Varys commented in a calm tone, but in the depths of his gaze, a colossal hatred could be seen. He hated anything to do with magic and he especially hated Blood Magic.
Even now, Varys could remember perfectly how the wizard ripped off his genitals and threw him into the fire afterwards. The pain, the anger, the resentment allowed him to stay alive even after being left in a dark alley to almost die, but staying alive left great scars on his mind and left him with a gift capable of sensing magic through smell.
left in a dark alley almost dying, but staying alive left great scars on his mind and left him with a gift capable of sensing magic through smell.
Titus, who protected the queen, smelled of the disgusting scent of blood magic, of that he had not the slightest shadow of doubt.
"That could be good for us, especially if the population gets wind of it." Illyrio commented with a cunning and malicious look. Although using blood magic is not a crime, especially for rulers, the example of what happened to Ancient Valiria was still relatively recent, just over four hundred years old.
The people knew the end of Valiria, which could be a good tool to fight against King Aenar's strong influence in King's Landing.
"Rumors have also started to spread in the city, they call Aegon the Corpse Snatcher." Varys spoke with a calm tone. "House Tyrell acted very quickly, I myself didn't expect anyone to pay attention to the city while all the chaos was going on."
Aegon's face turned livid when he heard that he was being called the Corpse Snatcher. Even though he was young, he could imagine that even if he became king, this title would accompany him for life. And if one day he did become king, his political enemies would use it to undermine his interests and those of the entire court.
If before Aegon's attitude towards House Tyrell had been one of indifference, now it had evolved into extreme disgust. He had only just arrived in Westeros, but rumors were already circulating in King's Landing.
"I'm going to destroy House Tyrell." He said with a look of anger on his face. The title of Corpse Usurper will tarnish his reputation even after his death, how could it not infuriate him.
"Lord Aegon, House Tyrell has ninety thousand soldiers and Lady Margaery, Daughter of the Lord Paramount is unmarried and of marriageable age." Varys spoke in a gentle tone as he looked at Aegon with an appraising gaze.
The anger on Aegon's face disappeared completely at Varys' words, ninety thousand soldiers and the Lord Paramount's daughter is unmarried, there were no words more beautiful than those to his ears.
But Aegon's expression soon showed doubt, he wanted Daenerys, not Margaery. And even if House Tyrell was powerful, it was nothing compared to House Targaryen.
Poor Aegon, House Targaryen was powerful, but it was powerful because of Aenar. If you take away Aenar, Caraxes and the Red Legion and the Sardaukar, House Targaryen would only have three juvenile dragons and no army. Without Aenar, with such strength, it was really hard to compare with House Tyrell.
Suddenly, applause rang out outside the stadium, indicating that the queen had arrived.
"Daenerys has arrived." Aegon forgot all about his unhappiness as he walked towards the tunnel exit.
As soon as he crossed the final light of the tunnel, Aegon's eyes ignored everyone and focused on the royal box, where only the royal family and important guests could sit. His eyes settled on Daenerys, who was smiling happily at the nobles.
Taking a deep breath, Aegon walked down to the lower cabin and knelt in front of it. Looking directly into her eyes, he said. "I won't let you down and I'll make the world recognize me."
Daenerys' lips curled at the words of passionate admiration in front of a married woman like her. If Aegon wasn't so stupid, she really thought the idiot was using words as a weapon to tarnish her honor.
Daenerys looked coldly at Aegon and assumed that there was something very wrong with Aegon's head; the boy was simply difficult to describe in human words.
But since he wanted to suffer, Daenerys was willing to be a good hostess and fulfill Aegon's dying wish.
Without even looking at Aegon once, something he automatically thought the queen was shying away from, Daenerys simply called Balerion.
The black dragon arrived quickly to the surprised exclamation of the crowd in both stands. It wasn't just Balerion who had arrived, but Moonfyre and Vermithor landed, making the eyes of nobles and commoners alike go wide.
Seeing dragons so close was like seeing them flying above the city. The majesty and horror of a dragon can only be seen up close, where fear can truly flourish.
Balerion in particular had a totally different charm from the other two dragons, the dragon was practically the second coming of Balerion, the Black Terror. Which of course became everyone's focus, especially after seeing the dragon's frightening, majestic and horrifying appearance.
Of the current dragons of House Targaryen, Balerion ranked first in terms of frightening appearance. Black scales, red eyes, menacing spines and an expression that always said, "I will devour you at any moment."
How could that not strike fear into people?
Yet Aegon was excited to see Balerion. He felt that fate really was with him.
Always a Balerion for an Aegon.
However, Balerion didn't think so. The red draconic stared at the surrounding insects with a threatening look. The black dragon didn't like being stared at by so many people. Especially the insect that was bravely approaching him.
Its coal-red eyes sharpened as Balerion's head turned to face Aegon, who was getting closer and closer to the dragon.
Seeing the dragon's head looking at him, Aegon smiled happily and felt that this was just Balerion's recognition.
In the stands, Rhaenys and Rhaella scoffed at his foolish actions.
"It's like Aenar said, ignorance is bliss." Rhaenys commented with a sarcastic tone. If Aegon knew the slightest thing about dragons, he would know that this whole show was extremely stupid. Especially with a dragon as grumpy as Balerion.
How grumpy is Balerion?
In practical terms, the dragon would only let Daenerys ride him and touch him, even the members of House Targaryen couldn't touch Balerion. Apart from Daenerys, Balerion only tolerated Aenar touching him, but if Aenar tried to ride him, the black dragon would react with ferocity, showing that he only accepted Daenerys behind his back.
So, after learning of Daenerys' plan, Rhaenys watched with pleasure as Aegon died under the black dragon's flames.
Smelling a slightly sweet, slightly sour smell, Rhaenys looked at Daenerys and saw that she was eating a lemon cake with a pleased expression as she looked at the farseer walking towards Balerion.
At the same time, she heard Daenerys speaking to the servants around them. "Let them eat cake."
In the same minute, the lords and laddys had lemon cakes in their hands, no one dared contradict the queen and they ate without a second thought.
Rhaenys couldn't help but look strangely at Daenerys. "What are you doing?"
Taking a bite of the lemon cake, Daenerys replied in a sweet, gentle tone. "Of course celebrating the start of the show with cake. What's a party without cake?"
Rhaenys was speechless listening to her words, Daenerys may have seemed sweet, delicate, innocent and benevolent, but she was a rather sadistic and cold queen in her eyes. Honestly, Daenerys frightened her on many levels, the grotto was really scary.
Who could eat cake while others burned in flames?
"Don't look at me with those frightened eyes, niece." Daenerys was naturally sensitive to looks, perhaps because she had suffered several assassination attempts. Then she felt Rhaenys' gaze on her and spoke with a smile.
"My cruelty is meant only for our enemies." She said as she used her tongue to gently remove the cream from between her lips.
Rhaenys nodded, but didn't feel that this was really a satisfactory answer, as she felt that if she went against Aenar, Daenerys would attack her without any hesitation.
Not that she would betray her brother, but Rhaenys sensed that Daenerys really did have a level of obsession with Aenar far superior to Visenya and herself.
If there was any way to describe Daenerys' gaze on Aenar, Rhaenys would describe it as Daenerys looking at Aenar as the center of the world, something she didn't even notice or if she did, simply ignored.
"It has begun." Ignoring her foolish niece beside her, Daenerys focused her gaze on Aegon, who was dangerously close to Balerion.
seemed strangely pleasant to him. Perhaps fire and brimstone ran through his veins, just like all Targaryens.
"Hello Balerion, we will do many things together." Aegon spoke, stepping forward and standing officially three meters away from Balerion.
But Aegon's words made Balerion genuinely tilt his head to the side, as if doubting whether he had heard correctly.
The two-legged sheep in front of him was insane.
That was the only thing Balerion could think after hearing Aegon speak to the High Valyrian Bastard and Ugly.
In an instant, to Aegon's delight, Balerion brought the draconic head to within a few centimeters of him.
But Aegon's expression of joy vanished at the same moment.
Balerion opened his mouth, revealing sharp teeth, but deep in the dragon's throat, black and red flame could be seen building up.
Aegon's desperate face was illuminated by the black and red flames.
"Fuck!!!"
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