Game of Thrones: Joffrey the Chosen

The raven took flight from the top of the Scholar's Tower, quickly turning into a black dot and disappearing into the northern horizon.

Joffrey had lost count of how many this was.

The first one was sent out, but there was no reply.

The second one was sent out, but there was no reply.

The third one, the fourth one...

This one is probably the same.

"She will come. She will let my mother go." Sansa stood behind him, her voice so soft it was as if she were trying to convince herself. "She's my aunt. She's just scared."

"She just... needs time."

Joffrey did not turn around.

Outside the window, King's Landing was still bustling, and the excitement of the martial arts tournament had already dissipated.

The residents returned to their daily lives, filling their bellies with bowls of brown soup as the sea breeze blew through them.

Only those inside the Red Fort knew the mess left behind after that revelry.

"She's not coming," Joffrey said.

Day after day, one cawing bird after another flew away.

"Is she coming or not?" Robert asked.

Ed just nodded painfully.

"Your Majesty, she will come."

The atmosphere at the Imperial Conference grew increasingly somber each day.

Lord Tywin Lannister no longer attends the meetings, but sends the same message every day.

"The Western Army is ready and awaits Your Majesty's decision."

Robert has stopped swearing lately; he just sits in the head seat with a gloomy face, tapping his knuckles on the table more and more frequently.

He has recently attended more royal council meetings than he did in the previous few years combined.

"Ned, is that woman coming or not?"

"I'm losing my patience!"

She won't come.

Ed already had the worst possible guess in his mind.

Lysa not only detained the little devil, but she didn't even spare her own sister.

Ed wrote to his father-in-law, Horst Tully, asking him to intervene.

But the old man was bedridden, and Riverrun was now in the hands of Edmure Tully.

That kid's words carry absolutely no weight.

Ed had no choice but to place his hopes on Brynden Tully again.

Because he shared the same name as someone else, everyone called him by his nickname, "Black Fish".

He was the younger brother of the Duke of Riverrun, and was over fifty years old and still unmarried.

More than a decade ago, unable to bear her brother's pressure to get married, she ran away to the Valley with her niece in a fit of anger and became a Blood Gate Knight.

Despite his strained relationship with his brother, Blackfish still cares deeply for his two nieces, and Ed also maintains a close relationship with him.

But now, even he can't step into Eagle's Nest City.

Blackfish pleaded several times, but in the end he only received a letter slipped through the crack in the door.

It wasn't even written by Ryza herself; the wording was polite yet cold.

"The Duchess is deeply grieving and unwell, and is not fit to travel far at this time. Lord Tyrion and Lady Catelyn have come voluntarily, and the Eyrie has treated them as honored guests. Once the Duchess recovers, we will send someone to escort them back south."

Robert slammed the letter on the table.

"Insolence! Insolence!"

"Does she think I'm a three-year-old?"

"I want to cut off her head and shove it onto the tip of a gun!"

He then looked at Ed and said, "I was just saying, I won't actually cut him."

Compared to others, Joffrey has been living a very comfortable life lately.

Cersei was secretly delighted because everyone's attention had been drawn to Lysa.

So they almost always granted his requests, and didn't care what he wanted to do.

Joffrey then took this opportunity to remove the nails Littlefinger had planted in King's Landing one by one and replace them all with his own men.

As for Lord Genos, his health is deteriorating day by day, and he will probably have to resign soon.

This has absolutely nothing to do with the drinks Joffrey offered him.

Joffrey accompanied Robert to every royal council meeting, always wearing a worried expression as if he were sharing the nation's burdens.

After accumulating little by little over several months, the Heavenly Will Value finally reached its maximum again.

This time, I drew a self-defense skill again.

Murder in a Dream

[Just sleep: If you're attacked while dozing, your body will automatically react accordingly and fall into a deep sleep of varying degrees depending on the enemy's level.]

Joffrey stared at the screen in silence for a long time.

Why do the descriptions of these skills always have to be forcibly linked to something else?

Moreover, it must be a false sleep.

If you're really asleep, it won't have any effect.

The next role has been updated.

A cunning and scheming political manipulator

At the same time, the system has also added a new feature that allows users to spend lottery chances to upgrade skills with levels.

As for Lysa, Joffrey also checked twice using [Stargazing].

Caitlyn and Tyrion were each confined to their own rooms; Lysa effectively grounded them.

She has no intention of releasing them, nor does she intend to come to King's Landing.

Coming to King's Landing is like walking into a trap.

She had probably made up her mind to rely on the natural defenses of the Eyrie to delay the matter indefinitely.

I kept putting it off until my little finger, maybe until the moment I promised her.

"When the world is in chaos, we will get married."

As for Lysa daring to disobey the king's orders, she also had her own reasons for doing so.

From the Andal conquest to the Targaryen invasion, no army has ever been able to breach the Eyrie by force.

The Blood Gate guards the entrance to the valley.

Yuemenbao is located at the foot of the mountain.

The three passes – Weiyanbao, Xueshanbao, and Changtianbao – are lined up in succession, firmly blocking the only treacherous mountain path.

The Eyrie itself is a small palace perched atop the Spear of the Giants, with seven white towers.

Facilities such as stables and blacksmith shops were also built in the mountains outside.

As a pure fortress, the Eyrie can hold at most five hundred people, but it has a granary as large as Winterfell.

Once filled, it's enough to feed the people inside for a whole year.

Its only connection to the outside world, besides the winch elevator for transporting goods, is a rugged mountain path several hundred feet long, only wide enough for a few people to walk side by side.

Even those traveling light need a full hour to climb from bottom to top.

The Eyrie only ever surrendered a few hundred years ago.

Visenia Targaryen rode the dragon Varghal directly to the mountaintop and used dragonfire to force his then-master to surrender.

But now...

Forget about finding a dragon, or building another Eagle's Nest.

Even siege equipment that can be transported up the mountain is probably beyond what anyone can manufacture.

Westeros is getting worse every year.

During yet another royal council meeting, Duke Tywin Lannister, who had not appeared for a long time, suddenly showed up in the hall.

He did not sit down, but stood at the end of the long table and calmly stated his position.

Tyrion has been voluntarily detained for over a month, and there has been no news of Lady Catelyn.

He emphasized the word "voluntary," but his tone revealed no emotion whatsoever.

"The Western Frontier army has marched to Golden Tooth City. If Lady Lysa still refuses to release him, I will have no choice but to go and fetch him myself."

Ed Horan stood up.

"That means they'll be passing through the Riverlands. How will the Tully family cope with a large army crossing their territory?"

Tywin glanced at him.

"Therefore I have come to consult Your Majesty first."

As for Robert's expression, Joffrey couldn't discern his attitude towards the matter.

"Wait a little longer."

Tywin nodded and turned to leave.

Not right.

Joffrey was surprised.

When did Tywin become so patient? This isn't like him at all.

Robert's reaction was also quite strange.

They made no comment on the large force being amassed in the western border, neither obstructing nor questioning it, and showed no outward anger whatsoever.

Joffrey glanced at Ed's somber face out of the corner of his eye.

He suddenly had a guess.

Robert had been itching to go to war for a long time.

Could it be that he and Tywin conspired behind the Prime Minister's back?