Game of Thrones: The Black Dragon King

The heavy oak door was yanked open, and the assassin dressed in a flamboyant Braavos water dancer outfit and Reid stared wide-eyed, both holding unsheathed weapons in their hands.

"guard!"

"Prepare to die!"

The Water Dancer assassin launched a fierce straight thrust, aiming straight for the face, while Reed retreated and delivered a sweeping slash, his steel sword cleaving the Water Dancer's rapier in two.

Before the water dancer assassin could even be shocked, a white, ribbon-like blade flashed behind him, precisely severing his Achilles tendon. A sharp pain shot through him, and he collapsed uncontrollably to the ground.

"You bastard!" Reed cursed as he kicked away the rapier that had broken in two.

At this moment, two Arab assassins emerged from the shadows of the room. One of them stepped forward and tied up the attacker, while the other slowly sheathed his knife.

Having been assassinated time and again, how could someone like Reed, who values ​​his life and is afraid of death, not strengthen his protective measures? Assassins, a type of soldier who is naturally skilled in concealment and disguise and whose main job is assassination, are also an excellent tool for protection.

"Kill me! I won't say anything."

Reed pursed his lips. He hadn't said anything, yet he'd said everything. This person was dressed in a gaudy Braavos water dancer outfit and carried a token from Aquaman's palace—practically announcing, "I'm Aquaman's man." Clearly, he was trying to smear someone! Reed didn't consider himself a red-haired idiot or a clueless lone wolf, but that didn't stop him from using the opportunity to his advantage.

So, the only son of Aquaman, who lived not far away, had his door kicked open by Reed.

"Guards!" the young man cried out in panic. Unlike his all-black attire during the day, Aquaman's only son, Brembo Ferrego, was now dressed in a white lace long-sleeved blouse, with his legs bare, looking exactly like a stay-at-home wife wearing only pajamas and underwear.

Two ruthless assassins in black rushed forward, grabbed the terrified, wronged young woman, and quickly bound her tightly to the armchair. The two subdued Braavos guards, along with the water dancer assassin who looked like a dead dog, and his weapon broken in two, were thrown in front of Brebbe.

Reed brought over a chair, positioned it with the back facing Brabeau, straddled it, rested his chin on his hands, and said lazily, "Go ahead and tell me!"

"What did you say?"

"You coveted the Sea Serpent's darling, Miss Lannar, and to eliminate your rivals, you had an assassin murder me."

"I didn't! I didn't! I didn't do anything..." Brebbo's voice trailed off as he spoke, then he couldn't help but swallow hard.

Two sinister-looking Arab assassins placed a small square table between them, unwrapped a leather package, and laid it out, revealing a row of small tools covered in dried blood and mottled rust, which looked terrifying.

Don't get me wrong, Red is a good man. These are just medical instruments that Chief Blacksmith Ham Black made for him when he was injured in an assassination attempt. They have rusted due to improper maintenance.

Furthermore, the soldiers introduced by the author are quite distinctive, with each character striving for vividness, yet they all seem somewhat stereotypical. For example, the merchant is invariably fat-headed, pot-bellied, with a sly glint in his eyes—clearly shrewd and wealthy at first glance; the heavy swordsmen and knights, characters with high attack and health, are all blond, blue-eyed, with square, angular faces, exuding masculinity; the archers, on the other hand, all have uneven shoulders, mismatched eyes, and shifty brows…

As for the assassins that Reed was using to intimidate, they were all bearded, with hooked noses, dark circles under their eyes, and sinister, venomous eyes—they looked like men who wouldn't be messed with.

But this image is also very effective at breaking down the psychological defenses of the vulnerable. Just as one of the assassins picked up a curved bladed knife, a stream of foul-smelling water directly soaked the floor beneath Brebbe.

Reed moved his chair back in disgust.

"I'll talk! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!" With his psychological defenses crumbling, Brebbo spilled everything like beans from a bamboo tube. He not only revealed everything but also used the available fragments of information to make things seem plausible, and then gave a bunch of incoherent explanations and supplementary statements.

Filtering out the clichés, the gist is: the original plan was to embarrass Reed, but before the plan was finalized, his subordinates got too proactive and acted on their own to curry favor, so it's all his fault! It's all their fault! You can punish them, it's not my problem! It really isn't my problem!

The two Braavos guards being interrogated at the scene looked disappointed, while the water dancer who attempted the assassin smiled but immediately lowered her head.

"You harmed me, so it's perfectly reasonable for me to cause you trouble, right?"

"That's perfectly reasonable!"

"Demanding some price as a reason to let you go is reasonable, isn't it?"

"Perfectly reasonable! Perfectly reasonable!" A gleam of delight flashed in Brebbe's eyes, and he immediately said, "Money! Women! Treasures! All of these are negotiable!"

"I need the assassination order information from the Black and White House. Two months ago, who paid the Faceless Assassins to carry out the assassinations?"

A look of terror flashed in Brembo's eyes: "I don't know, I really don't know!"

Reid gestured with his lips, indicating to the assassin holding the knife to increase the intensity.

As the curved dagger drew ever closer, Brebbe remained oblivious, causing Reid to begin to doubt himself. Did he really not know? Such an important secret seemed perfectly reasonable—keeping it from the family's good-for-nothings was understandable. After all, it was a gamble, and Reid had no intention of violating his guest rights in someone else's castle. Just as he was about to back down…

"Ah~!" Brebbo let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered.

The assassin disobeyed orders? Reed looked at his assassin with a question mark on his face. At this moment, the bearded man also turned around and shrugged at Reed, completely confused. He really didn't make a move.

"I'll talk! I'll talk!" A look of despair flashed in Brebbe's eyes: "Slave Bay! The great masters of Slave Bay pooled their money! More than half of the great masters contributed, and there was also the Iron Treasury, with one of the key keepers involved, because they lent money to the slave owners of Slave Bay and invested in the slave trade, which was very profitable..."

Having obtained the information he wanted, Reed was satisfied and kept his promise: "Alright, I'll let you go. However, your violation of guest rights in someone else's castle still needs to be dealt with by Earl Corliss."

Reid walked briskly out of Brebbe's room and met Count Corliss's scrutinizing eyes.

"How long have you been listening?" Reed asked.

"From the moment he confessed to the assassination," said Corliss the Sea Serpent, then pointed to the mess on the ground. "Aren't you going to give me an explanation?"

"What explanation?"

"You've also violated guest rights!"

"I was assassinated in your castle, Your Excellency! Throughout the ordeal, I maintained my composure and no one died. In the end, I handed over the four 'guests' to you, their master, to deal with. At the same time, you gained a perfect excuse to exonerate that despicable, good-for-nothing, and Aquaman was in the wrong, thus preventing the tragedy of you paying for your daughter's arbitrariness with her happiness, without damaging her reputation. I, on the other hand, offended Braavos for this; and what about that maid who was supposed to be married? Earl Corliss, don't you have an explanation for this?"

"Hahahaha..." The sea serpent's hearty laughter echoed throughout the corridor, then he stared intently at Reid and said, "Now, you're qualified to be my son-in-law!"

"Let's wait a little longer."

"What do you mean?"

"You have the right to be picky, scrutinize, and test, and I have the right to compare prices, don't I? Wasn't the princess coming too?"

"Fuck you!" The sea serpent roared angrily, and the whole castle could hear it.

What Red said to the sea serpent wasn't just jabs at him; he was genuinely considering and weighing the options.

If we only consider marriage itself, Lana is actually an excellent wife candidate. She's fair-skinned, beautiful, and has long legs; her private life is clean; she has excellent upbringing; and in the original books, she's a model of a virtuous wife and loving mother after marriage. With a fiery temper and a love for freedom and flight, she not only bore Damon two twin daughters in her marriage but also raised them exceptionally well. She also tirelessly advocated for Damon during his exile, helping him obtain the Iron Throne's forgiveness and easing tensions between Damon and the royal family.

Rhaenyra, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. She was petite and exquisitely beautiful, but her mother died early, and she was spoiled and pampered too much in her early years. Later, she suddenly lacked a sense of security, which turned her into a little slut who relied on her figure to keep men. She had almost no political acumen and was constantly making outrageous moves. She had three black-haired, lion-nosed sons with the silver-haired, purple-eyed Lannino. In the early stages of the Civil War, she was indecisive, and later she raised taxes drastically in King's Landing. She was known as the "Long-breasted Maegor."

But then again, marriage isn't just about the person; family background also matters. And when it comes to dowries, the two are quite different.

Lana'er only has one dragon, Vaghar. This giant dragon, named after the ancient Valyrian god of war, is the largest and one of the most powerful dragons in the world. However, it is an old dragon, its potential exhausted, unable to lay eggs, and only has twenty or thirty years left to serve. Renilla also has a dragon, the young "Golden Beast" Syracuse, named after the ancient Valyrian goddess whose divine powers are wine, chaos, and abundance. While its combat strength isn't top-tier, it's a prolific egg-laying dragon. Moreover, her future fiefdom is Dragonstone, the dragon family's dragon-breeding base.

Rhett is now desperately craving dragon eggs. Having conquered Meereen, he's no longer short of money, but even after searching the entire Meereen treasury, he hasn't found a single one. Most importantly, Rhaenyra has a very tempting dowry: the declaration of rule over the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros.

In terms of offspring, this princess also had an advantage, giving birth to six outstanding children: Jecaris, Luthris, Joffrey, Viserys, Visenya, and Aegon. Among them, Prince Jecaris showed the demeanor of a wise king from an early age, Luthris also had a dignified and humble character, and Viserys and Aegon were the restorers of House Targaryen in its later years.

Lana gave birth to twin daughters, but died in childbirth during her third delivery.

In addition, Reed's mentality has changed a bit. When he was a shrimp, he was always worried about being eaten by small fish, so he worked hard to become a small fish. But above the small fish are large grouper, tuna, and sailfish. After becoming a big fish, he found that above the big fish are sharks, and above the sharks are giant kun.

In short, unless you climb to the top of the food chain, it's hard to lie down comfortably, because you don't have that absolute sense of security.

······

At the pier on Tidehead Island, the entire Valerian family was dressed in their finest attire, ready to welcome the King and Princess. Rhett and Damon were also present.

Seeing Reed's increasingly dark circles, Damon couldn't help but scoff, "Is that all it takes to keep you up at night?"

"Too much thinking! Too much thinking!"

"Tch! No need to cover for certain people." Damon also heard the roar of the sea serpent in the middle of the night.

The sea serpent gave him a disapproving look.

"Hiss~!" A dragon's roar echoed in the sky. As the sound of flapping wings grew louder, a sub-adult dragon with yellow scales came into view.

The king's ship hadn't arrived yet, but the princess had already ridden a dragon.

"Uncle!" Rennya, dressed in dragon-riding attire, had just climbed off the dragon's back when she jumped into Damon's arms like a little cannonball.

Renella is infatuated with her uncle, Damon, who always pays close attention to her, bringing her gifts from foreign lands whenever he rides his dragon across the Narrow Sea. Moreover, unlike her soft and obese father, this uncle is lean and strong, exceptionally skilled, decisive, and has a flamboyant style with a touch of danger, perfectly matching the girl's dream of a knight.

Damon caught his little niece as she rushed towards him, lifted her high, and spun her around in the air, eliciting laughter from Renilla.

"Look at our little princess, she's grown quite a bit taller," Damon said with a smile.

Renella hugged Damon's neck tightly and asked sweetly, "Uncle, what gift did you bring me this time?"

Damon smiled mysteriously and pulled an exquisite gemstone pendant necklace from his pocket: "This is a gemstone I specially selected for you from the slave owner's treasury. See if you like it."

Renilla simply swept her hair to one side, gesturing for her uncle to put it on for her. Damon smiled and did as she was told.

Having received the gift, Renilla remembered etiquette and, amidst the laughter of the crowd, greeted her aunt, uncle, cousin, and brother-in-law one by one.

"Is this the legendary Black Dragon King?" Renilla noticed Reid.

"Hello, little princess." Reed smiled and gave a slight bow. He was actually old enough to be an uncle, but he was always kind and gentle to pretty children.

"Did you bring me a gift?" Renilla asked playfully.

Asking for gifts is annoying for adults, but endearing for children, provided the recipient is wealthy. Having just bought up nearly two centuries' worth of wealth from the Meereenians, Reid was certainly not short of money.

"Excuse my rudeness, but I wonder what Your Highness's preferences are for gifts?" Reed asked with a smile.

"Can I have a Valyrian steel sword?" Renilla asked expectantly.

"Rhaenyra~!" Princess Rhaenyra whispered a reminder. Her cousin wasn't present, and as an elder of the Targaryens, she still had to restrain her niece and not embarrass the guest.

"As expected of the princess of the Seven Kingdoms, showered with love and affection, even her words are truly rare!" Reid chuckled, reaching behind his cloak to pull out an exquisite narrow-bladed one-handed sword, which he displayed to Renera, saying in a rather seductive tone, "This is a gift I prepared for my future wife. If you take it, I won't be able to find a wife. How about I compensate you by giving you to me as my wife?"

Princess Renella's cheeks flushed instantly. She glared at Reid and pretended to be angry, saying, "I don't want it! Who knows if this sword is real or fake?" Although she said that, her eyes were fixed on the short sword, gleaming with excitement.

Upon hearing this, Reed didn't say anything, but directly drew his short sword from its sheath. The smoky black blade was covered with flowing raindrop patterns. He gently turned the blade, and in the sunlight, the sword's edge flowed with a restrained luster.

Everyone gasped in astonishment; it was indeed a genuine Wagyu steel sword.

Princess Rhaenyra's infatuation deepened. She couldn't resist reaching out to lightly touch the sword's blade. The texture was exceptionally smooth, as if she could feel the ancient magic contained within the Valyrian steel. But a slight chill emanating from the blade brought her back to her senses. Looking up at Reid, her eyes held both surprise and defiance: "This gift is very valuable, but I cannot accept it, because I do not wish to marry you. My heart is priceless!"

The surrounding guests were amused by the unexpected scene, and the atmosphere became even more relaxed and pleasant. Princess Rhaenys couldn't help but chuckle as well. Although her niece was mischievous, she was still reserved, and Rhett's words were just meant to amuse her.

Seeing this, Reed burst into laughter. He put the short sword back into his cloak and said mysteriously, "Alright, since Your Highness is unwilling, I'll keep it for you for now. Come back to me to get it when you change your mind."

Princess Renella pretended to turn her head away, ignoring Rhett, but a smile involuntarily crept onto her lips. Rhett remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was pleased, thinking, "She hasn't gone astray yet; she can be corrected."

Just as everyone was exchanging pleasantries, the royal pleasure boat with a birdcage-like palace on its deck also docked at the pier on Chaotou Island.

"King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Ruler of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm, Viserys Targaryen I has arrived!"

Count Corliss, accompanied by his wife Rhaenys, their two children, Lannar and Lannino, as well as a group of cousins ​​and six nephews including Wimond, greeted the king.

"Chongchao City awaits your command, Your Majesty."

Corliss led the male members of House Valerian and the vassals of Tidehead Island to kneel on one knee, while the ladies and young women curtsied, lifting their skirts. Rhaenys and Rhaenys gave a slight bow, while Damon stood motionless, neither too far forward nor too far back. Seeing Damon standing still, Reid also stood still.

"How dare you!" Sir Christon Cole, the White Knight, glared angrily and drew his white sword slightly from its sheath.

Viserys waved to stop the White Knight's actions, quickly stepped forward and helped Corliss, who was kneeling on one knee, to his feet. He then greeted everyone and embraced his cousin Rhaenys and his brother Damon in turn.

"Otto told me you're planning to attack the Stepstone Islands?" Viserys whispered in Damon's ear.

"His dog nose has always been very sharp."

"He is the Prime Minister, and you are my brother."

"You recently lost a nephew, a fully formed male fetus, miscarried on the Hightoar family's merchant ship bound for Ries."

"illegitimate child······"

Before Viserys could finish speaking, Damon pushed him away with a smile, so he had no choice but to put on a smile and turn his gaze to Reed.

"Young man, do you know why I'm here?"

"I know, Your Majesty, it is an honor."

"Then why didn't you bow to me just now?" Viserys' tone remained gentle.

"Please forgive my lapse in composure. The surprise came so suddenly that I was unsure of the proper etiquette. After all, I am neither your subject nor your son-in-law at the moment."

"So what now?"

"Please allow me to pay my respects to you with the courtesy that a junior in my hometown would show to an elder," Reed said, bowing slightly and shaking Viserys's gloved hands.

The Prime Minister and the Captain of the King's Guard, standing behind the King, watched Reed's actions, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.

Viserys thought to himself: He has a bit of quick wit and resourcefulness. He has achieved such great things at a young age but has not become too arrogant. His self-control is not bad.

"Cousin, Your Excellency, the room is ready. Please rest a bit after the bumpy journey. We will have plenty of time to chat and drink during the dinner." Renis noticed that Viserys looked a little unwell and took the initiative to fulfill her duties as the hostess of Tidehead Island.

"Thank you, cousin," Viserys said gratefully, then extended an invitation to Reid: "After lunch, would you like to come for a walk with me? As potential future royal marriage partners, I think we need to get to know each other better."

"With pleasure, Your Majesty."

Having received a positive answer, the king no longer concealed his exhaustion and, supported by the captain of the Royal Guard, headed towards Climax City.