Ice and Fire: Reign of the Dragon.

Chapter 2: Ronzel Varese

His light blond hair and beard were tangled together, covered with dust and blood, and his blue-purple eyes stared at the boy blankly. His mouth opened wide as if he wanted to say something, but unfortunately, he couldn't say anything.

The son of the former Archon of Volantis and my mother.
The boy recognized where the head came from.

"No——" the boy screamed wildly in his heart.

I hope it wasn't Longzel who did this.

That is the crime of parricide!
"What are you looking at? Lei."

His brother's voice came from behind him. Rei turned around suddenly, and his violet eyes, still a little frightened, met his brother's deep purple eyes.

The silver-haired boy smiled and looked into his brother's eyes. The boy was tall and thin, not very old, about 15 or 6 years old, with short, delicate silver hair slightly curled, and dark purple eyes slightly narrowed, gentle and reserved. Even among the Valyrian nobles who were famous for their beauty, the boy's appearance was considered the most outstanding. The purple silk tokar robe was cool and comfortable, and the exposed arms were covered with a circle of gorgeous silver dragon armlets, showing the boy's extraordinaryness everywhere.

"Brother!" Rey pointed at the head and looked into Longzel Varese's eyes with some horror.

Longzel smiled and stroked his brother's silver hair, looking at the slightly chaotic main court. His eyes, which had just been as gentle as the warm spring day in Volantis, suddenly turned cold. "Yamor, you scared my brother."

"I'm sorry, young master." The strong man with a slightly curly beard raised the long-handled battle axe that was still dripping with blood, and bowed slightly in the direction of Rey. The long-winged dragon tattoo on his cheek shone brightly in the sun. "Master, this person sneaked into the mansion and tried to steal your property. I have executed this thief according to the law of the Volantis Blackwall Code."

After saying that, Amor lightly kicked the corpse, whose neck was still bleeding, to the ground, and signaled the Unsullied who was guarding the mansion to drag it away.

"Longzel, you are committing patriarchy!"

A slightly shrill High Valyrian pronunciation, and even some grammatical errors.

The fat silver-haired man did not hide his fear and his wet lower clothes, and pointed his fat finger at Longzier and shouted loudly. He was surrounded by the Unsullied who were armed with spears and fully armed.

Even though more Unsullied and silver-armored guards with tattoos on their faces surrounded them.

"And this man." Yamor raised his long-handled axe. "According to the law, among the Blackwall nobles, leading armed men into another's house is considered a declaration of war."

Longzel patted Rei's head gently, motioning him to step behind him, and then he turned his gaze to the fat man.

"who are you?"

"You" the man almost fainted from anger.

"Oh, I remember now." Longzel clapped his hands. "You are the young Cavedo of the Bentaro family, the youngest son of the old Cavedo, the former consul." He took a few steps forward and motioned for Amor to put down the axe. "I just came back from the workshop in the town of Veronces, and I don't quite understand what happened. So, Lord Cavedo, can you explain why you led your troops into my mansion?"

At this time, little Cavido already regretted being fooled by his unreliable illegitimate brother and joining him in this mess.

"Lord Longzel." Seeing that Longzel did not directly order him to be expelled, Little Cavedo courageously retreated behind a strong Unsullied, leaving only his head exposed. "Please forgive my offense. I am only expressing condolences to Lord Cleolius of the Vareses family, who has just returned to the gods, on behalf of the Bentaro family. As for the soldiers."

Little Cavedo glanced around the main court, his Unsullied guards, and the shivering male and female slaves huddled aside. His voice became louder. "They are my slaves. Volantis law allows nobles to bring slaves with them when visiting people." He patted the Unsullied beside him, but the Unsullied remained motionless. "They are responsible for my safety. As for the male slaves, I need them to take me around. As for the female slaves..."

Before he could finish his words, Amor raised his long-handled axe again. The tall warrior looked at little Cavedo without saying a word. Little Cavedo choked back his words.

"There are no slaves in the mansion of Vareses. Even the Unsullied are indentured servants under the emblem of the laurel silver dragon." Longzier took a few steps forward and opened his arms. "The family welcomes friends who respect our traditions." He looked at the bloodstains on the ground. "But those with ulterior motives and thieves are not welcome! Lord Cavedo, why are you here?" The boy shouted in High Valyrian.

"I, I come to mourn, to mourn Lord Cleolius." Little Cavedo's voice trembled a little.

"What about him?" Longzel tilted his head and looked at the bloodstain. The body had long been carried away by the nimble Unsullied. "If I remember correctly, this person is yours."

"Lord Longzel, please don't misunderstand. Although that man is somewhat related to me, he is not the guest who came here with me to visit me. I am not familiar with him." Little Cavedo hurriedly distanced himself from him.

Longzel shook his head helplessly, having to admire the ability of this noble of the Bentarot family to adapt to changing circumstances.

"So why do you accuse me of patriarchy?"

Being stared at by Longzel's deep purple eyes, little Cavedo felt uncomfortable all over. This time, he even shrank his head back behind the Unsullied.

"Lord Dragonziel, I beg your pardon." He switched back to High Valyrian with a hint of Volantis's accent.

This time it sounds much better.

"I am not very good at High Valyrian. Perhaps my pronunciation is wrong. You heard me wrongly. I swear by R'hllor, the Lord of Light, and the gods of old Valyria. I swear on the honor of House Bentalo."

Rey, who had been standing behind Longzel and watching the fun, curled his lips. He thought to himself, "What honor do they have? I heard from Master Vesalius that old Cavedo became consul by bribing those elders and senators. His family even went outside the Black Wall and sprinkled money on the streets to bribe voters."

Just then, Rei saw several young people gathered in a corner of the main court, whispering something.

The boy glanced at his brother and moved closer to the young men little by little.

"Is that so?" Longzel glanced at the people brought by little Cavedo, and seeing them all lowering their heads in fear, he waved his hand to signal his guards to retreat. "Lord Cavedo, please thank the Bentaro family for their condolences on my behalf."

"The Bentaro family is deeply saddened by the passing of Lord Cleorius." Seeing that Longzel had let him go, Little Cavedo breathed a sigh of relief and squeezed out a few tears. "To express my sorrow, I personally offer the ancient and noble Vareses family the land between the Little Rhoan River and the Ben Odur Manor, as well as 2000 tiger skins, as funeral rites. Lord Longzel, please accept them. The family's gifts will be delivered later."

"Thank you, Lord Cavedo." Longzel bowed slightly and raised his hand, indicating that he could go.

The two Unsullied hurriedly lifted up little Cavedo, who could no longer stand, and fled away with the remaining slaves and Unsullied soldiers.

Longzel couldn't help but hold his head.

How could that idiot Cavedo not know the identity of the dead man? He was his illegitimate brother and Longzel's brother from the same mother.

These were all the bad karma left by Princess Senila. Although Longzel had taken in several illegitimate children left by his mother, there were still a few who always made him feel uneasy. Fortunately, most of them had returned to the gods.

Except for one.

Alexios Bentaro, the unlucky guy who was beheaded on the spot by Amor.

This illegitimate child who was almost entering middle age had even participated in the 101 Great Councils of Westeros. If it weren't for Princess Senira's bad reputation, oh, even if her reputation was not bad, given her status, this illegitimate child would never be able to sit on that iron chair.

Even if he couldn't speak now, Longzel knew what he wanted to do by coming to his mansion in such a high profile.

"Don't think I'm easy to bully just because I'm young."

Longzel turned around and walked towards the fountain pool in the center of the main courtyard. He placed his palm downward and without any movement, a drop of silver blood fell into the pool.

It disappeared immediately without a trace.

"It seems that mother's bad karma has been completely cut off." Longzel withdrew his hand and walked towards the direction where his brother and those young people were talking and laughing.

Yamor leaned the long-handled axe on his shoulder and followed Longzel closely.

"Yamor, where is Valar?" Longzel asked his twin brother.

"Young Master Valar went to the Silver Blood Army Manor on the Orange Coast. You set up a military training course for him, which was led by the Unsullied Centurion 'Silver Scorpion'."

"Very good." After asking about his brother's condition, Longzel also came to the side of the young servants who were talking and laughing. Lynn Valtaken, who had black hair mixed with silver, was holding Rey and talking with a smile. His bronze arms were muscular. Although he was young, anyone with a little experience could see that this young man was a good warrior.

Amos Fezer, who had neat short silver hair, folded his arms and leaned against a pillar with a smile on his face.

Ago, a Dothraki boy with braided hair, was shirtless and leaning against the wall without saying a word. The arakh hanging on his waist flashed coldly, but his eyes were filled with a smile.

Sebastian Jieyan, who had a pair of beautiful, bright eyes, saw Longzel coming, bowed slightly, and made way.

It just happened to reveal the silver-haired young man who was leaning against the wall with a smirk on his face.

"Tigaro, what did you prepare for little Cavedo?" How could Longzel not know what his friends had done? He glanced at them and found Tigaro Dagareon who was still grinning.

"My Lord, he drank the wine I handed him." Tigaro stopped smiling and answered formally. "Don't worry, I didn't prepare anything strong. It's just a mixture of the sting of a forest scorpion and Rees salt crystals."

Longzel raised his hand to stop him from continuing. "Just tell him how long he can live."

"If he doesn't drink and have sex," Tigaro gestured. "One or two months is no problem. If he can't control himself, three days at most. The more he drinks, the faster he will die."

"well done."

"As you wish."

Longzel patted Tigaro on the shoulder, led Amor through the corridor, and walked into the main hall of the mansion. Surrounded by marble columns, there was a huge map table engraved with the route of the Varese family. The young servants also followed in with Rei, standing beside Longzel. The servants came in with copper jars filled with ice, and the temperature in the room suddenly became much more comfortable.

These young people are Longzel's important reliance in managing the family.

Lynn Valtaken is also the illegitimate son of Princess Senira, but his birth is extremely humble. He didn't even know who his parents were before he was adopted by Longzel. He had been making a living by collecting debts at the port of Lys.

Amos Fezel and Sebastian Felburn were both from a Lys slave ship that was captured by the fleet of Varese. The Lys pirate fleet destroyed Sebastian's hometown and captured him as a young boy. Amos also had the blood of the Valyrians in his veins. Because of this, the captain of the slave ship tried to sell Amos to a Lys brothel.

Fortunately, the ship never reached the port of Rees.

Aggo was from a small khalasar that took shelter in the House of Varese. Their khal died in the fighting at the Great Grass Sea, and another khal destroyed their khalasar, until that khalasar, which was not very strong, was defeated by the Tiger Cloaks who guarded the border of Volantis.

Tigaro Dagareon also came from Lys, but unlike several of his companions who were also from Lys, his father, Fisher Dagareon, once had great wealth, but everything ended in the internal strife of Lys. Fisher died from a cup of poisoned wine, and Tigaro was sold as a slave by other big families until he was rescued and adopted by Longzel's father.

Dr. Vesalius and the family's chief retainer, Vincent Caon, were already waiting at the map table.

"Sir, we have sold the northern manor according to your instructions." Seeing Longzel coming to the table, Vincent Kaon bowed slightly and then said, "All are priced in gold and silver."

"Which family acquired it?" Longzel looked at the chief retainer with a long black beard.

"It's mainly Lord Hamar of the Cyrenaica family and Lord Dolan of the Megaya family." Vansen walked around Longzel and whispered, "Lord Dolan is willing to pay 20% more and hopes to invite you to the dinner at the Megaya Palace.

"I see." Longzel seemed to be mentally prepared for this situation.

As the city-state with the closest connection to the Valyrian Freehold among the free trade cities on the Essos continent, Volantis has always been a republic. After the Doom of Valyria, Volantis, trying to rebuild the Valyrian Empire, launched a war. At the end of the chaos that later generations called the "Age of Bloodshed", Volantis was defeated. The "Tiger Party" that advocated war withdrew from the stage. To this day, two of the three archons in the Volantis Senate still belong to the "Elephant Party", the final winner of that dispute.

The Varese family was a supporter of the Elephantine Party, and Ugadu of the Cyrenaica family was one of the two Elephantine Party governors in this term.

As for the Megya family who were willing to raise the price, their head, Belisio, served as the only Tiger Party member in this term of consuls.

The reason is self-evident.

"Have you promised Lord Dolan?" Longzel tapped the table lightly.

"No." Vincent Kaon shook his head. "But Lord Dolan is also interested in purchasing the family's mine."

"The mines are not urgent." Longzel looked at Dr. Vesalius. "Master Vesalius, how is the construction of the large sailing ship in the shipyard going?"

Dr. Vesalius pulled out a piece of parchment from his sleeve. "The 'Crying Boy' and the 'Lord of Silence' have completed their sea trials, and the 'Cleolius' and the 'Sea Dragon' have just been launched. I can assure you that these large sailing ships are capable of sailing in any sea."

"Including the sea of ​​smoke in the ruins of Valyria?" Longzel said softly.

"This..." Dr. Vesalius was speechless.

Longzel did not continue speaking, but nodded and continued: "Lord Kaon, please continue to sell the land, workshops and manors according to the original plan, and the mine will be sold last."

The deep purple eyes turned and looked at the young servants beside them.

"Ago, take Sebastian and Amos to the Silver Blood Army Manor and let Valar and the others get ready."

"Yes, the blood of my blood." Ago lowered his head.

The Dothraki boy stubbornly saw himself as Dragonzir's bloodrider, a warrior and close friend of the khal in Dothraki tradition.

"Lin En, take Tigaro with you to deal with the properties in Volantis."

“As you wish.” Before Lin En finished speaking, he pulled Tigaro out.

"Master Vesalius." After assigning the tasks, Longzel turned to the old scholar. "We can set off now."

"As you wish."

Underneath the Varese mansion is a huge artificial cavity.

This was once where previous generations of family owners stored treasures and fine wine.

Now it has become a huge laboratory.

Longzel wandered among strangely shaped statues and complex symbols.

Among them are twisted lion-headed scorpions, limbless, wingless dragons that look like long snakes, people without faces, people with different faces all over their bodies, blazing flames, and human-shaped objects inlaid with different gems.

Silver and blood red flowed over those complex symbols and finally gathered in the center of the laboratory.

A book with a silver and red cover lay there quietly, as if waiting for someone to open it.

Longzel pursed his lips and opened the book under the gaze of Vesalius and Amor.

"To my eldest son: Ronzel Varese"

The opening paragraph reads as follows.

This is a new book, please give me lots of criticism and corrections

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(End of this chapter)